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Scripture Reading: 2 Chron. 29:3-36; 2 Chron. 30; 2 Chron. 31; 2 Chron. 32:1-8; 33:11-17; 34:3-7; 36:20-23
In previous messages we covered nine kings of Judah who are examples regarding the enjoyment of God’s good land, which is a type of the all-inclusive Christ. In this message we will consider three more kings.
In 29:3—32:8 we have an account of the reign of Hezekiah. He was one of the best kings. But even with Hezekiah there was a hidden defect. This defect is not mentioned in 2 Chronicles, but it is exposed in 2 Kings and in Isaiah.
Hezekiah restored the house of Jehovah and brought out the impurity (things related to idol worship) from the holy place (29:3-36). This was a great thing. The house of God, the temple of God, was the place for His elect to worship Him. But before Hezekiah came into his reign, Israelites put idols into that temple, and in verse 5 these idols are called “the impurity.”
Hezekiah charged the Levites and the priests to sanctify the house of Jehovah (vv. 4-11). His charge indicates that after the devastation of the temple, the priests and the Levites were left with nothing to do. Hezekiah charged them to remove from the eyes of the holy God all the idols, all the things of impurity. In verse 11 he said to them, “My sons, do not now be negligent, for Jehovah has chosen you to stand before Him to minister to Him and to be His ministers and burn incense.”
The Levites and the priests did the work of cleansing the temple according to Hezekiah’s charge (vv. 12-19).
Hezekiah and the leaders of the city worshipped God in the house of Jehovah (vv. 20-30). This indicates that the temple of God had been left to the idols and that in it there was not the worship of God. Hezekiah took the lead along with the leaders of the city to worship God in the house of Jehovah. In addition, they offered the burnt offering and the sin offering to God with the praising of God by the instruments made by David and with the words of David and Asaph. The burnt offering was for God’s satisfaction, and the sin offering was for the forgiveness of their sins.
Hezekiah charged the assembly of the people to offer sacrifices and thank offerings to God, and all the people did it with rejoicing over what God had prepared for them (vv. 31-36). This was a great restoration, a great revival.
In 30:1—31:1 we see that Hezekiah recovered the Passover. The Passover had been lost, and the people no longer kept it, but Hezekiah recovered it.
The degraded children of Israel had not held the Passover for a long time as it was decreed in Moses’ writing (30:5b).
Hezekiah recovered the Passover by sending letters to all Israel and Judah telling them to come to Jerusalem to hold the Passover of Jehovah (vv. 1-12).
He sent letters not only to the people of Judah but to all the people of Israel in order to keep the oneness of all God’s elect (vv. 1a, 6a). By that time God’s elect people had been divided. Hezekiah tried to unite them by inviting them all to keep the Passover.
Hezekiah asked all the people of Israel and Judah to come to Jerusalem where the house of God was to hold the Passover in order to remind them to keep the one unique ground of the worship of God among all Israel (v. 1b; cf. Deut. 12:5, 11, 13-14). He realized that keeping the unique ground pleases the heart of God.
The divisive people of Ephraim and Manasseh and as far as Zebulun laughed the runners of the letters to scorn and mocked them, but some men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem (2 Chron. 30:10-11). This is a type of today’s situation. If we invite some denominational people to come to worship God on the church ground, they might know that this would be right, but they might not humble themselves and come to the proper ground, for this would cause them to lose face.
Moreover, the hand of God was on the people of Judah, giving them one heart to perform the commandment of Hezekiah and the officers according to the word of Jehovah (v. 12). They listened to Hezekiah and the leaders, and then they took action according to God’s word, according to God’s revelation.
A very great assembly gathered at Jerusalem to hold the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month (vv. 13-22). The Feast of Unleavened Bread, which lasted seven days, was a continuation of the Passover, which lasted only one day.
They removed the idolatrous altars that were in Jerusalem and they removed all the incense altars and threw them into the brook Kidron (v. 14). Everywhere in Jerusalem altars had been built for the idols, but Hezekiah and those who had gathered at Jerusalem to hold the Feast of Unleavened Bread cleared them away.
The priests, the Levites, and the people sanctified themselves to God (vv. 15-17). The priests and the Levites brought burnt offerings to the house of Jehovah, and the Levites offered sacrifices for those who were not clean, to sanctify them to Jehovah.
Hezekiah prayed for many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun who ate the Passover yet had not cleansed themselves. God heard Hezekiah and healed the people (vv. 18-20; cf. 1 Cor. 11:30-31). Some who ate the Passover had not cleansed themselves, and they got sick as a result. This is also a type. Once again we see that certain details of the New Testament economy are clearly portrayed in the Old Testament types.
The children of Israel at Jerusalem held the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great rejoicing and praising, and they repeated it with joy for another seven days (2 Chron. 30:21-26). Have you ever enjoyed the Lord’s table so much on the Lord’s Day that you had the Lord’s table again the next day? How good that would be! After the people repeated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for another seven days, the priests and the Levites blessed the people, and their voice was heard and their prayer went up to God’s sanctuary, to heaven (v. 27).
When all this was finished, all Israel in the cities of Judah went out to smash the pillars, hew down the Asherim, and pull down the high places and the altars out of all Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh (31:1). In doing this, Hezekiah was surely pleasing to God.
In 31:2-21 Hezekiah set the services of the priests and the Levites in order. This signifies Christ, as the Head, setting in order the services of God in the church.
Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and the Levites by their divisions for the offerings and praise in the gates of the temple of Jehovah (v. 2).
Hezekiah appointed his portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, the morning and evening burnt offerings and the burnt offerings of the Sabbath, the new moon, and the appointed feasts (v. 3). This indicates that he offered much of his substance to God.
Hezekiah commanded the people who dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion for the priests and the Levites (v. 4), thereby supporting the priests and the Levites according to their daily necessities. This indicates that prior to this time, the need of the priests and the Levites had been neglected. The children of Israel gave in abundance for the priests and the Levites in distribution according to their divisions (vv. 5-19). The people took the responsibility of supporting the priests and the Levites.
What Hezekiah did in verses 4 through 19 he did throughout all Judah. He did what was good, upright, and faithful before Jehovah his God with all his heart, and he prospered (vv. 20-21). He was the kind of person who should prosper.
Hezekiah built a defense against the invasion of the Assyrians (32:1-5). He trusted in God and encouraged his people to do so by saying, “Be strong and be bold; do not be afraid or dismayed because of the king of Assyria or because of all the multitude that is with him, for there is Someone greater with us than with him: with him is an arm of flesh, but with us is Jehovah our God to help us and to fight our battles” (vv. 6-8a). Here we see Hezekiah’s faith, his trust in Jehovah. Here we also see that the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah (v. 8b).
However, not even Hezekiah was perfect. Here in 2 Chronicles there is no mention of Hezekiah’s shortcomings, but within him there was something for his own interest and desire. This is clearly revealed in 2 Kings 20:1-19 and Isaiah 38 and 39.
In 2 Chronicles 33:11-17 we have a word concerning Manasseh. He was the son of Hezekiah and he reigned for fifty-five years.
Manasseh was disciplined by Jehovah and was captured by the Assyrians and taken to Babylon (v. 11).
Manasseh entreated Jehovah his God in his distress, humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to Him. God heard his supplication and brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then he knew that Jehovah indeed was God (vv. 12-13). He came to know this through God’s discipline.
Manasseh fortified the city of David (Bethlehem) and put the valorous captains in all the fortified cities in Judah (v. 14).
Manasseh removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of Jehovah and all the altars that he had built on the mount of the house of Jehovah and in Jerusalem and cast them out of the city (v. 15). This indicates that, having repented, he cleared away all the impurity from the holy place.
Manasseh restored the altar of Jehovah and sacrificed on it sacrifices of peace offerings and thank offerings. Also, he commanded Judah to serve Jehovah, the God of Israel (vv. 16-17). From this we see that although Manasseh had a bad beginning, he had a good ending.
In 34:3-7 there is a word concerning Josiah the grandson of Manasseh.
In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek after the God of David his father (v. 3a). He was only eight years of age when he became king, and in the eighth year of his reign he began to seek after God. This indicates that man has the capacity to contact God at a young age.
In the twelfth year Josiah began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, the idols, and the molten images. The people tore down the altars to the Baals in his presence, and he hewed down the incense altars and ground the Asherim, the idols, and the molten images to dust and scattered it upon the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. Then he burned the bones of the priests upon their own altars (vv. 3b-5).
Throughout the land of Israel, Josiah, who was the king only of Judah, tore down the altars, beat the Asherim and the idols into dust, and hewed down all the incense altars (vv. 6-7).
Second Chronicles 36:20b-23 speaks of the duration of the captivity of Israel and the proclamation of their release by Cyrus.
The children of Israel became servants to the kings of Babylon for seventy years, until the reign of the kingdom of Persia, so as to fulfill the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah (vv. 20b-21).
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout all his kingdom for Israel’s return to Jerusalem to build the temple of God (vv. 22-23; Ezra 1:1-3).
