2 Chronicles 29:25

_AND THEY BROUGHT SEVEN BULLOCKS, AND SEVEN RAMS, AND SEVEN LAMBS, AND SEVEN HE 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._ NO JFB COMMENTARY ON THESE VERSES....

20-36 As soon as Hezekiah heard that the temple was ready, he lost no time. Atonement must be made for the sins of the last reign. It was not enough to lament and forsake those sins; they brought a sin-offering. Our repentance and reformation will not obtain pardon but in and through Christ, who was made sin, that is, a sin-offering for us. While the offerings were on the altar, the Levites sang. Sorrow for sin must not prevent us from praising God. The king and the congregation gave their consent to all that was done. It is not enough for us to be where God is worshipped, if we do not ourselves worship with the heart. And we should offer up our spiritual sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, and devote ourselves and all we have, as sacrifices, acceptable to the Father only through the Redeemer....

Verse 2 Chronicles 29:25. _WITH CYMBALS, WITH PSALTERIES_] Moses had not appointed any musical instruments to be used in the divine worship; there was nothing of the kind under the first tabernacle. The _trumpets_ or _horns_ then used were not for song nor for praise, but as we use _bells_, i.e., to give notice to the congregation of what they were called to perform, c. But David did certainly introduce many _instruments_ of music into God's worship, for which we have already seen he was solemnly reproved by the prophet Amos, Amos 6:1. Here, however, the author of this book states he had the commandment of the prophet Nathan, and Gad the king's seer and this is stated to have been _the commandment of the Lord by his_ _prophets_: but the _Syriac_ and Arabic...

EXPOSITION The important reign of Hezekiah extends over this and the following three chapters, counting in all ninety-seven verses. The parallel, for the contents of the first three of these chapters, with their sixty-four verses, is limited to the small number of _six_ verses (2 Kings 18:1), which in its turn is very much fuller (2 Kings 18:7.) in the subject of our 2 Chronicles 32:1. The reason of this so various disposition of matter is by no means wrapt in mystery, our writer's main object being clearly best subserved in exhibiting the moral and religious aspects of the inner history of Judah, as distinguished from its foreign politics—so, for brevity's sake, to denominate them. T

AND HE SET THE LEVITES IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD WITH CYMBALS, WITH PSALTERIES, AND WITH HARPS,.... To play upon, which were the three principal instruments of music used in religious worship, and what had been disused in the times of Ahaz: ACCORDING TO THE COMMANDMENT OF DAVID, AND OF GAD THE KING'S SEER, AND NATHAN THE PROPHET; this sort of music was not commanded by the law of Moses, but was directed to by David under a divine influence, and was approved of by the prophets of the Lord here mentioned: FOR SO WAS THE COMMANDMENT OF THE LORD BY HIS PROPHETS; the Targum is, "for by the Word of the Lord was the commandment by the hand of the prophets.''...

6. REFORMATION UNDER HEZEKIAH CHAPTER 29 Hezekiah and the Beginning of the Revival _ 1. The record of his reign (2 Chronicles 29:1)_ 2. The purification of the temple (2 Chronicles 29:3) 3. The restored worship (2 Chronicles 29:20) 4. The great offerings (2 Chronicles 29:31) Compare Chapter s 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 don

DAVID. Compare 1 Chronicles 15:16; 1 Chronicles 23:5; 1 Chronicles 25:1. SEER. Hebrew. _chozeh._ See note on 1 Chronicles 29:29. OF. by the hand of. BY. by the hand of....

so was _the commandment of the Lord by his prophets_ Render, THE COMMANDMENT WAS BY (through) THE LORD, EVEN BY (through) HIS PROPHETS. The Chronicler urges the point that David's arrangements for Temple song were by _inspiration_; cp. 1 Chronicles 28:19....

DISCOURSE: 422 RESTORATION OF THE TEMPLE WORSHIP BY HEZEKIAH 2 Chronicles 29:20. Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he-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 killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar: likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar; they killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar. And they brought forth the he-goats for the sin-offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them; and the priests killed them, and they made reconciliatio

HE SET THE LEVITES—WITH CYMBALS, &C.— Moses, in the service of the tabernacle, did not appoint the use of any musical instruments; he only caused some trumpets to be made, which upon solemn occasions were to be sounded at the time when the burnt-offerings and peace-offerings were upon the altar, Numbers 10:10. But David, by the advice of the prophets Gad and Nathan, introduced several kinds of music into the service of the temple, as a thing well calculated to inspire people with religious affections. And it is further observable from this place, that the institution of music in religious assemblies is not a matter of human invention, but was ordained by God, and has the sanction and authority of his prophets to confirm it; for _so was the commandment of the Lord by his prophets._ It is said in the 30th verse, that _they sung with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer._ As