When King Ahaz died he left the kingdom of Judah in shambles. We will recall that Ahaz had built an idolatrous altar in front of the temple of God and closed the temple itself. During the sixteen years of his reign the unused interior of the temple became a dumping ground for trash.

Because God was displeased with King Ahaz Judah was harassed by invasions from the south by Edom and from the west by the Philistines. King Pekah in Israel joined forces with King Rezin of Aram and came from the north to attack Jerusalem. In desperation Ahaz took the wealth of Jerusalem to the king of Assyria and asked for help in defending Judah. The Assyrian king took the money, but gave Ahaz nothing but trouble.

This was the mess that King Hezekiah inherited from his father. He must have looked around and decided that it was better for his people to worship God than idols, so he set about bringing spiritual revival to Israel and Judah.

Hezekiah Reopens the Temple

As soon as Hezekiah ascended to the throne of Judah he opened the doors of the temple and repaired them. He called the priests and Levites to assemble in Jerusalem and ordered them to consecrate themselves and cleanse the temple.

Hezekiah said, “Our parents were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the Lord our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the Lord’s dwelling place and turned their backs on him  . . . Therefore, the anger of the Lord has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of dread and horror and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes.” 2 Chronicles 29:6-8

Israel had fallen to Assyria and Hezekiah didn’t want the same to happen to Judah, so he made a new covenant with God so his fierce anger would be turned away. He told the priests and Levites to consecrate the temple and lead the Israelites in worship there again.

They went to work immediately to purify the temple. It took eight days to haul away the trash and dump it in the Kidron Valley. They spent another eight days cleaning and consecrating the temple and its furnishings.

The Temple is Rededicated

As soon as the temple was cleansed and ready, Hezekiah led the city officials to it and the offerings of sacrifice and atonement began. The priests followed the rituals prescribed in the Law of Moses and Hezekiah ordered the temple musicians to revive the music King David had instituted as part of temple worship.

“When the offerings were finished, the king and everyone present with him knelt down and worshiped. King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed down and worshiped.” 2 Chronicles 29:29-30

So many offerings were brought that the priests couldn’t keep up, so Levites stepped in to help. It took a while for all of the priests and Levites to finish their ritual purifications and be able to return to the work of the temple.

Celebration of the Passover

In Exodus 12 we read about the first Passover in Egypt. God commanded that it be commemorated every year on the tenth day of the first month. Hezekiah decreed that Judah would begin observing Passover in the first year of his reign, but because not enough priests had consecrated themselves by the first month of the year, they moved the celebration to the second month.

Hezekiah sent letters throughout Judah and Israel inviting everyone to come to Jerusalem for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or Passover. He urged the people not to be like their unfaithful parents, but to return to the Lord. God was very angry with Israel and Judah, it was time to come back to him and repent.

The couriers went north into the devastated land of Israel with Hezekiah’s message. There was only a small remnant of Israelites there after the Assyrian invasion and only a few of them were willing to come back to Jerusalem. Most of them ridiculed the idea of returning to God.

But in Judah, the people united to celebrate the Passover. They arrived unconsecrated so they needed a lot of help from the priests in making acceptable offerings. The people who came from Israel actually ate the Passover while still unclean, but Hezekiah prayed for them and the Lord accepted and forgave them.

“The entire assembly of Judah rejoiced, along with the foreigners who had come from Israel and those who resided in Judah. There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. The priests and Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place.” 2 Chronicles 30:25-27

Reforms Bring Revival

After the great Passover celebration the people of Judah went throughout the towns of Judah and smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. They went as far as Ephraim and Manasseh tearing down the high places and destroying altars. Then they went home renewed and at peace with God.

King Hezekiah assigned the priests and Levites their duties and regular worship was re-established at the temple. He revived tithing by giving from his own possessions and soon the people of Judah followed him. A steady income started coming to support the priests. In fact, people were so generous that what they gave had to be heaped up.

“Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the heaps; and Azariah the chief priest, form the family of Zadok, answered, ‘Since the people began to bring their contributions to the temple of the Lord, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare, because the Lord has blessed his people, and this great amount is left over.’” 2 Chronicles 31:9-10

The temple had storerooms along its walls so they prepared and filled them with the freewill offerings the people brought. The Levite Kore son of Imnah was put in charge of distributing the goods to the families of the priests throughout the land and every family had enough.

At this time they began keeping careful records of the genealogies of the priests, too. That would prove to be very important many years later, after the Exile to Babylon.

Hezekiah’s Wholehearted Obedience

Today’s reading ends with such encouraging words.

“This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.” 2 Chronicles 31:20-21

Once again we see that even when people have gone so far away from God it looks like they may be lost forever, the Lord can use one person to turn things around. As soon as people come back to him he forgives and embraces them again. What a great and loving God he is.