Hezekiah Reigns in Judah

 

2 Chronicles 29:1-11

 

September 1, 2023

 

Hezekiah Reigns in Judah

Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah.  And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.

Hezekiah Cleanses the Temple

In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them.  He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east and said to them, “Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place.  For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the Lord our God. They have forsaken him and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord and turned their backs.  They also shut the doors of the vestibule and put out the lamps and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the Holy Place to the God of Israel.  Therefore, the wrath of the Lord came on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them an object of horror, of astonishment, and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes.  For behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.  Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, in order that his fierce anger may turn away from us.  My sons, do not now be negligent, for the Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him and to be his ministers and make offerings to him.”

A man who was faithful to his God as a leader, was Hezekiah, is that not what we as the Church long for?  It begins with men, when Christian men awake to their place of leadership in the home, the business world, the community, and the local Church, they will see their state and nation also change to bring about a leader that is God fearing.

As a dad and husband, you lead in love, if you're not doing so ask God to forgive you, and begin today.  Did you notice that Hezekiah began making right the wrong in the first month of his leadership of Judah?  Next, he surrounded himself with men who had been set aside for the Lord's work.  You as a follower of Christ have been set aside for the task of being a minister first to your family, then to neighbors, co-workers, friends, and community.  You have been gifted to be the head of your home, and that is leadership.

Today will you follow the pattern of Hezekiah and set your heart on making a covenant with the Lord, your Creator, your Redeemer, and do what the Scripture has commanded you to do, lead.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice