2 Chronicles · chapter 29 of 36
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2 Chronicles 29 tells how Hezekiah, at the start of his reign, opens the doors of the temple, orders the priests and Levites to cleanse it and restores worship. Sin offerings are made for the kingdom, the sanctuary and Judah, singing returns with David's instruments, and the people bring abundant thank offerings.
Ahaz's reign had shut the temple and filled Jerusalem with foreign altars (chapter 28). His son Hezekiah breaks with that path from the first month of his reign. The Chronicler devotes several chapters to his reform, and this is the first step: cleansing the house of the Lord and returning to worship as God had commanded.
Hezekiah is twenty-five years old when he begins to reign and reigns twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. He does right in the sight of the Lord, as David did. In his first month he opens the doors of the house of the Lord and repairs them. He gathers priests and Levites and orders them to consecrate themselves and carry the filth out of the sanctuary. He admits that their fathers were unfaithful: they shut the doors of the vestibule, put out the lamps and offered no burnt offerings. So the Lord's anger fell on Judah. Hezekiah wants to make a covenant with the Lord so that this anger may turn away, and asks the Levites not to be negligent.
The Levites consecrate themselves and cleanse the house of the Lord: they bring the uncleanness out to the court and carry it to the Kidron Valley. They begin on the first day of the first month and finish on the sixteenth, eight days for the vestibule and eight for the temple. They report that the altar, the table of the bread and the utensils Ahaz had cast aside are cleansed.
Early the next day Hezekiah gathers the officials and goes up to the temple. Seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs and seven male goats are offered as a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary and Judah. The priests throw the blood on the altar, and the king and the assembly lay their hands on the goats. The Levites are stationed with cymbals, harps and lyres, and the priests with trumpets, as David had ordered. As the burnt offering begins, the song to the Lord begins, and the whole assembly worships.
Hezekiah invites the people to bring sacrifices and thank offerings, and the assembly brings a great number of animals. Because the priests are too few, the Levites help until others consecrate themselves. The service of the house of the Lord is restored, and the king and the people rejoice at what God has prepared, for it came about suddenly.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Hezekiah commands the Levites to consecrate themselves and carry the filth out of the sanctuary. The reform begins with those who serve in the temple, before the people.
The king declares his desire to make a covenant with the Lord so that his anger may turn from them. He recognizes that Judah's problem is spiritual and proposes a covenant response, not politics or force.
Hezekiah asks the Levites not to be negligent, because the Lord chose them to stand before him, to serve him and to burn incense. Serving God is a privilege that calls for diligence.
The king and the officials order praise to the Lord with the words of David and Asaph the seer, and they sing with gladness and reverence. Restored worship joins God's word, music and joy.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: He opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. — 2 Chronicles 29:3
Answer: To consecrate themselves and consecrate the house. — 2 Chronicles 29:5
Answer: Make a covenant with the Lord. — 2 Chronicles 29:10
Answer: Sixteen days: eight for the vestibule and eight for the temple. — 2 Chronicles 29:17
Answer: Seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs and seven male goats. — 2 Chronicles 29:21
Answer: The Levites helped, because the priests were too few and others had not yet consecrated themselves. — 2 Chronicles 29:34
Hezekiah begins his reign with what matters most: the people's relationship with God. A class can ask what place we give today to worship, prayer and cleansing of the heart before other projects. The text suggests that reform begins with those who serve: before asking the people to change, leaders must consecrate themselves.
The joy stands out too. The purification was hard work, sixteen days of cleansing, yet it ended in songs, instruments and offerings. When we return to the Lord, honest repentance does not leave us sad but grateful. For those who sing or serve in church, it is a reminder that music is a way to proclaim the Word and to acknowledge God's work.
2 Chronicles 29 shows a king who reopens the temple, purifies God's house and restores worship. But something is missing: Israel and Judah have not yet celebrated the Passover together. In chapter 30, Hezekiah will invite all Israel to Jerusalem to do so.
In the law of Moses, the sin offering served to atone for sin and to purify. The king and the assembly laid their hands on the goats to identify with the sacrifice. For Christians, these sacrifices point to Christ, who offered himself once for all.
They are the cymbals, harps and lyres that David, with Gad and Nathan, had ordered for worship. Hezekiah restores the temple's music according to that instruction, which the Chronicler considers a command of the Lord through his prophets.
Because Judah went in a short time from a closed temple to restored worship. The Chronicler attributes it to God preparing the people's heart, not only to the king's decision.