2Chronicles 29.01-04 “1
Hezekiah became king when he was
twenty-five years old; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his
mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter
of Zechariah. 2 He did right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that
his father David had done. 3 In the first year of his reign, in the first
month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them. 4 He
brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered them into the square on the
east.”
In todays reading, the chronicler records
for us the apostate reign of Ahaz (2Chronicles 28) as well as one of the Southern Kingdom’s
(Judah) greatest kings, Hezekiah (2Chronicles 29-30; 2Kings 18.05-06).
Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah led
the Southern Kingdom into further apostasy, going so far as to robbing the
Temple of its treasures (2Chronicles 28.21), sacrificing to false idols (2Chronicles 28.23), and closing the doors of the Temple (2Chronicles 28.24)!
So when Hezekiah became king,
instead of continuing on in the sins of his father, he did what was right in
the sight of the LORD (2Chronicles 29.02),
opened the doors to the Temple (2Chronicles 29.03),
restored the priesthood (2Chronicles 29.04), and
led a complete reformation in the Southern Kingdom.
Under the leadership of Ahaz, the
Southern Kingdom fell into further apostasy; the result was that they were
punished by God and thus fulfilling the curses placed on the nation on Mount
Ebal for forsaking the LORD (Deuteronomy 11.29; Deuteronomy 28.25, 41; Joshua 08.33-35).
Under the leadership of Hezekiah, he restored the Southern
Kingdom back to the LORD, recognized that his father helped lead the nation
into turning their backs on the LORD, thus justifying the punishment of the
LORD on them (2Chronicles 29.06-09).
But when Solomon dedicated the Temple, part of his prayer of
dedication was that if the people repented of their sins, that the LORD would
hear from heaven and forgive them and restore them (2Chronicles 06.24-40).
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