Hezekiah:  Repentance

o--343

rr-755

c-- #291

One of my favorite stories in  the Book of Isaiah is about King
Hezekiah and his being confronted with the Assyrian army, and
the great victory that God's people were given at that time. 

If you have ever read that then you may have  turned to the
texts that are given as cross references about King Hezekiah.
These texts were II Kings 18 and II Chronicles 29-32. As I began
to read the Chronicles version, I became more and more impressed
that within the story of Hezekiah lay a strong message for these
who claim to be God's people in the last days.

In continuing to study these chapters, I came to the conclusion
that they almost automatically fell into 4 categories. First,
repentance, then following, revival, reformation, and
deliverance. I believe that these 4 steps are those that are
taken by each Christian individually as they turn  their lives
over to the Lord, but I also see this as speaking of God's
people in a corporate sense, particularly as dealing with
end-time events.

	I believe that we are living in the end time, the remnant of
the end time, if you will,  a time that will conclude with God 
delivering his people. It is for this reason that the Hezekiah
story caught my attention, for the story of Hezekiah is a story
of deliverance of God's people by their Lord in a mighty way.

	To best understand the importance of Hezekiah we should look at
the time in which he was living. The Assyrians from Ninevah were
still the masters of most of the world middle East at that-time.
There were continual wars between them and the Egyptians for
territory and vassals. Israel and Judah were separate with
Israel being known as Samaria at this time. They even warred
between themselves from time to time. 

Hezekiah's father was king Ahaz. The Bible record tells us that
Ahaz did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord. He made
images of Baals and burned ins incense to them. He even went so
far as to offer his children up in the fire to these gods. It is
even possible that Hezekiah saw one of his favorite siblings
offered up as a burnt offering to one of these gods.

II Chron 28;19 tells us, that the Lord brought Judah low because
of Ahaz the king, because he encouraged moral decline in Judah
and was continually unfaithful to the Lord. He took some of the
treasures from the temple and gave them to the Assyrians to try
to get help, when the country was in desperate straits but that
didn't accomplish what was intended. 

Seeing the successes of his conquerors he began to feel that
their gods might be more powerful than Jehovah, and began to
worship them. But the Bible says ''Burt they were the ruin of
him and his family."

He didn't just forsake Jehovah.  He went into the temple and
destroyed much of the furnishings of the temple, and shut the
doors of the temple and built alters of heathen gods throughout
Jerusalem. Not in Jerusalem only, but in every city in Judah.
Possibly because of these actions, when he died he was not
buried with the kings of Israel.

Hezekiah was the son of Ahaz and Abijah, or Abi, as it is
recorded elsewhere. Abijah was  the daughter of Bechariah, who
was a prophet of God. What role he played in the life of Ahaz,
we do not know, but evidently some of the faithfulness of his
grandfather, Zechariah, rubbed off on Hezekiah. I feel that it
is safe to assume that somewhere in his upbringing Hezekiah had
been taught to Love his God. Judging by his actions after his
coronation, it would seem that he understood that the troubles
that were upon his nation ware the result of not following the
will of God.

I believe of the chapters we have on Hezekiah's life, two verses
sum up the whole thing. The first tells us that he did what was
right in the sight of the Lord. The second tells us that in
every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in
the law, and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with
all his heart. So he prospered. 

The first act of Hezekiah has to open the doors of the house of
the Lord and repair them. For years the House of God had been
unused, empty, deserted. Indications are that perhaps it had
even been used for some kind of a dump or storage area.

	But there was one little problem It was against the wishes of
God for anyone but the priests and Levites to be working in the
temple, and only the priests were to go into the holy
apartments. So for the work to go on there had to be religious
leaders to take part in the work. So Hezekiah called the priests
and Levites to the East  square.  2 Chr 29:5 ff records his plea.

	In response to this the priests and Levites sanctified
themselves and went in to clean up the house of God. The priests
went into the inner parts of the sanctuary and brought out trash
and put it in the courtyard. There the Levites picked it up and
took it out and dumped it by the brook Kedron. For 8 days they
worked on cleaning out the temple, and for 8 more days they
cleaned the rest of the  buildings.

It is interesting that the word used for cleansing the temple
means to sanctify or consecrate. So we have the beginning of a
turning back to the Lord starting with a consecrating by
removing garbage from the places of worship, and a repairing of
the damage and neglect that the building had suffered. The
various instruments used in the sanctuary services were also
cleaned and sanctified.

After all of this was accomplished the priests and Levites
reported back to King Hezekiah. The Word tells us that Hezekiah
rose up early, gathered the rulers of the city and went up to
the house of the Lord. He had brought to the temple 7 bulls, 7
rams, 7 lambs, and 7 male goats for sin offerings for the
kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah.

The bulls, rams, and lambs were sacrificed, and their blood
sprinkled on the alter. Evidently this sacrifice was for the
cleansing of the temple. Then the male goats were brought out to
the congregation, and beginning with the king, each of the
members of the congregation confessed his or her sins over the
heads of the goats by laying their hands on their heads. Then
these goats were killed to make atonement and their blood was
presented as a sin offering   for all the sins of the people of
Israel.

AS the offering was being burned on the alter, the Levites began
to make music on their instruments according to the commandment
of the Lord by his prophets 

	2 Chr 29:27-35

2 Chr 29:27  "Then Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt
offering on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the
song of the LORD also began, with the trumpets and with the
instruments of David king of Israel." 

2 Chr 29:28  "So all the assembly worshipped, the singers sang,
and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt
offering was finished."

2 Chr 29:29  "And when they had finished offering, the king and
all who were present with him bowed and worshipped."

2 Chr 29:30  "Moreover King Hezekiah and the leaders commanded
the Levites to sing praise to the LORD with the words of David
and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness, and
they bowed their heads and worshipped."

2 Chr 29:31  "Then Hezekiah answered and said, "Now that you
have consecrated yourselves to the LORD, come near, and bring
sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the LORD." So
the assembly brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and as
many as were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings."

2 Chr 29:32  "And the number of the burnt offerings which the
assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two
hundred lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD."

2 Chr 29:33  "The consecrated things were six hundred bulls and
three thousand sheep."

2 Chr 29:34  "But the priests were too few, so that they could
not skin all the burnt offerings; therefore their brethren the
Levites helped them until the work was ended and until the other
priests had sanctified themselves, for the Levites were more
diligent in sanctifying themselves than the priests."

2 Chr 29:35  "Also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with
the fat of the peace offerings and with the drink offerings for
every burnt offering. So the service of the house of the LORD
was set in order."



 Worshippers sang 

	This continued until burnt offering finished

	Then Hezekiah encourages the people to bring individual
sacrifices to the Lord, as many as were of a willing heart 

	One sad spot in that day:  the priests two few, so the Levites
had to help until enough priests made themselves ready.

But the people were generous with the offerings. So the service
of the house of the Lord was set in order.

The last verse of the chapter tell us that at that time,
Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced that God had prepared the
people, since the events took place so suddenly.

Well, you may be asking, where is the relevance to our time? 
What lesson can we receive from this story of Hezekiah's and the
nation of Judah's repentance

As we look at the broad view of the chapter, we see four main
events. 

-- First, King Hezekiah declares that he wants to make a
covenant with God, or more likely wants to renew the covenant
that his forefather David had  with God.

-- Second, there is the opening of the doors and the cleaning of
the temple. along with the cleansing of the priests and Levites.

-- Third, was the restoration of worship in the temple. A return
to the ways that God had directed them in the past.

-- And fourth, along with this service, was a cleansing of the
nation, a cleansing of the leadership, and a voluntary,
spontaneous outpouring of love for the Lord from the people who
brought many gifts and offerings that the temple services might
be set in order.

But I believe over and beyond all of these events, looms the
statement in that last verse: God prepared the people since
things took place so suddenly.

These steps outline the direction that God would have anyone
take, any church take on the road to renewed vigor for the Lord
and preparation for his coming. Let's look at them one by one.  

Restoration of the Covenant.

This is not something that needs to be done on God's part.  We
are the ones that change.  So to restore the covenant in our
church and our lives means that we turn back to God.  God's law
is part of that covenant, for it shows us how we can show our
love for our Redeemer.  

It may mean different things for different people.  But whatever
the specifics, it means a moving back into God's freedom and
joy.  Psalm 119:165  says, "Great peace have those who love Your
law, And nothing causes them to stumble."

When Hezekiah was bring reformation to his nation he knew well
what he was doing. He knew of the promises and curses in Deut
28. He remembered the blessings that were promised. He knew the
freedom that being in a covenant relationship with God brought.
In fact he knew that was the nations only hope for freedom. That
is the only hope for the Christian in the last days. Many will
cry out Lord, Lord, but few will choose to be part of the
covenanted people.

What stands between us and God today?

Let us reestablish the covenant with the Lord in our lives today.

Next, there was a cleansing of the temple,  priests, and people.
 

	I believe that a representative place for God to worship is
necessary. One can not dwell on the awe and majesty of God and
look at pealing paint, or unkempt surroundings. 

	Beyond that, it is time for us to cleanse our lives of those
things that would stand between our us and our God. It is also
time for us to really come to the realization that we will
always stand as sinners until we turn our sins over to our
Savior. I never cease to be amazed at the number of people
claiming to be God's people who do not believe that they can
place their burdens on the Lamb of God. When we accept Christ we
are saved. That doesn't mean we will never commit another sin.
That doesn't mean that we are instantly in heaven.  No. What it
means is that we have chosen to stand on Christ's side because
he is standing for us if we allow Him.

That means that we have nothing to fear except that we leave his
side.  And if you say that you have given all to Christ, and you
find that you are never happy,  you'd better do some soul
searching, for the process of cleaning may be a painful process
but it is one that brings a joy you never had before.

Next we find that there is a restoration of true worship.  As
unpopular is it may be to say it, there is a right way and a
wrong way to worship.  

 We need to ask in our worship, not what we desire, but what God
desires. As the Isrealites were worshipping the pagan gods, they
turned and faced the sun.  As they did this their back sides
were automatically turned towards the temple, for you see, the
temple faced East, so that when you entered it your back was to
the rising sun. But when idolatry was prevalent, they were
turning to the East and worshipping the rising sun with their
backs to their God. The true God.

It's interesting that the pagan gods of that time were connected
with sun worship. Not much has changed. But to worship the true
God, you have to turn your back on the worship of the sun and
begin the worship of the Son. 

Finally, not only was the worship restored, but it was restored
with out need of  anything. The people supported the work
generously. They didn't examine and pick fault and argue
details. They gave freely for the Lord had blessed them and they
wanted to give to the Lord because of what he had done in their
lives.

But as I said before, perhaps the most significant part of the
entire story thus far is verse 36,  "Then Hezekiah and all the
people rejoiced that GOD had prepared the people since the
events took place so suddenly."

We have been told that the last movements in earth's history
would be rapid ones. We know that when He that will come  does
come, He will not tarry.  We are seeing right now God preparing
the people because he knows that the end will come suddenly. It
is God that is doing the preparing.  It is God that is leading
people to Christ. It is God that will cut short the work in
righteousness. And it is God that we must let work in our hearts
if we are to see the kingdom.

We cannot cleanse the temple of our own accord. We cannot of
ourselves reestablish that covenant with Him. We cannot clean
ourselves to the extent that we can stand before Him spotless.
It is not we who can restore true and honest worship. That is
all the work of God. We cannot even be convicted of our sins
with out the help of the Holy Spirit. Romans 2:4 tells us that
is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. Our
salvation is from God from beginning to end.

I leave you with this question.  Are we as a church ready to let
God work?  Are we as individuals ready to let God work?

Micah 7:7  "Therefore I will look to the LORD; I will wait for
the God of my salvation; My God will hear me." 

Micah 7:8  "Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I
will arise; When I sit in darkness, The LORD will be a light to
me."

Micah 7:9  "I will bear the indignation of the LORD, Because I
have sinned against Him, Until He pleads my case And executes
justice for me. He will bring me forth to the light; I will see
His righteousness."