Hezekiah: king of Judah restores the House of the Lord and the worship of God
- Author
- Dr. Joan Boney, Jesus Ministries
- Published
- Fri 14 Jan 2022
- Episode Link
- https://jesusministries.podbean.com/e/hezekiah-king-of-judah-restores-the-house-of-the-lord-and-the-worship-of-god/
Jesus Ministries, Joan Boney ...
Hezekiah was a king of Judah, doing that which was right in the sight of God.
Several chapters in the Bible are devoted to telling us of Hezekiah.
II Chronicles 29:1-4
1 Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.
3 He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them.
4 And he brought in the priests and the Levites (ministers appointed by God), and gathered them together into the east street,
(The priest and Levites were appointed by God for the work of God to receive the offerings of the people for sins and trespasses according to the Law of Moses. But evil kings of Israel had driven these out and appointed men of their own choosing to be ministers. Hezekiah placed the men chosen by God back into their rightful ministry.)
5 And (Hezekiah) said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.
6 For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken HIM, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs.
7 Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel.
(In the Old Testament, God set up animal sacrifices for the sins of the people. In the New Testament Jesus is the sacrifice for our sins.)
8 Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and HE hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.
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Hezekiah says to the Levites:
10 Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that HIS fierce wrath may turn away from us.
15 And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.
16 And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron.
Many "unclean" things had been brought into the house of the Lord. They had to cleanse that house removing the unclean.
(Today we cleanse our own house, ourselves, by removing the false doctrines and setting up in our heart the doctrines of the New Testament by the Holy Scriptures given to us by inspiration of God.)
18 Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof.
19 Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before the altar of the LORD.
20 Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD.
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25 And he (king Hezekiah) set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the LORD by HIS prophets.
26 And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.
27 And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel.
(Burnt offerings and incense were Old Testament commandments but we are not told to use these in the New Testament for we worship in "spirit" in New Testament.)
28 And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.
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31 Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the LORD. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings.
36 And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly.
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II Chronicles 30
1 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel.
(Passover was Old Testament commandment. No longer valid for New Testament for Christ is our passover in NT church.)
8 Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into HIS sanctuary, which HE hath sanctified for ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of HIS wrath may turn away from you.
9 For if ye turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away HIS face from you, if ye return unto HIM.
12 Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the LORD.
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14 And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron.
(Unclean altars were removed for in past they had worshipped other gods on these altars.)
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26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem.
27 Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven.
II Chronicles 31:1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.
4-5 Moreover he (Hezekiah) commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the LORD.
5 And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.
20 And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God.
21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.
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* For writings on additional subjects, click here: Jesus Ministries Exhortations Blog
