Hezekiah began to reign. 2 Chronicles 29:1-11 Hezekiah's reformation T. S. Barbour. The surroundings of Hezekiah in his youth seem, at first view, to have been unfavourable in the extreme. He was the son of a depraved father. He grew up at a corrupt court. Good kings and bad follow one another in very illogical succession. It must be that there is a self-acting power at the centre of every personal life. Let us cling to the belief, too, that, however vast the moral inequalities of human lives may be, no life is allowed by the Creator to be altogether destitute of gracious influences. In Hezekiah's case, at least, we can have no doubt that such influences were present. It is not unnatural to believe that his mother, presumably the daughter of Zechariah, the faithful prophet of King Uzziah's day, was a woman of devout character. To the loving nurture of a mother was added the faithful counsel of godly men. Moral giants lived in those days. Micah was prophesying, Nahum was about to begin his work. During the entire lifetime of Hezekiah, Isaiah was fulfilling his office in Jerusalem. Tradition says that he was Hezekiah's tutor; there can be no doubt that he was his faithful counsellor. Repulsed by the father, he would naturally turn with greater earnestness to the son. But all this touches only the outer circle of the gracious influences by which Hezekiah was encompassed. It has been said, and there is a world of truth in the saying, that more than half of the environment of any man is — God. The God who is not far from every one of us was near to the young prince in the corrupt capital of Judah. We have good reason for believing that Hezekiah had not been unresponsive to his heavenly promptings. A work begun so quickly after his accession to the throne must have been premeditated. We must suppose that Hezekiah had lived a thoughtful life. The character of the work to which the king addressed himself is deserving of attention. It was a radical work. Great as was the peril to which the kingdom was exposed from external attack, great as was its moral unsoundness, Hezekiah saw that all its trouble was rooted in ungodliness. The king's initial sot in "opening the doors of the house of the Lord" was, it is likely, more philosophical than he himself realised. Reverence for God lies at the basis of all that is trustworthy in private character and of all that is enduring in public order. Hezekiah's reform was also positive in nature. It addressed itself not chiefly to the extermination of idolatry, but to the development of a genuine faith. Of their own accord the people went out to "break in pieces" the emblems of idolatry. When God wishes to regenerate the soul He does not at the outset uproot sinful affections, He implants love for Himself. Hezekiah's was a thoroughgoing work. The taunting charge of illiberality could not extort from him the smallest concession to the false religions of other lands. Not only image and "grove" — the sacred pillar or tree of Astarte — were to be hewn down, but the worship of the "high places" was to be destroyed. Of Asa and Jehoshaphat we are told both that they did and that they did not interfere with this form of worship. They probably destroyed such sanctuaries as had become openly idolatrous, and allowed the others to remain. But Hezekiah adopted extreme measures. The brazen serpent fashioned by Moses in the wilderness, and still preserved, the people regarded with superstitious veneration. Hezekiah declared that the image was like any other "piece of brass," and broke it in pieces. Hezekiah would not consent that even the germs of idolatry should remain in the land. How difficult was the mission to which Hezekiah thus committed himself! In the mode of procedure adopted by Hezekiah in carrying through his reformation are certain things worthy of notice. 1. It is peculiarly gratifying to observe that he acted promptly. The die was cast. In the first month of his reign Hezekiah, like Abraham, who, when bidden to offer Isaac, "rose up early in the morning and went to the place of which God had told him," was wise in allowing himself no time for hesitation. Delay never softens the hard aspects of duty or lessens its difficulties. For committing one's self to the service of Christ no other time is so favourable as the first year, the first month, the first day, of one's entrance upon a new sort or period of life. 2. It is instructive to notice that Hezekiah engaged personally in the work of reform. He did not commit it all to subalterns. 3. Deserving of special mention is the fact that in the prosecution of his policy Hezekiah relied chiefly upon moral influences. He might have compelled, but he chose rather to persuade. In this he showed the utmost wisdom. If the reform was to be real, the hearts of the people must be enlisted in it. We are, finally, prepared to inquire what results were effected by the king's determined effort. The immediate outcome was most gratifying and most wonderful. The officers of religion responded — the priests somewhat slowly, but the Levites with all their hearts. The people did the same. The nation felt to its utmost limits the electric thrill of a new life. The crusade against idolatry waxed strong throughout the kingdom, and "a burst of spring-time," as Dean Stanley beautifully calls it, succeeded. "The thing was done suddenly," the record says. But is not the same true of well-nigh every successful reform? Those advocating a righteous cause have at least two excellent reasons for viewing it with larger hope than external appearances warrant. Something in every moral being is in secret alliance with truth and justice. The second reason is stronger still; it is that by which the sacred historian explains the success of Hezekiah: "The Lord had prepared the people." We may reckon with confidence upon God's care over any work of His. To the reformatory work of King Hezekiah must be attributed a result still more imposing, though to be sure not more important. It delivered the southern kingdom from the fearful peril by which the northern kingdom had been overwhelmed. Is it not a painful thing to have to add that even so thorough a reform as this did not prove lasting? Some of the people doubtless remained steadfast, but the most fell away. ( T. S. Barbour. ) Hezekiah, the good king Sunday School Times. I. Hezekiah's GOOD BEGINNING. 1. Correct in life (ver. 2). 2. Prompt in action (ver. 8). 3. Holy in influence (ver. 5). II. Hezekiah's SAD CONFESSION. 1. The Lord forsaken (ver. 6). 2. The sanctuary abandoned (ver. 7). 3. The penalty incurred (ver. 8). III. Hezekiah's WISE APPEAL. 1. To make a covenant (ver. 10). 2. To avert wrath (ver. 10). 3. To perform duty (ver. 11). ( Sunday School Times. ) Hezekiah's reformation T. Manton, D.D. The best way to settle a kingdom is to settle the religion of it, to begin reigning with reforming. Hezekiah's reformation went on in a true step and pace, for it began first with the temple and ministry. It is but Christian prudence to cleanse the spring if we would have the stream clear; to look to God's house, and those that should dispense His Word and ordinances if we would have the people brought into conformity with Him. ( T. Manton, D.D. ) Starting well A friend, who is deeply interested in work for Christ among our sailors, told me that at the close of a prayer-meeting of which he had been the leader, a young seaman, who had only a few nights before been converted, came up to him, and laying a blank card before him, requested him to write a few words upon it, because, as he said, "You will do it more plainly than I can." "What must I write?" said my friend. "Write these words, sir; 'I love Jesus — do you?'" After he had written them, my friend said, "Now you must tell me what you are going to do with the card." He replied, "I am going to sea to-morrow, and I am afraid if I do not take a stand at once I may begin to be ashamed of my religion, and let myself be laughed out of it altogether. Now as soon as I go on board, I shall walk straight to my bunk and nail up this card upon it, that every one may know that I am a Christian." Hezekiah's action, the result of previous brooding A. Maclaren, D.D. The statement in ver. 8 may be taken as a general resume of what follows in detail, but this vigorous speech to the priests was clearly among the new king's first sets. No doubt his purpose had slowly grown while his father was affronting Heaven with his mania for idols. Such decisive, swift action does not come without protracted, previous brooding. The hidden fires gather slowly in the silent crater, however rapidly they burst out at last. ( A. Maclaren, D.D. ) Taking the right stand at first A. Maclaren, D. D. We can never begin good things too early, and when we come into new positions, it is always prudence as well as bravery to show our colours unmistakably from the first. Many a young man, launched among fresh associations, has been ruined because of beginning with temporising timidity. It is easier to take the right standing at first than to shift to it afterwards. Hezekiah might have been excused if he had thought that the wretched state of political affairs left by Ahaz needed his first attention. Edomites on the east, Philistines on the west and south, Syrians and Assyrians on the north, compassed him about like bees, and worldly prudence would have said, Look after these enemies to-day, and the temple to-morrow. He was wiser than that, knowing that these were effects of the religious corruption, and so he went at that first. It is useless trying to mend a nation's fortunes unless you mend its morals and religion. And there are some things which are best done quickly, both in individual and national life. Leaving off bad habits by degrees is not hopeful. The only thing to be done is to break with them utterly and at once. One strong, swift blow, right through the heart, kills the wild beast. Slighter cuts may make him bleed to death, but he may kill you first. The existing state was undeniably sinful. There was no need for deliberation as to that. Therefore there was no reason for delay. Let us learn the lesson that, where conscience has no doubts, we should have no dawdling. "I made haste, and delayed not to keep Thy commandment." ( A. Maclaren, D. D. ) He brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together Co-operation needed H. Clay Trumbull. No one is so strong that he needs no help in carrying out his plans of reform. The head of a nation or of a state must have the co-operation of many, if he would correct abuses and promote a better state of things in the administration of his government. A pastor must seek the aid of the leaders of his people in trying to raise the standard of his church. A superintendent cannot carry his school to any higher point than that to which he can first bring his teachers. The head of a business establishment, who neglects to give wise counsel to those just below him, finds the lack of it in all the departments which they oversee. The true method of uplifting the masses is by uplifting the leaders of the masses. ( H. Clay Trumbull. ) Sanctify now yourselves and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers. 2 Chronicles 29:5 Personal consecration Prof. E. P. Thwing. I. WHAT IS INVOLVED IN THIS PERSONAL DEDICATION? made three kinds of baptism: Sanguinis, fluminis, fiaminis — the blood, the flood, the fire! By repentance and faith in Christ's atonement the sinner is saved, and by water-baptism received into the visible Church. But, to be wholly prepared for the Master's work, there must be the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire. The aim of Christianity is to lead us from the material to the spiritual; from the instrumental and accidental to the absolute and eternal. This house is an instrument in the service of God. Its best consecration is the consecration of its occupants, and this is accomplished by the radical work of the Holy Spirit. The tongue of the preacher, the pen of the author, the lips of the singer, the fingers of the musician, and the brush of the painter, are servants of a governing purpose — channels through which thought and feeling, genius and culture, express themselves. If the soul that controls these instruments be consecrated, then they are hallowed. As the wondrous river we read of in ancient fable turned to gold the very sand its currents washed, so does the fountain of a holy heart, pouring forth its enriching flood in speech and effort, dignify the humblest employment or surroundings. With this spirit of consecration enter and occupy this sanctuary, and you will make the place, indeed, holy. II. WHAT ARE THE FRUITS OF THIS RADICAL, HEARTY, AND PERMANENT CONSECRATION? The people by this spirit of high consecration, are set free from the bondage of low and false views, prevalent in worldly circles. And, finally, if the pure and holy spirit of self-dedication, thus outlined, prevails, genuine revivals of religion will surely follow, healthful growth in activity, love, and liberality will be seen, and true Christian unity will be fostered among all who really love our Lord Jesus Christ. ( Prof. E. P. Thwing. ) Reformation must be thorough H. Clay Trumbull. A reformation to be worth much must be thorough. Half-way work in this line is of little value. Again and again the kings of Judah, when they swept away all idol worship, left untouched the high places where Jehovah was sacrificed to irregularly; and, because of their failure at completeness, their people went quickly back to gross idolatry. So in all partial attempts at reform. The man who proposes to give up drinking, or gambling, or profanity, or dishonest courses, without surrendering himself wholly to the Lord, is not likely to succeed even to the extent of his attempts. And it is with the house of the Lord as it is with persons. Unless it is wholly the Lord's, it does little honour to Him. H it is in use for religious purposes on Sunday, and for concerts and fairs and lectures and shows during the week; or if part of it is for a house of worship, and part for shops of trade — it is at the best a much abused sanctuary. "Carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place." ( H. Clay Trumbull. ) Wherefore ... the Lord .... hath delivered them to be tossed to and fro, to be an astonishment, and an hissing, as ye see with your eyes. 2 Chronicles 29:8 The results of sinning H. Clay Trumbull. It is easier to see than to foresee the results of sinning. If a young man won't foresee the results of an intemperate or a licentious life, those who observe him will, sooner or later, see with their eyes the worst that he was warned of. If a business man won't foresee the results of a dishonest course, others will see it, by and by, in his character and reputation. The future looks fair to most evil doers at the beginning of their career. It is s pity that they do not more commonly consider at the start what a tossing to and fro, what an astonishment, what a hissing, they are sure to be delivered to in the sight of those who watch them, if they go on in the path which now opens attractively before them. ( H. Clay Trumbull. ) Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel. 2 Chronicles 29:10 The best covenant John Lewis. I. WHAT IS MEANT BY MAKING "A COVENANT WITH THE LORD " In our days it means that gracious engagement on God's part to bestow on man the very favour which he supremely needs, and on terms of God's own ordering; and on the part of man, his acceptance of these terms, according to apostolic exhortation — "Be ye reconciled to God." There is implied on man's part — 1. The conviction of (1) the fact, (2) the folly, and (3) the sin of his being out of covenant with God. 2. The willing and entire abandonment of every other covenant under which the soul has been enslaved. 3. A hearty reception of the terms on which a covenant with God can be made. II. WHAT COUNSEL AND DIRECTION CAN WE OFFER TO THOSE WHO HAVE IT IN THEIR HEART TO MAKE A "COVENANT WITH THE LORD"? 1. Be not satisfied with only having it in your heart to do so. 2. Let the past mistakes which you have made through trusting to your own hearts set you upon your guard against trusting them in future. 3. If you make a covenant with the Lord, resolve that it shall be a perpetual one. ( John Lewis. ) The use of covenanting with God Skeletons of Sermons. A truly pious man will not be satisfied with serving God in his closet. He will exert his influence to bring others also to a sense of their duty. We have a noble example set before us in the conduct of Hezekiah. I. SHOW WHEN WE HAVE REASON TO APPREHEND THAT GOD'S ANGER IS WAXED HOT AGAINST US. 1. When our sins are multiplied against Him. 2. When His judgments are multiplied upon us. II. POINT OUT THE BEST MEANS OF AVERTING HIS WRATH. 1. Repentance and faith. 2. Devoting ourselves to God in s perpetual covenant. 3. Under the Old Testament dispensation, covenants were judged acceptable to God. (Asa, 2 Chronicles 15:12-15 ; Josiah, 2 Kings 23:3 .) 4. Isaiah and Jeremiah speak of the making of such covenants as characteristic of the gospel times ( Isaiah 44:5 ; Jeremiah 1:4, 5 ). 5. Paul commends the Macedonians ( 2 Corinthians 8:5 ); and recommends s similar practice to all Christians ( Romans 12:1 ). 6. Hezekiah manifestly supposed that God would accept him in this duty. III. URGE UPON YOU THE ADOPTION OF THEM. 1. There is no time for delay. 2. If we neglect this duty we cannot hope to escape the wrath of God. 3. If we heartily engage in this duty, we have nothing to fear. ( Skeletons of Sermons. ) For the Lord hath chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him. 2 Chronicles 29:11 Divine service W. Birch. I. Some persons may ask, "WHY SHOULD WE SERVE GOD? He doesn't seem as if He troubled about us?" We admit that so far as outward appearances go, it seems as if this great universe was something like a well-regulated machine with God as the invisible engineer. When a human being, man, woman, or child, goes against the laws of this great machine, God does not stop it, as a human mechanic would his engine. The Christian believer sometimes wonders why God does not in some critical emergency interfere; but shall we that are but as the creatures of a day express any doubt of the wisdom of God? II. Permit me to say A FEW WORDS TO THOSE WHO ARE NOW SERVING GOD. 1. Be cheerful in your service. 2. Let your service be pure and unselfish. One man who had been helping in a good work for a few months, with a cry of discontent said, "I shall not come any more because nobody ever thanks me." Does the violet, or the rose, or the sun need thanks for giving forth beauty, and perfume, and light? The beat reward of good service is in the heart of the server. A man who engages in the Divine service from selfish motives is like a fettered bird. The bird could wing itself into the vault of yonder blue sky; but it has a stone tied to its leg. Your selfishness is a stone which fetters your usefulness. 3. Let your service be continual. III. Let me speak TO THOSE WHO HAVE NO HOPE OF EVER BECOMING THE SERVANTS OF GOD. God knows and cares for you. ( W. Birch. ) Diligence and exertion in the Chistian ministry W. Schaw. Let us endeavour — I. TO EXPLAIN THE COUNSEL OR HEZEKIAH TO THE PRIESTS AND LEVITES: "be not now negligent." This is sometimes rendered: "be not now deceived." This conveys the idea that we are never more apt to impose upon ourselves than when we are remiss in duty, for we vainly imagine that God will not be strict to mark against us what is so natural and so pleasing to the depraved heart of man. It implies a former deficiency in the performance of duty. This counsel was — 1. Most necessary. 2. Highly important and useful 3. Peculiarly reasonable. II. To consider some MOTIVES TO ITS ENFORCEMENT. 1. If we would act in accordance with the design of God in the appointment of the sacred office of the ministry, we will use the utmost diligence in His service. 2. The number, the variety, the difficulty and importance of the duties connected with the office of the ministry, require diligence. 5. Consistency with your professed character. 4. The shortness and uncertainty of the time allotted. 5. The sense of responsibility. "Ye serve the Lord Christ." ( W. Schaw. ) The Christian ministry F. B. Ashley. I. While all God's children are called "to serve Him," there is A SPECIAL SENSE IN WHICH THE MINISTER OF GOD IS "CHOSEN TO SERVE HIM" 1. He is outwardly "chosen and called to this work by men who have public authority given unto them" in the church. 2. He is inwardly brought to it; for he declares that he "thinks in his heart that he is truly called." II. THE OBJECT OF THE MINISTERIAL OFFICE IS THE GLORY OF GOD IN THE SALVATION OF SINNERS. III. THE MEANS WHEREBY THIS RESULT IS TO BE EFFECTED ARE — 1. The preaching of the Gospel. (1) Faithfully. (2) Boldly. (3) Affectionately. 2. The right discharge of his regular official duties, baptism, marriage, etc. 3. Personal intercourse with his flock. 4. The minister's consistency of life. IV. THE ATTITUDE OF THE MINISTER IS ONE OF PECULIAR DIGNITY; it is to "stand before the Lord." Exhortation; "be not now negligent." 1. In Prayer. 2. In study, It is said of the Venerable , that "he never knew what it was to do nothing, and always found it sweet to be either learning, teaching, or writing." 3. In labour. 4. In conduct. ( F. B. Ashley. ) The complex idea of worship J. Parker, D.D. We make mistakes if we suppose that worship is a mere cloud, a foam of sentiment; it is work of all kinds, door-opening and lamp-lighting and floor-sweeping, cleansing, preparing, ventilating, expecting the people and welcoming them with joy; and then incense-burning, and cross-uplifting, and cry of thunderous and mute eloquence, and hymn, sweet, gentle, tender, and prayer that beats against heaven like artillery — all these things and many more ere included in the complex idea of worship. Let each man, therefore, do what he can in this matter, knowing that no one man works the whole ministry of worship, but that it is an act of co-operation and combination, one part playing with another part, and each interrelating itself with each other, so as to constitute a sum total significant of unity, adaptation, music, and homage. ( J. Parker, D.D. ) Now they began on the first day of the first month 2 Chronicles 29:17 A new year in Jerusalem Let us consider — I. THE WORK DONE (vers. 18, 19). What a grand work of an analogous character is thereby suggested — as a work, that may possibly be accomplished in the beginning of this year ( 1 Corinthians 3:16 ). II. HOW IT CAME TO PASS THAT IT WAS DONE, AND "DONE SUDDENLY". 1. "God has prepared the people" (ver. 29). 2. In so doing He had rendered the priests and Levites greatly useful (vers. 12-16). 3. King Hezekiah greatly influenced the spirit of the priests, the Levites, and the people, as evident from the character of his address (vers. 5-11). But "there is another king, one Jesus," who builds the temple of the Lord, and cleanses it, to whom we are all invited to look, and who "shall bear the glory." III. SOME IMMEDIATE RESULTS. 1. A great impulse given to the spirit of worship (vers. 28-30). 2. Extension of a spirit of liberality in connection with the worship and service of the Lord (ver.35). 3. Great joy. And that how valuable! (1) In itself. (2) In relation to moral improvement — for "the joy of the Lord is your strength." (3) In relation to trials ( Hebrews 3:17, 18 ). (4) In relation to usefulness ( Psalm 51:12, 13 ). When the burnt offering began, then the song of the Lord began also. 2 Chronicles 29:27 Sacrifice and song J. Ogle. This chapter contains a brief, graphic account of the great reformation which Hezekiah wrought in the beginning of his reign. The text is part of that account. I. HOW OFTEN THESE TWO THINGS — SACRIFICE AND SONG — SELF-DENIAL AND JOY — ARE ASSOCIATED. We see the union every, where. 1. In the home. When is the husband or wife so supremely happy as when by some deed of self-sacrifice he or she has made the other glad? When does the father's heart sing for joy? Not when he has bent the stubborn will of the child, but when, by the sacrifice of some luxury he has made the little soul glad on its birthday. 2. In the best works of fiction, i .e., those which are most true to human nature who does not remember the half-sovereign which Tom Pinch, the poor half-starved clerk, concealed in a piece of paper and put into the hand of Martin Chuzzlewit at their parting? And who has not envied the feeling of happiness with which he returned to his bare home and grinding lot? 3. In the lives of God's servants. The memorials of Robert and Mary Moffat, show what sacrifices they had to make in carrying on their work in Africa. They leave no doubt that they found a joy in them that the selfish and luxurious are seeking in vain. 4. In our own lives we have all experienced it. II. THEY ARE INDISSOLUBLY ASSOCIATED — JOINED TOGETHER IN THE NATURE OF THINGS. Man cannot have the one without the other. Let there be no sacrifice and there will be no song, no self-denial and there will ere long be no joy. That is a law written broadly over human nature, attested by the widest experience, and recognised by Proverbs 11:24, 25 . It explains some of what seem to be the hardest sayings and most difficult demands of our Lord, as, e.g., Matthew 16:24, 25 ; John 12:24 ; and His question put to the two ambitious disciples ( Mark 10:37, 38 ). The lesson is clear. We all want happiness — that our joy may be full. But we cannot have it by aiming at it directly. Begin to sacrifice, to give to God what you really value; say, "I will not offer unto the Lord my God that which doth cost me nothing." Give your money, interest, time, effort. Copy the example of Him who went about doing good, and "pleased not Himself." Try to make lives brighter, homes happier, business more pure. Take up the cross. Then this bit of old-world history shall record your experience: "When the burnt offering began, then the song of the Lord began also" — a song which grew louder and mightier as the sacrifice went on, and never ended until the sacrifice itself came to an end. ( J. Ogle. ) Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the Lord. 2 Chronicles 29:31 Consecration Bishop Charles E. Cheney. The reign of Hezekiah was like the spasmodic brightness of a candle about to go out for ever. The root principle in consecrating anything is the recognition of God's exclusive ownership. I. A REAL CONSECRATION IS AN ACT OF FREE WILL. II. CONSECRATION MEANS A GIVING TO GOD HIMSELF. III. NOR WILL SUCH CONSECRATION BE COMPLETE WITHOUT A PERSONAL CONSECRATION. ( Bishop Charles E. Cheney. ) Worship and thank-offerings Joseph Irons. I. THE OCCASION REFERRED TO: it was the opening of the house of God. 1. This house was a sacred edifice, consecrated to God and typical of the body of Christ. 2. In the house they opened for God, they recognised a place of meeting between God and souls. 3. In the house that was opened for the worship of God, there was an inner court. Into this inner court we have now "access by the Spirit unto the Father." II. THE NATURE OF THEIR WORSHIP. By sacrifice. There is no acceptable worship of God without sacrifice. III. THE EXPRESSIONS OF THANKFULNESS AMONG THE PEOPLE. They were happy — 1. In the knowledge of their acceptance with God. 2. In the extension of the life of God in their souls. 3. In the revival of the worship of God among them publicly. 4. In the expression of their ardent concern to rival one another in the service of God — for they all brought their thankofferings. ( Joseph Irons. ) For the thing was done suddenly. 2 Chronicles 29:36 Quickly done A. G. Brown. I. THAT GOD VERY OFTEN APPEARS TO WORK WITH A SUDDENNESS THAT IS STARTLING. 1. In the realm of nature. (1) Storms. (2) Earthquakes. (3) The transition of the seasons. 2. In the realm of providence. (1) Israel's deliverance at the Red Sea. (2) The elevation of Saul to the throne of Israel. (3) Nebuchadnezzar's humiliation. 3. In the realm of grace. (1) The conversion of Manasseh, of Saul the persecutor. (2) Revivals in churches. II. The fact that ALTHOUGH GOD'S WORKS MAY APPEAR TO BE MARVELLOUSLY SUDDEN, YET AT THE SAME TIME, THEY HAVE BEEN PRECEDED BY A PREPARATION THAT HAS PERHAPS LASTED FOR YEARS. It was so in this particular case. Hezekiah thanked God for having prepared the people. Do you ask me how they were prepared? I think I could venture to answer that question by saying they were prepared by the very openness of the sin of the previous monarch. Ahaz had gone to such a tremendous length in iniquity that his very excesses of crime had awoke a counter-feeling amongst the people. So is it in everything. First in the realm of nature. The storm that comes with racehorse speed across the sky might doubtless be traced back to atmospheric agencies far, far remote. The storm is only a climax. As in the realm of nature, so in the realm of providence. The deliverance at the Red Sea — it appeared sudden — it was not. It was only one link in a long chain. From the very beginning God had determined how He would deliver His people. Is not it specially so in the realm of grace? Look at Manasseh, whom we have used as an example of sudden conversion. It at your leisure you refer to his history, you will find in the thirty-third chapter, eleventh and twelfth verses, the account of God's preparation. "And Manasseh was caught in the thorns, and was taken a captive to Babylon; and in his distress he sought the Lord." Take the case of Pentecost. If you read the second chapter of the Acts attentively, you will see that God had brought together at Jerusalem at one time an immense number of people out of every country, and I read they were "devout men"; that is, they were inquirers after the truth. God had heaped together prepared fuel, then He made Peter strike the spark which resulted in the grand Pentecostal blaze. So is it in revivals. A revival appears sudden, and yet it is only the result of previous preparation. You are revived and you say that you are revived suddenly. Let me ask you a question or two, and I think you will see there has been prior working. Did you have any troubles in your business? Did you lose a child? Were you sick? What an encouraging thought it is to every worker for God that mighty things can thus be accomplished in a moment. ( A. G. Brown. ) "Suddenly" J. Parker, D.D. Observe the conjunction of words: "prepared — suddenly." That is the true order of progress — preparation as to process, suddenness as to revelation. As the volcano, it is always gathering its heat, the moment of explosion is sudden; it always comes unexpectedly; it is like death itself, for though we have reckoned about the time death will come, when he does come his white ghastliness makes us forget our preparation and say, It was so sudden at the last! Have some of us not had preparation enough? Is it not time now for enthusiasm? We have heard thousands of discourses; we have attended thousands of religious services; we have even gone so far as to criticise the services we have attended. Has there not been preparation enough? Is it not time for a little suddenness, outburst, genuine enthusiasm? "The Lord shall suddenly come to His temple." "Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host"; and yet all the ages had been preparing for that one moment. Eternity had been waiting for that crisis, and yet even then it was said, "And suddenly." "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, a sound as of a rushing, mighty wind."... Yet, though apparently so unexpected, "this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel." ( J. Parker, D.D. ).

Benson Commentary 2 Chronicles 29:1 Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. 2 Chronicles 29:2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. 2 Chronicles 29:3 He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them. 2 Chronicles 29:3-4 . He opened the doors of the house of the Lord — Which Ahaz his father had shut, 2 Chronicles 28:24 . And he brought in the priests, &c. — He found Judah low and naked, yet did not make it his first business to revive the civil interests of his kingdom, but to restore religion to a good posture. Those that begin with God, begin at the right end of their work, and it will prosper accordingly. 2 Chronicles 29:4 And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street, 2 Chronicles 29:5 And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place . 2 Chronicles 29:5 . Hear me, ye Levites; carry forth the filthiness — That filthy altar which Ahaz had put in the place of God’s altar, ( 2 Kings 16:11 ,) and the idols, or other abominable things, which were there; out of the holy place — The temple, or the priests’ court, which also is often called a holy place. 2 Chronicles 29:6 For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs. 2 Chronicles 29:6 . Our fathers have trespassed — He does not say my father, because it became him, as a son, to be as tender as might be of his father’s name; and because his father would not have been permitted to do all these things, if the people had not neglected their duty. Urijah the priest, in particular, had joined with Ahaz in setting up an idolatrous altar. Have turned away their faces, &c., and turned their backs — Have wilfully and obstinately forsaken God and his worship; that posture being a signification of contempt. 2 Chronicles 29:7 Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel. 2 Chronicles 29:8 Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes. 2 Chronicles 29:8-9 . He hath delivered them to trouble to astonishment, and to hissing — To such calamities as all that see and hear of them shall be astonished at, and hiss at those who, by their own sin and folly, have brought such miseries upon themselves. When we are under the rebukes of God’s providence, it is good for us to inquire whether we have not neglected God’s ordinances, and whether that be not the controversy he has with us. Our wives are in captivity — Though they were presently released, 2 Chronicles 28:5 ; 2 Chronicles 28:14-15 . 2 Chronicles 29:9 For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. 2 Chronicles 29:10 Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us. 2 Chronicles 29:10-11 . It is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord, &c. — To engage by solemn vows and promises to worship him only, and in that way which he hath appointed: for I am sure that his fierce anger will not otherwise be turned away from us. This covenant he would not only make for himself, but bring his people also into the bond of it. My sons — So he calls them, though many of them were elder than himself, because he was by his tender love and affection, as he was by his office, obliged to be a nursing father to them. Be not now negligent — In sanctifying yourselves and the temple, ( 2 Chronicles 29:5 ,) and in quickening and preparing yourselves and the people for God’s service. 2 Chronicles 29:11 My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense. 2 Chronicles 29:12 Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites: and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalelel: and of the Gershonites; Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah: 2 Chronicles 29:13 And of the sons of Elizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and of the sons of Asaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah: 2 Chronicles 29:14 And of the sons of Heman; Jehiel, and Shimei: and of the sons of Jeduthun; Shemaiah, and Uzziel. 2 Chronicles 29:15 And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD. 2 Chronicles 29:15-16 . To cleanse the house of the Lord — From the dirt it had contracted while it was so long shut up; from dust, cobwebs, and the rust of the vessels. Much more from the idols, and idolatrous altars, which had been set up therein. The priests went into the inner part of the house — Not the holy of holies, into which only the high-priest might go, and he only once in a year, but into the holy place. And brought out all the uncleanness into the court — To wit, the priests’ court, called here the court, by way of eminence. 2 Chronicles 29:16 And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD, to cleanse it , and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it , to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron. 2 Chronicles 29:17 Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the LORD: so they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end. 2 Chronicles 29:17 . Now they began on the first day of the first month — A happy beginning of the new year! Thus should every year begin with a reformation of what is amiss, and the purging away of all the defilements contracted the foregoing year. In the sixteenth day they made an end — Cleansing the house, and porch, and courts, and all the chambers belonging to the temple, in sixteen days. This is mentioned to signify, partly the universal abuse and defilement of all the parts of it by Ahaz, to remove which so much time was required; and partly the diligence of the priests in this work. 2 Chronicles 29:18 Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof. 2 Chronicles 29:19 Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before the altar of the LORD. 2 Chronicles 29:19 . All the vessels have we sanctified — Though the vessels of the sanctuary may be profaned for a while, God will find a time and a way to sanctify them. Neither his ordinances nor his obedient people shall be suffered to fail for ever. 2 Chronicles 29:20 Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD. 2 Chronicles 29:21 And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the LORD. 2 Chronicles 29:21 . They brought seven bullocks — The number seven is customary in sacred matters, and is here used in regard of the vast numbers and various kinds of sins, the guilt whereof yet lay upon the kingdom, which was now to be expiated. Indeed, in case of one particular sin of ignorance committed by the people, there was but one bullock to be offered, but here the sins were many and presumptuous. For a sin-offering for the kingdom — To make atonement for the sins of the king, and the royal family, and the court. And for the sanctuary — For all the idolatry and uncleanness wherewith the temple had been polluted, which, as it had been cleansed naturally by the priests’ hands, so now it was to be purged morally by sacrifices. And for Judah — For the sins of all the people of Judah. They thought it not enough to lament and forsake their sins, but they brought a sin-offering. Even our repentance and reformation will not obtain pardon, but through Christ, who was made sin, that is, a sin-offering, for us. 2 Chronicles 29:22 So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar: likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar. 2 Chronicles 29:23 And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them: 2 Chronicles 29:23 . They laid their hands upon them — The king and the elders of the people, in the name of the whole congregation: thereby owning themselves guilty before God, and expressing their desire that the guilt of their sin might be transferred upon the sacrifice. By faith we lay our hands on the Lord Jesus, and so receive the atonement, Romans 5:11 . Burnt- offerings were offered with the sin-offerings, the intention of which was to give glory to the God of Israel, whom they owned as the only true God, and their God, which it was proper to do, at the same time that they were, by the sin-offering, making atonement for their offences. 2 Chronicles 29:24 And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel. 2 Chronicles 29:24 . To make an atonement for all Israel — That is, for all the rest of the tribes, whereof a considerable number were now in his dominions, and not for Judah only. Thus is Christ a propitiation, not for the sins of Israel only, but for those of the whole world, 1 John 1:2 . 2 Chronicles 29:25 And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the LORD by his prophets. 2 Chronicles 29:26 And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. 2 Chronicles 29:27 And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel. 2 Chronicles 29:27 . When the burnt-offering began, the song of the Lord began also — The psalms composed by David and Asaph, ( 2 Chronicles 29:30 ,) with the musical instruments which God, by his prophets, had commanded to be used, ( 2 Chronicles 29:25 ,) and which had been long neglected. Even sorrow for sin must not put us out of tune for praising God. By faith we must even then rejoice in the Lord our righteousness, and our prayers and praises must ascend with his offering, to be accepted only in the virtue of it. 2 Chronicles 29:28 And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. 2 Chronicles 29:28 . And all the congregation worshipped — The king and all present testified their consent to, and concurrence in, all that was done by bowing their heads and worshipping, expressing an awful veneration for the divine majesty by postures of adoration. It is not enough for us to be where God is worshipped; if we do not ourselves worship him, and that not with bodily exercise only, which profits little, but with the heart. 2 Chronicles 29:29 And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped. 2 Chronicles 29:30 Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped. 2 Chronicles 29:31 Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the LORD. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings. 2 Chronicles 29:31 . Now ye have consecrated yourselves to the Lord — Have both made an atonement, and made a covenant by sacrifice; are solemnly reconciled and engaged to him; come near and bring sacrifices — Our covenant with God must be pursued and improved in communion with him. Having consecrated ourselves in the first place to the Lord, we must bring the sacrifices of prayer, and praise, and alms, to his house. As many as were of a free heart brought burnt-offerings — Wherein there was more generosity than in the other sacrifices, because they were wholly burned and offered to God. 2 Chronicles 29:32 And the number of the burnt offerings, which the congregation brought, was threescore and ten bullocks, an hundred rams, and two hundred lambs: all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD. 2 Chronicles 29:33 And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep. 2 Chronicles 29:33 . The consecrated things were six hundred oven, &c. — That is, the offerings consecrated to God, besides the burnt-offerings already mentioned, namely, the peace-offerings and thank-offerings, the fat of which was burned upon the altar, and the flesh divided between the priests and the offerers. Of these there was a still greater number than of the burnt-offerings. Perhaps the remembrance of their sin in sacrificing on the high places, made them more willing to bring their sacrifices now to God’s altar. 2 Chronicles 29:34 But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them, till the work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests. 2 Chronicles 29:34 . The priests were too few — Namely, such as were sanctified and fit for the work, as the following words show. Many of them, it is probable, had been suspended and laid aside as polluted, for having sacrificed to idols in the last reign, and the rest had not the zeal that might have been expected on such an occasion. Therefore they took no care to sanctify themselves: and being unsanctified, and so unqualified, they made their excuse for being absent from the service; as if their offence would be their defence. It is recorded here, to the perpetual shame of the priests, that though they were so well provided for out of the offerings of the Lord, yet they did not mind their business. Here was work to do, and there wanted proper hands to do it. So that they could not flay all the burnt-offerings — And much less all the other sacrifices, which were more numerous; the flaying whereof was the priests’ proper work, Leviticus 1:5-6 . Wherefore the priests did help them — Necessity excusing a deviation from the rule, as it hath excused in other cases. For the Levites were more upright in heart, &c., than the priests — They were better affected to the work, and better prepared and qualified for it. This was their praise; and, in recompense for it, they had the honour of being employed in that which was the priests’ work. Thus encouragement was given to the faithful, zealous Levites, and a just disgrace cast upon the careless priests. What the Levites wanted in the ceremonial advantages of their birth and consecration, was abundantly made up in their eminent qualifications of knowledge and zeal for the work. 2 Chronicles 29:35 And also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings, and the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the house of the LORD was set in order. 2 Chronicles 29:36 And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly. 2 Chronicles 29:36 . Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people — In this blessed turn of affairs, and the new face of religion which the kingdom had put on. That God had prepared the people — Had changed their hearts by his Almighty Spirit. For it was plain his hand was in it, both because so many of those who, in the last reign, had doted on the idolatrous altars, were now so much in love with God’s altar; and because the thing was done suddenly; was brought about in so little time, and with little or no opposition. Those that go about the work of God in faith, and with resolution, will often find there is not that difficulty in it which they had apprehended. Only let magistrates and ministers do their parts toward the reforming of a land, and then let them trust God to do his, and ascribe to him the glory of what is done. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary 2 Chronicles 29:1 Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. HEZEKIAH: THE RELIGIOUS VALUE OF MUSIC 2 Chronicles 29:1-36 ; 2 Chronicles 30:1-27 ; 2 Chronicles 31:1-21 ; 2 Chronicles 32:1-33 THE bent of the chronicler’s mind is well illustrated by the proportion of space assigned to ritual by him and by the book of Kings respectively. In the latter a few lines only are devoted to ritual, and the bulk of the space is given to the invasion of Sennacherib, the embassy from Babylon, etc. , while in Chronicles ritual occupies about three times as many verses as personal and public affairs. Hezekiah, though not blameless, was all but perfect in his loyalty to Jehovah. The chronicler reproduces the customary formula for a good king: "He did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that David his father had done"; but his cautious judgment rejects the somewhat rhetorical statement in Kings that "after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him." Hezekiah’s policy was made clear immediately after his accession. His zeal for reformation could tolerate no delay; the first month of the first year of his reign saw him actively engaged in the good work. It was no light task that lay before him. Not only were there altars in every corner of Jerusalem and idolatrous high places in every city of Judah, but the Temple services had ceased, the lamps were put out, the sacred vessels cut in pieces, the Temple had been polluted and then closed, and the priests and Levites were scattered. Sixteen years of licensed idolatry must have fostered all that was vile in the country, have put wicked men in authority, and created numerous vested interests connected by close ties with idolatry, notably the priests of all the altars and high places. On the other hand, the reign of Ahaz had been an unbroken series of disasters; the people had repeatedly endured the horrors of invasion. His government as time went on must have become more and more unpopular, for when he died he was not buried in the sepulchers of the kings. As idolatry was a prominent feature of his policy, there would be a reaction in favor of the worship of Jehovah, and there would not be wanting true believers to tell the people that their sufferings were a consequence of idolatry. To a large party in Judah Hezekiah’s reversal of his father’s religious policy would be as welcome as Elizabeth’s declaration against Rome was to most Englishmen. Hezekiah began by opening and repairing the doors of the Temple. Its closed doors had been a symbol of the national repudiation of Jehovah; to reopen them was necessarily the first step in the reconciliation of Judah to its God, but only the first step. The doors were open as a sign that Jehovah was invited to return to His people and again to manifest His presence in the Holy of holies, so that through those open doors Israel might have access to Him by means of the priests. But the Temple was as yet no fit place for the presence of Jehovah. With its lamps extinguished, its sacred vessels destroyed, its floors and walls thick with dust and full of all filthiness, it was rather a symbol of the apostasy of Judah. Accordingly Hezekiah sought the help of the Levites. It is true that he is first said to have collected together priests and Levites, but from that point onward the priests are almost entirely ignored. Hezekiah reminded the Levites of the misdoings of Ahaz and his adherents and the wrath which they had brought upon Judah and Jerusalem; he told them it was his purpose to conciliate Jehovah by making a covenant with Him; he appealed to them as the chosen ministers of Jehovah and His temple to co-operate heartily in this good work. The Levites responded to his appeal apparently rather in acts than words. No spokesman replies to the king’s speech, but with prompt obedience they set about their work forthwith; they arose, Kohathites, sons of Merari, Gershonites, sons of Elizaphan, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun-the chronicler has a Homeric fondness for catalogues of high-sounding names - the leaders of all these divisions are duly mentioned. Kohath, Gershon, and Merari are well known as the three great clans of the house of Levi; and here we find the three guilds of singers-Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun-placed on a level with the older clans. Elizaphan was apparently a division of the clan Kohath, which, like the guilds of singers, had obtained an independent status. The result is to recognize seven divisions of the tribe. The chiefs of the Levites gathered their brethren together, and having performed the necessary rites of ceremonial cleansing for themselves, went in to cleanse the Temple; that is to say, the priests went into the holy place and the Holy of holies and brought out "all the uncleanness" into the court, and the Levites carried it away to the brook Kidron: but before the building itself could be reached eight days were spent in cleansing the courts, and then the priests went into the Temple itself and spent eight days in cleansing it, in the manner described above. Then they reported-to the king that the cleansing was finished, and especially that "all the vessels which King Ahaz cast away" had been recovered and reconsecrated with due ceremony. We were told in the previous chapter that Ahaz had cut to pieces the vessels of the Temple, but these may have been other vessels. Then Hezekiah celebrated a great dedication feast; seven bullocks, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven he-goats were offered as a sin-offering for the dynasty, for the Temple, for Judah, and (by special command of the king) for all Israel, i.e. , for the northern tribes as well as for Judah and Benjamin. Apparently this sin-offering was made in silence, but afterwards the king set the Levites and priests in their places with their musical instruments, and when the burnt-offering began the song of Jehovah began with the trumpets together with the instruments of David king of Israel. And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded, and all this continued till the burnt-offering was finished. When the people had been formally reconciled to Jehovah by this representative national sacrifice, and thus purified from the uncleanness of idolatry and consecrated afresh to their God, they were permitted and invited to make individual sacrifices, thank-offerings and burnt-offerings. Each man might enjoy for himself the renewed privilege of access to Jehovah, and obtain the assurance of pardon for his sins, and offer thanksgiving for his own special blessings. And they brought offerings in abundance: seventy bullocks, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs for a burnt-offering; and six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep for thank-offerings. Thus were the Temple services restored and re-inaugurated; and Hezekiah and the people rejoiced because they felt that this unpremeditated outburst of enthusiasm was due to the gracious influence of the Spirit of Jehovah. The chronicler’s narrative is somewhat marred by a touch of professional jealousy. According to the ordinary ritual, { Leviticus 1:6 } the offerer flayed the burnt-offerings; but for some special reason, perhaps because of the exceptional solemnity of the occasion, this duty now devolved upon the priests. But the burnt-offerings were abundant beyond all precedent; the priests were too few for the work, and the Levites were called in to help them, "for the Levites were more upright in heart to purify themselves than the priests." Apparently even in the second Temple brethren did not always dwell together in unity. Hezekiah had now provided for the regular services of the Temple, and had given the inhabitants of Jerusalem a full opportunity of returning to Jehovah; but the people of the provinces were chiefly acquainted with the Temple through the great annual festivals. These, too, had long been in abeyance; and special steps had to be taken to secure their future observance. In order to do this, it was necessary to recall the provincials to their allegiance to Jehovah. Under ordinary circumstances the great festival of the Passover would have been observed in the first month, but at the time appointed for the paschal feast the Temple was still unclean, and the priests and Levites were occupied in its purification, But Hezekiah could not endure that the first year of his reign should be marked by the omission of this great feast. He took counsel with the princes and public assembly-nothing is said about the priests-and they decided to hold the Passover in the second month instead of the first. We gather from casual allusions in 2 Chronicles 30:6-8 that the kingdom of Samaria had already come to an end; the people had been carried into captivity, and only a remnant were left. in the land. From this point the kings of Judah act as religious heads of the whole nation and territory of Israel. Hezekiah sent invitations to all Israel from Dan to Beersheba. He made special efforts to secure a favorable response from the northern tribes, sending letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, i.e. , to the ten tribes under their leadership. He reminded them that their brethren had gone into captivity because the northern tribes had deserted the Temple; and held out to them the hope that, if they worshipped at the Temple and served Jehovah, they should themselves escape further calamity, and their brethren and children who had gone into captivity should return to their own land. "So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even unto Zebulun." Either Zebulun is used in a broad sense for all the Galilean tribes, or the phrase "from Beersheba to Dan" is merely rhetorical, for to the north, between Zebulun and Dan, lay the territories of Asher and Naphtali. It is to be noticed that the tribes beyond Jordan are nowhere referred to; they had already fallen out of the history of Israel, and were scarcely remembered in the time of the chronicler. Hezekiah’s appeal to the surviving communities of the Northern Kingdom failed; they laughed his messengers to scorn, and mocked them; but individuals responded to his invitation in such numbers that they are spoken of as "a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun." There were also men of Asher among the northern pilgrims. {Cf. 2 Chronicles 30:11 ; 2 Chronicles 30:18 } The pious enthusiasm of Judah stood out in vivid contrast to the stubborn impenitence of the majority of the ten tribes. By the grace of God, Judah was of one heart to observe the feast appointed by Jehovah through the king and princes, so that there was gathered in Jerusalem a very great assembly of worshippers, surpassing even the great gatherings which the chronicler had witnessed at the annual feasts. But though the Temple had been cleansed, the Holy City was not yet free from the taint of idolatry. The character of the Passover demanded that not only the Temple, but the whole city, should be pure. The paschal lamb was eaten at home, and the doorposts of the house were sprinkled with its blood. But Ahaz had set up altars at every corner of the city; no devout Israelite could tolerate the symbols of idolatrous worship close to the house in which he celebrated the solemn rites Of the Passover. Accordingly before the Passover was killed these altars were removed. Then the great feast began; but after long years of idolatry neither the people nor the priests and Levites were sufficiently familiar with the rites of the festival to be able to perform them without some difficulty and confusion. As a rule each head of a household killed his own lamb; but many of the worshippers, especially those from the north, were not ceremonially clean: and this task devolved upon the Levites. The immense concourse of worshippers and the additional work thrown upon the Temple ministry must have made extraordinary demands on their zeal and energy. {Cf. 2 Chronicles 29:34 ; 2 Chronicles 30:3 } At first apparently they hesitated, and were inclined to abstain from discharging their usual duties. A passover in a month not appointed by Moses, but decided on by the civil authorities without consulting the priesthood, might seem a doubtful and dangerous innovation. Recollecting Azariah’s successful assertion of hierarchical prerogative against Uzziah, they might be inclined to attempt a similar resistance to Hezekiah. But the pious enthusiasm of the people clearly showed that the Spirit of Jehovah inspired their somewhat irregular zeal; so that the ecclesiastical officials were shamed out of their unsympathetic attitude, and came forward to take their full share and even more than their full share in this glorious rededication of Israel to Jehovah. But a further difficulty remained: uncleanness not only disqualified from killing the paschal lambs, but from taking any part in the Passover; and a multitude of the people were unclean. Yet it would have been ungracious and even dangerous to discourage their newborn zeal by excluding them from the festival; moreover, many of them were worshippers from among the ten tribes, who had come in response to a special invitation, which most of their fellow-country-men had rejected with scorn and contempt. If they had been sent back because they had failed to cleanse themselves according to a ritual of which they were ignorant, and of which Hezekiah might have known they would be ignorant, both the king and his guests would have incurred measureless ridicule from the impious northerners. Accordingly they were allowed to take part in the Passover despite their uncleanness. But this permission could only be granted with serious apprehensions as to its consequences. The Law threatened with death any one who attended the services of the sanctuary in a state of uncleanness. { Leviticus 15:31 } Possibly there were already signs of an outbreak of pestilence; at any rate, the dread of Divine punishment for sacrilegious presumption would distress the whole assembly and mar their enjoyment of Divine fellowship. Again it is no priest or prophet, but the king, the Messiah, who comes forward as the mediator between God and man. Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "Jehovah, in His grace and mercy, pardon every one that setteth his heart to seek Elohim Jehovah, the God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the ritual of the Temple. And Jehovah hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people," i.e. , either healed them from actual disease or relieved them from the fear of pestilence. And so the feast went on happily and prosperously, and was prolonged by acclamation for an additional seven days. During fourteen days king and princes, priests and Levites, Jews and Israelites, rejoiced before Jehovah; thousands of bullocks and sheep smoked upon the altar; and now the priests were not backward: great numbers purified themselves to serve the popular devotion. The priests and Levites sang and made melody to Jehovah, so that the Levites earned the king’s special commendation. The great festival ended with a solemn benediction: "The priests arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to His holy habitation, even unto heaven." The priests, and through them the people, received the assurance that their solemn and prolonged worship had met with gracious acceptance. We have already more than once had occasion to consider the chronicler’s main theme: the importance of the Temple, its ritual, and its ministers. Incidentally and perhaps unconsciously, he here suggests another lesson, which is specially significant as coming from an ardent ritualist, namely the necessary limitations of uniformity in ritual. Hezekiah’s celebration of the Passover is full of irregularities: it is held in the wrong month; it is prolonged to twice the usual period; there are amongst the worshippers multitudes of unclean persons, whose presence at these services ought to have been visited with terrible punishment. All is condoned on the ground of emergency, and the ritual laws are set aside without consulting the ecclesiastical officials. Everything serves to emphasize the lesson we touched on in connection with David’s sacrifices at the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite: ritual is made for man, and not man for ritual. Complete uniformity may be insisted on in ordinary times, but can be dispensed with in any pressing emergency; necessity knows no law, not even the Torah of the Pentateuch. Moreover, in such emergencies it is not necessary to wait for the initiative or even the sanction of ecclesiastical officials; the supreme authority in the Church in all its great crises resides in the whole body of believers. No one is entitled to speak with greater authority on the limitations of ritual than a strong advocate of the sanctity of ritual like the chronicler; and we may well note, as one of the most conspicuous marks of his inspiration, the sanctified common sense shown by his frank and sympathetic record of the irregularities of Hezekiah’s passover. Doubtless emergencies had arisen even in his own experience of the great feasts of the Temple that had taught him this lesson; and it says much for the healthy tone of the Temple community in his day that he does not attempt to reconcile the practice of Hezekiah with the law of Moses by any harmonistic quibbles. The work of purification and restoration, however, was still incomplete: the Temple had been cleansed from the pollutions of idolatry, the heathen altars had been removed from Jerusalem, but the high places remained in all the cities of Judah. When the Passover was at last finished, the assembled multitude, "all Israel that were present," set out, like the English or Scotch Puritans, on a great iconoclastic expedition. Throughout the length and breadth of the Land of Promise, throughout Judah and Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh, they brake in pieces the sacred pillars, and hewed down the Asherim, and brake down the high places and altars; then they went home. Meanwhile Hezekiah was engaged in reorganizing the priests and Levites and arranging for the payment and distribution of the sacred dues. The king set an example of liberality by making provision for the daily, weekly, monthly, and festival offerings. The people were not slow to imitate him; they brought first-fruits and tithes in such abundance that four months were spent in piling up heaps of offerings. "Thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah; and he wrought that which was good, and right, and faithful before Jehovah his God; and in every work that he began in the service of the Temple, and in the Law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and brought it to a successful issue." Then follow an account of the deliverance from Sennacherib and of Hezekiah’s recovery from sickness, a reference to his undue pride in the matter of the embassy from Babylon, and a description of the prosperity of his reign, all for the most part abridged from the book of Kings. The prophet Isaiah, however, is almost ignored. A few of the more important modifications deserve some little attention. We are told that the Assyrian invasion was "after these things and this faithfulness," in order that we may not forget that the Divine deliverance was a recompense for Hezekiah’s loyalty to Jehovah. While the book of Kings tells us that Sennacherib took all the fenced cities of Judah, the chronicler feels that even this measure of misfortune would not have been allowed to befall a king who had just reconciled Israel to Jehovah, and merely says that Sennacherib purposed to break these cities up. The chronicler has preserved an account of the measures taken by Hezekiah for the defense of his capital: how he stopped up the fountains and water-courses outside the city, so that a besieging army might not find water, and repaired and strengthened the walls, and encouraged his people to trust in Jehovah. Probably the stopping of the water supply outside the walls was connected with an operation mentioned at the close of the narrative of Hezekiah’s reign: "Hezekiah also stopped the upper spring of the waters of Gihon, and brought them straight down on the west side of the city of David." { 2 Chronicles 32:30 } Moreover, the chronicler’s statements are based upon 2 Kings 20:20 , where it is said that "Hezekiah made the pool and the conduit and brought water to the city." The chronicler was of course intimately acquainted with the topography of Jerusalem in his own days, and uses his knowledge to interpret and expand the statement in the book of Kings. He was possibly guided in part by Isaiah 22:9 ; Isaiah 22:11 , where the "gathering together the waters of the lower pool" and the "making a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool" are mentioned as precautions taken in view of a probable Assyrian siege. The recent investigations of the Palestine Exploration Fund have led to the discovery of aqueducts, and stoppages, and diversions of watercourses which are said to correspond to the operations mentioned by the chronicler. If this be the case, they show a very accurate knowledge on his part of the topography of Jerusalem in his own day, and also illustrate his care to utilize all existing evidence in order to obtain a clear and accurate interpretation of the statements of his authority. The reign of Hezekiah appears a suitable opportunity to introduce a few remarks on the importance which the chronicler attaches to the music of the Temple services. Though the music is not more prominent with him than with some earlier kings, yet in the case of David, Solomon, and Jehoshaphat other subjects presented themselves for special treatment; and Hezekiah’s reign being the last in which the music of the sanctuary is specially dwelt upon, we are able here to review the various references to this subject. For the most part the chronicler tells his story of the virtuous days of the good kings to a continual accompaniment of Temple music. We hear of the playing and singing when the Ark was brought to the house of Obed-edom; when it was taken into the city of David; at the dedication of the Temple; at the battle between Abijah and Jeroboam; at Asa’s reformation; in connection with the overthrow of the Ammonites, Moabites, and Meunim in the reign of Jehoshaphat; at the coronation of Joash; at Hezekiah’s feasts; and again, though less emphatically, at Josiah’s passover. No doubt the special prominence given to the subject indicates a professional interest on the part of the author. If, however, music occupies an undue proportion of his space, and he has abridged accounts of more important matters to make room for his favorite theme, yet there is no reason to suppose that his actual statements overrate the extent to which music was used in worship or the importance attached to it. The older narratives refer to the music in the case of David and Joash, and assign psalms and songs to David and Solomon. Moreover, Judaism is by no means alone in its fondness for music, but shares this characteristic with almost all religions. We have spoken of the chronicler so far chiefly as a professional musician, but it should be clearly understood that the term must be taken in its best sense. He was by no means so absorbed in the technique of his art as to forget its sacred significance; he was not less a worshipper himself because he was the minister or agent of the common worship. His accounts of the festivals show a hearty appreciation of the entire ritual; and his references to the music do not give us the technical circumstances of its production, but rather emphasize its general effect. The chronicler’s sense of the religious value of music is largely that of a devout worshipper, who is led to set forth for the benefit of others a truth which is the fruit of his own experience. This experience is not confined to trained musicians; indeed, a scientific knowledge of the art may sometimes interfere with its devotional influence. Criticism may take the place of worship; and the hearer, instead of yielding to the sacred suggestions of hymn or anthem, may be distracted by his esthetic judgment as to the merits of the composition and the skill shown by its rendering. In the same way critical appreciation of voice, elocution, literary style, and intellectual power does not always conduce to edification from a sermon. In the truest culture, however, sensitiveness to these secondary qualities has become habitual and automatic, and blends itself imperceptibly with the religious consciousness of spiritual influence. The latter is thus helped by excellence and only slightly hindered by minor defects in the natural means. But the very absence of any great scientific knowledge of music may leave the spirit open to the spell which sacred music is intended to exercise, so that all cheerful and guileless souls may be "moved with concord of sweet sounds," and sad and weary hearts find comfort in subdued strains that breathe sympathy of which words are incapable. Music, as a mode of utterance moving within the restraints of a regular order, naturally attaches itself to ritual. As the earliest literature is poetry, the earliest liturgy is musical. Melody is the simplest and most obvious means by which the utterances of a body of worshippers can be combined into a seemly act of worship. The mere repetition of the same words by a congregation in ordinary speech is apt to he wanting in impressiveness or even in decorum; the use of tune enables a congregation to unite in worship even when many of its members are strangers to each other. Again, music may be regarded as an expansion of language: not new dialect, but a collection of symbols that can express thought, and more especially emotion, for which mere speech has no vocabulary. This new form of language naturally becomes an auxiliary of religion. Words are clumsy instruments for the expression of the heart, and are least efficient when they undertake to set forth moral and spiritual ideas. Music can transcend mere speech in touching the soul to fine issues, suggesting visions of things ineffable and unseen. Browning makes Abt Vogler say of the most enduring and supreme hopes that God has granted to men, "Tis we musicians know"; but the message of music comes home with power to many who have no skill in its art. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.