Today is my youngest grandson's 2nd birthday. He is big brother to the new twin girls. His life will drastically change when they come home from the hospital. I pray that he will continue to be this sweet pleasant little guy in the coming days :-).
We continue with 2 Chronicles. We are almost done with this book. On the 8th we will begin reading the book of Esther. Lets read together Chapters 29 and 30.
Chapter 29 Verses 1-2 Hezekiah - a good king! And his teaching probably came from his mother, who was a godly woman. Moms - we are so important in teaching our children about God. My study bible lists revivals in the bible, and King Hezekiah leads a revival during his reign.
Verses 3-11 King Hezekiah in the first month of his first year of reign - he opens the door to the temple, has it restored, and brings in the Levites priests to sanctify themselves and sanctify the temple. He proceeds to tell them what God has done, and how the people have been punished for turning their backs from God.
Verses 12-19 The priests begin cleaning out the temple. It took 16 days just to clean out all the trash in the temple. Then they put back everything King Ahaz had taken out of the temple.
Verses 20-27 Worship is begun. Sacrifices are made, music is sung. King Hezekiah has made worship a priority.
Verses 28-30 The people of Judah also join in with worship, and sing praises to God.
Verses 31-36 The people brought their sacrifices and there were so many that they had to help the priests for there were not enough priests to do the job. Hezekiah and the people rejoiced for the ceremony being set up so quickly, they rejoiced because God had allowed this to happen so fast.
Chapter30 The story gets even better!
Verses 1-5 Hezekiah wants to celebrate Passover - so he invites the northern Kingdom to come to the Passover. Now normally the Passover was celebrated in the first month, but due to the fact that many priests were not presentable to God they held the Passover in the second month - which according to God's law it was ok.
Verses 6-9 Runners were sent out to all the tribes asking the Israelites to return to God and participate in the Passover. He asks the remnant of Israel not to be stiff necked like their fathers but remember Abraham and come back. If they come back God will bless them in 2 ways; those in Assyria their captors will show mercy to them, and secondly you will come back to your land.
Verses 10-12 The response to this invitation, many mocked and laughed at them but some did decide to attend the Passover.
Verses 13-17 The Passover is celebrated. Large crowds came to celebrate. The temple had to be cleared of idol worship. The assembly was so excited about the Passover they put the priests to shame. They consecrated themselves before performing their duties. We should do this too - confess our sins to God when we come him. Make ourselves right in order to worship him. And the Passover took place.
Verses 18-20 Some of the people had not purified themselves, those that came from a distance, and they participated anyway. Hezekiah prayed for God's mercy on their behalf. The Lord listened and granted his request. Its good to know that God will take us right where we are right now. We will learn God's ways later on.
Verses 21-22 For 7 days they celebrated and the Levites taught the people the proper way to worship God. Hezekiah encouraged the priests and they performed their tasks well.
Verses 23-27 The assembly agreed to continue the festival for 7 more days! King Hezekiah provided1000 bulls, and 7000 sheep and goats. And the officials provided 1000 bulls and 10,000 sheep and goats. There hadn't been a celebration like this since David and Solomon. The Levites blessed the people, and their God heard their prayers. Their prayers reached heaven - his holy dwelling place.
Father God, how exciting it was to read about the Revival of Judah and a little bit of Israel. There will always be a remnant of believers to carry on the faith, and through many prayers, this one little spark will spread through out the land. It is good to read about your nation returning to you Lord. I pray today that we never leave the faith, and when those who have strayed return to the fold, we greet them whole heartedly with open arms, and gentle teach them about you. And we celebrate with those who are new and mature alike. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
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