In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of Yahweh’s house, and repaired them. He brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the wide place on the east, and said to them, “Listen to me, you Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, and sanctify Yahweh, the God of your fathers’ house, and carry the filthiness out of the holy place. For our fathers were unfaithful, and have done that which was evil in Yahweh our God’s sight, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of Yahweh, and turned their backs. 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 to the God of Israel. Therefore Yahweh’s wrath was on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has delivered them to be tossed back and forth, to be an astonishment, and a hissing, as you see with your eyes. For, behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel, that his fierce anger may turn away from us. My sons, don’t be negligent now; for Yahweh has chosen you to stand before him, to minister to him, and that you should be his ministers, and burn incense.”
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; and of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; and of the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. They gathered their brothers, sanctified themselves, and went in, according to the commandment of the king by Yahweh’s words, to cleanse Yahweh’s house. The priests went into the inner part of Yahweh’s house to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in Yahweh’s temple into the court of Yahweh’s house. The Levites took it from there to carry it out to the brook Kidron. Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month they came to Yahweh’s porch. They sanctified Yahweh’s house in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished. Then they went in to Hezekiah the king within the palace, and said, “We have cleansed all Yahweh’s house, including the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels, and the table of show bread with all its vessels. Moreover have we prepared and sanctified all the vessels which king Ahaz threw away in his reign, when he was unfaithful. Behold, they are before Yahweh’s altar.”
Then Hezekiah the king arose early, gathered the princes of the city, and went up to Yahweh’s house. They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. He commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on Yahweh’s altar. So they killed the bulls, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar. They killed the rams, and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They also killed the lambs, and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They brought near the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly; and they laid their hands on them. Then the priests killed them, and they 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.
He set the Levites in Yahweh’s house with cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet; for the commandment was from Yahweh by his prophets. The Levites stood with David’s instruments, and the priests with the trumpets. Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, Yahweh’s song also began, along with the trumpets and David king of Israel’s instruments. All the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished.
When they had finished offering, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped. Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praises to Yahweh with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. They sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped.
Then Hezekiah answered, “Now you have consecrated yourselves to Yahweh. Come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into Yahweh’s house.” The assembly brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and as many as were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings. The number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs. All these were for a burnt offering to Yahweh. The consecrated things were six hundred head of cattle and three thousand sheep. But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings. Therefore their brothers the Levites helped them, until the work was ended, and until the priests had sanctified themselves; for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests. Also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings, and with the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of Yahweh’s house was set in order.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 8, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 25, 27, 30, 31, 33, 34 This is a notable example for all princes, first…
This is a notable example for all princes, first to establish the pure religion of God, and to procure that the Lord may be honored and served aright.
Which Ahaz had shut up, 2 Chron. 28:24.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 2Ch 29:3 He in the first year of his…
2Ch 29:3 He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them.
Ver. 3. He in the first year of his reign, in the first month.] Yea, and the first day of that month, {2Ch 29:17} on his coronation day, began to reform.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 16, 17, 21, 23, 24, 31, 33, 34, 35 Which Ahaz his father had shut up, 2Ch 28:24.
Which Ahaz his father had shut up, 2Ch 28:24.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv12, 20 We have here busy work, good work, and needful…
We have here busy work, good work, and needful work, the cleansing of the house of the Lord.
I. The persons employed in this work were the priests and Levites, who should have kept the temple clean, but, not having done that, were concerned to make it clean. Several of the Levites are here named, two of each of the three principal houses, Kohath, Gershon, and Merari (Ch2 29:12), and two of each of the three families of singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, Ch2 29:13, Ch2 29:14. We cannot think these are named merely because they were chief in place (for then surely the high priest, or some of the heads of the courses of the priests, would have been mentioned), but because they were more zealous and active than the rest. When God has work to do he will raise up leading men to preside in it. And it is not always that the first in place and rank are most fit for service or most forward to it. These Levites not only bestirred themselves, but gathered their brethren, and quickened them to do according to the commandment of the king by the word of the Lord. Observe, They did according to the king's command, but with an eye to God's word. The king commanded them what was already their duty by the word of God, and, in doing it, they regarded God's word as a rule to them and the king's commandment as a spur to them.
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II. The work was cleansing the house of God, 1. From the common dirt it had contracted while it was shut up - dust, and cobwebs, and the rust of the vessels. 2. From the idols and idolatrous altars that were set up in it, which, though kept ever so neat, were a greater pollution to it than if it had been made the common sewer of the city. The priests were none of them mentioned as leading men in this work, yet none but they durst go into the inner part of the house, no, not to cleanse it, which they did, and perhaps the high priest into the holy of holies, to cleanse that. And, though the Levites had the honour to be the leaders in the work, they did not disdain to be servitors to the priests according to their office; for what filth the priests brought into the court the Levites carried to the brook Kidron. Let not men's usefulness, be it ever so eminent, make them forget their place.
III. The expedition with which they did this work was very remarkable. They began on the first day of the first month, a happy beginning of the new-year, and one that promised a good year. Thus should every year begin with the reformation of what is amiss, and the purging away, by true repentance, of all the defilements contracted the foregoing year. In eight days they cleared and cleansed the temple, and in eight days more the courts of the temple, Ch2 29:17. Let those that do good work learn to rid work and get it done. Let what is amiss be amended quickly.
IV. The report they made of it to Hezekiah was very agreeable, Ch2 29:18, Ch2 29:19. They gave him an account of what they had done, because it was he that set them on work, boasted not of their own care and pains, nor did they come to him to be paid, but to let him know that all things that had been profaned were now sanctified according to law, and were ready to be used again whenever he pleased. They knew the good king had set his heart upon God's altar, and longed to be attending that, and therefore they insisted most upon the readiness they had put that into - that the vessels for the altar were scoured and brightened. Those vessels which Ahaz, in his transgression, had cast away as vessels in which there was no pleasure, they gathered together, sanctified them, and laid them in their place before the altar. Though the vessels of the sanctuary may be profaned for a while, God will find a time and a way to sanctify them. Neither his ordinances nor his people shall be suffered to fail for ever.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 And he brought in the priests and Levites,.... The…
And he brought in the priests and Levites,.... The persons that officiated in the service of the temple:
and gathered them together into the east street; which led to the eastern gate of the temple.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 27, 31, 33, 34 And he brought in,&c. - He found Judah low…
And he brought in,&c. - He found Judah low and naked, yet did not make it his first business to revive the civil interests of his kingdom, but to restore religion to a good posture. Those that begin with God, begin at the right end of their work; and it will prosper accordingly.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv8, 10, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 34 Verse 8. He hath delivered them to trouble, to…
Verse 8. He hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment] He probably refers here chiefly to that dreadful defeat by the Israelites in which a hundred and twenty thousand were slain, and two hundred thousand taken prisoners; see the preceding chapter, 2Ch 28:6; 2Ch 28:8.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 24, 27, 28, 31, 33, 34 2Ch 29:3-4. He opened the doors of the house…
2Ch 29:3-4. He opened the doors of the house of the Lord — Which Ahaz his father had shut, 2Ch 28:24. And he brought in the priests, &c. — He found Judah low and naked, yet did not make it his first business to revive the civil interests of his kingdom, but to restore religion to a good posture. Those that begin with God, begin at the right end of their work, and it will prosper accordingly.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 8, 12, 15, 16, 21, 23, 24, 27, 31, 34 By “the first month” is meant (compare 2Ch 30:2-3)…
By “the first month” is meant (compare 2Ch 30:2-3) the month of Nisan, the first of the Jewish sacred year, not necessarily the first month of Hezekiah’s reign.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 30, 31, 33, 34 Reign, in the assembly, which met to recognize his…
Reign, in the assembly, which met to recognize his authority. Lyranus --- Them, adorning them with plates of gold, 4 K. xviii. 16.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 20, 31, 34 HE RESTORES RELIGION. (Ch2 29:3-11)
HE RESTORES RELIGION. (Ch2 29:3-11)
in the first year of his reign, in the first month--not the first month after his accession to the throne, but in Nisan, the first month of the sacred year, the season appointed for the celebration of the passover.
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he opened the doors of the house of the Lord--which had been closed up by his father (Ch2 28:24).
and repaired them--or embellished them (compare Kg2 18:16).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 15, 16, 17, 19 RESTORATION OF THE TEMPLE SERVICE, 2Ch_29:3-36.
RESTORATION OF THE TEMPLE SERVICE, 2Ch_29:3-36.
3. He in the first year… first month, opened the doors — The first month is here to be understood of the first month of the Jewish year, the first of Abib, or Nisan. Comp. 2Ch_30:2-3. But the first month of Hezekiah’s reign may also, at least in part, have synchronized with the month Nisan. The reformatory character of Hezekiah’s reign was thus signalized at its very beginning by an act which must have cheered every pious heart in the realm. The shutting of the doors of the temple, and the consequent suspension of the sacred service, (comp. 2Ch_29:7,) had been one of the most presumptuous sins of Ahaz. 2Ch_28:24.
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Repaired them — By plating and overlaying them with gold, and probably other kinds of metal. See 2Ki_18:16, note. This verse is a summary statement of what Hezekiah did at the beginning of his reign, and is not to be thought of as taking place before the gathering of the priests and Levites, and the address to them contained in 2Ch_29:4-11.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 3–11 (not in 2 Kin.). Hezekiah commands to cleanse…
3–11 (not in 2 Kin.). Hezekiah commands to cleanse the Temple
3. in the first month] i.e. in Nisan; cp. 2Ch_30:2-3.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35 (3) In the first month—i.e., in the month Nisan,…
THE KING CHARGES THE LÉVITES, AND THEY CLEANSE THE HOUSE OF GOD
(2Ch_29:3-19).
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(3) In the first month—i.e., in the month Nisan, the first month of the sacred year; not in the first month of his reign. (Comp. 2Ch_29:17 and 2Ch_30:23.)
Opened the doors.—Which his father had closed (chap. 28:24).
And repaired them.—By overlaying them with metal—bronze or gold-leaf (2Ki_18:16).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 In the first month; i.e. Nisan, the first month…
In the first month; i.e. Nisan, the first month of the calendar year (see vers. 2, 13, 15 of next chapter), not simply the first month of the new king"s reign. And repaired them. This repairing of Hezekiah was, unhappily, subsequently undone of his own hands. (2Ki_18:14-16)
Vers. 3-19.
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The purification of the temple.
I THE GATHERING OF THE PRIESTS AND LEVITES. (Ver. 4.)
1. When? In the first year of the king"s reign, in the first month (vers. 3, 17), but whether of that reign (Caspari) or of the ecclesiastical year (Bertheau, Keil, Jamieson, Ochler in Herzog) cannot be determined. In either case it was not long after his accession. The acts evinced
(1) piety, the king giving his first thoughts to religion; (Mat_6:33) and
(2) prudence, since a good work never can be too soon begun, and reformations may be wrought at the beginning of a reign that cannot be so easily effected afterwards. "As the spring-time of nature or of the year is the most suitable season for purging natural bodies, so is the spring-time of a reign the best time for purging the body politic" (Bacon).
1. Where? In "the broad place on the east;" either the inner court of the temple (Bertheau), or the open space in front of the temple towards the
2. east (Keil), which will depend upon whether the doors of the temple had been opened prior to the assembling of the priests.
3. Why? To invite their co-operation in the work of cleansing the sanctuary Ahaz had shut up, (2Ch_28:24) and of re-establishing the worship Ahaz had abolished. For these purposes and as a preliminary thereto, according to one view, the king had already opened the temple doors; according to another, he only did so when the work of cleansing commenced.
II THE WORDS ADDRESSED TO THEM BY THE KING. (Vers. 511.) Hezekiah regarding them without distinction as Levites not speaking to the Levites as distinguished from the priests, as if these were not present, though they certainly (ver. 34) "hung back from the revolution which swept away the neglect which the head of their order, Urijah, must in some measure have countenanced" (Stanley, "Lectures on the Jewish Church," vol. it. p. 465), and, exhorting them with fatherly affection (ver. 11), set before them three things.
1. The work which required to be done.
(1) The sanctification of themselves, without which they could not enter on such service as that to which he was about to invite them (Exo_19:10-12; Lev_11:44) This sanctification was doubtless carried out formally by the offering of sacrifice, by washing and putting on clean garments, and perhaps by anointing with oil; (Lev_8:1-7, Lev_8:30) inwardly by acts of spiritual heart devotion and dedication to the work about to be performed, and to him whose work it was.
(2) The sanctification of the house of the Lord; or, the carrying forth of the filthiness that had accumulated therein since the day when its doors were closed, the burnishing of all the utensils that had been left to rust through disuse, and the replacing of all the sacred vessels which had been cast away. Without this the true national Jehovah-worship could not be reinstituted. In this everything must proceed according to the pattern prescribed by the Law.
(3) The two things symbolized what is needful to constitute true worship under the better dispensation of the gospel in the worshipper, faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ, renewal of heart and mind in the laver of regeneration, personal separation from all known sin; in the worship, purity, beauty, completeness.
2. The reasons why it needed to be done.
(1) Because, through the wickedness of their fathers in forsaking God, the temple had fallen into disrepair; its doors had been closed, its lamps put out, its altars left without offerings (vers. 6, 7). What their fathers then had done it became them to undo. Unless they would be sharers in their fathers" guilt, they must separate themselves from their fathers" sin. Their fathers" trespass would not condemn them if they disowned it by acting differently.
(2) Because on account of this wickedness the wrath of God had fallen upon the nation, "upon Judah and Jerusalem," upon the inhabitants of the cities and of the metropolis; their troops had been slaughtered in the field, (2Ch_28:6) their sons and wives and daughters carried into captivity, (2Ch_28:5, 2Ch_28:8) their country delivered to trouble, to astonishment, to hissing.
(3) Because it was the king"s intention, in restoring the ancient worship of Jehovah, to renew the covenant between himself with his people and Jehovah (ver. 10), as had formerly been done by Joash and his subjects, (2Ch_23:16) and earlier by Ass and his warriors (2Ch_15:12) being moved to this by the consideration that not otherwise could they escape the fierce wrath their national apostasy had kindled against them.
3. The argument why they should do the work. The Lord had selected them to be his temple ministers the Levites and priests together to stand before aim and serve him, the priests to burn incense upon his altar. (N.B. This is an indirect proof that "Levites" in ver. 5 includes the "priests.")Hence
(1) faithfulness should lead them to do the work specially assigned them, and
(2) honour impel them, seeing Jehovah had chosen them, rather than others, to be his ministers.
III THE RESPONSE GIVEN BY THE PRIESTS AND LEVITES TO THE KING. (Vers. 12-16.)
1. The absent members of the order were collected. Fourteen Levites had heard the king"s speech two from each of the great families of Kohath, Gershon, and Merari; two of the sons of Elizaphan, the son of Uzziel, the son of Kohath, (Exo_6:18) and in Moses" time the head of the
2. family of Kohath; (Num_3:30) two of the sons of Asaph, who belonged to the family of Gershon; and two of the sons of Heman, who again proceeded from the family of Kohath; and two of the sons of Jeduthun, an offshoot from the family of Merari (on these names see Exposition). Responding with alacrity and gladness to the king"s summons, they went forth and mustered the whole body of their brethren in Jerusalem. The work to which they had been called should be done by a united body, all hands and one heart a good model for the Christian Church.
3. The duty of personal sanetification was scrupulously attended to. God"s work must be done in God"s way; always with fear and trembling, never with irreverent presumption; always in the beauty of holiness, never in the uncleanness of sin.
1. The work was divided between the Levites and the priests. To each was assigned that for which he was qualified and had been appointed; the cleansing of the temple proper to the priests, since these alone could enter the holy place; the removal of that which the priests brought from the interior of the sanctuary into the porch to the Levites, who bore it thence to the brook Kidron, which flowed through the valley of Jehoshaphat, on the east of the temple hill. So should all in the Christian work be content to do the work to which they are called, and for which they are qualified. As all have not the same gifts, so all are not intended for the same spheres of Christian activity.
2. The work was carried on until it was completed. It began with the purification of the buildings exterior to the temple, which occupied eight days. In eight days more they had finished the temple proper, both the porch and the sanctuary. On the sixteenth day they made an end. How much good work is begun by Christian people without being ended! tow many become weary in well-doing before they have half completed what they have put their hands to!
3. A report of the work done was carried to the king. The whole house of the Lord had been cleansed, all its furniture and utensils purified, the vessels found wanting replaced.
Learn:
1. That God can be worshipped only in the beauty of holiness.
2. That as God calls none of his servants to uncleanness, he can be served only by the clean.
3. That God"s house whether heart or church should be studiously guarded against defilement.
4. That God"s people, like God himself, should be unwearied in doing good.
5. That God"s servants must one day render to him an account of their works. W.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv5, 8, 10, 11, 17, 27, 31 Sanctify now yourselves and sanctify the house of the…
2Ch_29:5
Sanctify now yourselves and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers.
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Personal consecration
I. What is involved in this personal dedication? Thomas Aquinas made three kinds of baptism: Sanguinis, fluminis, fiaminis--the blood, the flood, the fire! By repentance and faith in Christs atonement the sinner is saved, and by water-baptism received into the visible Church. But, to be wholly prepared for the Masters work, there must be the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire. The aim of Christianity is to lead us from the material to the spiritual; from the instrumental and accidental to the absolute and eternal. This house is an instrument in the service of God. Its best consecration is the consecration of its occupants, and this is accomplished by the radical work of the Holy Spirit. The tongue of the preacher, the pen of the author, the lips of the singer, the fingers of the musician, and the brush of the painter, are servants of a governing purpose--channels through which thought and feeling, genius and culture, express themselves. If the soul that controls these instruments be consecrated, then they are hallowed. As the wondrous river we read of in ancient fable turned to gold the very sand its currents washed, so does the fountain of a holy heart, pouring forth its enriching flood in speech and effort, dignify the humblest employment or surroundings. With this spirit of consecration enter and occupy this sanctuary, and you will make the place, indeed, holy.
II. What are the fruits of this radical, hearty, and permanent consecration? The people by this spirit of high consecration, are set free from the bondage of low and false views, prevalent in worldly circles. And, finally, if the pure and holy spirit of self-dedication, thus outlined, prevails, genuine revivals of religion will surely follow, healthful growth in activity, love, and liberality will be seen, and true Christian unity will be fostered among all who really love our Lord Jesus Christ. (Prof. E. P. Thwing.)
Reformation must be thorough
A reformation to be worth much must be thorough. Half-way work in this line is of little value. Again and again the kings of Judah, when they swept away all idol worship, left untouched the high places where Jehovah was sacrificed to irregularly; and, because of their failure at completeness, their people went quickly back to gross idolatry. So in all partial attempts at reform. The man who proposes to give up drinking, or gambling, or profanity, or dishonest courses, without surrendering himself wholly to the Lord, is not likely to succeed even to the extent of his attempts. And it is with the house of the Lord as it is with persons. Unless it is wholly the Lords, it does little honour to Him. H it is in use for religious purposes on Sunday, and for concerts and fairs and lectures and shows during the week; or if part of it is for a house of worship, and part for shops of trade--it is at the best a much abused sanctuary. Carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. (H. Clay Trumbull.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v18 2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
SACRIFICE RENEWED
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2Ch 29:18 - 2Ch 29:31.
Ahaz, Hezekiah’s father, had wallowed in idolatry, worshipping any and every god but Jehovah. He had shut up the Temple, defiled the sacred vessels, and ‘made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem.’ And the result was that he brought the kingdom very near ruin, was not allowed to be buried in the tombs of the kings, and left his son a heavy task to patch up the mischief he had wrought. Hezekiah began at the right end of his task. ‘In the first year of his reign, in the first month,’ he set about restoring the worship of Jehovah. The relations with Syria and Damascus would come right if the relations with Judah’s God were right. ‘First things first’ was his motto, and perhaps he discerned the true sequence more accurately than some great political pundits do nowadays. So neglected had the Temple been that a strong force of priests and Levites took a fortnight to ‘carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place to the brook Kidron,’ and to cleanse and ceremonially sanctify the sacred vessels. Then followed at once the re-establishment of the Temple worship, which is narrated in the passage.
The first thing to be noted is that the whole movement back to Jehovah was a one-man movement. It was Hezekiah’s doing and his only. No priest is named as prominent in it, and the slowness of the whole order is especially branded in 2Ch 29:34. No prophet is named; was there any one prompting the king? Perhaps Isaiah did, though his Isa 1:1 with its scathing repudiation of ‘the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts,’ suggests that he did not think the restoration of sacrifice so important as that the nation should ‘cease to do evil and learn to do well.’ The people acquiesced in the king’s worship of Jehovah, as they had acquiesced in other kings’ worship of Baal or Moloch or Hadad. When kings take to being religious reformers, they make swift converts, but their work is as slight as it is speedy, and as short-lived as it is rapid. Manasseh was Hezekiah’s successor, and swept away all his work after twenty-nine years, and apparently the mass of his people followed him just as they had followed Hezekiah. Religion must be a matter of personal conviction and individual choice. Imposed from without, or adopted because other people adopt it, it is worthless.
Another point to notice is that Hezekiah’s reformation was mainly directed to ritual, and does not seem to have included either theology or ethics. Was be quite right in his estimate of what was the first thing? Isaiah, in the passage already referred to, does not seem to think so. To him, as to all the prophets, foul hands could not bring acceptable sacrifices, and worship was an abomination unless preceded by obedience to the command: ‘Put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes.’ The filth in the hearts of the men of Judah was more ‘rank, and smelt to heaven’ more offensively, than that in the Temple, which took sixteen days to shovel into Kidron. No doubt ceremonial bulked more largely in the days of the Old Covenant than it does in those of the New, and both the then stage of revelation and the then spiritual stature of the recipients of revelation required that it should do so. But the true religious reformers, the prophets, were never weary of insisting that, even in those days, moral and spiritual reformation should come first, and that unless it did, ritual worship, though it were nominally offered to Jehovah, was as abhorrent to Him as if it had been avowedly offered to Baal. Not a little so-called Christian worship today, judged by the same test, is as truly heathen superstition as if it had been paid to Mumbo-Jumbo.
But when all deductions have been made, the scene depicted in the passage is not only an affecting, but an instructive one. Strangely unlike our notions of worship, and to us almost repulsive, must have been the slaying of three hundred and seventy animals and the offering of them as burnt offerings. Try to picture the rivers of blood, the contortions of the dumb brutes, the priests bedaubed with gore, the smell of the burnt flesh, the blare of the trumpets, the shouts of the worshippers, the clashing cymbals, and realise what a world parts it from ‘They went up into the upper chamber where they were abiding . . . these all with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer, with the women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren’! Sacrifice has been the essential feature in all religions before Christ. It has dropped out of worship wherever Christ has been accepted. Why? Because it spoke of a deep, permanent, universal need, and because Christ was recognised as having met the need. People who deny the need, and people who deny that Jesus on the Cross has satisfied it, may be invited to explain these two facts, written large on the history of humanity.
That brings us to the most important aspect of Hezekiah’s great sacrifice. It sets forth the stages by which men can approach to God. It is symbolic of spiritual facts, and prophetic of Christ’s work and of our way of coming to God through Him. The first requisite for Judah’s return to Jehovah, whom they had forsaken, was the presentation of a ‘sin offering.’ The king and the congregation laid their hands on the heads of the goats, thereby, as it were, transferring their own sinful personality to them. Thus laden with the nation’s sins, they were slain, and in their death the nation, as it were, bore the penalty of its sin. Representation and substitution were dramatised in the sacrifice. The blood sprinkled on the altar {which had previously been ‘sanctified’ by sprinkling of blood, and so made capable of presenting what touched it to Jehovah}, made ‘atonement for all Israel.’ We note in passing the emphasis of ‘Israel’ here, extending the benefit of the sacrifice to the separated tribes of the Northern Kingdom, in a gush of yearning love and desire that they, too, might be reconciled to Jehovah. And is not this the first step towards any man’s reconciliation with God? Is not
‘My faith would lay her hand
On that dear head of Thine,’
the true expression of the first requisite for us all? Jesus is the sin-offering for the world. In His death He bears the world’s sin. His blood is presented to God, and if we have associated ourselves with Him by faith, that blood sprinkled on the altar covers all our sins.
Then followed in this parabolic ceremonial the burnt offering. And that is the second stage of our return to God, for it expresses the consecration of our forgiven selves, as being consumed by the holy and blessed fire of a self-devotion, kindled by the ‘unspeakable gift,’ which fire, burning away all foulness, will make us tenfold ourselves. That fire will burn up only our bonds, and we shall walk at liberty in it. And that burnt-offering will always be accompanied with ‘the song of Jehovah,’ and the joyful sound of the trumpets and ‘the instruments of David.’ The treasures of Christian poetry have always been inspired by the Cross, and the consequent rapture of self-surrender. Calvary is the true fountain of song.
The last stage in Hezekiah’s great sacrifice was ‘thank-offerings,’ brought by ‘as many as were of a willing heart.’ And will not the self-devotion, kindled by the fire of love, speak in daily life by practical service, and the whole activities of the redeemed man be a long thank-offering for the Lamb who ‘bears away the sins of the world’? And if we do not thus offer our whole lives to God, how shall we profess to have taken the priceless benefit of Christ’s death? Hezekiah followed the order laid down in the Law, and it is the only order that leads to the goal. First, the atoning sacrifice of the slain Lamb; next, our identification with Him and it by faith; then the burnt-offering of a surrendered self, with the song of praise sounding ever through it; and last, the life of service, offering all our works to God, and so reaching the perfection of life on earth and antedating the felicities of heaven.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv3, 17, 18, 24 first month
first month
i.e. April.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v20 The Service of the Temple Set in Order
The Service of the Temple Set in Order
v. 20. Then Hezekiah the king rose early, full of anxious zeal to complete the cleansing of the Temple, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. Since all the people of his kingdom could not be reached, he wanted at least the princes of Jerusalem to be the representatives of the people.
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v. 21. And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he-goats, the number seven being the sacred number, for a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sins of the king and his predecessors, and for the Sanctuary, for the priests themselves and for the desecration of the Sanctuary, and for Judah, for all the members of the nation who had consented to the introduction of idolatry. And he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord, to make an atonement for all the trespasses and sins as indicated.
v. 22. So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood and sprinkled it on the altar, as the ritual of sacrifices required, Lev 8:14-24; likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar. They killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar.
v. 23. And they brought forth the he-goats for the sin-offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them, thus signifying that the act of atonement, while made directly by the princes, was done for the entire nation.
v. 24. And the priests killed them; and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, for the purpose of obtaining a purification for sin, Lev 14:20, to make an atonement for all Israel; for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin-offering should be made for all Israel. The sacrifices agreed, in general, with the precepts of Leviticus 4.
v. 25. And he set the Levites, those designated for that work, 1Ch 16:4; 1Ch 25:6, in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, the former being a guitarlike zither or lute, and the latter a small harp, according to the commandment of David and of Gad, the king’s seer, and Nathan, the prophet, for the latter two had advised and assisted David in arranging the Temple service; for so was the commandment of the Lord by His prophets, the Lord Himself having acted through the agency of His prophets.
v. 26. And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, those invented and introduced by David, and the priests with the trumpets, for the blowing of these was their special privilege, Numbers 10.
v. 27. And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar, when everything was in readiness for the service. 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, the instruments of David governed and led the entire orchestra as it played with full force in the intervals of the psalm or psalms.
v. 28. And all the congregation worshiped, and the singers sang, the psalm was intoned, and the trumpeters sounded; and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished, the musical performance of praise being continued during the whole time of the offering.
v. 29. And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped, in grateful adoration.
v. 30. Moreover, Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded, they had done so before the beginning of the service, the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David, some of the psalms composed by the royal singer, and of Asaph, the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, literally, "unto gladness," until their hearts were lifted up in ecstasy; and they bowed their heads and worshiped.
v. 31. Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the Lord, by having filled their hands with the sacrifices of atonement; come near and bring sacrifices and thank-offerings into the house of the Lord. The sin and trespass-offerings having been made in order to remove the guilt of the king and the people, peace-offerings were now in order to establish the relation of the covenant between Jehovah and His people once more. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, with which sacrificial meals were connected; and as many as were of a free heart, in making vows to Jehovah, burnt offerings.
v. 32. And the number of the burnt offerings which the congregation brought was threescore and ten bullocks, an hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord, presented by the rulers of the people for the nation or congregation.
v. 33. And the consecrated things, the animals presented as thank-offerings, were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.
v. 34. But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings, a task which they were supposed to perform themselves; wherefore their brethren, the Levites, did help them, it being a case of unavoidable necessity, of an emergency, till the work was ended, and until the other priests, those who came in from the outlying cities, had sanctified themselves; for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests, they displayed greater alacrity than the priests, probably because the latter had become more deeply involved in idolatry under Ahaz.
v. 35. And also the burnt offerings were in abundance, that was the second reason why the Levites were drafted into service, with the fat of the peace-offerings and the drink-offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the house of the Lord was set in order, the newly consecrated Temple reopened for the service of Jehovah.
v. 36. And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people, had made their hearts willing with such promptness; for the thing was done suddenly, with unexpected readiness on the part of the majority of the nation. One of the surest proofs of true piety is the rejection of idolatry in every form and the eager participation in the worship of the true God.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 22, 25, 27, 29, 31, 32, 34, 35 in the first month
in the first month
This is the first month of the Hebrew calendar. It is during the last part of March and the first part April on Western calendars. (See: Hebrew Months and Ordinal Numbers)
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the house of Yahweh
Here the word "house" represents the temple. AT: "the temple of Yahweh" (See: Metonymy)
Hezekiah opened the doors ... and repaired them
Since Hezekiah was king, he may have had his workers do these things. AT: "Hezekiah ordered his workers to open the doors ... and to repair them" (See: Metonymy)
on the east side
This refers to the east side of the temple. AT: "on the east side of the temple" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
carry away the filthiness from the holy place
The word "filthiness" refers to things that the people had used to worship other gods. The narrator speaks of these things making the temple unacceptable to Yahweh as if they were physically dirty. AT: "remove the things that defile the holy place" or "remove the things that make the holy place unacceptable to Yahweh" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
year
house of God
priest
Levi
court
consecrate
holy place
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 5, 12, 21, 31, 34 29:3-4 Hezekiah’s first act as king was to repair…
29:3-4 Hezekiah’s first act as king was to repair the doors of the Temple (29:3). The verb used (yekhazzeqem, “he made them strong”) is a deliberate pun on the name of King Hezekiah (yekhizqiyyahu, “Yah makes strong”). This action provided a setting for the king’s speech to the priests and Levites (29:5-11).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.