2 Chronicles 29:20-36
September 5, 2023
Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship
Then Hezekiah the king rose early and gathered the officials of the city and went up to the house of the Lord. And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male 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. So, they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests received the blood and threw it against the altar. And they slaughtered the rams, and their blood was thrown against the altar. And they slaughtered the lambs, and their blood was thrown against the altar. Then the goats for the sin offering were brought to the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them, and the priests slaughtered them and made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, to make atonement for all Israel. For the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.
And he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the commandment of David and of Gad the king's seer and of Nathan the prophet, for the commandment was from the Lord through his prophets. The Levites stood with the instruments of David and the priests with the trumpets. Then Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song to the Lord began also, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel. The whole assembly worshiped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished. When the offering was finished, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped. And Hezekiah the king and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped.
Then Hezekiah said, “You have now consecrated yourselves to[c] the Lord. Come near; bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the Lord.” And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all who were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings. The number of the burnt offerings that the assembly brought was 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. And the consecrated offerings were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep. But the priests were too few and could not flay all the burnt offerings, so until other priests had consecrated themselves, their brothers the Levites helped them, until the work was finished—for the Levites were more upright in heart than the priests in consecrating themselves. Besides the great number of burnt offerings, there was the fat of the peace offerings, and there were the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. Thus, the service of the house of the Lord was restored. And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had provided for the people, for the thing came about suddenly.
As I read this, I wonder could a world like ours, a nation like ours, a people like you and me repent and ask a holy God to forgive us, and our nation for sinning against His commands. And then I wonder if the Church, not necessarily all that show up on Sundays, but those who by faith have Jesus as their Master, and Lord. Those who have come to an understanding that churchgoers are ungraceful people, and if we find ourselves in that group, it is time to seek forgiveness. Philip Yancey's book “What So Amazing About Grace” is a must-read for people like me.
I grew up in a small Baptist Church, that did not teach grace, and if someone had dared to do so they would not have been welcome. In his book on page 29, I share his thoughts: “A world marked by wars, violence, economic oppression, religious strive, lawsuits, and family breakdown clearly hasn’t got to grace yet.” John 1:17, “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” As I read Philp Yancey's book, I was no longer asking about others for I needed to remove the log in my own eyes, Yes, it is easy to be ungrace, and have cheapened grace.
One more let me quote page 30: “Grace is Christianity’s best gift to the world, a spiritual nova in our midst exerting a force stronger than vengeance, stronger than racism, stronger than hate. Sadly, to a world desperate for this grace the church sometimes presents one more form of ungrace.”
What If we the Church showed meekness and grace as our Lord Jesus Christ did on planet Earth? When you think of the word “Meek” do you think weak, or a man has full control of his emotions and shows grace to those he comes in contact with? Jesus was always in control even in His death on the Cross, extending grace to the thief who mocked Him.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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