2 Chronicles 29:1-36

2 Chronicles: God desires loyal people

The *Kingdom called Judah

2 Chronicles Chapter s 10 to 36

Ian Mackervoy

Chapter 29

Hezekiah organises *worship in the *temple – 2 Chronicles 29:1-36

v1 Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king. And he ruled for 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah. She was the daughter of Zechariah. v2 Hezekiah did what was right in the opinion of the *LORD. He did as his *ancestor David had done.

v3 In the first month of his first year as king, Hezekiah opened the doors of the *LORD’s *temple. And he repaired them. v4 He brought in the priests and the *Levites. He gathered them in the area on the east side of the *temple. v5 He said, ‘Listen to me, *Levites. Make yourselves holy to serve the *LORD. Make the *LORD’s *temple holy. He is the God of your *ancestors. Take away the rubbish and everything that spoils the *temple. v6 Our *ancestors were not loyal to God. They did what was evil in the opinion of the *LORD. They *turned away from the *LORD. They did not *worship him in the *temple where he lives. They would not serve him. v7 They shut the doors of the entrance to the *temple. They let the fire go out in the lamps. They did not burn *incense or give *sacrifices by fire in the holy place to the God of *Israel. v8 So, the *LORD became very angry with the people in Judah and in Jerusalem. He made them something that causes shock, terror and shame. You know that these things are true. v9 That is why our *ancestors died in battle. And our sons, our daughters and our wives are prisoners in *exile. v10 Now I intend to make an agreement with the *LORD, the God of *Israel. Then his fierce anger will turn away from us. v11 Do not waste any time, my sons. The *LORD chose you to stand in front of him and to serve him. He chose you to be his servants and to burn *incense to him.’

v12 Then the *Levites started to work. There were *Levites from the family of Kohath. They were Mahath, the son of Amasai and Joel, the son of Azariah. And from the family of Merari there were Kish, the son of Abdi and Azariah, the son of Jehallelel. And from the family of Gershom there were Joah, the son of Zimmah and Eden, the son of Joah.

v13 From Elizaphan’s family there were Shimri and Jeiel. And from Asaph’s family there were Zechariah and Mattaniah.

v14 From Heman’s family there were Jehiel and Shimei. And from Jeduthun’s family there were Shemaiah and Uzziel.

v15 They gathered all the *Levites and they all made themselves holy for the work of the *temple. Then they went into the *LORD’s *temple to make it clean. So, they obeyed the king’s command that had come from the *LORD. v16 The priests went into the inner part of the *LORD’s *temple to clean it. They found in the *temple things that were not clean. They carried all these things out to the outer area of the *temple. Then the *Levites took these things out of the city to the Kidron Valley. v17 They started on the first day of the first month. On the 8th day, they went into the *LORD’s entrance hall. And for 8 more days, they did the ceremonies to make the *LORD’s *temple holy. They finished on the 16th day of the first month.

v18 Then they went to King Hezekiah. They said to him, ‘We have cleaned all of the *LORD’s *temple. We have made ready the *altar for *sacrifices by fire. We have cleaned the table for the holy bread and all things for use in the *temple. v19 When King Ahaz *turned from the *LORD, he removed some things from the *temple. We have brought them back and we have made them clean. They are now in front of the *LORD’s *altar.’

v20 Early the next morning, King Hezekiah gathered the leaders of the city. And they went up to the *LORD’s *temple. v21 They brought 7 *bulls, 7 male sheep, 7 young sheep and 7 male goats. These were a *sacrifice because of the *sin of the people and of the *kingdom called Judah. Also, they were to make the *LORD’s *temple clean. The king told the priests, the *descendants of Aaron, to *sacrifice these animals on the *LORD’s *altar. v22 So, the priests killed the *bulls and they put some of the *bulls’ blood on the *altar. Then they killed the male sheep and they put some of the blood on the *altar. Then they killed the young sheep and they put some of the blood on the *altar. v23 The priests brought to the king and to the people the male goats. These goats were for *sacrifices because of *sin. The king and the people put their hands on the goats. v24 Then the priests killed the goats. They brought the blood of the goats and they put it on the *altar. This was a *sacrifice for God to remove the *sins of all *Israel’s people. The priests did this because the king told them to do it. They gave *sacrifices by fire and *sacrifices because of the *sins of *Israel.

v25 Hezekiah sent *Levites into the *LORD’s *temple with *cymbals, *harps and *lyres. This was how David, Gad and Nathan had arranged. Gad was David’s *prophet and Nathan was a *prophet. This order came from the *LORD by his *prophets. v26 So, the *Levites stood ready with David’s instruments of music. And the priests stood ready with their *trumpets.

v27 Then Hezekiah gave the order to give the *sacrifice by fire on the *altar. At the start of the *sacrifice by fire, they began to sing to the *LORD. The *trumpets sounded. The musicians played the instruments of David, the king of *Israel. v28 All the people praised the *LORD and the singers sang. The *trumpets sounded. This continued until the *sacrifice by fire was finished.

v29 The priests completed the *sacrifices. Then King Hezekiah and all who were with him fell down to *worship. v30 King Hezekiah and his officers ordered the *Levites to sing praise to the *LORD. They sang the words that David and Asaph the *prophet had used. So they sang praises to God. And with joy they fell down and they *worshipped.

v31 Then Hezekiah said, ‘You people from Judah have given yourselves to the *LORD. Now come near and bring *sacrifices and gifts of thanks to the *LORD’s *temple.’ So the people brought *sacrifices and gifts of thanks. All who wanted to bring them brought *sacrifices for the priests to burn.

v32 For *sacrifices by fire, the people brought 70 *bulls, 100 male sheep and 200 young sheep. They *sacrificed all these animals as gifts to the *LORD. v33 The total of all the *sacrifices was 600 *bulls and 3000 sheep and goats. v34 The priests were too few to take the skin off all the animals for the *sacrifices by fire. So, their relatives, the *Levites helped them until they had finished the work. And other priests made themselves holy for the work. The *Levites had been more careful than the priests had been. They were more ready to serve the *LORD. v35 There were many *sacrifices by fire. Also, there was the fat of the *sacrifices for peace. And there were the gifts of drink for the *sacrifices by fire.

So, the priests and the people started again the *worship in the *LORD’s *temple. v36 Hezekiah and all the people were very happy because of what God had done for his people. They were happy because all this had happened very quickly.

Verses 1-2 Hezekiah became king when Ahaz died in about 715 *BC. He ruled in Jerusalem for 29 years to about 687 or 686 *BC. He had a very different character from that of his father. Hezekiah, like his *ancestor David, tried to serve the *LORD. He trusted the *LORD as no other king of Judah did. He removed the high places for *worship and he broke down the *Asherah poles (31:1). Unlike earlier kings, he did not *turn away from the *LORD all the days of his life. Because he trusted the *LORD, the *LORD was with him. And the *LORD gave to him great success.

Verses 3-11 As soon as he became king, Hezekiah opened the doors of the *temple. He started to repair all the damage that people had done during the rule of Ahaz. This was in the first month of the *temple year. The first month was the month Nisan, that is, about March or April. The *Israelites also have an ordinary new year, which starts in the month Tisri (about October).

Hezekiah started to prepare the *temple for the *worship of the *LORD. First, he had to get the priests and the *Levites ready for their work. He gathered them at the area for priests by the east gate of the *temple. He told them to get themselves ready to serve the *LORD. And he ordered them to clean the *temple of all rubbish and to make the *temple ready for *worship. This must include the removal of images and strange *altars from the *temple area.

Then he spoke about the failure of their *ancestors. They *turned from the *LORD and they closed the *temple. They did not *worship the *LORD, as he had demanded. Because of this, the *LORD was angry with Judah and with Jerusalem. That is why many of them died in battles. And that is why many of their people were still in *exile.

Hezekiah intended to *turn back to the *LORD. He wanted to start again the *worship of God in the *LORD’s *temple. He told the priests and the *Levites to do the tasks that the *LORD had called them to. Then he believed that the *LORD would not be angry with them.

Verses 12-14 Kohath, Merari, and Gershom were the three families that made up the *tribe of Levi (1 Chronicles 6:1). All the priests and the *Levites came from that *tribe.

Elizaphan was a grandson of Kohath (Exodus 6:22). King David appointed Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun with their families to lead the music and *worship in the *temple (1 Chronicles 25:1-6). The leaders of the *Levites were two from each of the three families. In addition, there were two leaders from Elizaphan’s family. And there were two leaders each from the three musical families. These men were the 14 leaders of the *Levites.

Verses 15-19 These 14 leaders with all the other *Levites made themselves ready for work in the *temple. Only the priests could go into the inner part. So, they went in. And they brought out all that should not be there. Then the *Levites took all those things and the rubbish to the Kidron Valley. The Kidron Valley was to the east of the *temple.

They started work on the first day of the month Nisan (March or April). And it took them a week to clear all the rubbish. Then the priests and the *Levites made the *temple holy for the *LORD. This took another 8 days. The *temple was ready for *worship by the 16th day of the month. That was two days after the *Passover *feast should have started.

They told the king that they had completed the task. They had cleaned the *temple and all that was in it. They had put back the things that Ahaz had taken out (2 Chronicles 28:24; 2 Chronicles 28:2 Kings 16:17).

Verses 20-24 As soon as he could, Hezekiah brought the leaders of Jerusalem to the *temple. They provided the right number of animals for *sacrifices. Then Hezekiah told the priests to give *sacrifices to the *LORD because of his *sins and the people’s sins. The priests gave these *sacrifices and they put some of the blood on the *altar.

The first *sacrifices for *sin were on behalf of the king and his family. The next *sacrifices were to clean the *temple. Then there were *sacrifices because of the *sins of the priests. Then there were *sacrifices because of the *sins of the people in Judah and *Israel.

The king and the people put their hands on the goats. This act was to confess their *sins. The animals would die so that God could take away those *sins.

Verses 25-30 Hezekiah told the *Levites to lead *worship as they had in David’s time. David with Gad and Nathan had appointed *Levites to lead in music. They appointed singers and those who played instruments of music. And David had provided the *cymbals, *harps, *lyres and *trumpets that they had to use.

Hezekiah ordered the priests to give the first *sacrifice by fire. Then the musicians started to sing and to play their instruments. And all the people *worshipped the *LORD. This continued until the priests had completed the *sacrifice by fire.

Then the priests gave all the other *sacrifices. The king and all the people there *worshipped the *LORD. The *Levites sang the songs of David and of Asaph. And all the people praised God with joy.

Verses 31-36 The people there had *turned back to the *LORD. The priests had given the *sacrifices because of their *sin. The removal of *sin has a purpose. That is to make people able to serve and to praise the *LORD. Now at Hezekiah’s invitation, they brought *sacrifices to give thanks to the *LORD.

The people brought a large number of animals for *sacrifices by fire. But there were too few priests to prepare the animals for *sacrifice. So, other *Levites had to help them. They could prepare the *sacrifices but only the priests could offer the *sacrifices.

There were priests who had not made themselves ready for the work in the *temple. They had not done as Hezekiah asked them to do (verse 5). Probably many of the priests had supported Ahaz in the *worship of other gods. A few years earlier, Urijah the priest had made a foreign *altar for Ahaz (2 Kings 16:10-16). The *Levites had done better than the priests had. But these priests now made themselves ready for the work.

There were three main types of *sacrifice. First, there were the *sacrifices because of *sin. Then there were the *sacrifices by fire for *dedication. And there were the *sacrifices for peace. At the *sacrifices for peace, the people shared a meal together and they gave thanks to God.

The regular *temple *worship had started again. And the people were happy about it.

kingdom ~ the place or territory where a king rules; or, the people that a king rules over.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or of other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It means that God has always been.
lord ~ someone with authority such as the king.
ancestors ~ people in history that your family has come from.
Levite ~ a person who belongs to the tribe of Levi.
tribe ~ the *Israelites were divided into the 12 families of the sons of Jacob. These families are the 12 tribes of *Israel.
turn ~ to decide to support someone. Or, to decide to oppose someone. If a person ‘turns away from God’, that person decides not to be loyal to God. If a person ‘turns to God’, that person decides to be loyal to God.
incense ~ something that gives a sweet smell when it burns. The priests burned it when they praised God in the temple.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or of other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
sacrifice ~ something that people give to God. If it was an animal, the priests would burn all or part of it on an altar. That was to say thank you to God, or to ask him to forgive. God made Jesus to be a sacrifice because of our sins. To sacrifice is to give a sacrifice.
altar ~ the special table that someone made out of stone or wood or metal; on it they burnt animals or they offered other gifts to God or to false gods.
sin ~ sin is the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. Those who sin are sinners.
exile ~ people who have to live in a foreign country are in exile. Such a person is an exile. The exile means the time when the Jews were in exile.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
altar ~ the special table that someone made out of stone or wood or metal; on it they burnt animals or they offered other gifts to God or to false gods.
bull ~ the male animal that mates with a cow.
sin ~ sin is the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. Those who sin are sinners.
kingdom ~ the place or territory where a king rules; or, the people that a king rules over.
descendant ~ a future member of a family or of a nation.
cymbal ~ a musical instrument. A person hits two of them together and they make a loud noise.
harp ~ a musical instrument that has many strings.
lyre ~ a musical instrument with strings.
prophet ~ person who speaks on behalf of God. He or she can sometimes say what will happen in the future. Some prophets worshipped false gods. So, not all prophets spoke words from God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
trumpet ~ a musical instrument; it makes a sound when a person blows into it.
BC ~ years before Christ was born.
Asherah ~ a female god.
tribe ~ the *Israelites were divided into the 12 families of the sons of Jacob. These families are the 12 tribes of *Israel.
Passover ~ one of the special feasts when the Jews remember how God brought them out of Egypt.
feast ~ a large meal; but in this book a feast is often a special time when the people came together to worship God.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
feast ~ a large meal; but in this book a feast is often a special time when the people came together to worship God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
dedication ~ the ceremony when you dedicate something to God.
dedicate ~ to give to God in a special way.