May 20
II Chronicles
29:24--II Chronicles 32:24
A
COMMAND TO CONSECRATION
II Chronicles
30:26-27
"So there was
great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon .
. . the priests . . . prayer came up to . . . Heaven."
It is most disturbing
to me to read about the continual backsliding of the
nation of Israel. How could they be so fickle? How could
they turn themselves from serving the LORD God to idols?
In yesterday’s DAILY READING, we saw a bad king–like
AHAZ; yet today, we see a good king named HEZEKIAH who
was, AHAZ’s son. ABIJAH was his mother. HEZEKIAH trusted
the true God! He reigned 29 years in Jerusalem.
When HEZEKIAH became
king, one of the first deeds he did was to open the
doors of the HOUSE of THE LORD. My questions is, "Why
were they shut?" We can ask that question about many
closed churches today. In Europe, beautiful buildings,
that were churches of all kinds of denominations, are
closed to worship. They have become market places or
tourist attractions. In the United States, we see church
buildings turned into restaurants, or feed stores, or
homes to live in. WHY?
HEZEKIAH decided to do
something about the spiritual mess his people were in.
He called all the priests together, as well as the
Levites, and told them to get themselves right with God.
He said, "Sanctify yourselves and the house of the
LORD!" According to Scripture, the Temple was filthy! No
wonder the wrath of God was upon JUDAH (II Chronicles
29:8-10)!!
It really is something
else that the ruler of the land must command those who
are to be standing the tallest for God to get right with
Him. But that apparently is what transpired in chapter
twenty-nine. The shame of it all: incense was nor
offered, nor burnt offerings for years. The TEMPLE LAMPS
were snuffed out. The doors shut. The holy place
ignored. Can you relate to such disorder?
When HEZEKIAH saw that
the Temple had been cleansed and the RUBBISH thrown into
the brook KIDRON, he declared they would observe THE
PASSOVER. How many years this had not been done, I do
not know. He demanded that the Levites and Priests
prepare themselves for the Passover. Six hundred oxen
and three thousand sheep were part of this consecration.
A sad report: there were not enough priests to flay the
animals (vs. 34)! What a spiritual decline had hit
JUDAH! Things were in such a disarray that the PASSOVER
had to be observed in the second month, instead of the
first.
The next thing the
KING did was invite all of ISRAEL, as well as JUDAH to
attend THE PASSOVER! A proclamation was sent throughout
all Israel from Beersheba to Dan (30:5)! The KING begged
the people to "YIELD YOURSELVES UNTO THE LORD. . ." The
recipients of the proclamation MOCKED and LAUGHED
(30:10)! But THE TRIBES OF ASHER, MANASSEH, and ZEBULUN
humbled themselves and came. What rejoicing!
We read in II
Chronicles 30:15 that some of the LEVITES were ashamed.
And well they should have been! Their backsliding was
great! A great number of priests sanctified themselves.
The people began to tithe again. The priests and Levites
were no longer hungry–for they had been neglected
because of the backslidden condition of the people
(31:10). There had not been such joy in Jerusalem since
the days of SOLOMON!
There is always joy
when Christian people walk uprightly before the LORD.
One of the FIRST manifestation of a Christian who is in
right relationship with his LORD is what he does with
his pocket book. No one has to tell the restored
Christian to give of HIMSELF and of his FUNDS to the
LORD. He just does it. (II Corinthians 9:7)!
What is your spiritual
condition today? (ysw)
"THE
WORK OF RIGHTEOUSNESS–PEACE"
(Isaiah 32:17)
It takes real
trial and tragedy to stop an examine one’s faith.
The Lord gave me
again one of His precious verses to comfort.
In November
1952, He gave this verse.
In March 1977,
He gave it to my heart again with new emphasis.
THE WORK OF
RIGHTEOUSNESS IS PEACE
THE EFFECT OF
RIGHTEOUSNESS IS QUIETNESS AND ASSURANCE
Blessed fruit of
righteousness to comfort and sustain.
(GGS)
