Chapter XXIX
Ver. 1, 2. Hezekiah's Goob Reign. 1. Heiekiah began to reign, &c.—(see on 2 Kings 18. 1-3.) His mother's name, which, in the passage referred to, appears in an abridged form, is here given in full.
i. e., for the sins of the king and his predecessors—"for the sanctuary," i. e., for tlie sins of tlie priests themselves, and for the desecration of the temple—"and for Judah,"
3-11. He Restores Religion. 3. in tlie first year of Ills reign. In the first month—Not the first month efter his accession to the throne, but in Nisan, the first month of the sacred year, the season appointed for the celebration of the passover. he opened the doors of tlie honse of the Iiord—Which had been closed up by his father (ch. 28.24). and he repaired tliem—or embellished them (cf. 2 Kings 18. 16). 4. the east street—The court of the priests, which fronted the eastern gate of the temple. Assembling the priests and Levites there, he enjoined them to set about the Immediate purification of the temple. It does not appear that the order referred to the removal of idols, for objects of idolatrous homage could scarcely have been put there, seeing the doors had been shut np ; but in its forsaken and desolate state the temple and its courts had been polluted by every kind of impuri-
i. e., for the people who, by their voluntary consent, were Involved in tlie guilt of the national apostasy. Animals of the kinds used in sacrifice were offered hy sevens—that number indicating copipleteness. The Levites were ordered to praise God with musical instruments, which, although not originally used in tlie taljeriiacle, had been enlisted in the service of Divine worship by David on the advice of the prophets Gad and Kathan, as well calculated to animate the devotions of the people. At the close of the special services of the occasion, viz., the offering of atonement sacrifices, the king and all civic rulers who were present joined in the worship. A grand anthem was sung (v. 30) by the choir, consisting of some of the psalms of David and Asaph, and a great number of thank otTerings, praise offerings, and free-will burnt otTerings were presented at the invitation of the king. 31. Hezekiah . . . said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the liOrd, come near—This address was made to the priests as being now, by the sacrifice of the expiation offerings, anew consecrated to the service'of God, and qualified to resume the functions of tlieir sacred
ties. 6. our fatliers have trespassed—Ahaz and the generation contemporary with him were specially meant, for " they turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord," and whether or not they turned east to the rising sun, they abandoned the worship of God. "They Bhut up the doors of the porch," so that the sacred ritual was entirely discontinued. 8, AVlnerefore tlie wrath of the liOrd -was upon Judali and Jerusalem—This pious king had the discernment to ascribe all the national calamities that had befallen the kingdom to the true cause, viz., apostasy from God. The country had been laid waste by successive wars of invasion, and its resources drained, many families mourned members of their household still suttering the miseries of foreign captivity, all their former prosperity and glory liad fled, and to what was this painful and humiliating state of aflairs to be traced, but tlie manifest judgment of God upon the kingdom for its sins? lO. 11. Kow it is in mine heart to make a covenant with God—Convinced of the sin and bitter fruits of idolatry, Hezekiali intended to reverse the policy of his father, and to restore, in all its ancient purity and glory, the worship of tlie true God. His commencement of this resolution at the beginning of his reign attests his sincere piety, and it also proves the strength of his conviction that righteoii>iiiess exalteth a nation, for, instead of waiting till his mrone was consolidated, he devised measures of r uional reformation at the beginning of his reign, and vigorously faced all the dlfliculties which, in such a course, he had to encounter, after the people's habits had so long been moulded to Idolatry. His Intensions were first disclosed to this meeting of the priests and Levites—for the agency of these ofllcials was to be employed in carrying them into
oflace (Exodus 28. 41 ; 29. 32). the congregation brought In i. e., the body of civic rulers present. 34. the priests were too few, wherefore their brethren tlie l>evites did help them—The skins of beasts intended as peace offerings might be taken off by the officers, because, in such cases, the carcass was not wholly laid upon the altar; but animals meant for burnt offerings which were wholly consumed by fire could be flayed by the priests alone, not even the Levites being allowed to touch them, except in cases of unavoidable necessity (ch. 35. 11). The duty being assigned by the law to the priests (Leviticus 1.
6), was construed by consuetudinary practice as an exclusion of all others not connected with the Aaroiiic family, for the Lievites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests—i. e., displayed greater alacrity than the priests. This service was hastened on by the irrepressible solicitude of the king; and wliether it was that many of the priests being absent in tlie country, had not arrived in time—whether from the long interruption of the public duties, some of them had relaxed in their wonted attentions to personal cleanliness, and had many preparations to make, or whether from some having participated in the idolatrous services introduced by Ahaz, they were backward in i( i)airing to the temple—a reflection does seem to be cast ui)oii tlieir order as dilatory and not universally ready for duty (cf. ch. 30
15). Thus was the newly-consecrated temple reopened to the no small joy of the pious king and all the people.
eflect.
12-30. The House of God Cleansed, la. Then tlie licvites arose—Fourteen chiefs undertook the duty of collecting and preparing their brethren for the important work of "cleansing the Lord's house." Beginning with the outer courts—that of tlie pri<^sts and that of the people—the cleansing of these occupied eight days, after which they set themselves to purify the interior; but as