2 Chronicles 29

HEzekiah began to reign, when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem: and his mothers name was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah.

And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, 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 the LORD Which Ahaz his Father had shut up, ch. 28. 24., and repaired them.

And he brought in the priests, and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east-street Which was before the Eastern Gate of the Temple..

And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctifie now your selves, and sanctifie the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness That filthy Altar, which Ahaz had put in the Place of Gods Altar, 2 King. 16. 11, &c. and the Idols or other abominable or polluting things which were there. out of the holy place The Temple: or the Priests Court, which also is called an holy Place, Levit. 6. 16. & 10. 13. Numb. 28. 7..

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 Either 1. Metaphorically; they have wilfully, and obstinately, and contumeliously forsaken me and my House and Worship; that posture being a signification of Contempt. Or, 2. Literally and properly. For Ahaz having removed the Altar of God into a By-place, 2 King. 14. and directing his Worship towards the East, after the manner of the Heathens, whom he designed to follow; and not to the West, as the Israelites did by Gods Command, in which Quarter the Ark was, he must needs consequently turn his Back upon the Altar, and House, and Ark of God..

Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burnt 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 has delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing i. e. To such Calamities as all that see and hear of shall be astonished at and hiss at those who by their own Sin and Folly have brought such Miseries upon themselves. See on 1 King. 9. 8., as ye see with your eyes.

For lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons, and our daughters, and our wives are Or, were, though they were presently released, ch. 28. 5, 14, 15. in captivity for this.

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.

My sons So he calls them indifferently, though many of them were elder than himself, because he was by his tender Love and Affection as he was by his Office obliged to be a Nursing Father to them. See Isa. 49. 23., be not now negligent In sanctifying your selves and the Temple, v. 5. and in quickning and preparing your selves and the People to Gods Service.: for the LORD has chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense.

Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites: and of the sons of Merari; Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehallelel: and of the Gershonites; Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah:

And of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri, and Jehiel: and of the sons of Asaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah:

And of the sons of Heman; Jehiel and Shimei: and of the sons of Jeduthun; Shemajah, and Uzziel.

And they gathered their brethren and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, 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 Not the Holy of Holies, into which only the Highpriest might enter, and that but once in a year, but the Holy Place., to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD, into the court To wit the Priests Court, called here the Court, by way of Eminency. of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron.

Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctifie, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the LORD; so they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days, and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end In 16 Days purging the House, and Porch, and Courts, and all the Chambers belonging to the Temple. This is noted to imply partly the Universal Abuse and Defilement of all the Parts of it by Ahaz, which required so much time to remove; and partly the Diligence of the Priests in this Work..

Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt-offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the show-bread table, with all the vessels thereof.

Moreover, all the vessels which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and behold, they are before the altar of the LORD.

Then Hezekiah the king arose 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 The Number of seven is famous and 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 done by the People, there was but one Bullock to be offered, Levit. 4. 13, 14. but here the Sins were many and presumptuous, &c. for a sin-offering for the kingdom To make Atonement for the Sins of the King and the Royal Family, and the Court., and for the sanctuary For all the Idolatry and Uncleanness wherewith the Temple had been polluted, which, as it had been cleansed naturally by the Priests Hands, so now was to be purged morally by Sacrifices., and for Judah For the Sins of all the People of 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 i. e. The King and the Elders of the Congregation in the Name of the whole Congregation. laid their hands upon them.

And the priests killed them, and made reconciliation with their blood upon the... tar, to make an atonement for all Israel i. e. For Judah and Benjamin, and all the rest of the Tribes, whereof a considerable Number were now in his Dominions.: 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, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the kings seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the LORD by his prophets

And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.

And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burntoffering upon the altar: and when the burnt-offering began, the song of the LORD began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel.

And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpets sounded: and all this continued until the burnt-offering was finished.

And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him, bowed themselves and worshipped.

Moreover, Hezekiah the king, and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the LORD, with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer: and they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.

Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated your selves unto the LORD Now that you have reconciled your selves and the House to Gods Favour, and that he is willing and ready to accept your Sacrifices., come near, and bring sacrifices, and thankofferings into the house of the LORD. And the congregation brought in sacrifices, and thank-offerings, and as many as were of a free heart, burntofferings Wherein there was more generosity than in the other Sacrifices, because they were wholly burnt and offered to God, and the People had no share in them as they had in the rest..

And the number of the burnt-offerings which the congregation brought, was threescore and ten bullocks, an hundred rams, and two hundred lambs: all these were for a burnt-offering unto the LORD.

And the consecrated things i. e. All the Offerings consecrated to God besides the Burntofferings already mentioned. were six hundred oxen, and three thousand sheep.

But the priests To wit, such as were sanctified and fit for their Work, as the following words show: for otherwise the Number of the Priests was more than sufficient for this Employment. were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt-offerings And much less all the other Sacrifices, which were more numerous; the flaying whereof was the Priests proper Work, Levit. 1. 5, 6. wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them Necessity excusing their deviation from the Rule, as it has excused others in like Cases. till the work was ended, and untill the other priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites were more upright in heart, to sanctifie themselves, than the priests.

And also the burnt-offerings were in abundance Or, For the Burnt-offerings were to be offered also in abundance. So it is a reason why the Priests could not stay all the burntofferings, as was said v. 34. Because there was so much other work for them, for the Burnt-offerings were not only to be flayed, but also to be offered, to wit, wholly, and with them the Fat of Peaceofferings, &c., with the fat of the peace-offerings, and the drink-offerings for every burnt-offering. So the service of the house of the LORD was set in order.

And Hezekiah rejoyced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was suddenly It was, as a very great, so a sudden Change that the People, who but the other day were so ready to comply with wicked Ahaz in his Idolatrous and Impious Prescriptions, were now so free and forward in Gods Service: whereby it plainly appeared to be the Work of the Almighty God changing their Hearts by his Holy Spirit..