It’s never too dark to see the light.
How appropriate it is to know that the name Hezekiah means “the strength of God.” For as we consider how the Lord used this man to restore the people of Judah and Israel to Himself, we would indeed perceive God’s power in action.
This young king of Judah inherited the kingdom from his wicked father, King Ahaz, at one of the darkest hours in the history of the nation. Ahaz had fallen into idolatry, following in the steps of the kings of Israel. He worshipped Baal, burned his children in the fire, and offered sacrifices and burned incense in the high places (2 Chr. 28:2-4). Furthermore, Ahaz provoked Jehovah to anger by turning his back to the sanctuary in Jerusalem and shutting its doors. He thus put out the lamps and destroyed the holy vessels of the house of God. He even replaced the altar of Jehovah by putting up other altars in every corner in Jerusalem (2 Chr. 28:24-25). It became impossible to burn incense to Jehovah in praise and worship or to approach Him with burnt offerings and sacrifices.
However, when recovery and revival of such a nation seemed absolutely hopeless, the God of all grace raised a standard against the enemy in the person of Hezekiah. Revival under this godly king stands out as the Old Testament revival that is possibly the most relevant to New Testament believers. For, in both principles and practices, it seems applicable to us in our day and age.
Cleansing of the temple
Hezekiah wasted no time in starting the reforms that resulted in the reviving of the people of God. We read that he began to do so in the first month of the first year of his reign. He started by opening the doors of the house of God and repairing them (2 Chr. 29:3). This made it possible for the priests and the Levites to cleanse the House from all the defilement of Ahaz.
In the church age, the house of the living God is not a physical building made of bricks and mortar, but rather an edifice made up of living stones—believers saved by the grace of God. There are no physical doors that have to be kept open or that are at risk of being closed by man. But the church has a mission, given her by Christ, to uphold the truth. We will find such truth emphasized in Paul’s first letter to Timothy, chapter three. There we are told that the house of God is “the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” That does not mean that the church herself is the truth, but that her responsibility is to be the pillar on which the truth is declared. The truth itself is Him who was God manifested in the flesh, who was justified in the Spirit, and who is now received up into glory (1 Tim. 3:15-16). To keep the doors open and in good repair would mean upholding the pre-eminence and the centrality of Christ among His people and reaching out of the open doors to the lost with the message of the gospel.
Sanctifying the priesthood
Before they could cleanse the temple of God, the priests and the Levites had to sanctify themselves (2 Chr. 29:5). They had to be able to say at the end, “We have cleansed all the house of the Lord” (2 Chr. 29:18). But how could they have purified anything at all if they were defiled themselves?
Applying this today should mean that for a revival to happen, both a personal and a corporate purification from defilement are necessary. First, on a personal level, each child of God is called on to strive to live a holy life, a life separated to the Lord. “If a man, therefore, purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and fit for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work” (2 Tim. 2:21). This is necessarily dependant on our yieldedness to the Holy Spirit and to the indwelling Christ.
In like manner, a local church ought to be alert to any defilement, doctrinal (Gal. 5:7-9) or practical (1 Cor. 5:1-13), realizing that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. It is therefore incumbent on the leadership of the local assembly to be vigilant against such dangers and to promptly deal with them as they arise (Ac. 20:29-32). Of note, however, is the remark in the Scripture that “the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests” (2 Chr. 29:34). Since the priests were the ones who were in charge of actual worship, one would have expected it to be otherwise. Yet this obviously was a sad reflection on the moral state into which the nation has fallen. In the New Testament economy, all the children of God have been made priests to God. There is no special sect that has a monopoly on priesthood. How grave is our responsibility, beloved, to sanctify ourselves unto the Lord, our Great High Priest.
The offerings
Now that the temple has been purified and made ready for the offering of sacrifices, how very instructive to notice that the first offering was the sin offering, offered on behalf of the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah (2 Chr. 29:21). The service of the brazen altar was reinstated because that was the only place where God and the sinner could meet. Notice how the sprinkling of blood was front and center in all the sacrifices (2 Chr. 29:21-23).
Today there can be no revival without going back to the cross of Christ and preaching redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins (Col. 1:14).
This offer for atonement, however, was not limited to Judah only but to all of Israel, according to the king’s command (2 Chr 29:24). This corresponds to the call of the gospel today offered to “whosoever will” and “whosoever believes.” For a true revival to take place among the people of God, emphasis has to be laid on the unmitigated truth of the gospel. Keeping in mind that our Lord “is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 Jn. 2:2).
Praise
Having accomplished atonement for all Israel, it became possible for them to offer praise unto the Lord. We read, “For the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel. And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals and psalteries, and with harps according to the commandment” (2 Chr. 29:24-25). Notice that this is always the pattern in the Scriptures: redemption precedes praise. We see this clearly at the Red Sea and also around the throne in Revelation 5. In the same manner our worship and praise should be based on the redemptive work of our Saviour.
On that day in Jerusalem, praise had its guidelines, according to the commandment of David, Gad, and Nathan, but, more importantly, according to that of the Lord Himself (2 Chr. 29:25). Similarly, our praises to the Lord will abound in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs when the Word of Christ dwells in us richly (Col. 3:16).
We also observe that “when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also” (2 Chr. 29:27). The burnt offering speaks of the sweet-smelling savor of Christ ascending to God. What a marvelous theme for us to take up in our worship and praise, as we lift up the Saviour, in all His beauties and perfections, to God the Father.
Then follows the call of King Hezekiah to the priests, to Judah, and to all Israel. Having been cleansed by the blood of the sacrifice, they are to draw near to the Lord (2 Chr. 29:31). This indeed is the essence of revival and constitutes its desired goal. Any revival at our time should have the same effect of drawing the people of God to Him. Even now, the Lord Himself is inviting His people to do so: “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus…and having a high priest over the house of God. Let us draw near with a true heart in the full assurance of faith” (Heb. 10:19-22). What a great privilege we have in Christ and yet what an awesome responsibility as well.
The Passover
Restoring the celebration of this most important memorial of God’s grace to Israel was the natural result of the revival that took place under King Hezekiah. But we should credit the Lord for strengthening His servant to call on all Israel to come together to celebrate. The invitation was sent out to Judah and all the tribes in the north (2 Chr. 30:1). Since the Passover that was kept in Egypt was meant for all of Israel, it was therefore necessary to involve the entire nation. What a unifying force this was for them to remember what the Lord had done so long ago! There was only a poor remnant of them left in the land after the Assyrian deportation, but the appeal was to remind them that, if they were to return to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, He would be willing to return to them (2 Chr. 30:6). The response to the invitation was mixed. Some mocked, others humbled themselves (cf. Ac. 17:32-34). The response in Judah was overwhelming and “a very great congregation” assembled in Jerusalem (2 Chr. 30:10-13). Thus, since the division in the days of Rehoboam, there had not been such a manifestation of the unity of God’s people.
A careful examination of the history of the church would reveal that in all of the revivals, celebrating the Lord’s supper became the most important gathering of the people of God. The kindling by the Holy Spirit of a true desire to remember the Lord has always accompanied revivals.
The unifying influence of such activity is witnessed to by Scripture: “The bread which we break is it not the communion of the body of Christ? Because we being many are one loaf, one body; for we partake of that one loaf” (1 Cor. 10:16-17, JND). Any attempt at trifling with the remembrance meeting, or at reducing it to a mere ritual, has always resulted in disastrous outcomes.
Of great interest to us also is that before they killed the Passover lamb, the now united people “arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem and all the altars for incense took they away and cast them in the brook Kidron” (2 Chr. 30:14). A final purifying of the city was necessary before partaking of the Passover. Does this remind us of the responsibility of believers today to examine ourselves before partaking of the emblems, lest we be found unworthy to eat and drink?
The blessed results of the revival in Hezekiah’s time were further seen in the desire of the people to extend the feast of unleavened bread for an extra seven days—an indication of their desire to consecrate and separate themselves to the Lord.
Last, “there was great joy in Jerusalem; for since the time of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, there was not the like in Jerusalem” (2 Chr. 30:26). How much greater would be our joy and gladness if we were to live lives separated to our God and experience the sanctifying influence of the “feast.” “Purge out, therefore, the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:7-8).