_A.M. 3278. B.C. 726._ Hezekiah's exhortation to the priests and Levites, 2 Chronicles 29:1. The care of the Levites to cleanse the temple, and put things into order, 2 Chronicles 29:12. A solemn revival of God's ordinances, 2 Chronicles 29:20.... [ Continue Reading ]
_He opened the doors of the house of the Lord_ Which Ahaz his father had shut, 2 Chronicles 28:24. _And he brought in the priests,_ &c. He found Judah low and naked, yet did not make it his first business to revive the civil interests of his kingdom, but to restore religion to a good posture. Those... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hear me, ye Levites; carry forth the filthiness_ That filthy altar which Ahaz had put in the place of God's altar, (2 Kings 16:11,) and the idols, or other abominable things, which were there; _out of the holy place_ The temple, or the priests' court, which also is often called a _holy place._... [ Continue Reading ]
_Our fathers have trespassed_ He does not say my father, because it became him, as a son, to be as tender as might be of his father's name; and because his father would not have been permitted to do all these things, if the people had not neglected their duty. Urijah the priest, in particular, had j... [ Continue Reading ]
_He hath delivered them to trouble to astonishment, and to hissing_ To such calamities as all that see and hear of them shall be astonished at, and hiss at those who, by their own sin and folly, have brought such miseries upon themselves. When we are under the rebukes of God's providence, it is good... [ Continue Reading ]
_It is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord_, &c. To engage by solemn vows and promises to worship him only, and in that way which he hath appointed: for I am sure that his fierce anger will not otherwise be turned away from us. This covenant he would not only make for himself, but bring his... [ Continue Reading ]
_To cleanse the house of the Lord_ From the dirt it had contracted while it was so long shut up; from dust, cobwebs, and the rust of the vessels. Much more from the idols, and idolatrous altars, which had been set up therein. _The priests went into the inner part of the house_ Not the holy of holies... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now they began on the first day of the first month_ A happy beginning of the new year! Thus should every year begin with a reformation of what is amiss, and the purging away of all the defilements contracted the foregoing year. _In the sixteenth day they made an end _ Cleansing the house, and porc... [ Continue Reading ]
_All the vessels have we sanctified_ Though the vessels of the sanctuary may be profaned for a while, God will find a time and a way to sanctify them. Neither his ordinances nor his obedient people shall be suffered to fail for ever.... [ Continue Reading ]
_They brought seven bullocks_ The number _seven_ is customary in sacred matters, and is here used in regard of the vast numbers and various kinds of sins, the guilt whereof yet lay upon the kingdom, which was now to be expiated. Indeed, in case of one particular sin of ignorance committed by the peo... [ Continue Reading ]
_They laid their hands upon them_ The king and the elders of the people, in the name of the whole congregation: thereby owning themselves guilty before God, and expressing their desire that the guilt of their sin might be transferred upon the sacrifice. By faith we lay our hands on the Lord Jesus, a... [ Continue Reading ]
_To make an atonement for all Israel_ That is, for all the rest of the tribes, whereof a considerable number were now in his dominions, and not for Judah only. Thus is Christ a propitiation, not for the sins of Israel only, but for those of the whole world, 1 John 1:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
_When the burnt-offering began, the song of the Lord began also _ The psalms composed by David and Asaph, (2 Chronicles 29:30,) with the musical instruments which God, by his prophets, had commanded to be used, (2 Chronicles 29:25,) and which had been long neglected. Even sorrow for sin must not pu... [ Continue Reading ]
_And all the congregation worshipped_ The king and all present testified their consent to, and concurrence in, all that was done by bowing their heads and worshipping, expressing an awful veneration for the divine majesty by postures of adoration. It is not enough for us to be where God is worshippe... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now ye have consecrated yourselves to the Lord_ Have both made an atonement, and made a covenant by sacrifice; are solemnly reconciled and engaged to him; _come near and bring sacrifices_ Our covenant with God must be pursued and improved in communion with him. Having consecrated ourselves in the f... [ Continue Reading ]
_The consecrated things were six hundred oven_, &c. That is, the offerings consecrated to God, besides the burnt-offerings already mentioned, namely, the peace-offerings and thank-offerings, the fat of which was burned upon the altar, and the flesh divided between the priests and the offerers. Of th... [ Continue Reading ]
_The priests were too few_ Namely, such as were sanctified and fit for the work, as the following words show. Many of them, it is probable, had been suspended and laid aside as polluted, for having sacrificed to idols in the last reign, and the rest had not the zeal that might have been expected on... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people_ In this blessed turn of affairs, and the new face of religion which the kingdom had put on. _That God had prepared the people_ Had changed their hearts by his Almighty Spirit. For it was plain his hand was in it, both because so many of those who, in the last... [ Continue Reading ]