Sudden Atonement

There so much that can be said about Hezekiah . . . what an amazing man he was! Of all the kings before him he strikes me as the most like David in the way he loved and respected the things of God. I have to say the first thing which impresses me as I read the account of his life again in this chapter is the contrast between him and his evil father (Ahaz). It is really stunning. First notice he begins his reign at exactly the same time in his life as his father did -- at the age of 20 years (II Chronicles 28:1, 29:1). It is incredible how different these 2 men were in their youth right from the start. The first recorded acts of Ahaz are of radical idolatry and paganism. Hezehiah by contrast starts right away cleaning up the mess began by his father.

He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them. -- II Chronicles 29:3

Both wasted no time acting on the desires of their hearts. This indicates for me a preoccupation during their childhoods and adolescent years with the powerful influences which would go on to shape their early adult lives. How else did Ahaz know about pagan worship and have such disdain for the things of God -- he was obviously drawn to this during his youth. How else did Hezekiah know so much about the Levitical priesthood and proper method of cleaning the temple as he so thoroughly did as soon as he became king -- clearly he was drawn to this as a child.

Aside from the contrast between Ahaz and Hezekiah, 2 other things jump out at me. First the speed with which Judah cleans up its act and second, the extend of the cleansing.

It happened so fast!! Remember Ahaz spent 16 years taking Judah to the gutter. I found it interesting that the priest spent 16 days cleansing the temple. One day of cleansing for each year of filth -- coincident? Imagine what it must have been like for the people of Judah to have this sudden shift from 16 years of paganism to back to worshipping the true God. All of the children 16 and under didn't have a clue what to make of it. I don't think we can fully appreciate what it took for Hezekiah to turn this whole kingdom around to fast. The scripture uses the word "suddenly."

And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly. -- II Chronicles 29:36

The other impression I take away from this reading is the extent of the cleansing. We get the sense that this was a massive job!

And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple... -- II Chronicles 29:16

What was this uncleanness they found in the temple? How filthy had Judah been during Ahaz' 16 years as king? It must have been ridiculously bad! Just look at the sheer volume of sacrifices made to atone for their sins (hundreds of oxen, rams, and bullocks . . . thousands of sheep). This was big time cleansing!

A final thought from this chapter . . . notice the shortage of good priest. The sacrifices made during this atonement was so massive that the priest had to employ the services of the non-priest Levites to assist with the offerings. Many more priest could have assisted, but they were not spiritually prepared to do so.

...for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests. -- II Chronicles 29:34

This tells us so much about the moral state of Judah at this time.