Day 141, 2 Chronicles 29-30

Today started out with the reign of Hezekiah which was partially studied previously on Day 121, 2 Kings 17-18. In a nutshell, Hezekiah was one of the few kings that actually followed the Lord and did what was right in God’s eyes.

It was refreshing to read about Hezekiah again. I don’t understand how very few kings actually followed “the rules.” It just boggles my mind they couldn’t, or chose not to, or whatever the reasoning was. Mainly, “don’t follow false gods,” yet almost all of them did. What the hell!? Continuing on…

In the first year of his reign, Hezekiah opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them to consecrate themselves. Then they went to cleanse the house of the Lord.

They took out all of the uncleanness they found in the temple of the Lord and carried it to the brook Kidron. They began to consecrate on the first day of the month, and on the eighth day they got to the vestibule of the Lord.

Then for eight days they consecrated the house of the Lord, and on the sixteenth day they finished. Then they went to King Hezekiah and told him all that they had done: cleansed all the house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offerings and all its utensils, and the table for the showbread and all its utensils. All the utensils that King Ahaz discarded in his reign when he was faithless, were brought back and consecrated.

Hezekiah rose early and gathered all the officials of the city and went up to the house of the Lord. They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and for Judah. He commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord.

They slaughtered all the offerings and received the blood and threw it on the altar to make atonement for Israel. For the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.

This part again puzzled me. I was perplexed early on when I first read about the offerings, and now reading about them again, especially written like this is just crazy to me. Can you imagine what a sight that must have been? Splattering animal blood on the altar like a psychotic art project. And the mess, or the smell! How did they clean it? Did they ever clean it? It’s just wild to try to imagine what that must’ve been like…

Anyway, the Levites were playing instruments according to the prophets, for the commandment was from the Lord through them. When Hezekiah commanded the burnt offering to be made on the altar, the song of the Lord began also.

The whole assembly worshiped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All of that lasted until the burnt offering was finished. When it was done, the king and all those who were with him, bowed their heads and worshiped.

Since they were all consecrated, Hezekiah told them to bring sacrifices and thank offerings; and all who were of a willing heart did. They had 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs all for the burnt offering to the Lord. The consecrated offerings were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep.

That’s insane all of those animals were slaughtered for an offering! Why so many? What could they have done with them all? I know all who were willing gave, but it just really seems like a lot! There were even more later on in the reading…

In fact, there were so many that the priests could not take care of them all. So until other priests were consecrated, the Levites helped them until the work was finished.

Besides the great number of burnt offerings, there was the fat of the peace offerings, and the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the Lord was restored.

“And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had prepared for the people, for the thing came about suddenly.”

Then it went on to discuss how Hezekiah reestablished the Passover celebration. They made a decree throughout all of Israel that the people should come and keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem, for they had not kept it as often as prescribed.

So letters went throughout all of Israel and Judah telling the people to return to the Lord so that his anger may turn away from them. “For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.”

So the couriers went throughout all the land, but the people mocked them and scorned them. There were some men of Asher, Manasseh, and of Zebulun that humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem.

Many people came together in Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Unleavened bread in the second month. It was a great assembly. They set to work and removed the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for burning incense they took away and threw into the Kidron Valley.

They slaughtered the Passover lamb, but people who were not clean ate of it, which was against the Law of Moses. Hezekiah prayed for them, saying,

The Lord had heard Hezekiah and healed the people. They kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great gladness, and they praised the Lord day by day, singing with all their might to the Lord.

The whole assembly agreed to keep the feast for another seven days with gladness. Hezekiah gave the assembly 1,000 bulls, 7,000 sheep for offerings; and the princes gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. The priests consecrated themselves in great numbers

And I thought there were a lot of animals before! Wow!

The whole assembly of Judah, the priests, the Levites, the whole assembly that came out of Israel, and the sojourners who lived in Judah rejoiced. There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel, there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.

Then the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people, and their voices were heard, and their prayer came to his holy habitation in heaven.