The Greatest Celebration in 400 Years!

 Read 2 Chronicles 35. 

Nothing was spared in celebrating the Passover when King Josiah reigned. 

As he grew older, he also grew in his spiritual leadership.  The Temple had been cleansed and repaired.  The Book of the Law had been discovered and there was a renewed commitment to obey it.  Only now could the leadership and the nation properly come before the LORD for a wholehearted celebration. 

1. They prepared themselves.

The Levites who taught and served at the Temple were charged again to fulfill their responsibilities.  This meant they were to accomplish their assigned tasks by family and division as prescribed in the Scriptures.  They then could put the Ark back where it belonged.  In order to handle the tremendous amount of people and offering, they must be ready.  There was work to be done. 

2. They consecrated themselves.

Without spiritual preparation, they would just be doing a job, instead of a ministry.  The price of serving God is purity!  Ministry is an inside out work.  It begins within the heart of the servant and flows into the lives of others. 

3. They worked hard.

Those who taught the people, those who helped with the sacrifices, those who burned the offerings, those who boiled the meat, those cleaned up after all the mess, those who sang, those who offered the sacrifices and worshiped--all celebrated together!  Yes, they came for the day of Passover, but the feast lasted a week. 

Verse 18 states: "No Passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet." 

Worship is not a spectator sport.  Everyone should come with their hearts right before the LORD and ready to give, work and do their part.

The most important factor to spiritual Life-change.

 Read 2 Chronicles 34. 

Josiah was only 8 years old when he began his reign over Judah.  At age 16, he began to exercise his faith in the LORD.  By age 20, he was leading his nation in a spiritual cleansing process.  When he became 26, he turned his attention to the repair of the Temple. 

This is a great reminder that spiritual maturity has nothing to do with how old a person is.  Paul told Timothy not to let anyone look down on him because he was young (1 Timothy 4:12). 

As the work proceeded, a copy of the Book of the Law was found!  Obviously, the people had not seen, nor heard, the word of God in a long time.  When Shaphan read the scriptures to King Josiah, he became overwhelmed with conviction.  His concern regarding the lack of attention and obedience to God's word was not only for himself but for the people of his kingdom and that of the northern kingdom of Israel. 

To understand the implications, they sought out the Prophetess Huldah.  She confirmed the king's concerns for the people, yet the judgment would not take place in Josiah's lifetime.  Further, she explained why: "Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words..." (v.27a).  

When one's heart is open to hear what God has to say, it is life-changing!  "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12) 

The openness, or tenderness, of the heart toward the LORD is what makes the difference in the results.

Gain from the Pain

 Read 2 Chronicles 33. 

After some 29 years of wonderful and godly leadership from Hezekiah, his son Manasseh became Judah's next king.  Manasseh systematically reversed the spiritual reforms of his father.    He turned from worshiping the LORD to installing every false and evil way. 

1. He not only built altars to the Baals but also to the fertility goddess, Asherah.  When people turn to false worship, moral values are soon lost.

2. He built altars to the "host of heaven".  Astrology and worship of the movement of stars and planets has always been condemned by God as evil (Deuteronomy 4:19).  It is a system that looks to the creation for life guidance rather than the Creator.

3. He led the nation into human sacrifices, including his own sons.

4. He used fortune-telling, omens, sorcery, mediums, and wizards.  These are not amusements for video games, role playing, fantasies of escape, and advice seeking.  They are in fact satanic and rooted in everything that is against the God of heaven.

5. He even carved an idol and set it up as a god.  A piece of inanimate wood that he fashioned became something to which he bowed and paid homage. 

All of these actions resulted in God's anger and judgment.  The Assyrians humiliated him and took him captive.  He lost everything. 

"And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers" (v.12).  God heard his prayer.  "Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God" (v.13b).  The personal and national restoration began. 

It took the pain of loss and distress to turn his heart from going his own way to surrendering to God's way.  Isaiah described this behavior as true of everyone and the reason the Messiah died on the cross.  "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6) 

Restoration begins when a person turns from their sin to embrace God's forgiveness.

 

When your world is Threatened

 Read 2 Chronicles 32. 

When our world is threatened we discover the source of our true trust. 

The king of Assyria had conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and then thought that Judah would be no problem.  His tactics included marching into the land with his strong army and then terrifying the city with belittling messages.  The messages he sent attacked the foundations of their trust.  Judah trusted in the LORD and in the leadership of King Hezekiah. 

Sennacherib's powerful forces had handled all others in their path.  However, his fatal mistake with Judah was to think the God of heaven was just one of many faith options. 

When someone states, "We all worship the same God", they make the mistake of Sennacherib. 

The tactic did scare the people.  The threat was real.  Hezekiah did two things that all of us should do when our foundations are under attack:

1. He prepared.  There were things he could do.  At the first word of trouble, he took immediate defensive actions.

2. He prayed.  There were things he could not do.  He found his prayer partner and cried out to God for help. 

In response, God sent an angel to fight for them.  The Assyrian army experienced supernatural defeat.  Sennacherib was assassinated by his own sons.  Hezekiah's experienced peace and blessings. 

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.  They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright."  (Psalm 20:7-8)

 

What your Giving says about you

 Read 2 Chronicles 31. 

Someone once said that we are never more like God than when we give.  In one of the most well-known of all Bible verses, John 3:16 begins with the words, "For God so loved the world that He gave..." 

King Hezekiah led the nation to restore the worship and celebration of the LORD.  The Temple and those who ministered had been marginalized and ignored for a long time.  But now the Temple had been cleaned up and the ministers were back to work again.  However, in order for the ministry to be sustained resources were essential. 

Hezekiah led the people in giving on multiple levels.   They presented the required sacrifices for worship.  They began tithing of all their income.  They practiced generosity with freewill offerings over and above their tithe (v.14). 

The result was abundance for God's house and God's servants (v.10).  The King and the people prospered as a result. 

Too many Christians have never been taught and do not realize that there is a direct connection between a person's spiritual maturity and their financial giving.  Tithing (a tenth) has always been a base standard, before and after the law (Genesis 14, Hebrews 7).  Offerings of generosity are over and above that standard. 

It is our responsibility to make sure that both the place where we worship and those who serve us are well provided for accordingly.

The price of Unity

 Read 2 Chronicles 30. 

In his continuing efforts to restore the nation spiritually, King Hezekiah organized the first celebration of Passover in long time.  He had a heart for those who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel.  They had alienated themselves from worshiping at the Temple.  Not since the kingdom divided after the reign of Solomon had the nation come together for Passover. 

In a kind gesture, he sent out invitations for the northern tribes to come and join in the celebration.  Note that his message was not only to come, but he included a strong exhortation for them to make this a time of repentance and return to the LORD.  "For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him." 

But Israel was so given over to idolatry and false worship that his invitation had no value to them.  Indeed, his offer was ridiculed.  However, that was not true of everyone.  Some did come.  And, even though a few of the ceremonial details were not exactly followed, Hezekiah stepped in with words of grace. 

Unity is a beautiful thing to behold and enjoy.  Jesus prayed for his followers to be one and to love one another. 

Spiritual unity is not based upon a call for corporate organization.  It has a personal price.  It means coming in repentance of sin and acceptance of God's plan.  Jesus conducted an interesting conversation with a woman who flinched because of gender, racial and religious differences.  But the real issue was this, "the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him."  (John 4:23)  That personal turning in faith to Jesus opened the door for fellowship, worship, and unity with other believers.

 

 

4 Steps to Spiritual Restoration

 Read 2 Chronicles 29. 

The ungodly Ahaz died and his son, Hezekiah, became the next king of Judah.  The royal lineage of David and the Messiah continued.  Though he was raised by a father who did not obey the LORD, Hezekiah did.  His father had stopped all worship of God and substituted it with objects of his own making.  The new king loved the LORD and used his position to restore the spiritual life of the nation. 

The Temple had been misused and, evidently, boarded up for years.  The sacrifices, worship and celebrations prescribed by God were no longer practiced.  The Levites had been marginalized and had not been able to fulfill their responsibilities.  There was much work to be done. 

How does one restore a spiritual life that has been corrupted by sin?

1. Internal Consecrating.

There was an intentional work of separating themselves from sin and giving themselves wholly to God.  Purifying their lives and work before the LORD was a sacred responsibility that must come first before they may effectively serve and please God.

2. External Cleansing.

This required the distasteful tasks of cleaning out the filth that lurked behind closed doors.  Ungodly and impure things had been allowed in the Temple and stored there.

3. Sacrificial Giving.

Sacrifices were made as sin offerings for atonement of what had taken place in the past.  Burnt offerings wafted sweet smelling aromas up to God.  Thank offerings were made to celebrate that God had given them a new beginning.  Peace offerings symbolized that reconciliation with God had taken place.

4. Joyful Singing.  

With instruments and voices, the songs of David and Asaph (The Psalms) resounded loudly in praise and worship to the God of heaven. 

"Thus the service of the house of the LORD was restored." (v.35b) 

For the believer in Jesus, our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit.  "Since we have these promises beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of the body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God." (2 Corinthians 7:1)