2 Chronicles 29:1-36

Just when it seems like the spiritual life in Judah was at its lowest and darkest point, The Lord raised up Hezekiah as king.  He was married to the daughter of the prophet Zechariah and his heart was fully dedicated to the Lord and doing what was right before the Lord.  When he took over as the leader of the nation there was so much that needed to be done to restore the people to the Lord and lead them in revival before the Lord that it must have been difficult to decide where to start.  He started where every revival has ever started; with the restoration of worship.  His father had polluted the temple with filth and idolatry.  The people were living in rebellion against the Lord and the priests and Levites were prohibited from doing their job.  Hezekiah started right off from the beginning to make huge changes on his very first month as king.  When we recognize sin around us; we need to spring into action and strive with all that we have to follow the commandments of the Lord.

HEZEKIAH SANCTIFIED THE TEMPLE UNTO THE LORD: Since the nation was so far from the Lord and the temple had been polluted with idols, the first priority was to cleanse the temple and remove all the filth that had been brought into the hose of the Lord.  Hezekiah called the Levites together as his first act as king, giving them clear instructions to cleanse the house of the Lord and sanctify it once again unto the Lord.  The temple was key to the worship of the Lord and in its current state of disrepair it was unusable.  There was a lot of work to be done, and Hezekiah wanted to get started right away.  Before revival can start, we must deal with that which is sinful in our lives.  God wants us to be holy in our walk with Him and live for His honor and glory.  If we want to please the Lord we must begin with examining our own hearts for sin that is displeasing the Lord.

HEZEKIAH SACRIFICED OFFERINGS BEFORE THE LORD: Once the temple was clean, the next priority was to use the temple for its intended purpose of making sacrifices before the Lord.  Hezekiah started the process by offering sacrifices to before the Lord, and then he opened the temple up for the people in general to bring their sacrifices to the Lord.  The number of sacrifices got to be overwhelming as the people brought more than the priests were able to physically sacrifice.  Sin is a serious thing and must never be treated flippantly.  Death is the price of sin and we must always recognize that apart from the sacrifice of Christ, we would all be doomed to death.  We must repent of our sin and confess it as sin before the Lord.  God has made provision for us to have forgiveness of sin through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus.  We must turn from our sin and trust in the death of Christ as the only means by which we can be forgiven.


HEZEKIAH SANG PRAISES TO THE LORD: The result of establishing a right relationship with God should be singing praises to the Lord.  Hezekiah instructed the Levites to gather their instruments and assemble the choir in order that they might lead the people in praise and worship before the Lord.  Now that they had dealt with their sin, this is the appropriate response to having one’s sins forgiven.  The fact that we can be cleansed of sin should fill our hearts with joy and praise before the Lord.  Hezekiah was truly a great and godly leader who had his priorities in line with the will of the Lord.  He took sin seriously and made the worship of the Lord the first item of business in the kingdom.  If we want to live for the glory of God, we must deal with the sin in our lives through the cross and then fill our hearts with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord for His gracious forgiveness.

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