(2 Chronicles 29:1-36) Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old; and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. 2 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that his father David had done.
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 gathered them into the public square on the east.
5 Then he said to them, “Listen to me, you Levites. Consecrate yourselves now, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry the uncleanness out of the holy place. 6 For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done evil in the sight of the Lord our God, and they have abandoned Him and turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the Lord, and have turned their backs. 7 They have also shut the doors of the porch and extinguished the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel. 8 Therefore the wrath of the Lord was against Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, of horror, and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes. 9 For behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity because of this. 10 Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, so that His burning anger may turn away from us. 11 My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and to be His ministers and burn incense.”
12 Then the Levites arose: Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, from the sons of the Kohathites; and from the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and from the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah; 13 and from the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; and from the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; 14 and from the sons of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; and from the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. 15 They assembled their brothers, consecrated themselves, and went in to cleanse the house of the Lord, according to the commandment of the king by the words of the Lord. 16 So the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and they brought every unclean thing which they found in the temple of the Lord out to the courtyard of the house of the Lord. Then the Levites received it to carry out to the Kidron Valley. 17 Now they began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they entered the porch of the Lord. Then they consecrated the house of the Lord in eight days, and finished on the sixteenth day of the first month. 18 Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed the whole house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table of the showbread with all of its utensils. 19 Moreover, all the utensils which King Ahaz had discarded during his reign in his unfaithfulness, we have prepared and consecrated; and behold, they are before the altar of the Lord.”
20 Then King Hezekiah got up early and assembled the princes of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. 21 They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. And he ordered the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. 22 So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. They also slaughtered the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar; they slaughtered the lambs as well, and sprinkled the blood on the altar. 23 Then they brought the male goats of the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them. 24 The priests slaughtered them and purified the altar with their blood to atone for all Israel, because the king ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.
25 He then stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the command of David and of Gad, the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for the command was from the Lord through His prophets. 26 The Levites stood with the musical instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. 27 Then Hezekiah gave the order to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, the song to the Lord also began with the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David, king of Israel. 28 While the whole assembly worshiped, the singers also sang and the trumpets sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.
29 Now at the completion of the burnt offerings, the king and all who were present with him bowed down and worshiped. 30 Moreover, King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with joy, and bowed down and worshiped.
31 Then Hezekiah said, “Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord, come forward and bring sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings to the house of the Lord.” So the assembly brought sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings, and everyone who was willing brought burnt offerings. 32 The number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all of these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. 33 The consecrated offerings were six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep. 34 But the priests were too few, so that they were unable to skin all the burnt offerings; therefore their brothers the Levites helped them until the work was finished and the other priests had consecrated themselves. For the Levites were more conscientious to consecrate themselves than the priests. 35 There were also many burnt offerings with the fat of the peace offerings and the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. So the service of the house of the Lord was established again. 36 Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, because the thing came about suddenly.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
As verse 36 says, the Israelites rejoiced over what God had prepared and done in such a short time. Just from this event, we can know that the Lord is the God of the impossible. And from this entire scripture, we can see how God's relationship with the Israelites - parallel - God's personal relationship with us! This event is like a physical allegory and illustration to help us understand salvation.
Verse 6: as the Israelites had turned their backs on God and rejected Him, we are all born with a sinful nature, separated from God. (Romans 3:23) "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"
Verse 5: as the Israelites needed to clean and consecrate the temple and the holy of holies, we need to go to the Lord to repent and receive His forgiveness of all sin, which is to be washed clean by the blood of the Lamb. Ephesians 1:7) "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our wrongdoings, according to the riches of His grace"
Verse 10: as the Israelites made a covenant (a promise) to the Lord, in our decision of putting our faith in Jesus and making Him our personal Lord and Savior, we receive the Holy Spirit of promise. The new covenant of Jesus is His promise to us that once we are a child of God, we cannot lose our salvation, ever! (Ephesians 1:13) "In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise"
Verse 11: as the Israelites were chosen to serve the Lord, we are chosen to become God's children. Understand that while we have a free choice, God is omniscient. He knows who will accept Him and who will ultimately reject Him. (Ephesians 1:11-12) "In Him we also have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things in accordance with the plan of His will, 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in the Christ would be to the praise of His glory."
Verse 16: as the Israelites were to remove all unclean things from the temple, we are to continually confess our sins as we become aware of them in order to have and develop a closer relationship with the Lord. (Hebrews 4:14-16) "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let’s hold firmly to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need."
Verse 18: as the Israelites cleansed all utensils of the temple to be used in service, we are to make sure we are doing good deeds with the right motives. This it is an outpouring of our thankfulness to the Lord, who gives us gifts and equips us with what we need to serve Him, all in His power and agape love. (Colossians 3:17) "Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father."
Verse 20: as the Israelites assembled, we are to faithfully attend church. (Hebrews 10:23-25) "Let’s hold firmly to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds, 25 not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near."
Verse 25: as the Israelites sang praises to the Lord, we are to sing to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16) "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God."
Verse 28: as the Israelites worshiped the Lord, we should desire to worship the Lord. (Hebrews 12:28) "Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let’s show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe"
Verse 31: as the Israelites gave offerings of thankfulness, we are to give our tithes and offerings with thankfulness. What does this have to do with relationships? Well, let us first understand that God should come first our lives, and then people. Finances are only a means to survive and build, and therefore, how we are responsible with money and how giving and generous we are with money, will demonstrate our love and trust in the Lord, as well as how we love others!
(Malachi 3:10) "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and put Me to the test now in this,” says the Lord of armies, “if I do not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows." (Proverbs 3:9) "Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce" (Acts 20:35) "In everything I showed you that by working hard in this way you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”" (1 Timothy 6:17-19) "Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. 18 Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life."
In our love for the Lord, and in this close relationship, we will know better how to love others!
No comments:
Post a Comment