Cleanse The Temple

Cleansing The Temple

2 Chronicles 28: 1-5

2Ch 28:1 ¶ Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father:

2 For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim.

3 Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.

4 He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

5 Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.

2 Chronicles 29: 1-11

2Ch 29:1 ¶ Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.

2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.

3 He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them.

4 And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street,

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.

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.

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.

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.

9 For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

10 Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.

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.

I want to give you a little bit of background before we dive into the contextual part of this message.

Slide # 1

After King Solomon’s death in around 930 B.C., the kingdom split into a northern kingdom, which retained the name Israel, a southern kingdom was formed called Judah, named after the tribe of Judah that dominated the new kingdom.

The city of Jerusalem was in the southern kingdom of Judah. And of course that is where the temple stood.

In an attempt to keep the people in the northern Kingdom from going to Jerusalem to worship, Jeroboam built two places of worship, one at Bethel and one at far northern Dan, as alternatives to the Temple of Jerusalem.

King Jeroboam commissioned the construction of two golden calves and installed one at each shrine.

This led to Israel’s idol worship and Israel became corrupt.

They became very diabolical in their idol worship including the worship of Moloch.

Slide # 2

Moloch worship included child sacrifice which God strictly forbid.

It is believed that idols of Moloch were giant metal statues of a man with a bull’s head.

Each image had a hole in the abdomen and possibly outstretched forearms that made a kind of ramp to the hole.

A fire was lit in or around the statue. Babies were placed in the statues arms which was red hot, or they were placed in the hole of fire.

God forbade this.

Le 18:21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

Jer 32:35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.