2CO 29-31Mamma. It is pleasant to turn from the wicked reign of Ahaz, to that of his son Hezekiah; he was the first king since Jehoshaphat who walked in the ways of his father David. The Spirit of God always connects each one with David; because he was the head of the family in whom they were blessed. He began his reign by trying to undo what his father had done in Jerusalem. He opened the doors of the Lord's house which Ahaz had shut, and repaired what Ahaz had broken. And he brought back the priests and Levites, and made them sanctify themselves to serve in the Lord's house. Then they put away all that was unclean and threw it into the brook Kidron, and Hezekiah mourned over the way the lamps had been put out, no incense burnt to the Lord; so that Israel had become a disgrace before the nations. And the king said it was in his heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel that He might turn away His anger from them. And after their eight days of cleansing, the king went up with all the rulers to the house of the Lord. And they killed burnt-offerings, and peace-offerings, and sin-offerings and sprinkled the blood upon the altar to make atonement for Israel. For the king commanded that it should be for all Israel.
S. Did that mean that he made atonement for all the children of Israel as well as for Judah and Benjamin?
M. Yes. Atonement was needed for all, and his faith took in all Israel. This pointed on to the one offering by which the Lord Jesus Christ has perfected forever, them that are sanctified. Hezekiah goes back to the word spoken by the Lord's prophets, Nathan and Gad; for there is no recovery for the people of God until they go back to His word. The instruments of David are there. They sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped. Then the king invited the people to bring thank-offerings to the Lord; which they did; and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings.
And here the Levites had to do priests' work, because all the priests had not sanctified themselves, for the Levites were more upright in heart than the priests. When all was set in order, Hezekiah rejoiced that God had prepared the people. For God, alone could make this sudden change. Hezekiah had a heart for all the people of the Lord; for he wrote letters to all the other tribes, inviting them to come up to Jerusalem to keep the passover.
S. Did they not keep the pass-over every year?
M. No. It had not been properly kept for a long time, and now they could not do it till the second month. It ought to have been on the fourteenth day of the first month. And the men who carried the letters from the king went from city to city, God's ambassadors, inviting the people to turn to the Lord. For God was saying: Seek ye My face. Some here and some there, said, Thy face, Lord, we will seek. But others laughed and mocked, just as lost sinners do now when God's servants tell them of God's salvation from coming judgment.
S. Was it wrong to keep the passover the second month instead of the first?
M. No. For in the book of Numbers (9:10) it is said that if any one is unclean, as Judah was; or if any one is far away, as Israel was; they might wait till the second month, in order to give every one time to sanctify himself. It was a confession of their state before God, to say that they were not ready to keep the passover in the first month. A very great congregation gathered at Jerusalem-many from the other tribes, from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, who had not cleansed themselves, yet they were allowed to eat the Passover; the Levites killing it for them: They could not kill the lamb themselves, because they were not clean. And Hezekiah stood as intercessor and prayed for them, saying: The good Lord pardon every one The Lord heard his prayer and healed the people. They kept the feast for seven days, with gladness and singing, and the king spoke comfortingly to the Levites who taught the people the good knowledge of the Lord. They feasted before the Lord, and offered peace-offerings and made confession for the people. So there was great joy in Jerusalem; there had been nothing like it since the time of Solomon.
S. Solomon said they would be blessed when they came to pray in that house.
M. Yes. And now they proved the faithfulness of God; for when the priests and Levites rose up to bless the people, their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to His holy dwelling-place, even into heaven.
When the feast was over the people all went home, to cast out all their false gods; not only in Judah, but through all the land of Israel. Then the king invited the people to bring a tithe, or tenth part, of all their possessions to the Lord. And they offered in abundance the first-fruits of their fields, so that they made great heaps. It must have been a remarkable sight. In one place an enormous heap of grapes, in another of corn, and so on, wine, oil, honey, and sheep and cattle.
Then Hezekiah questioned them, to see if they had enough to eat themselves; and they said, Oh yes, we have more than enough, because the Lord has blessed His people, and there is still this great store left. So the king had chambers made to the house of the Lord, to keep the things in that were given to the Lord. These were kept by faithful men, whose names are remembered; and also the genealogy of their wives and their little ones.
Whatever the king began to do, he did it with all his heart and prospered.