Restoration Leads to Revival

2 Chronicles 29, “Restoration Leads to Revival”

Although it can be fun for kids to get dirty, playing around in muck and mud, we don’t want them inside our homes that way. I remember several afternoons as a kid, told by my mother to strip off most my muddy clothes and spray off with the hose before I was allowed into the house (and a clean towel!). We can’t do much when we’re filthy. Until we get cleaned up, we can’t do much with the rest of the family.

The spiritual analogy is obvious. We can’t do much when we’re filthy. When we’re caked in the mud of sin, we can’t come into the presence of God. We can’t pray, worship, or even fellowship with God’s people. Before we do anything else with the Lord, that muck has to be washed off. Thankfully, that is what Jesus does for us when we believe upon Him in faith. When we cast ourselves upon Him in simple believing trust, receiving Him as our Lord and Savior, He cleanses us. He washes away the stain of our sin, making it possible for us to pray, to worship, and to rejoice in the presence of God.

The problem is that we get dirty again. Thus, we have the cycle: through Jesus initially cleansed us, when we sin again, that sin needs to be confessed and cleansed, so that our prayers are not hindered and our fellowship with God isn’t broken. His forgiveness is always available for the asking, but until we ask, we (as born-again Christians) are going to have things in the way of full fellowship with Him. We wonder why it feels like our songs and prayers bounce off the ceiling? Often, it’s because of unconfessed, uncleansed sin. If we would engage in necessary confession and repentance, that would lead to restoration, which then leads to personal revival.

This is visually demonstrated in the wonderful beginning to the kingdom of Hezekiah. The reign of Hezekiah came as a breath of fresh air following the stench that was the reign of his evil father Ahaz. Although Ahaz was the son and grandson of some relatively good kings of Judah (Jotham and Uzziah, respectively), Ahaz himself modeled his regime after that of his (6x) great-grandfather Ahab in Israel. (Ahab’s daughter was Athaliah, the wife of Jehoram of Judah, and their marriage was the start of what became a covenantal crisis in Judah, the lineage of David almost destroyed and supplanted.) Ahaz seemingly cared little for his Davidic ancestry and covenant with the Lord God, instead looking towards the idolatrous kings of Israel as well as his pagan neighbors for inspiration. Although he was technically the anointed king of the Davidic line sitting on the throne in Jerusalem (someone that was officially a small-“c” christ/messiah); Ahaz acted far more as an antichrist, ever opposing the true worship of the true God.

How far did he go? Not only did he encourage the production and use of Baal idols throughout the land – not only did he engage in and promote false worship on the various high places in Judah – not only did he even go so far as to engage in horrendous child sacrifice…cementing his reputation as the most evil of Judah’s kings to this point in history. Beyond these things, Ahaz desecrated the Jerusalem temple. He had a new altar made, fashioned after one he saw in Damascus. He dismantled many of the temple instruments and carts, and took down the bronze sea (2 Kg 16). He even shut up the doors of the temple of God (28:24). Ahaz went to great lengths to ensure that not only would he engage in pagan idolatry, but that all his nation would follow suit. He didn’t want anyone to worship the true God, thus provoking God to anger, ensuring that God delivered the nation to defeat after defeat. By the time of Ahaz’s death, the people were not sorry to see him go. Although he was buried in Jerusalem, his bones were not brought into the tombs of his fathers. He was given no honor in death because he had none in life.

Of course, one king follows another. As the Britons recently said at the death of Queen Elizabeth: “The queen is dead. Long live the king!” A bit of time may have passed between Elizabeth’s burial and the coronation of Charles, but the moment his mother’s heart stopped was the moment he became the new king.

Likewise, among the kings of Judah. Ahaz was gone and Hezekiah had come. This was good news for the nation, for as devoted as Ahaz was towards idolatry, Hezekiah was devoted to the true God. Hezekiah was (quite possibly) the best king in Israel/Judah’s history since the days of David and Solomon, someone perhaps matched only by Josiah (who reigned toward the end of the monarchy). Hezekiah was so beloved by the Chronicler that four chapters are dedicated to him. The king is presented as a bright spot of revival in an otherwise dim sea of wishy-washy kings.

How did it all begin for Hezekiah? He started out in the right way, seeking restoration and revival. Certain acts of restoration (cleansing) had to take place, if revival was to have any opportunity at all. The people would never joyfully seek the Lord in worship so long as the temple and priesthood was shut down and broken down. The king took the necessary steps to clean things up, making it possible for the people to worship.

As the New Testament church, we don’t have a temple; we are the temple. And yes, we get mucked up and broken down through our sin. If we want to see revival in our own lives, we first need restoration. We need cleansing. Thankfully, Jesus gives it in abundance! May we be those who seek the Lord for our cleansing, so that we can glorify God with our joyful worship!

2 Chronicles 29

• Introduction (1-2).

1 Hezekiah became king 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. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done.

1. If you do some comparison with the dates of his father Ahaz, whose reign began when he was twenty and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem (28:1), the math starts to raise some eyebrows regarding Ahaz’s potential age when fathering Hezekiah. It should be noted that reconciling some of the dates of the kings can be a bit difficult due to various unmentioned co-regencies. Sometimes we aren’t sure if the dates recorded are the totals for the kings, or just their solo-reigns. But even allowing for a bit of overlap (of which there is evidence), Hezekiah must have been fathered by Ahaz at an extremely young age, perhaps even 12-13. No doubt, this would have been very young, but it wouldn’t be unheard of. (Nor is it today!)
2. Whatever the age difference between he and his father, Hezekiah’s recorded reign is nearly twice that of his father’s. Ahaz had sixteen years; Hezekiah had 29 years. Is this a guaranteed sign of God’s blessing? Not necessarily. Recall that Ahaz’s father Jotham also reigned for 16 years, and he did what was right in the sight of the Lord. The Chronicler will later tell of Manasseh who was terribly evil (though finally repentant at the end), whose reign lasted 55 years (33:1). The goodness or evil of any particular king cannot be determined by his number of days, but rather what he did with the days that he had. In Hezekiah’s case, he used his days wisely!
3. How much so? The text tells us “he did what was right in the sight of the LORD,” but to what extent? To the extent of David. The closest king in comparison with Hezekiah was (according to the Chronicler) none other than David himself. – This is a significant distinction from some of the other relatively ‘good’ kings of the recent past. Prior to evil Ahaz was good King Jotham, who was compared to his father Uzziah (27:2). Uzziah was compared to his father Amaziah (26:4). Amaziah wasn’t compared to anyone, but his righteous acts were said to be done without a loyal heart (25:2). But Hezekiah? He was compared to David. Was David perfect? Certainly not…he was a flawed man with many sins. But even with his sins, he was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam 13:14). David was a man dedicated to worshipping God. He understood his own unworthiness and constant need for God’s grace, and he steadfastly cast himself upon God for grace. So too, was Hezekiah. Hezekiah was no more perfect than his ancestor, but his heart to worship God was like that of his ancestor. He wanted to see God glorified and worshipped in Israel, thus he did what was right in God’s sight.
   1. If we want to do right, we need to be made Hezekiah no more earned his own righteousness than did David. Unless David’s own heart had been washed, with his sins blotted out (Ps 51), he would have been as sinful as Saul before him. His own righteousness came from the Lord; not himself. All David and Hezekiah did was remain humble before the Lord, desiring to honor God. God enabled the rest through His grace.
   2. Do you desire to do what is right in the sight of the Lord? Start with simple faith. Cast yourself upon Jesus as your only hope for forgiveness, for cleansing, and for a new heart. He will lead you from there.

• Restoration of the priests and temple (3-19).

3 In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them.

1. Note that Hezekiah didn’t waste time. During his first year, in the first month, he got straight to the work of repair and restoration. The doors that his father had shut, he opened. Hezekiah couldn’t go inside the temple and repair anything within the sanctuary. (If he had, he would have suffered a similar fate as his great-grandfather Uzziah!) But he could address the outside. He was allowed to the “doors of the house of the LORD,” and he set straight to work with them.
2. This demonstrated his priority and his initiative. Hezekiah was leading by example. The initial acts of any government ruler demonstrate what is most important (for good or ill!). Here, the king was demonstrating to the priests and the entire nation what was most important to him: the right worship of the true God. This would have (1) encouraged those who had remained faithful to YHWH, despite the apostasy of Ahaz, and (2) given notice to those who supposed the pagan reign of Ahaz. Their past idolatries would no longer be allowed. They needed to truly repent and change, or get out.

4 Then he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them in the East Square, 5 and said to them: “Hear me, Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place.

1. Gathering the religious class (“the priests and the Levites”), he told them that time had come to change. Enough evil had been done during the days of Ahaz. It was time to clean up! (1) Clean themselves, (2) clean the temple.
2. Question: Is it even possible for us to sanctify ourselves? Hezekiah’s command is not unique in the Scripture. Joshua commanded it of the nation at the beginning of the conquest of the Promised Land, telling the people to “sanctify yourselves,” (Josh 3:5, 7:13). It was the same command that Hezekiah gave to the priests and Levites. Again, is it possible? Yes and no. Yes, in that we can indeed take steps to step away from sin. We examine our own lives and hearts to see what we have allowed to enter. What shouldn’t be there, we confess to Jesus, and what we confess, He forgives and cleanses (1 Jn 1:9). This takes a work of our own will, even as we rely on the power and grace of God. At the same time, we understand that ultimately our true cleansing and sanctification only takes place because of the work of Jesus. Who is it that works within our spirits, opening our eyes to the sin in our hearts? Who is it that molds and shapes us into people that God wants us to be? Jesus. He said it Himself, apart from Him, we can do nothing (Jn 15:5).
   1. It’s helpful to remember the three phases/tenses of salvation. (1) Justification: we are saved from the penalty of the sins of our past, Jesus forgiving us by His grace, God declaring us right in His sight. (2) Sanctification: we are saved from the power of sin over us in the present, the Holy Spirit giving us the strength to say no to sin and yes to Christ, helping us choose to live for the glory of God. (3) Glorification: the promise of being saved from the presence of sin in the future, being forever in the presence of Jesus so that sin no longer holds any temptation for us. – In all of this, we are fundamentally dependent on the grace of God, even while in our sanctification we work with God. He sets us apart unto Himself, while we still choose to live for Him.

6 For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the LORD our God; they have forsaken Him, have turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the LORD, and turned their backs on Him. 7 They have also shut up the doors of the vestibule, put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel.

1. This was Hezekiah’s admission of Judah’s national sin. In the end, it was simple, honest confession. No excuses were offered; he described what truly happened. There was ‘trespass’ and ‘evil’ as the people ‘forsook’ the Lord, ‘turning away’ from God. They busted up the stuff of the temple, but the physical destruction merely mirrored the sinfulness within their own hearts. Even if the people had never touched the temple, their hearts were already turned away from the Lord. – Hezekiah made no excuses for those things, because none could be made. He merely stated the facts.
   1. This is what confession is: agreement with God. It isn’t “I’m sorry God, but…” “I know I shouldn’t have, but…” Confession with a “but” isn’t confession at all! We go to God in prayer, agree with Him for what it is, and cast ourselves on Jesus’ mercy. “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner,” (Lk 18:13) is truly a confession-filled prayer, for it makes no excuses.
2. The admission in v7 is truly astonishing. Because everything had been shut up, turned off, and broken down, apparently no worship was offered to God at all during the last days of Ahaz. How long had it been? It’s impossible to say…but even one day was one day too many!
   1. In a sense, Ahaz committed the same sin as did the Pharisees and scribes that were later condemned by Jesus. It was bad enough that he didn’t want to worship, but neither did he allow anyone else to worship. He neither went in himself, nor allowed others to enter (Mt 23:13). I shudder to think of the ways some of us (myself included!) might have blocked the way for others to see Jesus! God help us be mindful!

8 Therefore the wrath of the LORD fell upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has given them up to trouble, to desolation, and to jeering, as you see with your eyes. 9 For indeed, because of this our fathers have fallen by the sword; and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity.

1. Hezekiah freely acknowledged they were under judgment. When Judah turned away from God, God’s wrath fell upon them. What was the proof? Their wives and children were “in captivity.” This should have been one of the primary signs that they were under the covenantal curse of God. Deuteronomy 28:36, “The LORD will bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods—wood and stone.” Chronologically in the history of Israel and Judah, this was right around the corner on a grand scale. The northern kingdom of Israel/Samaria would fall to Assyria in the days of Hezekiah. It would barely be a century later when Judah fell to Babylon. But already his people were getting a taste of what was to come. These consequences were a wake-up call to the nation. They had already violated their covenant with God in many ways, and the legal consequences of it was falling upon their heads.

10 “Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us. 11 My sons, do not be negligent now, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and that you should minister to Him and burn incense.”

1. Hezekiah wanted to “make a covenant.” Question: Didn’t they already have one? Yes…it was encapsulated in the book of Deuteronomy. This covenant had been sworn in the days of Moses, affirmed in the days of Joshua, and referenced many times throughout the centuries. A new covenant wasn’t required, but a renewal of the previous one was. As the nation, they were the ones who turned away from it, now experiencing the first taste of the curses that God promised would come to them when violating it. Now, as a nation they needed to repent and turn back.
2. Why? Because this was the only way they could experience revival. First, obviously Hezekiah wanted God’s own wrath to turn away from the nation. But secondly, God had a chosen desire for His chosen people, and it wasn’t for them to be under His wrath experiencing captivity and judgment. His stated desire for His people was for them to worship. As the priestly class, the Levites in Judah were the ones chosen to serve God, burn incense, and lead the people in worship. But they couldn’t do it as long as the nation was in sin. They couldn’t do it as long as the temple was in shambles and their national relationship with God was in shambles.
   1. Keep in mind, we aren’t talking about how people get saved. Contextually, the king of Judah was speaking to the priestly class about their kingdom’s ability to worship God. In a New Testament context, the equivalent would be instruction given to the church (born-again Christians) about our ability to worship God and walk with Jesus, knowing that unconfessed unrepentant sin was getting in the way. It isn’t about us getting saved (born-again Christians are already saved!); it is about us recognizing when our fellowship with God is broken because of the sin that we’ve allowed in…then getting rid of it!
   2. For the Christian, it’s pretty simple. Either we’re walking with the Lord, or we’re walking away from Him. And guaranteed, if we’re walking in sin, we aren’t abiding by His will for us. The good news? As born-again Christians, we can make a different choice! Galatians 5:16, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Confess your sins to God through Jesus, be cleansed – ask to be filled and renewed in the Spirit, then walk accordingly. When you’re walking with Him, you know you won’t be walking in sin because you can’t do both at the same time.
3. Because the people could experience revival through their repentant restoration, they should do what was necessary to get there. This was why Hezekiah exhorted them (somewhat paternally, considering he was only 25 years old at the time!), “My sons, do not be negligent now.” It wasn’t time for the Levites to be lazy. Work needed to be done.
   1. Something similar might be said for us as the church. As those who have been saved, born-again by the grace of God when we believed upon Jesus Christ, we are now God’s own royal priesthood and holy nation (1 Pt 2:5). Should sin creep into our lives, we shouldn’t waste time playing around with it. We cannot afford to be lazy regarding sin. Maybe the Spirit of God is convicting you of a sin that you’ve let fester in your heart for a while. Don’t get lazy with it; get busy confessing it! The longer you let it linger, the more trouble it will cause you… Deal with it today.

12 Then these Levites arose: Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites; of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah; 13 of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; 14 of the sons of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.

1. It was an ‘all hands on deck’ call, as the Levitical leaders rose to follow through on the commands of the king. The names listed demonstrate representation from all the clans of the Levites. They were participating in this sanctifying work, just as God intended them to do.

15 And they gathered their brethren, sanctified themselves, and went according to the commandment of the king, at the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD. 16 Then the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD to cleanse it, and brought out all the debris that they found in the temple of the LORD to the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it out and carried it to the Brook Kidron.17 Now they began to sanctify on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the LORD. So they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.

1. This was their obedience in action, as they did the work of sanctifying both themselves and the temple. Note the priests went where only the priests could go (“into the inner part of the house of the LORD to cleanse it”), whereas the Levites could take it from the outside and do the rest. This was godly action, done decently and in order. The work of cleansing was done, but it wasn’t chaotic. It wasn’t about calling attention to one person or the other. It was just God’s people coming together to do what needed doing.
   1. True confession and cleansing isn’t done for show. When it’s honest, Jesus is the one who gets the glory.
2. The dates listed in v17 are interesting. Obviously, they didn’t waste time. The narrative began in v3 with Hezekiah taking action to open the doors of the temple in the first month of the first year of his reign. Apparently, he opened the doors, gave the commission to the priests and the Levites, and they got started on their work that same day. They worked from the first day to the eighth day in the temple building itself, getting to the vestibule (the final room before the courtyard) on the 8^th From that point, they took another eight days to cleanse the courtyard. The entire project was completed in a little more than two weeks. – They had good reason to work quickly! The longer they delayed, the longer it would be before the people could worship – the longer it would be before sacrifices could be made for the atonement of sin – the longer the nation would remain under the wrath of God. Every day that went by was a day that potentially held more wrath from the Lord, as the people were still technically in violation of their covenant. Cleansing the temple was (for the kingdom of Judah) quite literally a life and death scenario.
   1. Sometimes people lose sight of the urgency of being reconciled and restored to God. This is true just as much for Christians as it is for not-yet-Christians. For the born-again believer who has fallen into sin, breaking his/her fellowship with the Lord, delay is not an option! God loves us as His children too much to allow us to wallow in muck and mire…He will bring discipline to us one way or another. Don’t wait to confess those things to Jesus and turn back to Him in repentance! That is the only way your fellowship with Him will be restored unto joy.
   2. As for the person who hasn’t yet believed upon Jesus as Lord, your situation is even more You cannot afford to wait, delaying your reconciliation with God. How much time do you believe you have? Life is a vapor! One day each one of us will stand before God for eternal judgment. If you are not ready today, then you have zero guarantee that you will be ready on that day. Do not waste the opportunity of grace that is before you!

18 Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, the altar of burnt offerings with all its articles, and the table of the showbread with all its articles. 19 Moreover all the articles which King Ahaz in his reign had cast aside in his transgression we have prepared and sanctified; and there they are, before the altar of the LORD.”

1. The priests and Levites reported their work back to the king. Everything in the temple was restored and ready to go. Worship could begin once again. At this point, only one thing remained: for the nation to actually engage in worship. 

• Restoration of temple worship (20-36).

20 Then King Hezekiah rose early, gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD. 21 And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. Then he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the LORD.

1. Once the priests and Levites had done their initial work of cleansing, Hezekiah didn’t waste any time either, as he “rose early” for he and the elders to bring sacrifices. Many things needed to be done that day, and he didn’t want to run out of daylight.
2. These were sacrifices offered on behalf of the nation, a large “sin offering for the kingdom,” including the temple and nation together. Why bring seven of each animal (bull, ram, lamb, male goat)? It is difficult to say. It was more than what was legally required (Lev 4), but it was still a small number compared with the initial dedication of the temple in the days of Solomon (Ch 5). Perhaps Hezekiah had seven of each brought as a way of expressing the idea that this was full, complete repentance and confession on the part of the nation. No doubt, the “seven” was symbolic, even if we can’t say precisely what the symbol was.

22 So they killed the bulls, and the priests received the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. Likewise they killed the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They also killed the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar. 23 Then they brought out the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them. 24 And the priests killed them; and they presented their blood on the altar as a sin offering to make an atonement for all Israel, for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering be made for all Israel.

1. All the animals were systematically sacrificed, sprinkling the blood on the altar, according to the law. Each animal was brought to the door of the temple, killed, with the priest dipping his finger in the blood and sprinkling it before the Lord, pouring out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. Each animal was then slaughtered with the fat taken and burnt on the altar, the rest of the carcass carried outside. It took place 28 times for 28 animals, on behalf of the priest, the king, and the nation as a whole. — Was it gory? Yes, but that is the cost of sin. The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23), and not just ‘death’ in the form of a peaceful passing; ‘death’ in the form of judicial execution. That is what we That is the penalty that our sins against God have incurred.
   1. Thankfully, that is not what we receive, because of Jesus. We no longer need our bodies to be broken and blood shed, because Jesus already did it for us. This is what is seen in every animal sacrifice in the Old Testament. All of it points forward to the work of Jesus at the cross!
2. What was the sin offering for? “Atonement,” taking away the penalty of sin so that men and women could be reconciled with God. “Atonement” = “at-one-ment.” Of course, from the book of Hebrews, we know that the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sin (Heb 10:4). Jesus alone offers true eternal atonement. With that in mind, what was the atonement offered by the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament? A temporary covering. The Hebrew word is cipper (כִּפֶּר), sometimes referring to pacifying, but often ‘covering over.’ Animal sacrifices can never take away sin, but they could cover them till the cross of Jesus. They could look forward to the true atonement provided by Jesus Christ. 

25 And he stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for thus was the commandment of the LORD by His prophets. 26 The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.

1. The king equipping the Levitical musicians per the earlier command and example of David, as David arranged for the ministry at the temple (1 Chr 25:6-7). David was a musician, so it is no surprise that he commanded music be played at the temple for the glory of God. As for Hezekiah, he was trying to set things back to the initial starting blocks, so he equipped his musicians the same way that David equipped his own.
2. Don’t miss the order of the events from v22 to v26. First, the work of atonement was necessary. Then, there could be the offering of praise. Until sin was addressed, praise would not be heard. But once sin is addressed, praise is natural and abundant!

27 Then Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD also began, with the trumpets and with the instruments of David king of Israel. 28 So all the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.

1. This time, the offering was not a sin offering (to atone for the past transgressions and covenantal disobedience); it was the burnt offering of consecration and praise. These were animals killed before the Lord, the blood sprinkled all around the altar, but the entire carcass placed upon the altar and burnt. Just as the animal was offered fully to the Lord, so were the people ‘fully offered’ to the Lord in worshipful consecration.
2. With this offering, praise could be offered at the same time…and it was right to do so. Worship and fellowship were being restored and praise was the natural response. The “assembly worshipped” while the temple musicians sang and sounded. Did this mean the people didn’t sing? Not necessarily; the temple musicians simply led the way.

29 And when they had finished offering, the king and all who were present with him bowed and worshiped. 30 Moreover King Hezekiah and the leaders commanded the Levites to sing praise to the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped.

1. Clearly, everyone praised the Lord. The Levitical choir continued to sing, and notably they sang songs with Biblical lyrics. They chose psalms from David and Asaph. Whether these were yet formally compiled with the rest of the book of Psalms, we don’t know. What we do know is that these songs were suitable for worship.

31 Then Hezekiah answered and said, “Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the LORD, come near, and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the LORD.” So the assembly brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and as many as were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings. 32 And the number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD. 33 The consecrated things were six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep.

1. Thus far, all the offerings had been given on behalf of the nation. This time, the command went forth for the people of the nation to bring individual offerings. (Our worship and gifts should be “willing”!)
2. The total number of animals was 3,970. It was far fewer than what was offered in the days of Solomon, but it was still quite a lot.

34 But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings; therefore their brethren the Levites helped them until the work was ended and until the other priests had sanctified themselves, for the Levites were more diligent in sanctifying themselves than the priests.

1. It is an interesting sidenote about the priests. They needed to be supplemented by the Levites. Help was required because not enough priests had sanctified themselves. Although they had been exhorted to be diligent (not negligent ~ v11), some hadn’t listened. Because they hadn’t, they weren’t able to participate in what was arguably the most important day for worship in Judah’s history during the past 250 years.
   1. Can you imagine being chosen and called by Jesus for a ministry, yet being unable to serve because of too much filth in your life? It happens more often than we realize. 

35 Also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings and with the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the house of the LORD was set in order. 36 Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced that God had prepared the people, since the events took place so suddenly.

1. At the end of the day, everything that was supposed to be done was done. The priests and temple were cleansed, the offerings were made, the people praised God, and everyone rejoiced.

How was it all made possible? How did this revival happen? Through the work of God. “God had prepared the people.”

1. Although we often say, “Let revival begin with me,” it never really begins with us; it begins with God. He’s the One who moves within our hearts. He’s the One who opens our eyes to our sin and our need for cleansing. He’s the One who empowers us to turn to Him for help. He always starts the work; we are the ones who respond. (But how important is that response! When He moves within your heart, don’t ignore Him…you might very well miss out!)

Conclusion:

It hasn’t been often that a chapter in 2 Chronicles had ended with joy! Praise the Lord for the revival that took place, all of which was possible when the nation was restored to the Lord through their confession and cleansing. The king saw the need to be restored, prioritizing it among the religious leadership. The priests and Levites did the necessary work of cleansing sanctification, which opened the door for renewed sacrifice and worship. That was when the king and elders led the way, with eventually everyone in the nation invited to come to God and give his/her joyful worship and praise.

How wonderful it is when God’s people are restored unto Him, opening the way for revival! God desired it among the ancient kingdom of Israel (and will one day see it again when all Israel comes to faith!), and God desires it among the New Testament Church. He wants us to recognize the sin that pops up in our own lives, to repent and be cleansed from it, and to be restored unto Him so we can praise Him in revived, renewed worship. This is His desire…and we shouldn’t waste time obeying it!

In this, it’s important to remember a key distinction. This is His desire for us as His people…men and women born-again by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. No one (no one!) cleans up oneself to ‘get right’ with God. The person who has never known the forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ does nothing to ‘earn’ his/her forgiveness. That person cannot cleanse/sanctify himself because he has never been saved. He cannot experience revival, because he has never experienced life. Until the point a person believes upon Jesus Christ to be forgiven and saved, that person is dead in his/her transgressions. That person needs to be born-again through the power of the Spirit and the grace of God. (Which is available for the asking!)

The person who needs to be revived and cleansed anew from sin is the person who has already been born-again and stumbled. (Which happens to be all of us!) We know we are saved because we’ve believed upon Jesus as the Son of God crucified for our sins and risen from the dead. We’ve trusted Him as our Savior, received Him as our Lord. But…life gets in the way. Our attention gets pulled to various sinful distractions, and soon the temple of our hearts starts resembling the work of Ahaz. That is when we need God’s help to confess, to turn away from the stuff of this world, and to turn back to Jesus in simple faith.