| Back to Home Page | Back to Book Index
|
2
Chronicles Chapter Twenty-nine
2 Chronicles 29
Chapter Contents
Hezekiah's good reign in Judah. (1-19) Hezekiah's
sacrifice of atonement. (20-36)
Commentary on 2 Chronicles 29:1-19
(Read 2 Chronicles 29:1-19)
When Hezekiah came to the crown
he applied at once to
work reform. Those who begin with God
begin at the right end of their work
and it will prosper accordingly. Those that turn their backs upon God's
ordinances
may truly be said to forsake God himself. There are still such
neglects
if the word be not duly read and opened
for that was signified by
the lighting the lamps
and also if prayers and praise be not offered up
for
that was signified by the burning incense. Neglect of God's worship was the
cause of the calamities they had lain under. The Lord alone can prepare the
heart of man for vital godliness: when much good is done in a little time
the
glory must be ascribed to him; and all who love him or the souls of men
will
rejoice therein. Let those that do good work
learn to do it well.
Commentary on 2 Chronicles 29:20-36
(Read 2 Chronicles 29:20-36)
As soon as Hezekiah heard that the temple was ready
he
lost no time. Atonement must be made for the sins of the last reign. It was not
enough to lament and forsake those sins; they brought a sin-offering. Our
repentance and reformation will not obtain pardon but in and through Christ
who was made sin
that is
a sin-offering for us. While the offerings were on
the altar
the Levites sang. Sorrow for sin must not prevent us from praising
God. The king and the congregation gave their consent to all that was done. It
is not enough for us to be where God is worshipped
if we do not ourselves
worship with the heart. And we should offer up our spiritual sacrifices of
praise and thanksgiving
and devote ourselves and all we have
as sacrifices
acceptable to the Father only through the Redeemer.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 2 Chronicles》
2 Chronicles 29
Verse 4
[4] And
he brought in the priests and the Levites
and gathered them together into the
east street
And he brought in
… — He found Judah low and naked
yet did not make it his first business to
revive the civil interests of his kingdom
but to restore religion to a good
posture. Those that begin with God
begin at the right end of their work; and
it will prosper accordingly.
Verse 5
[5] And said unto them
Hear me
ye Levites
sanctify now yourselves
and
sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers
and carry forth the
filthiness out of the holy place.
Filthiness —
That filthy altar
which Ahaz had put in the place of God's altar
2 Kings 16:11
and the idols
or other
abominable things which were there.
Verse 6
[6] 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.
Turned
… —
They have wilfully and obstinately forsaken God and his worship; that posture
being a signification of contempt.
Verse 7
[7] Also
they have shut up the doors of the porch
and put out the lamps
and have not
burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of
Israel.
They — He
saith not
my father
because it became him as a son
to be as tender as might
be of his father's name: and because his father would not have done all this
if their fathers had not neglected their duty.
Verse 8
[8] Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem
and he hath
delivered them to trouble
to astonishment
and to hissing
as ye see with your
eyes.
Hissing — 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. When we are under the rebukes of God's providence
it is good for
us to enquire
Whether we have not neglected God's ordinances
and whether that
be not the controversy he has with us?
Verse 9
[9] For
lo
our fathers have fallen by the sword
and our sons and our daughters and
our wives are in captivity for this.
Captivity —
Tho' they were presently released
chap. 28:5
14
15.
Verse 11
[11] My
sons
be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him
to serve him
and that ye should minister unto him
and burn incense.
Sons — So
he calls them
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.
Negligent — In
sanctifying yourselves and the temple
verse 5
and in quickening and preparing yourselves
and the people for God's service.
Verse 15
[15] 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.
To cleanse —
From the dirt it had contracted
while it was so long shut up; from dust
cobwebs
and the rust of the vessels. Much more from the idols
and idolatrous
altars which had been set up therein.
Verse 17
[17] Now
they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify
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.
The first day — A
happy beginning of the new year! Thus should every year begin with the
reformation of what is amiss
and the purging away of all the defilements
contracted the foregoing year.
Verse 19
[19]
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.
Sanctified —
Tho' the vessels of the sanctuary may be profaned for a while
God will find a
time and a way to sanctify them. Neither his ordinances nor his obedient
people
shall be suffered to fail forever.
Verse 21
[21] And
they brought seven bullocks
and seven rams
and seven lambs
and seven he
goats
for a sin offering for the kingdom
and for the sanctuary
and for
Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the
altar of the LORD.
Seven —
The number seven is 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
but here
the sins were many and presumptuous.
Kingdom — To
make atonement for the sins of the king and the royal family
and the court.
Sanctuary —
For all the idolatry and uncleanness wherewith the temple had been polluted.
They thought it not enough to lament and forsake their sins
but they brought a
sin-offering. Even our repentance and reformation will not obtain pardon
but
thro' Christ
who was made sin
that is
a sin-offering for us.
Verse 23
[23] And
they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the
congregation; and they laid their hands upon them:
They laid —
The king and the elders of the congregation in the name of the whole
congregation.
Verse 27
[27] And
Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering 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.
The song —
The psalms composed by David and Asaph. Even sorrow for sin must not put us out
of tune for praising God. By faith we must even then rejoice in the Lord our
righteousness
and our prayers and praises must attend with his offering
to be
accepted only in the virtue of it.
Verse 31
[31] Then
Hezekiah answered and said
Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the LORD
come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the LORD.
And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as
were of a free heart burnt offerings.
Consecrated —
Now that you have reconciled yourselves and the house to God
and that he is
willing and ready to accept your sacrifices.
Burnt-offerings —
Wherein there was more generosity than in the other sacrifices
because they
were wholly burnt and offered to God.
Verse 33
[33] And
the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.
Consecrated things —
All the offerings consecrated to God
besides the burnt-offerings already
mentioned.
Verse 34
[34] But
the priests were too few
so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings:
wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them
till the work was ended
and until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites were
more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.
Too few —
Such as were sanctified and fit for their work
as the following words shew:
for otherwise the number of the priests was more than sufficient for this
employment.
Burnt-offerings —
And much less all the other sacrifices
which were more numerous; the slaying
whereof was the priests proper work.
The Levites —
Necessity excusing their deviation from the rule.
Verse 36
[36] And
Hezekiah rejoiced
and all the people
that God had prepared the people: for
the thing was done suddenly.
Rejoiced — 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 presumptions
were now so free and forward in God's service: whereby it plainly appeared to
be the work of God
changing their hearts by his Holy Spirit.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 2 Chronicles》
29 Chapter 29
Verses 1-36
Verses 1-11
Hezekiah began to reign.
Hezekiah’s reformation
The surroundings of Hezekiah in his youth seem
at first
view
to have been unfavourable in the extreme. He was the son of a depraved
father. He grew up at a corrupt court. Good kings and bad follow one another in
very illogical succession. It must be that there is a self-acting power at the
centre of every personal life. Let us cling to the belief
too
that
however
vast the moral inequalities of human lives may be
no life is allowed by the
Creator to be altogether destitute of gracious influences. In Hezekiah’s case
at least
we can have no doubt that such influences were present. It is not
unnatural to believe that his mother
presumably the daughter of Zechariah
the
faithful prophet of King Uzziah’s day
was a woman of devout character. To the
loving nurture of a mother was added the faithful counsel of godly men. Moral
giants lived in those days. Micah was prophesying
Nahum was about to begin his
work. During the entire lifetime of Hezekiah
Isaiah was fulfilling his office
in Jerusalem. Tradition says that he was Hezekiah’s tutor; there can be no
doubt that he was his faithful counsellor. Repulsed by the father
he would
naturally turn with greater earnestness to the son. But all this touches only
the outer circle of the gracious influences by which Hezekiah was encompassed.
It has been said
and there is a world of truth in the saying
that more than
half of the environment of any man is--God. The God who is not far from every
one of us was near to the young prince in the corrupt capital of Judah. We have
good reason for believing that Hezekiah had not been unresponsive to his
heavenly promptings. A work begun so quickly after his accession to the throne
must have been premeditated. We must suppose that Hezekiah had lived a
thoughtful life. The character of the work to which the king addressed himself
is deserving of attention. It was a radical work. Great as was the peril to
which the kingdom was exposed from external attack
great as was its moral unsoundness
Hezekiah saw that all its trouble was rooted in ungodliness. The king’s initial
sot in “opening the doors of the house of the Lord” was
it is likely
more
philosophical than he himself realised. Reverence for God lies at the basis of
all that is trustworthy in private character and of all that is enduring in
public order. Hezekiah’s reform was also positive in nature. It addressed
itself not chiefly to the extermination of idolatry
but to the development of
a genuine faith. Of their own accord the people went out to “break in
pieces” the emblems of idolatry. When God wishes to regenerate the soul He does
not at the outset uproot sinful affections
He implants love for Himself.
Hezekiah’s was a thoroughgoing work. The taunting charge of illiberality could
not extort from him the smallest concession to the false religions of other
lands. Not only image and “grove”--the sacred pillar or tree of Astarte--were
to be hewn down
but the worship of the “high places” was to be
destroyed. Of Asa and Jehoshaphat we are told both that they did and that they
did not interfere with this form of worship. They probably destroyed such
sanctuaries as had become openly idolatrous
and allowed the others to remain.
But Hezekiah adopted extreme measures. The brazen serpent fashioned by Moses in
the wilderness
and still preserved
the people regarded with superstitious
veneration. Hezekiah declared that the image was like any other “piece of
brass
” and broke it in pieces. Hezekiah would not consent that even the germs
of idolatry should remain in the land. How difficult was the mission to which
Hezekiah thus committed himself! In the mode of procedure adopted by Hezekiah in
carrying through his reformation are certain things worthy of notice.
1. It is peculiarly gratifying to observe that he acted promptly. The
die was cast. In the first month of his reign Hezekiah
like Abraham
who
when
bidden to offer Isaac
“rose up early in the morning and went to the place of
which God had told him
” was wise in allowing himself no time for hesitation.
Delay never softens the hard aspects of duty or lessens its difficulties. For
committing one’s self to the service of Christ no other time is so favourable
as the first year
the first month
the first day
of one’s entrance upon a new
sort or period of life.
2. It is instructive to notice that Hezekiah engaged personally in
the work of reform. He did not commit it all to subalterns.
3. Deserving of special mention is the fact that in the prosecution
of his policy Hezekiah relied chiefly upon moral influences. He might have
compelled
but he chose rather to persuade. In this he showed the utmost
wisdom. If the reform was to be real
the hearts of the people must be enlisted
in it. We are
finally
prepared to inquire what results were effected by the
king’s determined effort. The immediate outcome was most gratifying and most
wonderful. The officers of religion responded--the priests somewhat slowly
but
the Levites with all their hearts. The people did the same. The nation felt to
its utmost limits the electric thrill of a new life. The crusade against
idolatry waxed strong throughout the kingdom
and “a burst of spring-time
” as
Dean Stanley beautifully calls it
succeeded. “The thing was done suddenly
”
the record says. But is not the same true of well-nigh every successful reform?
Those advocating a righteous cause have at least two excellent reasons for
viewing it with larger hope than external appearances warrant. Something in
every moral being is in secret alliance with truth and justice. The second
reason is stronger still; it is that by which the sacred historian explains the
success of Hezekiah: “The Lord had prepared the people.” We may reckon with
confidence upon God’s care over any work of His. To the reformatory work of
King Hezekiah must be attributed a result still more imposing
though to be
sure not more important. It delivered the southern kingdom from the fearful
peril by which the northern kingdom had been overwhelmed. Is it not a painful
thing to have to add that even so thorough a reform as this did not prove
lasting? Some of the people doubtless remained steadfast
but the most fell
away. (T. S. Barbour.)
Hezekiah
the good king
I. Hezekiah’s good
beginning.
1. Correct in life (verse 2).
2. Prompt in action (verse 8).
3. Holy in influence (verse 5).
II. Hezekiah’s sad
confession.
1. The Lord forsaken (verse 6).
2. The sanctuary abandoned (verse 7).
3. The penalty incurred (verse 8).
III. Hezekiah’s wise
appeal.
1. To make a covenant (verse 10).
2. To avert wrath (verse 10).
3. To perform duty (verse 11). (Sunday School Times.)
Hezekiah’s reformation
The best way to settle a kingdom is to settle the religion of it
to begin reigning with reforming. Hezekiah’s reformation went on in a true step
and pace
for it began first with the temple and ministry. It is but Christian
prudence to cleanse the spring if we would have the stream clear; to look to
God’s house
and those that should dispense His Word and ordinances if we would
have the people brought into conformity with Him. (T. Manton
D.D.)
Starting well
A friend
who is deeply interested in work for Christ among
our sailors
told me that at the close of a prayer-meeting of which he had been
the leader
a young seaman
who had only a few nights before been converted
came up to him
and laying a blank card before him
requested him to write a
few words upon it
because
as he said
“You will do it more plainly than I
can.” “What must I write?” said my friend. “Write these words
sir; ‘I love
Jesus--do you?’” After he had written them
my friend said
“Now you must tell
me what you are going to do with the card.” He replied
“I am going to sea
to-morrow
and I am afraid if I do not take a stand at once I may begin to be
ashamed of my religion
and let myself be laughed out of it altogether. Now as
soon as I go on board
I shall walk straight to my bunk and nail up this card
upon it
that every one may know that I am a Christian.”
Hezekiah’s action
the result of previous brooding
The statement in verse 8 may be taken as a general resume of what
follows in detail
but this vigorous speech to the priests was clearly among
the new king’s first sets. No doubt his purpose had slowly grown while his
father was affronting Heaven with his mania for idols. Such decisive
swift
action does not come without protracted
previous brooding. The hidden fires
gather slowly in the silent crater
however rapidly they burst out at last. (A.
Maclaren
D.D.)
Taking the right stand at first
We can never begin good things too early
and when we come into
new positions
it is always prudence as well as bravery to show our colours
unmistakably from the first. Many a young man
launched among fresh
associations
has been ruined because of beginning with temporising timidity.
It is easier to take the right standing at first than to shift to it
afterwards. Hezekiah might have been excused if he had thought that the
wretched state of political affairs left by Ahaz needed his first attention.
Edomites on the east
Philistines on the west and south
Syrians and Assyrians
on the north
compassed him about like bees
and worldly prudence would have
said
Look after these enemies to-day
and the temple to-morrow. He was wiser
than that
knowing that these were effects of the religious corruption
and so
he went at that first. It is useless trying to mend a nation’s fortunes unless
you mend its morals and religion. And there are some things which are best done
quickly
both in individual and national life. Leaving off bad habits by
degrees is not hopeful. The only thing to be done is to break with them utterly
and at once. One strong
swift blow
right through the heart
kills the wild
beast. Slighter cuts may make him bleed to death
but he may kill you first.
The existing state was undeniably sinful. There was no need for deliberation as
to that. Therefore there was no reason for delay. Let us learn the lesson that
where conscience has no doubts
we should have no dawdling. “I made haste
and
delayed not to keep Thy commandment.” (A. Maclaren
D. D.)
He brought in the priests
and the Levites
and gathered them together.
Co-operation needed
No one is so strong that he needs no help in carrying out his
plans of reform. The head of a nation or of a state must have the co-operation
of many
if he would correct abuses and promote a better state of things in the
administration of his government. A pastor must seek the aid of the leaders of
his people in trying to raise the standard of his church. A superintendent
cannot carry his school to any higher point than that to which he can first
bring his teachers. The head of a business establishment
who neglects to give
wise counsel to those just below him
finds the lack of it in all the
departments which they oversee. The true method of uplifting the masses is by
uplifting the leaders of the masses. (H. Clay Trumbull.)
Verse 5
Sanctify now yourselves and sanctify the house of the Lord God of
your fathers.
Personal consecration
I. What is involved
in this personal dedication? Thomas Aquinas made three kinds of baptism:
Sanguinis
fluminis
fiaminis--the blood
the flood
the fire! By repentance
and faith in Christ’s atonement the sinner is saved
and by water-baptism
received into the visible Church. But
to be wholly prepared for the Master’s
work
there must be the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire. The aim of
Christianity is to lead us from the material to the spiritual; from the
instrumental and accidental to the absolute and eternal. This house is an
instrument in the service of God. Its best consecration is the consecration of
its occupants
and this is accomplished by the radical work of the Holy Spirit.
The tongue of the preacher
the pen of the author
the lips of the singer
the fingers
of the musician
and the brush of the painter
are servants of a governing
purpose--channels through which thought and feeling
genius and culture
express themselves. If the soul that controls these instruments be consecrated
then they are hallowed. As the wondrous river we read of in ancient fable
turned to gold the very sand its currents washed
so does the fountain of a
holy heart
pouring forth its enriching flood in speech and effort
dignify the
humblest employment or surroundings. With this spirit of consecration enter and
occupy this sanctuary
and you will make the place
indeed
holy.
II. What are the
fruits of this radical
hearty
and permanent consecration? The people by this
spirit of high consecration
are set free from the bondage of low and false
views
prevalent in worldly circles. And
finally
if the pure and holy spirit
of self-dedication
thus outlined
prevails
genuine revivals of religion will
surely follow
healthful growth in activity
love
and liberality will be seen
and true Christian unity will be fostered among all who really love our Lord
Jesus Christ. (Prof. E. P. Thwing.)
Reformation must be thorough
A reformation to be worth much must be thorough. Half-way
work in this line is of little value. Again and again the kings of Judah
when
they swept away all idol worship
left untouched the high places where Jehovah
was sacrificed to irregularly; and
because of their failure at completeness
their people went quickly back to gross idolatry. So in all partial attempts at
reform. The man who proposes to give up drinking
or gambling
or profanity
or
dishonest courses
without surrendering himself wholly to the Lord
is not
likely to succeed even to the extent of his attempts. And it is with the house
of the Lord as it is with persons. Unless it is wholly the Lord’s
it does
little honour to Him. H it is in use for religious purposes on Sunday
and for
concerts and fairs and lectures and shows during the week; or if part of it is
for a house of worship
and part for shops of trade--it is at the best a much
abused sanctuary. “Carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.” (H.
Clay Trumbull.)
Verse 8
Wherefore . . . the Lord . . . hath delivered them to be tossed to
and fro
to be an astonishment
and an hissing
as ye see with your eyes.
The results of sinning
It is easier to see than to foresee the results of sinning. If a
young man won’t foresee the results of an intemperate or a licentious life
those who observe him will
sooner or later
see with their eyes the worst that
he was warned of. If a business man won’t foresee the results of a dishonest
course
others will see it
by and by
in his character and reputation. The future
looks fair to most evil doers at the beginning of their career. It is s pity
that they do not more commonly consider at the start what a tossing to and fro
what an astonishment
what a hissing
they are sure to be delivered to in the
sight of those who watch them
if they go on in the path which now opens
attractively before them. (H. Clay Trumbull.)
Verse 10
Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of
Israel.
The best covenant
I. What is meant
by making “a covenant with the Lord “ In our days it means that gracious
engagement on God’s part to bestow on man the very favour which he supremely
needs
and on terms of God’s own ordering; and on the part of man
his
acceptance of these terms
according to apostolic exhortation--“Be ye
reconciled to God.” There is implied on man’s part--
1. The conviction of
2. The willing and entire abandonment of every other covenant under
which the soul has been enslaved.
3. A hearty reception of the terms on which a covenant with God can
be made.
II. What counsel
and direction can we offer to those who have it in their heart to make a
“covenant with the Lord”?
1. Be not satisfied with only having it in your heart to do so.
2. Let the past mistakes which you have made through trusting to your
own hearts set you upon your guard against trusting them in future.
3. If you make a covenant with the Lord
resolve that it shall be a
perpetual one. (John Lewis.)
The use of covenanting with God
A truly pious man will not be satisfied with serving God in
his closet. He will exert his influence to bring others also to a sense of
their duty. We have a noble example set before us in the conduct of Hezekiah.
I. Show when we
have reason to apprehend that God’s anger is waxed hot against us.
1. When our sins are multiplied against Him.
2. When His judgments are multiplied upon us.
II. Point out the
best means of averting His wrath.
1. Repentance and faith.
2. Devoting ourselves to God in s perpetual covenant.
3. Under the Old Testament dispensation
covenants were judged
acceptable to God. (Asa
2 Chronicles 15:12-15; Josiah
2 Kings 23:3.)
4. Isaiah and Jeremiah speak of the making of such covenants as
characteristic of the gospel times (Isaiah 44:5; Jeremiah 1:4-5).
5. Paul commends the Macedonians (2 Corinthians 8:5); and recommends s
similar practice to all Christians (Romans 12:1).
6. Hezekiah manifestly supposed that God would accept him in this
duty.
III. Urge upon you
the adoption of them.
1. There is no time for delay.
2. If we neglect this duty we cannot hope to escape the wrath of God.
3. If we heartily engage in this duty
we have nothing to fear. (Skeletons
of Sermons.)
Verse 11
For the Lord hath chosen you to stand before Him
to serve Him.
Divine service
I. Some persons
may ask
“why should we serve God? He doesn’t seem as if He
troubled about us?” We admit that so far as outward appearances go
it seems as
if this great universe was something like a well-regulated machine with God as
the invisible engineer. When a human being
man
woman
or child
goes against
the laws of this great machine
God does not stop it
as a human mechanic would
his engine. The Christian believer sometimes wonders why God does not in some
critical emergency interfere; but shall we that are but as the creatures of a
day express any doubt of the wisdom of God?
II. Permit me to
say a few words to those who are now serving God.
1. Be cheerful in your service.
2. Let your service be pure and unselfish. One man who had been
helping in a good work for a few months
with a cry of discontent said
“I
shall not come any more because nobody ever thanks me.” Does the violet
or the
rose
or the sun need thanks for giving forth beauty
and perfume
and light?
The beat reward of good service is in the heart of the server. A man who
engages in the Divine service from selfish motives is like a fettered bird. The
bird could wing itself into the vault of yonder blue sky; but it has a stone tied
to its leg. Your selfishness is a stone which fetters your usefulness.
3. Let your service be continual.
III. Let me speak to
those who have no hope of ever becoming the servants of God. God knows and
cares for you. (W. Birch.)
Diligence and exertion in the Chistian ministry
Let us endeavour--
I. To explain the
counsel or Hezekiah to the priests and Levites: “be not now negligent.” This is
sometimes rendered: “be not now deceived.” This conveys the idea that we are
never more apt to impose upon ourselves than when we are remiss in duty
for we
vainly imagine that God will not be strict to mark against us what is so
natural and so pleasing to the depraved heart of man. It implies a former
deficiency in the performance of duty. This counsel was--
1. Most necessary.
2. Highly important and useful
3. Peculiarly reasonable.
II. To consider
some motives to its enforcement.
1. If we would act in accordance with the design of God in the
appointment of the sacred office of the ministry
we will use the utmost diligence
in His service.
2. The number
the variety
the difficulty and importance of the
duties connected with the office of the ministry
require diligence.
5. Consistency with your professed character.
4. The shortness and uncertainty of the time allotted.
5. The sense of responsibility. “Ye serve the Lord Christ.” (W.
Schaw.)
The Christian ministry
I. While all God’s
children are called “to serve Him
” there is a special sense in which the
minister of God is “chosen to serve Him”
1. He is outwardly “chosen and called to this work by men who have
public authority given unto them” in the church.
2. He is inwardly brought to it; for he declares that he “thinks in
his heart that he is truly called.”
II. The object of
the ministerial office is the glory of God in the salvation of sinners.
III. The means
whereby this result is to be effected are--
1. The preaching of the Gospel.
2. The right discharge of his regular official duties
baptism
marriage
etc.
3. Personal intercourse with his flock.
4. The minister’s consistency of life.
IV. The attitude of
the minister is one of peculiar dignity; it is to “stand before the Lord.”
Exhortation; “be not now negligent.”
1. In Prayer.
2. In study
It is said of the Venerable Bede
that “he never knew
what it was to do nothing
and always found it sweet to be either learning
teaching
or writing.”
3. In labour.
4. In conduct. (F. B. Ashley.)
The complex idea of worship
We make mistakes if we suppose that worship is a mere cloud
a
foam of sentiment; it is work of all kinds
door-opening and lamp-lighting and
floor-sweeping
cleansing
preparing
ventilating
expecting the people and
welcoming them with joy; and then incense-burning
and cross-uplifting
and cry
of thunderous and mute eloquence
and hymn
sweet
gentle
tender
and prayer
that beats against heaven like artillery--all these things and many more ere
included in the complex idea of worship. Let each man
therefore
do what he
can in this matter
knowing that no one man works the whole ministry of
worship
but that it is an act of co-operation and combination
one part
playing with another part
and each interrelating itself with each other
so as
to constitute a sum total significant of unity
adaptation
music
and homage.
(J. Parker
D.D.)
Verse 17
Now they began on the first day of the first month
A new year in Jerusalem
Let us consider--
I.
The
work done (2 Chronicles 29:18-19). What a grand
work of an analogous character is thereby suggested--as a work
that may
possibly be accomplished in the beginning of this year (1 Corinthians 3:16).
II. How it came to
pass that it was done
and “done suddenly”.
1. “God has prepared the people” (2 Chronicles 29:29).
2. In so doing He had rendered the priests and Levites greatly useful
(2 Chronicles 29:12-16).
3. King Hezekiah greatly influenced the spirit of the priests
the
Levites
and the people
as evident from the character of his address (2 Chronicles 29:5-11). But “there is
another king
one Jesus
” who builds the temple of the Lord
and cleanses it
to whom we are all invited to look
and who “shall bear the glory.”
III. Some immediate
results.
1. A great impulse given to the spirit of worship (2 Chronicles 29:28-30).
2. Extension of a spirit of liberality in connection with the worship
and service of the Lord (verse35).
3. Great joy. And that how valuable!
When the burnt offering began
then the song of the Lord began
also.
Sacrifice and song
This chapter contains a brief
graphic account of the great
reformation which Hezekiah wrought in the beginning of his reign. The text is
part of that account.
I. How often these
two things--sacrifice and song--self-denial and joy--are associated. We see the
union every
where.
1. In the home. When is the husband or wife so supremely happy as
when by some deed of self-sacrifice he or she has made the other glad? When
does the father’s heart sing for joy? Not when he has bent the stubborn will of
the child
but when
by the sacrifice of some luxury he has made the little
soul glad on its birthday.
2. In the best works of fiction
i.e.
those which are most
true to human nature who does not remember the half-sovereign which Tom Pinch
the poor half-starved clerk
concealed in a piece of paper and put into the
hand of Martin Chuzzlewit at their parting? And who has not envied the feeling
of happiness with which he returned to his bare home and grinding lot?
3. In the lives of God’s servants. The memorials of Robert and Mary
Moffat
show what sacrifices they had to make in carrying on their work in
Africa. They leave no doubt that they found a joy in them that the selfish and
luxurious are seeking in vain.
4. In our own lives we have all experienced it.
II. They are
indissolubly associated--joined together in the nature of things. Man cannot
have the one without the other. Let there be no sacrifice and there will be no
song
no self-denial and there will ere long be no joy. That is a law written
broadly over human nature
attested by the widest experience
and recognised by
Proverbs 11:24-25. It explains some of
what seem to be the hardest sayings and most difficult demands of our Lord
as
e.g.
Matthew 16:24-25; John 12:24; and His question put to the
two ambitious disciples (Mark 10:37-38). The lesson is clear. We
all want happiness--that our joy may be full. But we cannot have it by aiming
at it directly. Begin to sacrifice
to give to God what you really value; say
“I will not offer unto the Lord my God that which doth cost me nothing.” Give
your money
interest
time
effort. Copy the example of Him who went about
doing good
and “pleased not Himself.” Try to make lives brighter
homes
happier
business more pure. Take up the cross. Then this bit of old-world
history shall record your experience: “When the burnt offering began
then the
song of the Lord began
also”--a song which grew louder and mightier as the sacrifice went on
and
never ended until the sacrifice itself came to an end. (J. Ogle.)
Verse 31
Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the Lord.
Consecration
The reign of Hezekiah was like the spasmodic brightness of a
candle about to go out for ever. The root principle in consecrating anything is
the recognition of God’s exclusive ownership.
I. A real
consecration is an act of free will.
II. Consecration
means a giving to God Himself.
III. Nor will such
consecration be complete without a personal consecration. (Bishop Charles E.
Cheney.)
Worship and thank-offerings
I. The occasion
referred to: it was the opening of the house of God.
1. This house was a sacred edifice
consecrated to God and typical of the body of
Christ.
2. In the house they opened for God
they recognised a place of
meeting between God and souls.
3. In the house that was opened for the worship of God
there was an inner
court. Into this inner court we have now “access by the Spirit unto the
Father.”
II. The nature of
their worship. By sacrifice. There is no acceptable worship of God without
sacrifice.
III. The expressions
of thankfulness among the people. They were happy--
1. In the knowledge of their acceptance with God.
2. In the extension of the life of God in their souls.
3. In the revival of the worship of God among them publicly.
4. In the expression of their ardent concern to rival one another in
the service of God--for they all brought their thankofferings. (Joseph Irons.)
Verse 36
For the thing was done suddenly.
Quickly done
I. That God very
often appears to work with a suddenness that is startling.
1. In the realm of nature.
2. In the realm of providence.
3. In the realm of grace.
II. The fact that
although god’s works may appear to be marvellously sudden
yet at the same
time
they have been preceded by a preparation that has perhaps lasted for
years. It was so in this particular case. Hezekiah thanked God for having
prepared the people. Do you ask me how they were prepared? I think I could
venture to answer that question by saying they were prepared by the very
openness of the sin of the previous monarch. Ahaz had gone to such a tremendous
length in iniquity that his very excesses of crime had awoke a counter-feeling
amongst the people. So is it in everything. First in the realm of nature. The
storm that comes with racehorse speed across the sky might doubtless be traced
back to atmospheric agencies far
far remote. The storm is only a climax. As in
the realm of nature
so in the realm of providence. The deliverance at the Red
Sea--it appeared sudden--it was not. It was only one link in a long chain. From
the very beginning God had determined how He would deliver His people. Is not
it specially so in the realm of grace? Look at Manasseh
whom we have used as
an example of sudden conversion. It at your leisure you refer to his history
you will find in the thirty-third chapter
eleventh and twelfth verses
the
account of God’s preparation. “And Manasseh was caught in the thorns
and was
taken a captive to Babylon; and in his distress he sought the Lord.” Take the
case of Pentecost. If you read the second chapter of the Acts attentively
you
will see that God had brought together at Jerusalem at one time an immense
number of people out of every country
and I read they were “devout men”; that
is
they were inquirers after the truth. God had heaped together prepared fuel
then He made Peter strike the spark which resulted in the grand Pentecostal
blaze. So is it in revivals. A revival appears sudden
and yet it is only the
result of previous preparation. You are revived and you say that you are revived suddenly.
Let me ask you a question or two
and I think you will see there has been prior
working. Did you have any troubles in your business? Did you lose a child? Were
you sick? What an encouraging thought it is to every worker for God that mighty
things can thus be accomplished in a moment. (A. G. Brown.)
“Suddenly”
Observe the conjunction of words: “prepared--suddenly.” That is
the true order of progress--preparation as to process
suddenness as to
revelation. As the volcano
it is always gathering its heat
the moment of
explosion is sudden; it always comes unexpectedly; it is like death itself
for
though we have reckoned about the time death will come
when he does come his
white ghastliness makes us forget our preparation and say
It was so sudden at
the last! Have some of us not had preparation enough? Is it not time now for
enthusiasm? We have heard thousands of discourses; we have attended thousands
of religious services; we have even gone so far as to criticise the services we
have attended. Has there not been preparation enough? Is it not time for a
little suddenness
outburst
genuine enthusiasm? “The Lord shall suddenly come
to His temple.” “Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly
host”; and yet all the ages had been preparing for that one moment. Eternity
had been waiting for that crisis
and yet even then it was said
“And
suddenly.” “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven
a sound as of a
rushing
mighty wind.” . . . Yet
though apparently so unexpected
“this is
that which was spoken by the
prophet Joel.” (J. Parker
D.D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》