CHAPTER 29 Hezekiah and the Beginning of the Revival

1. The record of his reign (2Chronicles 29:1-2)

2. The purification of the temple (2Chronicles 29:3-19)

3. The restored worship (2Chronicles 29:20-30)

4. The great offerings (2Chronicles 29:31-36)

Compare chapters 29-32 with 2 Kings 18-20 and the annotations given there. The reformation which took place under the reign of the godly son of ungodly Ahaz was a thorough and remarkable one. He did right in the sight of the LORD, according to all his father David had done. In the records of most of the former kings this phrase is missing. It shows that Hezekiah followed the ways of the man after God’s own heart. His father had shut up the doors of the house of the LORD (2Chronicles 28:24). The first thing Hezekiah did was to open the doors and to repair them. And this was in the first year of his reign, in the first month. There was no delay; he began at once. He fully realized that, in order to have the LORD’s presence and blessing, the work must begin at the sanctuary. It has been well said, that piety and the work of righteousness were manifested in Jehoshaphat; great energy and faith was displayed in Hezekiah; and we shall find in Josiah profound reverence for the Scriptures, for the book of the law. And such is the need of the professing Church in the days of decline and apostasy. A revival of profound reverence for the Scriptures, and a whole hearted turning to the law and the testimony, the Word of God, is specially needed. Hezekiah gathered the priests and the Levites. In his great address he acknowledged the sins of the nation. Confession, as it always must, stands in the foreground. “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 taken away their faces from the habitation Of the LORD, and turned their backs.” For this reason the wrath of the LORD rested upon them. He called upon them to sanctify themselves and to carry forth the filth out of the holy place. As for himself, it was in his heart to make a covenant with the LORD. No doubt this had been made in secret in the presence of the LORD. Every true revival begins in this way.

The address and appeal found willing hearts among the servants of God. The Levites arose. The three leading families of Gershon, Kohath and Merari, were represented. Then there were two from the family of Elizaphan; two of the descendants of Asaph; two of Heman and two of Jeduthun. They gathered their brethren and went into the inner part to cleanse it. They did not begin on the outside to work towards the inner part. All true work must begin in the inner part.

The true worship was restored and great offerings were brought. The praises they sung were the Psalms, “the words of David and Asaph the singer.” Consult 2 Kings 18 on the abolishment of the idols and the destruction of the brazen serpent. Chronicles emphasizes the great restoration work of the temple, in harmony with its priestly character.