This week, we shall continue the
study of 2 Chronicles of the Old Testament.
The Celebration of Passover
(1) The priests and the Levites were ashamed (vv. 13-16):
a. Why were they ashamed?
b. Did it have anything to do with v. 14?
c. What did they do as a result?
(2) There were people, especially from outside of Judah who came to present and eat sacrifices while unclean (vv. 17-20).
a. What might be the reasons for their uncleanness? (see Lev. 7:19, 11:28, 12:2; 13:3; 15:2, 16-24 for some of the reasons)
b. What should they have done before participating in this celebration? (see the example in Lev. 11:28 )
c. What if they eat any of the sacrifice while unclean? (see Lev. 7:20-21)
d. Why did Hezekiah not prohibit them from participating at the celebration and pray for them? (vv. 18-19)
e. Did God hear Hezekiah’s prayer? Why or why not?
f. What does this tell us about the difference between the letter and the spirit of the Law? (see 2 Cor. 3:6)
(3) How special was this celebration that gave everyone great joy? (v. 21)
(4) Why did Hezekiah choose to speak to the Levites with words of encouragement? (v. 22)
(5) What special contribution had they made concerning this celebration?
(6) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites, who showed good understanding of the service of the LORD.” (2 Chr. 30:22)
We know that we are different members in the body of Christ and the Apostle Paul reminds us that, as a result, we all have different functions (or gifts)—some appear to be stronger and more presentable, and others weaker and less presentable (1 Cor. 12:22ff), but nonetheless, “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He gives them to each one, just as He determines” (1 Cor. 12:11).
However, knowing this truth has not helped us. Often we desire gifts that others have and envy the attention, praise and satisfaction that appear to come with these gifts.
While it is true that the Spirit gives gifts “just as He determines”, the Apostle Paul does encourage us to prepare ourselves to be used by God for “noble purposes” with these words, “If a man cleanse himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work” (2 Tim. 2:21). The Levites at the resumption of the Passover celebration was a case in point.
The Levites had not been given the function to handle the sacrifice animal directly according to the Law of Moses (see Lev. 1:6); it was the sacred privilege of the priests. However, because many of the priests had not cleansed themselves in time, as a result, there were not enough priests to handle the skinning of the animals. On the contrary, “the Levites had been more conscientious in consecrating themselves than the priests had been” (2 Chr. 29:34), and so they were drafted into helping the priests in this sacred function. At the end of the seven days’ celebration, Hezekiah was so pleased with them that he “spoke encouragingly to all the Levites, who showed good understanding of the service of the Lord” (2 Chr. 30:22).
This is a great example for us to learn in that, if we keep ourselves pure, there is no telling how God can use us for the sake of His kingdom.
30:23-27—The Celebration of Passover (Continued)
(1) Why did the whole assembly feel the need to celebrate the festival beyond the originally prescribed seven days? What does it say about the spiritual condition in that it was the decision of the “whole assembly”?
(2) What example did the king set for the people? (v. 24)
(3) How did it impact the officials of the city?
(4) Have you any idea how long it has been since such a joyous celebration of this scale has taken place? (v. 26; see 2 Chr. 7:4ff—more than 250 years)
(5) Was God really pleased with their sacrifices and worship? (v. 27) Why?
31:1-8—Post-Celebration Events
(6) What happened after this celebration? (31:1)
(7) What might account for such drastic actions, even outside of Judah?
(8) In re-establishing the duty roster for the priest and Levites,
a. What example did the king set for them? (v. 3)
b. What order did he give the people after he set his own example? (v. 4)
c. How did the people respond to the king’s order? Why? (vv. 5-7)
(9) How would you describe the contribution of Hezekiah to the revival of the nation? Why was he so successful?
(10) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“The king contributed from his own possessions for the morning and evening burnt offerings and for the burnt offerings on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals as written in the Law of the LORD.” (2 Chr. 31:3)
The revival under Hezekiah was really remarkable. Not only did the celebration of the Passover rival the scale of the celebration of the dedication of the temple in the time of Solomon (2 Chr. 30:26), it was a revival beyond the surface ― a true revival of the spiritual condition of the people, because the Bible shows how God was pleased with their celebration in that “The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, His holy dwelling place” (2 Chr. 30:27).
When you think of the fact that Hezekiah succeeded one of the most wicked kings in Ahaz who had not closed the temple to Yahweh worship, but brought into the temple all kinds of idols and altars, it would have been an impossible task for Hezekiah to restore the external worship of Yahweh to the nation, let alone changing the hearts of the people. He might be able to accomplish the former by force as a king, but the latter was truly beyond his power. As it turned out, he was able to accomplish both.
It was obviously God’s doing in that He had prepared the hearts of the Levites whose conscientiousness in consecrating themselves had made the cleansing of the temple and the celebration of the Passover possible (2 Chr. 29:34). However, we can also see that in everything, the king was setting as example for all to follow:
- Once the temple was cleansed, he took the lead to get up “early in the morning” and gathered the city officials to go up to the temple to present the sin offerings (29:20)— this shows his own commitment to return to the Lord;
- And as the whole assembly agreed to celebrate the festival for seven more days (likely at his suggestion), he took the lead to offer 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep and goats for the assembly and thus the city officials followed suit with their 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep and goats (30:24); and
- He did more than give a one-time contribution to the celebration of Passover, but he also contributed to maintain the regular services at the temple (31:3) which prompted the people to follow his order to tithe as they should (31:4).
Indeed, the most effective teaching is not one of words but of deeds. To be a successful spiritual leader, we need not only to talk our walk, but walk our walk. Walk must precede talk!
(1) What was the result of the people’s response in resuming their obligation to tithe? (v. 8)
(2) What did tithing mean to the Levites and the priests? (v. 10; see Num. 18:21 as well)
(3) Why did Hezekiah have to step in to take care of the “heaps” of offerings? (vv. 11-13)
(4) With proper storage in place, what did Hezekiah do to ensure that all priests and Levites even outside of Jerusalem were properly provided for? (vv. 14-15)
(5) What was the emphasis in v. 18 and the explanation given at the end of the verse concerning the distributors?
(6) What three adjectives were used to describe the deeds of Hezekiah? (v. 20)
(7) What was the meaning of each of these adjectives?
(8) What was the basis of such commendations? (v. 21a)
(9) What was the result of his obedience to the Lord? (v. 21b)
(10) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah and Shekaniah assisted him faithfully in the towns of the priests, distributing to their fellow priests according to their divisions, old and young alike.” (2 Chr. 31:15)
As most godly kings in Judah received almost a standard line of commendation from the Bible saying that so and so, “did what was right in the eye of the Lord” (2 Chr.14:2; 20:32; 24:2; 25:2, to cite but a few), Hezekiah received a much lengthier commendation: “This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God. In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly” (2 Chr. 31:20-21).
Among all the “good and right and
faithful” things he did before the Lord, I admire Hezekiah as a king who truly cared about people. In as much as he had a passion to restore the temple worship and he,
indeed, worked “whole heartedly” to restore temple worship and reestablish
the duty roster of the priest and Levites to ensure its continuation, he also
made sure that the people would resume their duties in tithing, because the
Lord has said,
“Instead, I give to the Levites as their inheritance the tithes that the Israelites present as an offering to the Lord. That is why I said concerning them: ‘They will have no inheritance among the Israelites'." (Num.18:24)
When the people responded enthusiastically in tithing to the point that “heaps” of offering had been piled up as leftovers from what the priests and Levites of Jerusalem were able to consume, Hezekiah quickly stepped in to intervene so that these offerings could be preserved properly, not only for the provision of Jerusalem’s clergy, but also those serving in towns outside of Jerusalem (31:11-15). In other words, Hezekiah did not only seek to use the priests and Levites to his noble end—the restoration of Yahweh’s worship, but he also truly cared about them. The priests and Levites to Hezekiah were not tools, but people about whom he deeply cared.
(1) The last chapter ends with the comment that “And so he (Hezekiah) prospered” (31:21) and once again the Bible commends him for his faithfulness in this opening verse (32:1): Why then would God allow such a powerful enemy to invade Judah (in fact, the Assyrians had almost reached Jerusalem)? (v. 1)
(2) In defense of the city, the king and his officials decided to block off the springs outside the city Jerusalem. What was the purpose of this action? (v. 4)
(3) What else did Hezekiah do to defend the city? (v. 5)
(4) Were these actions wise?
(5) Does it mean that Hezekiah did not trust in the Lord? Why or why not? (see vv. 6-7)
(6) How does v. 7 echo the encouragement of the Apostle John in 1 John 4:4?
(7) Why was Hezekiah so confident that his God will prevail over the powerful Assyrian army? (v. 8)
(8) What effect did his word of encouragement have on the people of Judah in the face of such an imminent attack by the powerful Assyrians who were the dominant world power of the time?
(9) What is the message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note:
While the Chronicler seeks to focus on the faith of Hezekiah, it is helpful to get a more complete picture of the incident by reading the account of 2 Kings 18:13-18.
“After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself.” (2 Chr. 32:1)
One wonders why God would allow Hezekiah and his people to be invaded by the powerful Assyrians when they had genuinely turned to Him and Hezekiah had sought the Lord and worked wholeheartedly (2 Chr. 31:21).
It once again reminds me of the lyrics of the song “God Has not Promised”. Indeed, God has not promised that because we are his children or because we are faithful to Him that the sky will always be blue. In fact, our faith needs to be tested for it to be genuine which was certainly the case with Hezekiah’s faith.
While the Chronicler only mentions about how Hezekiah and his officials sought to defend the city with blocking the water supply around the city and reinforcing the walls around it (2 Chr. 32:4-5), he is silent about whether Hezekiah turned to seek the help of God right away. The account in 2 Kings 18:13-18 provides us with the insight into how Hezekiah momentarily faltered in his faith and resorted to appease Sennacherib by paying tribute to him by even scraping off the gold from the pillars of God’s temple (2 Ki. 18:13-16). It was only when such appeasement proved to be futile that he eventually turned to the Lord for help (2 Chr. 32:20).
I felt like looking into a mirror as I was reading the struggle of Hezekiah as he faced the trial of his life. Fortunately, I am also being reminded of the Lord’s promise in the midst of our struggle that: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).
(1) 2 Kings 18:13-18 shows us that by that time Judah had lost all the fortified cities except Jerusalem and Hezekiah had been humbled to the point that he paid tribute to the Assyrians by stripping the gold off the temple structure:
a. How would the people of Judah feel toward their king and their God?
b. If you were Hezekiah, how would you feel about the situation?
(2) How did Sennacherib challenge the faith of Hezekiah? (vv. 10-12)
(3) What effect might his words have on the people of Judah?
(4) What proof did Sennacherib give to back up his claim? (vv. 13-15)
(5) How did Sennacherib directly challenge the Lord? (vv. 16-17)
(6) Why did the officers of Sennacherib choose to speak in Hebrew? (v. 18)
(7) 2 Kings 18:36 says that the people remained silent; what might they being saying in their hearts?
(8) What would you do at this time, if you were Hezekiah?
(9) What did Hezekiah do? (v. 20; also see 2 Ki. 19:1-2)
(10) How did God answer their prayers? (v. 21; see also 2 Ki. 19:35-37 for greater details)
(11) What blessings did this battle lead to? (vv. 22-23)
(12) What is the main message to you today, and how may you apply it to your life?
“They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as they did about the gods of the other peoples of the world—the work of human hands.” (2 Chr. 32:19)
It is indeed hard to take insults. If we are insulted, especially in public, it may be hard to take, but to allow the enemies of the Lord to insult His name in front of us, while we cannot do or say anything in reply is even harder to take. This was the situation faced by the officials of King Hezekiah.
2 Kings 18 gives us greater details about the insulting words spoken by the commander of Assyria. First, the representatives of Hezekiah made the mistake of begging the commander of Assyria not to speak in Hebrew, lest the people could hear and understand his insults to King Hezekiah and the Lord (2 Ki. 18:26). They were such losers that they basically had surrendered before the Assyrians even invaded the city. They had not only admitted their failure, but also that of the Lord in whom Hezekiah had put his trust and hope.
The result was double-humiliation in that they were likened to people who “will have to eat their excrement and drink their own urine” (2 Ki. 18:27) and the commander continued to speak in Hebrew and openly insulted the Lord as incapable of delivering Jerusalem (2 Ki. 18:35). At the end they had no answer for the challenge of the commander (2 Ki. 18:36).
However, we have to understand that it is no use—in fact there is no need to win any argument for the Lord as He always has the final say. Actually, we should fear for those who openly insult the name of God as Hezekiah rightly understood. God will not take their blasphemy lightly, and in the case of the king of Assyrian, He “will have him cut down with the sword” (2 Ki. 19:7).
However, God is such a gracious God that His forgiveness will still be extended to those who might have blasphemed Him in ignorance as we recall His promise that in the Last Days, even the Egyptians and the Assyrians will worship Him together (Isa.19:23) and He even calls Assyria, “my handiwork” (Isa. 19:25).
32:24—Hezekiah’s sickness (read 2 Kings 20:1-11 also)
(1) How did Hezekiah face his seemingly terminal illness?
(2) Should he have asked for healing?
(3) How many additional years did God give him to live?
(4) Whom did he give birth to in this period? (see 2 Chr. 33:1)
32:25-31—The Pride of Hezekiah
(5) How does the Bible describe his success and prosperity? (vv. 27-29)
(6) Do you think his fame could match those of his forefather Solomon?
(7) What caused him to be proud? (v. 25)
(8) How did the Lord deal with his pride?
(9) Read the event of the visit of the convoys from Babylon in 2 Ki. 20:12-19.
a. In what way did the event show his pride?
b. How did he respond to the rebuke of the prophet?
32:32-33—Death of Hezekiah
(10) Take a moment to reflect on the life of Hezekiah:
a. If you were to write an epitaph of this king, what would you write?
b. What is the main lesson you can learn from his life?
c. How may you apply it to your life?
“In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. He prayed to the Lord who answered him and gave him a miraculous sign.” (2 Chr. 32:24)
As I was reading the more detailed account of Hezekiah’s illness in Isaiah 38 and 2 Kings 20, I have to confess that I do have mixed feelings toward Hezekiah’s prayer for healing. On the one hand his desperate desire not to die is understandable:
- As he said, he was still in the prime of his life (Isa. 38:10); he was likely about 39 years old — too young to die.
- He had unfinished business: He had suffered great humiliation during the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrians, although he and the city were delivered miraculously by the Lord. He probably felt that there was unfinished business for him to do and that was to rebuild Jerusalem and his army for future protection against the Assyrians. This he certainly did according to 2 Chronicles 32:27-30.
- His prayer after healing indicated that he had learned a lesson from his illness (Isa. 38:17) and pledged to walk in humility (Isa. 38:15) and committed to teach his children of God’s faithfulness (Isa. 38:19).
On the other hand, what happened after his healing had proved that the last 15 years of his life had turned out to be a curse, not a blessing to him and the nation:
- 2 Chronicles has this to say about his life after healing: “But Hezekiah’s heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him…” (2 Chr. 32:25);
- His pride was further revealed in that he showed off his treasures to the envoys of the king of Babylon which, undoubtedly, contributed to the fall of Jerusalem directly or indirectly in the hands of the Babylonians; and
- He failed to teach his son Manasseh the faithfulness of the Lord. This son succeeded him at his young age of 12 (2 Chr. 33:1) which means that he was born during the added 15 years of Hezekiah’s remaining life. As we know, Manasseh turned out to be one of the most wicked kings of Judah who did extreme evil in the eyes of the Lord (2 Chr. 33:9).
Perhaps, Hezekiah should have submitted to the will of God, since it is never how long we live, but how we live that really matters!
(1) Since Manasseh was only 12 years old when he became king, how old was Hezekiah when he was born? (According to 29:1 Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king and reigned in Jerusalem for 29 years.)
(2) Why didn’t Hezekiah have any spiritual influence on Manasseh?
(3) Consider Manasseh’s drastic change of course from Hezekiah’s (vv. 2-9):
a. Try to list one by one the sins that he had committed against the Lord.
b. When the Bible mentions his sin of building altars (for other gods) in the temple of the Lord (v. 4), why does it point out the promise of God that “My name will remain in Jerusalem forever” (1 Ki. 9:3)?
c. In mentioning the sin of putting the image Manasseh made in the temple of the Lord, what warning does the Bible point out (vv. 7-8)? Why?
d. What might be the most unexpected thing he did as far as you are concerned?
e. What might be the most abominable? Why?
(4) What impact did his sin have on the people? (v. 9)
(5) What did the Lord do first to call Manasseh and his people to repentance? (v. 10)
(6) Did it work? Why or why not?
(7) What did the Lord do next? (v. 11)
(8) How did Manasseh respond to God’s chastisement? (v. 13)
(9) Are you surprised that given the wickedness of Manasseh, the Lord would forgive him? Why or why not?
(10) What is the main lesson you have learned about Manasseh and how may you apply it to your life?
“And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.” (2 Chr. 33:13)
As we read the account of Manasseh, we can’t help but raise many questions, including the following:
- Didn’t Hezekiah have any other son to put on the throne? Why did he make Manasseh his successor at the young age of 12?
- Why didn’t Hezekiah, being such a godly king, have any spiritual influence on his son?
- Did it have anything to do with his much doting on a son who was born when he was around 42 years old?
- Where and how did Manasseh learn all these detestable practices of the nations which Hezekiah had eradicated for some 29 years?
- Why would God allow such a wicked king to reign for such a long time — 55 years?
Since the Scripture is totally silent on these issues, it is not helpful for us to speculate, except on the last question.
2 Chronicles 33 gives us an account of the latter part of Manasseh’s life in that God did more than use prophets to warn and rebuke him (2 Ki. 21:10ff); God used the Assyrians to take Manasseh prisoner and humiliate him (33:11). In his distress, Manasseh repented and “knew that the Lord is God” (33:13). The sincerity of his repentance was reflected in his undoing of all the detestable practices and the tearing down of all altars for idols, including those he built inside the courts of the temple of the Lord, and in telling “Judah to serve the Lord” (33:16).
I guess the important lesson we can learn from the life of Manasseh is that God is indeed long-suffering, and He always gives the wayward chance after chance to repent and to come to know Him. Not that all the wayward would repent like Manasseh, but when it happens, we can be sure that that “there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Lk. 15:10)