The Second Book of the Chronicles
2 Chronicles 29
Chapter XXIX · Vol. II, pp. 878–880
1 Hezekiah's good reign. 3 He restoreth religion. 5 He exhorteth the Levites to cleanse the house of God. 12 They sanctify themselves, and cleanse the house of God. 20 Hezekiah offereth solemn sacrifices, wherein the Levites were more forward than the priests.
1 Hezekiah begana to reign when he was five and twenty years old;1 and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of bZechariah.2
B.C. 726.
a 2 Ki.18.1-8.
1 See note on 2 Ki.18.2.—C.
b ch.26.5. Is.8.2.
2 The daughter of that godly and faithful prophet mentioned, ch.26.5. And a striking instance of the hereditary blessing so frequently derived from a godly mother.—C.
2 And he cdid that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.
3 He, in the dfirst year of his reign,3 in the first month, eopened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them.4
d Ec.9.10. Ps.119.59,60. Pr.8.17. ch.34.3.
3 'What is well begun,' saith a common proverb, 'is nearly ended.' For to begin a work of reformation is the greatest difficulty. And yet 'the lion in the way' (Pr.22.13) is not so dangerous as procrastination, that promises for hereafter, but can attempt nothing now. Happy Hezekiah who begins well, and begins immediately.—C.
e ch.28.24. 2 Ki.16.14.
4 The public worship at the temple was entirely suppressed during the latter years of king Ahaz. The only reason advanced for a contrary opinion is this: it is not said that the sacred fire on the altar of burnt-offering was extinguished, or that it was rekindled by fire from heaven, as at the dedication of the temple. If, however, the service was not entirely put a stop to, the people in general were shut out from attending.—I.
4 And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street,
5 And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites; fSanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth gthe filthiness out of the holy place.5
g 2 Ki.16.12, i.e. idols, &c.
5 Ahaz had shut up the doors of the temple (ch.28.24; 29.7); but before doing so, it may have been grossly defiled with his abominable sacrifices. But the gates and the courts being left open, and probably employed as a market-place (see Mat.21.13), there would be much accumulation of filthiness in the courts and chambers, which were all called by the common name of holy places.—C.
6 For hour fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs.6
h ch.28.2-4,23-25. Je.2.27.
6 Heb. given the neck.
7 Also they have ishut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burnt incense nor offered burnt-offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel.
i ch.28.24, with Le.24.1-8.
8 Wherefore the kwrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.
k ch.24.18; 28.5,6,17-19. 1 Ki.9.8. Le.26.14-39. De.28.15-51.
9 For, lo, lour fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons, and our daughters, and our wives, are in captivity for this.7
l Le.26.17. ch.28.5-8,17-19.
7 Alluding to the captivity, ch.28.5, and the terrible defeat, 28.6.—C.
10 Now it is min mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.
m 1 Ki.8.17. 2 Ki.11.17. ch.15.12; 34.30-32. Ezr.10.3. Ne.ix.x. 2 Co.8.5.
11 My sons,8 ben not now negligent: for the LORD hath ochosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn9 incense.1
8 Speaking in the spirit of adoption, and exhorting them as a father would exhort his dear children.—C.
n Or, be not now deceived, 1 Co.6.10.
A.M. 3278. B.C. 726.
9 Or, offer sacrifice.
1 Hezekiah acted the part of a God-fearing monarch. He used his influence and his power to promote the spiritual welfare of his kingdom. He became a father to the nation. He instructed the priests, and stirred them up to a discharge of their proper duties. He warned the people, by showing what calamities had befallen them on account of their neglect of religion. All this is an example and a lesson to Christian kings and rulers in our days.—P.
12 Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the pKohathites: and of the sons of Merari; Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalelel: and of the Gershonites; Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah:
13 And of the sons of qElizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and rof the sons of Asaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah:
q Le.10.4.
r 1 Ch.6.31-47; 25?.2,3,9-31.
14 And of the sons of Heman; Jehiel, and Shimei: and of the sons of Jeduthun; Shemaiah, and Uzziel.
15 And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, sby the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.
s Or, in the business of the LORD, ch.30.12.
16 And the priests went into the tinner part of the house of the LORD, to cleanse it,2 and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad uinto the brook Kidron.
t 1 Ki.6.33, i.e. the sanctuary and holy of holies.
2 The priests only, by divine command, might go into the inner part, the holy of holies, even to cleanse it—the emblem of Christ, by his Spirit, alone able to enter the heart, cleanse it from all inward pollution, carrying the love of the world out of it, and leaving behind nothing but 'holiness to the Lord,' 2 Co.7.1. Col.1.27. 1 Jn.2.15. Ja.1.21.—C.
u De.9.21. 1 Ki.2.37. 2 Ki.23.6,12. ch.15.16; 30.14.
17 Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the xporch of the LORD: so they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.3
18 Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, and the yaltar of burnt-offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the show-bread table, with all the vessels thereof.
y ch.4.1,8,16-22. 2 Ki.16.14.
19 Moreover, zall the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away4 in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before the altar of the LORD.
z ch.28.24. 2 Ki.16.14,17,18.
4 Ahaz had cut all the vessels in pieces—these they had prepared by recasting or soldering, and sanctified by washing for divine service. C.——The Targum says, 'All the vessels which king Ahaz had polluted and rendered abominable by strange idols, when he reigned in his transgression against the Word of the Lord, we have collected and hidden; and others have we prepared to replace them, and they are now before the Lord.' And so the Sept. and Vulg., instead of 'cast away,' have 'profaned.' And thus Boothroyd.—I.
20 Then Hezekiah the king arose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD.
a Ge.22.3. Ex.24.4. Jos.6.12. Ec.9.10. Ps.119.59,60.
21 And they brought bseven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he-goats, for a sin-offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah:5 and he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the LORD.
b 1 Ch.15.26. Le.4.3-14. 2 Co.5.21. He.10.10-14; 9.13-15. 1 Pe.1.18,19; 2.24; 3.18. 1 Jn.2.2; 4.10.
5 There were two kinds of offering on the occasion, a sin and a burnt offering, ver.23,27. The seven bullocks, and the seven rams and seven lambs, were for the burnt-offering, Le.1.5,10. Now the law required but one of each as a sacrifice, but did not forbid the consecutive offering of any number. Then the seven goats were for the sin-offering (ver.23), agreeably to Le.9.15, which might likewise be offered consecutively. These two offerings combined completed the emblematic atonement, Le.9.7; ver.24; the seven representing time, work, rest, and blessing (Ex.20.11), completeness—the sacrifice representing him 'whose blood cleanseth from all sin,' 1 Jn.1.7.—C.
22 So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and csprinkled it on the altar: 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.
23 And they brought forth6 the he-goats for the sin-offering before the king and the congregation;7 and they laid their dhands upon them:
A.M. 3278. B.C. 726.
6 Heb. near.
7 Not the whole multitude, that would have been impracticable; but the congregation of the chiefs, as their representatives.—C.
d Le.4.15,24; 1.4.
24 And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, 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.
25 Andf he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the LORD by8 his prophets.9
f 1 Ch.15.16,22; 16.4,5,42; 25.1-6.
8 Heb. by the hand of.
9 The temple psalmody was regulated with the concurrence of these other prophets, as well as by the appointment of David.—I.
27 And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt-offering upon the altar. And when the burnt-offering began, the isong of the LORD began2 also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel.
i ch.7.3; 20.21. Ps.cxxxvi.; 81.1,2; 150.3,5.
2 The simultaneous commencement of sacrifice and praise, is to teach that the Lord is to be praised on earth for the institution of the great sacrifice; for which even in heaven 'they sing a new song, saying, Thou art worthy, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us unto God by thy blood,' Re.5.9.—C.
28 And all the congregation worshipped, and the ksingers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt-offering was finished.
k Heb. song, Ps.89.15.
29 And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him, lbowed themselves, and worshipped.
30 Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the LORD with mthe words of David, and of Asaph the seer:3 and they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.
m 1 Ch.16.7-36. Ps.xcv. &c.
3 These noble and inspiring words are contained in 1 Ch.xvi.; also in Ps.cv.xcv.xcvi. The church and people of God in every age may adopt them in rendering praise to their heavenly King.—P.
31 Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the LORD, come near, and bring nsacrifices and thank-offerings into the house of the LORD. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank-offerings; and as many as were of a free heart, burnt-offerings.4
n Ex.12.27. Le.3.16; i.-iii. De.32.38.
4 The burnt-offering was wholly consumed upon the altar, Le.1.9,13, the peace-offering was mostly allotted to the offerer and his friends. Compare Le.3.3,4,9,10,14,15 with vii.15,16. Therefore he that presented the burnt-offering evinced the 'free heart,' the more generous spirit.—C.
32 And the onumber 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-offering5 to the LORD.
33 And the pconsecrated things were six hundred oxen, and three thousand sheep.
A.M. 3278. B.C. 726.
p Peace-offerings, ver.31; ch.7.4,5.
34 But the qpriests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt-offerings: wherefore their rbrethren the Levites did help them,6 till the work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.
q Sanctified ones, ver.5,6; ch.30?.16,17.
r ch.35.11; 30.17.
6 Heb. strengthened them.
35 And also the burnt-offerings were in abundance, with the sfat of the peace-offerings, and the tdrink-offerings for every burnt-offering. So the service of the house of the LORD was set in order.
t Ge.35.14. Le.23.13. Nu.15.5-10.
36 And Hezekiah urejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly.7
u 1 Ch.29.9,18. ch.15.15; 23.18,21; 30.21,26. 2 Co.1.12. 1 Th.2.19,20.
7 Prepared them by his Holy Spirit to perceive the folly and sin of idolatry, and the wisdom and blessing of the worship of Jehovah; and so deep, so decided, and so sudden was this reformation, that all acknowledged it must be the hand of God.—C.
Notes
Reflections.—What strange alterations the change of a sovereign may produce in a nation! And great is the mercy when God gives good men power after they have long been unwilling spectators of wickedness. It is highly honourable when those in high stations give to the Lord the first beginnings of their power and influence. And when God gives opportunity, with earnestness, humble grief, and holy zeal, should men reform their neglects and turn to the Lord. Corrupters of religion often leave the church and ordinances of God in the greatest confusion. And it is necessary to ponder the punishments of former sins in order to render us hearty and active in our reformation. And much may be done in a short time if all concerned be diligent. Honourable are those ministers whom God stirs up to be leaders in the work of reformation, to provoke their brethren to jealousy: and glorious is the sight when they cheerfully work to one another's hands in reforming the church;—when kings, princes, priests, and people vie with one another in improving Jesus Christ as the great propitiation for sins, and in serious repentance of former sins, and returning to the observance of all God's ordinances, grudging neither cost nor care! They will then find their work much more easy than they expected. But, alas! that priests, who ought to be leaders, are often the most unqualified and careless; and need so repeatedly to be stirred up to that which is peculiarly their work! But they who love God's altar will delight to support the service; and past neglects will quicken them to more abundant diligence.