2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES
Wednesday in the Word
Second Baptist Church
April 5, 2023
2nd Chronicles 29
Last week we studied King Ahaz, who rebelled against God. His wickedness caused the favor and protection of God to be lifted from the nation. King Ahaz pursued idolatry at a feverish pace. King Ahaz set up idols throughout Judah. He also closed the temple and removed the articles of gold and silver. After his death, his son, King Hezekiah would lead the nation in a revival.
Verses 1-2. Hezekiah became king at 25 and reigned for 29 years. His mother, Abijah, was the daughter of the man of God, Zechariah. Zechariah helped his great grandfather stay faithful to the Lord (2nd Chr 26:5). This godly influence served Hezekiah well. Hezekiah was a good king and a king who followed God in the same way the other good kings did. He wasn’t perfect, but he sought God for most of his life. 2 Kings 18:5-6 makes this remarkable statement about Hezekiah: He trusted in the LORD God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. For he held fast to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses. Hezekiah came to the throne of Judah at the very end of the kingdom of Israel. Three years after the start of his reign, the Assyrian armies set siege to Samaria, and three years after that the northern kingdom was conquered.
Verse 3. Hezekiah didn't waste any time getting things back in order. In the very first month of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple that were closed by his father. He gathered the priest and the Levites and commanded them to perform the ritual consecration ceremony instructed by God to Moses. The consecration of a High-Priest to his office took place in a very special service, (Leviticus 8 and Exodus 29).
Aaron and his sons were washed with water. Aaron and his sons were given special new clothes. Aaron had anointing oil poured over his head.
Aaron and his sons were obliged to make sacrifices to seal their consecration. The blood of the ram was caught, and put on the tip of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and on the large toe of the right foot of the High Priest.
The remaining blood was poured on the altar; then collected again from the altar, mixed with the anointing oil, and sprinkled upon the High Priest and his garments.
The priests had to take part of the ram, a loaf of bread, a cake of oiled bread, one wafer, and put them in the hands of the High Priest who would wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. Finally, Aaron and his sons were required to stay close to the Tent of Meeting day and night for seven days.
Verses 4-9. After getting consecrated the priest had to remove the idols that were placed there by the previous king. Hezekiah reminds the priest that because the sacred services of burning the incense, the sacrifices, and the lighting of the lamps in the holy place stopped and idolatry was practiced, God forsook the people. The anger of God had fallen on Judah because of their disobedience. Hezekiah tells the priest that they must return to the service of God in the proper way by getting consecrated first before any services started. He wanted them right first before they served the people. Everything needed to be put back in place. Hezekiah said the people had turned their back on God. Now it was time to turn back. According to 2 Kings 16, in the days of the previous King Ahaz, the holy altar was moved, and its replacement was directed to the east, in the manner of pagan altars instead of toward the west as God commanded. The idea was therefore that under this dangerous innovation, one had to literally turn his back to the temple and the ark of God to stand before the altar.
Verses 10-14. Hezekiah boldly admonishes the priest and Levites to waste no time in getting consecrated and getting the temple back in working order. Hezekiah reminds the leaders that they were chosen by God to serve the Lord on behalf of the people and that their job was vital to the favor of the Lord returning to the community.
Verses 15-19. The priest and Levites assemble to get consecrated and after the time of consecration they began the process to purify the temple. Everything that was unclean in the temple was taken to the city dump to be burned with the rest of the trash. It took them a total of 16 days to completely remove all the unclean items and prepare the temple for the sacred services. The priest and Levites reported to the King that everything was ready and in place. All the holy items that king Ahaz removed were returned, cleaned, and set in their proper place.
Verses 20-24. Early the next morning, the King called the city officials and the people, and they went up to the temple. The king arranged for the priest to offer sin offerings of the Lord to atone for the sins of the nation. They sacrificed seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, seven goats as sin offering. The blood of the sacrifices was sprinkled on the altar to sanctify the altar and prepare it for the other sacrifices. According to Leviticus 4:13, only one lamb and one goat was required, Hezekiah brings much more to offer because he knows the sins of the nation were great. He wants to demonstrate a true spirit of repentance.
Verses 25-28. Now that the sin offerings were completed, it was now time for the burnt offerings. The sin offerings were offered with a solemn posture, but the burnt offerings will be offered with songs of praise and music. Hezekiah stations the singers and musicians in the temple to begin singing and playing when the order for the burnt offering was given. Once the burnt offering began, the Levites played and sang, and the community bowed in worship.
Verses 29-36. The assembly continued to worship using the songs that David and Asaph had written to be sung in the temple. The whole assembly sang with great excitement and joy. The King then told the community to bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the temple. The people were overjoyed and brought such a vast number of animals to be offered that the priest needed the Levites to help with the priestly duties. The offerings were in abundance. The service of the Temple was reestablished, and the community greatly rejoiced.
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