Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
2 Chronicles 29:4

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Hezekiah’s religious reforms (29:1-31:21)

Immediately he became king, Hezekiah began a thorough reformation of Judah’s religion. This was prompted partly by the preaching of the prophet Micah (Jeremiah 26:17-19; see notes on 2 Kings 18:1-12).

The Chronicler gives a detailed account of Hezekiah’s work, particularly that part of it which affected the temple, the priests and the Levites. Hezekiah called a meeting of priests and Levites and told them plainly that neglect of the temple was the reason for God’s anger with Judah. Their first job was to clean the rubbish out of the temple and prepare it for the recommencement of religious services (29:1-11). The temple was so filthy that a large group of Levites took more than two weeks to clean and prepare the building for use again (12-19).
Hezekiah then held a service in which sacrifices were offered for the cleansing and rededication of the king, the nation and the temple (20-24). All this was accompanied by the music and singing of the Levites as arranged by David (25-30).
When the service was finished, the people were invited to make personal offerings. They responded so promptly and generously that the priests were spiritually unprepared for, and physically unable to cope with, the renewed activity in the temple. The Levites, who showed more enthusiasm, had to be called in to help (31-36).

After the rededication of the temple, Hezekiah held a great Passover Feast. His reforms began too late for the Passover to be held in the first month of the year (the time specified in the law), so it was postponed one month (cf. Numbers 9:10-11). Hezekiah invited the scattered northerners who had escaped captivity, but most were not interested (30:1-12).

Those who gathered for the feast cleansed Jerusalem of all traces of false religion. Their zeal for religious purity stirred up the priests and Levites to hurry and ceremonially cleanse themselves in time for the feast. Certain visitors to Jerusalem arrived too late for the seven day purification ritual before the Passover, and joined in the feast while still unclean. On Hezekiah’s request, God forgave them (13-22). The occasion was so joyous that the feast was extended one week (23-27).

Once the city of Jerusalem and its temple had been cleansed, the people went out and cleansed the country areas (31:1). Having removed false religion, Hezekiah made plans for the proper functioning of the nation’s true religion. First he divided the priests and Levites into groups according to David’s plan (see 1 Chronicles 23:1-32). Then he arranged for their proper support through the orderly payment of tithes and offerings by all the people (2-7).

People responded so generously that Hezekiah prepared special storage places for all the sheep, cattle and produce they offered. He also appointed officials to administer the stores, and made a register of all those eligible for support, to ensure there was no dishonesty in the administration (8-21).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE BEGINNING OF THE REIGN OF HEZEKIAH
XII. HEZEKIAH (715-687 B.C.) HEZEKIAH'S MOVE
TO RESTORE THE TRUE WORSHIP

"Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old; and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that David his father had done. He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of Jehovah, and repaired them. And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together in the broad place on the east, and said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites; now sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the house of Jehovah, the God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of Jehovah, and turned their back. Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and have put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt-offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel. Wherefore the wrath of Jehovah was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to be tossed to and fro, to be an astonishment, and a hissing, as ye see with your eyes. For, lo, our fathers are 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 Jehovah, the God of Israel, that his fierce anger may turn away from us. My sons, be not now negligent; for Jehovah hath chosen you to stand before him, to minister unto him, and that ye should be his ministers, and burn incense."

Practically all of this chapter is without parallel in Kings. It supplements the record of Hezekiah's extensive reforms that are mentioned there. We see here that his work was not merely negative, in such things as destroying the high places and cutting down the Asherim. He also did many positive things toward pointing Israel back to the true worship of God.

"Carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place" "This was the accumulated dirt from years of neglect."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 391.

"They have not burned incense nor offered burnt-offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel" But does not 2 Kings 16:14-16 state that Ahaz himself made offerings on that special altar? Yes, indeed; but there is no contradiction here. The Chronicler is merely telling us (and those Levites) that those sacrifices that Ahaz offered on an Assyrian altar, were, in no sense, offered unto the God of Israel, but were actually sacrifices to Assyrian gods.Ibid. Note the underlined words in this paragraph.

"Jehovah hath chosen you (the Levites) to stand before him" Here again we find an acute consciousness of the Law of God through Moses in the Pentateuch, especially in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, where the choice of the Levites and the sons of Aaron was first revealed. It is the proliferation of dozens of such references as these in Chronicles that sends the radical critics into frantic screams of "Midrash"!

This single chapter is a complete contradiction of the critical denials of it with abundant proof of the existence of the whole Pentateuch in the reign of Hezekiah, generations prior to Josiah and that fairy tale about the P Code.

It is the conviction of this writer that the author of whatever source was quoted by the Chronicler here (see our introduction for a list of these) had a complete copy of the Law of Moses (the whole Pentateuch) before him when he wrote down the events related in this chapter.

UNDENIABLE REFLECTIONS OF THE PENTATEUCH IN THIS CHAPTER

(1)    "The wrath of Jehovah was upon Judah" "This word (wrath) is used in Deuteronomy 28:25,"International Critical Commentary, Chronicles, p. 464. where Moses had predicted this very disaster that befell Judah.

(2)    "For Jehovah hath chosen you" This is stated in Numbers 3:6; Numbers 8:6, and in Deuteronomy 10:8.

(3)    "They brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he-goats for a sin-offering for the kingdom" The use of these animals for that purpose was authorized in Lev. 1:3f; 14:20; and 16:24. "Seven victims were offered because seven was a sacred number."Ibid., p. 467.

(4)    The use of seven victims instead of one in certain sacrifices was authorized in Numbers 28:11 ff.

(5)    "The priests received the blood and sprinkled it upon the altar" The ritual for this action is found in the law of Moses in Exodus 29:16, and in Leviticus 1:5; Leviticus 1:11.

(6)    "The king and the assembly laid their hands upon them (the sacrifices)" This ceremony is described in Leviticus 1:4.

(7)    "And they made a sin-offering with their blood upon the altar" In Leviticus 4:25; Leviticus 4:34 is found the description of exactly how this was done.

(8)    "Come near,… and bring thank-offerings into the house of Jehovah" "The thanksgiving here was for the joy over the renewal of the worship of Jehovah."Ibid., p. 469. Instructions for the offerings and ceremonies for such an occasion are found in Leviticus 7:12 ff.

(9)    "The burnt-offerings… with the fat of the peace-offerings, and with the drink-offerings for every burnt-offering… so the service for the house of Jehovah was set in order" "The drink offerings were of wine and probably poured like the blood at the base of the altar."Ibid., p. 470. Very complete and detailed instructions for these sacrifices, including the drink-offerings, are found in Numbers 15:1-15.

Note here that Hezekiah followed instructions for the services of the house of Jehovah, instructions that are detailed in the Mosaic writings of the Pentateuch.

Before leaving this analysis, we must ask, "How do the critics attempt to get rid of such proof as this? Curtis has this succinct statement of their only answer.

It must be remembered that the writer was drawing largely upon his imagination, and evidently cared little about accuracy of detail.International Critical Commentary, op. cit., p. 466.

To such so-called scholarship as this, we wish to say NO! It is the evil radical critics, seeking to destroy faith in the Word of God, who are drawing upon their imagination. The real Biblical Midrash is that imaginary P Code, that alleged discovery in the reign of Josiah, the Jehovist, the Elohist, the Deuteronomist, and the Second, Third, or Twentieth ISAIAH, and all the rest of those fraudulent, imaginary, ephemeral and constantly changing "documents" invented by evil men and imposed upon believers under the guise of their being scholarly. And may it be said again that until all of those alleged documents (or any single one of them, for that matter) can be produced and scientifically evaluated, the truly intelligent person may safely reject them.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

The east street - Rather, some open space before the eastern gate of the outer temple court is intended.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 29

Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years ( 2 Chronicles 29:1 )

Now it is interesting to me that as wicked as was Ahaz, Hezekiah was a very good, spiritual king. Perhaps he saw the folly of his father. Perhaps he saw what his father's reign had done for the nation. But it is interesting how that such an ungodly man as Ahaz could have a son as Hezekiah who was so spiritual. And Hezekiah began to reign, but Hezekiah was strongly influenced by Isaiah the prophet. And no doubt the relationship of Hezekiah and Isaiah is the reason why Hezekiah was such a good king.

Now Hezekiah, when he began to reign, immediately sought to undo the blasphemous work of his father, in the tearing down of all of these idols and images that his father had established and set up.

He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. In the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and he repaired them. And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and he gathered them together into the east street, and he said, Sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs. And they have shut up the doors of the porch, they put out the lamps, and they have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel. Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to the hissing, as you see with your eyes. For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. And it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us. My sons, be not now negligent [talking to the priests]: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense ( 2 Chronicles 29:2-11 ).

So here the first thing that Hezekiah does is re-establish the worship of Jehovah. The temple had been shut. It would have been filled with just a lot of junk, filthiness, pollution, and the doors had been shut. They had not been offering the daily sacrifices. They had not been keeping the light of the menorah lit. They had just forsaken the worship of Jehovah God completely during the reign of Ahaz. And it is Hezekiah's purpose to re-establish now. Calling the priests together and saying, "Okay now, you fellows, sanctify yourselves and let's get back. I'm determined to make a covenant to worship God." And so Hezekiah was the instrument to forestall the judgment of God in the fact that he was turning the people back to the worship of God once again.

And so they gathered their brothers, they sanctified themselves, according to the commandment of Hezekiah, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD. And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD, to cleanse it, they brought out all the uncleanness that was found there in the temple of the LORD and they carried it down to the brook Kidron ( 2 Chronicles 29:15-16 ).

And dumped it down there in the bottom of the valley.

And they began the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the porch of the LORD: and they sanctified the house of the Lord ( 2 Chronicles 29:17 ).

So they started going through sanctifying everything. Now there was a ritual by which things had to be sanctified and the purification rites. There was a whole ritual to it, and it took several days. And they would go one area at a time sanctifying the holy of holies again, then sanctifying the holy place, sanctifying the table of showbread, sanctifying the oil of incense, sanctifying the candles, and it took eight days, actually, to formulate the oil that was burned in the candles. Getting so you'd have the sanctified oil to burn in the sanctified lamp and the whole thing. And so they started this process. The first day of the first month they began this process of sanctification. And it was coming, of course, now you're in the first month; you've got the great Feast of the Passover coming up. But they didn't have time to get everything all set for the Feast of the Passover in the first month.

Now there was a provision in the law of Moses that if a person could not observe the Feast of the Passover in the fourteenth day of the first month that he could do it on the fourteenth day of the second month. And so they determined that they would have the Feast of the Passover once more. It's something that was back in their history. They hadn't done it for a long time, and they determined that they were going to start the feast again, that they would observe the Feast of the Passover unto the Lord.

And so they sent messages throughout all the land inviting the people to come to the Feast of the Passover in the second month. And it is interesting that they even sent messages on up into the northern kingdom, into the areas of Samaria in the northern kingdom, inviting the people that they should come. And so there was this great celebration of the Feast of the Passover. They restored the worship of the temple and all. And then in chapter 30 we get the Passover. But in the restoration of the worship in the temple, verse 2 Chronicles 29:27 :

And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offerings upon the altar. And when the burnt offerings began, the song of the LORD began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David the king of Israel ( 2 Chronicles 29:27 ).

David had invented a lot of musical instruments and ordered the singers and all. And as they started to burn the sacrifice, they began to sing and worship God once more. And so the beautiful sight, really, of the worship of God re-instituted there in the temple.

All of the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all of this continued until the burnt offering was finished ( 2 Chronicles 29:28 ).

Now the burnt offering was the offering of consecration. They offered a sin offering because they had sinned against God. But then the burnt offering. You remember he said, "I have made a covenant to serve the Lord." That's what the burnt offering was all about. The burnt offering was the offering of consecration. It is the consecration of my life to serve God.

And so the Bible said, "I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you'll present your bodies as a living sacrifice," not as sin sacrifice, but a burnt offering sacrifice, "holy and acceptable unto God" ( Romans 12:1 ). In other words, "Here, God, is my body. I sacrifice my body to you. That is, I am consecrating my body and my life to serve You." That's what the burnt offering sacrifice was all about, the offering of consecration.

And so Hezekiah the king, the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David, and Asaph the seer ( 2 Chronicles 29:30 ).

So they began to sing the songs with which you are familiar.

And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped. Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the LORD. And the congregation brought in the sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a free heart, burnt offerings ( 2 Chronicles 29:30-31 ).

Now sometimes there is a mistaken notion that we can legislate righteousness. It's impossible. The worship of God must always arise out of a free heart. You cannot force people to worship God. That always has to come from the free heart. It should never come out of coercion. It should never come out of pressure. Whatever you give, yourself, that which you have, should always be done freely and willingly from your heart. So the people, as many as were of a free heart came and worshipped.

And Hezekiah rejoiced [verse 2 Chronicles 29:36 ], and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done in a hurry ( 2 Chronicles 29:36 ).

Actually, this was a hurried up deal.

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. The cleansing and rededication of the temple ch. 29

Ahaz had closed the temple and had set up other centers of worship throughout the land (2 Chronicles 28:24-25). Hezekiah reopened the temple and cleansed it in preparation for reusing it (2 Chronicles 29:3; 2 Chronicles 29:5). Whereas the writer of Kings described Hezekiah’s religious reforms in only one verse (2 Kings 18:4), the Chronicler devoted three chapters to them (chs. 29-31). Hezekiah wanted to rededicate the nation to God (2 Chronicles 29:10).

"When there is a financial crisis, the first thing we think about is money. When there is a communications crisis, our prime concern is to learn how to talk the language of the modern generation. When there is a church attendance crisis, we make it our chief aim to get numbers up. If Hezekiah had responded to a military threat in a military way, the Assyrians would have understood that. Army would have been matched against army, with dire consequences for Judah. But instead he and his people first look up to God." [Note: Wilcock, p. 247.]

Hezekiah carried out his clean-up job hurriedly to prepare for the celebration of the Passover (2 Chronicles 29:17; 2 Chronicles 29:26; 2 Chronicles 30:1). The Kidron Valley was a convenient place to dump unclean things since it lay just east of the temple area. Hezekiah first offered a sin offering to atone for the guilt of Judah (2 Chronicles 29:21). Then he sacrificed burnt offerings of worship (2 Chronicles 29:27) and led the people in worship (2 Chronicles 29:29), joyful singing (2 Chronicles 29:30), and willing sacrificial giving (2 Chronicles 29:31). All the people of Judah who reverenced Yahweh rejoiced over the king’s re-establishment of the temple services (2 Chronicles 29:35-36).

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And he brought in the priests and Levites,.... The persons that officiated in the service of the temple:

and gathered them together into the east street; which led to the eastern gate of the temple.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.   2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.   3 He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them.   4 And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street,   5 And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.   6 For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs.   7 Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel.   8 Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.   9 For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.   10 Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.   11 My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense.

      Here is, I. Hezekiah's age when he came to the crown. He was twenty-five years old. Joash, who came to the crown after two bad reigns, was but seven years old; Josiah, who came after two bad reigns, was but eight, which occasioned the delay of the reformation; but Hezekiah had come to years, and so applied himself immediately to it. We may well think with what a sorrowful heart he beheld his father's idolatry and profaneness, how it troubled him to see the doors of the temple shut, though, while his father lived, he durst not open them. His soul no doubt wept in secret for it, and he vowed that when he should receive the congregation he would redress these grievances, which made him do it with more readiness and resolution.

      II. His general character. He did that which was right like David,2 Chronicles 29:2; 2 Chronicles 29:2. Of several of his predecessors it had been said that they did that which was right, but not like David, not with David's integrity and zeal. But here was one that had as hearty an affection for the ark and law of God as ever David had.

      III. His speedy application to the great work of restoring religion. The first thing he did was to open the doors of the house of the Lord,2 Chronicles 29:3; 2 Chronicles 29:3. We are willing to hope his father had not quite suppressed the temple service; for then the holy fire on the altar must have gone out, and we do not read of the re-kindling of it; but he had hindered the people from attending it, and the priests, except such of them as were of his own party, 2 Kings 16:5. But Hezekiah immediately threw the church doors open, and brought in the priests and Levites. 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 its good posture again. Those that begin with God begin at the right end of their work, and it will prosper accordingly.

      IV. His speech to the priests and Levites. It was well known, no doubt, that he had a real kindness for religion and was disaffected to the corruptions of the last reign; yet we do not find the priests and Levites making application to him for the restoration of the temple service but he calls upon them, which, I doubt, bespeaks their coldness as much as his zeal; and perhaps, if they had done their part with vigour, things would not have been brought into so very bad a posture as Hezekiah found them in. Hezekiah's exhortation to the Levites is very pathetic.

      1. He laid before them the desolations of religion and the deplorable state to which it was brought among them (2 Chronicles 29:6; 2 Chronicles 29:7): Our fathers have trespassed. He said not "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 done all this if their fathers had not neglected their duty. Urijah the priest had joined with Ahaz in setting up an idolatrous altar. He complained, (1.) That the house of God had been deserted: They have forsaken God, and turned their backs upon his habitation. Note, Those that turn their backs upon God's ordinances may truly be said to forsake God himself. (2.) That the instituted worship of God there had been let fall. The lamps were not lighted, and incense was not burnt. There are still such neglects as these, and they are no less culpable, when the word is not duly read and opened (for that was signified by the lighting of the lamps) and when prayers and praises are not duly offered up, for that was signified by the burning of incense.

      2. He showed the sad consequences of the neglect and decay of religion among them, 2 Chronicles 29:8; 2 Chronicles 29:9. This was the cause of all the calamities they had lain under. God had in anger delivered them to trouble, to the sword, and to captivity. When we are under the rebukes of God's providence it is good for us to enquire whether we have not neglected God's ordinances and whether the controversy he has with us may not be traced to this neglect.

      3. He declared his own full purpose and resolution to revive religion and make it his business to promote it (2 Chronicles 29:10; 2 Chronicles 29:10): "It is in my heart (that is, I am fully resolved) to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel (that is, to worship him only, and in that way which he has appointed); for I am sure that, otherwise, his fierce anger will not turn away from us." This covenant he would not only make himself, but bring his people into the bond of.

      4. He engaged and excited the Levites and priests to do their duty on this occasion. This he begins with (2 Chronicles 29:5; 2 Chronicles 29:5); this he ends with, 2 Chronicles 29:11; 2 Chronicles 29:11. He called them Levites to remind them of their obligation to God, called them his sons to remind them of the relation to himself, that he expected that, as a son with the father, they should serve with him in the reformation of the land. (1.) he told them what was their duty, to sanctify themselves first (by repenting of their neglects, reforming their own hearts and lives, and renewing their covenants with God to do their duty better for the time to come), and then to sanctify the house of God, as his servants, to make it clean from every thing that was disagreeable, either through the disuse or the profanation of it, and to set it up for the purposes for which it was made. (2.) He stirred them up to do it (2 Chronicles 29:11; 2 Chronicles 29:11): "Be not now negligent, or remiss, in your duty. Let not this good work be retarded through your carelessness." Be not deceived, so the margin. Note, Those that by their negligence in the service of God think to mock God, and put a cheat upon him, do but deceive themselves, and put a damning cheat upon their own souls. Be not secure (so some), as if there were no urgent call to do it or no danger in not doing it. Note, Men's negligence in religion is owing to their carnal security. The consideration he quickens them with is derived from their office. God had herein put honour upon them: He has chosen you to stand before him. God therefore expected work from them. They were not chosen to be idle, to enjoy the dignity and leave the duty to be done by others, but to serve him and to minister to him. They must therefore be ashamed of their late remissness, and, now that the doors of the temple were opened again, must set about their work with double diligence.