#576 All Hands In

Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abijah[a]the daughter of Zechariah. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.

Hezekiah Cleanses the Temple

3 In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. 4 He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east 5 and said to them, “Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth[b]from the Holy Place. 6 For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the Lord our God. They have forsaken him and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord and turned their backs. 7 They also shut the doors of the vestibule and put out the lamps and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the Holy Place to the God of Israel. 8 Therefore the wrath of the Lord came on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them an object of horror, of astonishment, and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes. 9 For behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. 10 Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, in order that his fierce anger may turn away from us. 11 My sons, do not now be negligent, for the Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him and to be his ministers and make offerings to him.”

12 Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites; and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah; 13 and of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; 14 and of the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. 15 They gathered their brothers and consecrated themselves and went in as the king had commanded, by the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord. 16 The priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and they 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 and carried it out to the brook Kidron. 17 They began to consecrate on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the Lord. Then for eight days they consecrated the house of the Lord, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished. 18 Then they went in to Hezekiah the king and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the showbread and all its utensils. 19 All the utensils that King Ahaz discarded in his reign when he was faithless, we have made ready and consecrated, and behold, they are before the altar of the Lord.”

Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship

20 Then Hezekiah the king rose early and gathered the officials of the city and went up to the house of the Lord. 21 And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah. And he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. 22 So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests received the blood and threw it against the altar. And they slaughtered the rams, and their blood was thrown against the altar. And they slaughtered the lambs, and their blood was thrown against the altar. 23 Then the goats for the sin offering were brought to the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them, 24 and the priests slaughtered them and made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, to make atonement for all Israel. For the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.

25 And he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the commandment of David and of Gad the king's seer and of Nathan the prophet, for the commandment was from the Lord through his prophets. 26 The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. 27 Then Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song to the Lord began also, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel. 28 The whole assembly worshiped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished. 29 When the offering was finished, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped. 30 And Hezekiah the king and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped.

31 Then Hezekiah said, “You have now consecrated yourselves to[c] the Lord. Come near; bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the Lord.” And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all who were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings. 32 The number of the burnt offerings that the assembly brought was 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. 33 And the consecrated offerings were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep. 34 But the priests were too few and could not flay all the burnt offerings, so until other priests had consecrated themselves, their brothers the Levites helped them, until the work was finished—for the Levites were more upright in heart than the priests in consecrating themselves. 35 Besides the great number of burnt offerings, there was the fat of the peace offerings, and there were the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the Lord was restored. 36 And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had provided for the people, for the thing came about suddenly. 2 Chronicles 29 ESV

Sister text 2 Kings 18

According to all that his father David had done, and how lovely a compliment is that when it is said that David was a man after God's own heart. Few have had the drive to reform at all in Israel, and most have left the high places off limits here in Judah. Just like the Godly parent does not insure the Godly child, neither does the wretch thwart the effective call of God upon the life of a child. There are things that can be measured, that studies will tell us are our best hope due to our design, that if we have two parents, teach our children about God and demonstrate moderation in our own lives, then they will have an advantage. But this is not a total guarantee for Hezekiah is the son of a wretch who was the son of a good king. You will never hear me pray, Lord do not interfere with my children's free will, but rather you will hear me beg time and again, Lord, change their hearts, God, please save my children. I do not want my children to feel safe because their parents believed, they went to church or because they recognize that their is a Creator. I want their hope to rest in Christ and Christ alone. 

The government before him has cut off the people from the true worship, and the priest during his father's reign has even helped him in this, made an altar after that of the king of Assyria. The priest is not a priest to the king but to God, the Levites belonged to that service, and he should have withstood Ahaz, corrected Ahaz, but he joined him in his folly. Now the son of Ahaz is bringing the sons of Aaron and the Levites back to this house and saying, look what our parents have done. Why is the wrath of the Lord against Judah and Jerusalem?

1. They turned away their faces from the Lord. Here is the mercy seat, but the altar does not face it, our hearts are with practices but not tied to the humility of the truth of practice. We have insisted on worshiping God in the high places, with our backs turned away from Him so much that we no longer worship God, but our pride and our idols.
2. We have also shut the doors, forbidding others to enter through the narrow gate, to worship in Spirit and in Truth. 
3. We have removed the lights, that lamp of knowledge which is the reading of God's word, that light which shows the way, the path. My father did not want to hear the words of God, and your fathers made little objection. We have entered a dark age, but the light is on the other side of those doors, so consecrate yourselves, return to that which you were called.
4. You have not burned incense in so long, and this use to be a house of prayer. My great grandfather defiled this once, so I dare not take up the incense myself, but I beg you, please return to your office, let your life be a sweet savor to the Lord. Do not forsake your duties, know the value of such a place, your position. 
5. There have been no burnt offerings, tribute to the place and position of God, that everyone and everything belongs to Him. He is Sovereign, Holy, infinite in all His majesty, what we and the things we make with our hands are not. You have not honored Him nor have we sought to return Him to His throne. 

They were stirred enough by this to go in and clean out the abominations that were in the house and consecrate the things of the Lord. I wish someone would say something to the preachers of this day, that they would speak to this dispensation of so called "believers" who are a priesthood, whose bodies are the temple of the Living God.

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9

Why have you turned your backs on the only true God, and replaced Him with the gods of this culture and age? Why have you turned your backs on Holy Scripture, and returned to darkness? Why do you despise a just weight and measure, no longer regarding those who study or rightly divide the word of truth, but trading them for teachers who reflect your wants, emotions, and tickling your ears? You have forsaken Christ's model of prayer, and it is no wonder, because though it offends you to hear it, it is no longer God you pray to, but rather the idols of your mind. You do not worship God for Who He is, but you worship god for what you make him to be. 

The priests sacrificed the bulls, the rams, the lambs and then the congregation placed their hands upon the goats. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. God does not enjoy this outside of justice, for He makes it clear,

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise. 16For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings. 17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.… Psalm 51: 15-17

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6

Christ is our scapegoat, bearing not just the sins of Israel, but that of the whole world. These offerings taught them that something needed to bear their sins for them, Someone would have to take their place, there is always the continuing story of redemption, the gospel, Christ work from first we heard of that Seed in the garden. They offered all this up and with the Levites stationed in the house, playing instruments and singing Psalms to the Lord. Christ said, "if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me." The Lord does inhabit the praises of His people, and the people responded here, and this must be the over pouring of God's Spirit for the priest cannot keep up with the offerings and here of necessity and heart, not of vane glory, the Levites are called upon to help the sons of Aaron. Many are called, but few are chosen. Some are even well trained, but their hearts are unfit. Praise the Lord, come with a humble heart, grateful to be allowed to give back to He Who has given all. Put your hands upon the goat and mourn over your sin. I am a thief, but Lord remember me when you enter Your kingdom.

18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling[c] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5: 18-21