Series: Untold Stories of the Old Testament #7
Date: CHCC: July 8, 2012
Title: Restoration - Hezekiah
Text: 2 Chronicles 29
INTRODUCTION:
The Sermon today is about RESTORATION. You may or may not know that our church is part of what is known as the “Restoration Movement.” That means that our church group was started by people who wanted to restore the church to the simple New Testament pattern it started out to be as recorded in the book of Acts.
The Restoration Movement started in the United States soon after the Revolutionary War. Christians in several states became dissatisfied with denominational boundaries and started churches that were independent of any denomination.
The groups came together in the 1830’s and formed a group dedicated to restoration. They wanted to go back to what the church was when the Apostles founded the church. That simple New Testament pattern is what we seek in all that we attempt to do.
The church is always in need of restoration. Our families need restoration. We personally need restoration. We get tired. We make mistakes. We backslide.
Everyone tends to drift away from a close connection to God. Every day we need to re-commit to being Completely. Committed. Followers. The good news is that God is in the business of RESTORATION.
Today’s untold story of the OT is about a King who brought RESTORATION to Israel. Israel had turned away from God. Hezekiah was the one God used to bring restoration to Israel. Hezekiah gives us a great example of the truth that:
1. Your past does not determine your future
Hezekiah was the 13th King of Judah and probably began his reign around 728 BC. Before Hezekiah’s day, 200 years before, Solomon had built and dedicated the temple, But then Hezekiah’s father came along and undid everything.
Hezekiah was the son of one of the worst kings of Israel. King Ahaz ruled for only 16 years --- but that was enough time for him to close the doors of the Temple. He stopped all worship of Jehovah and in its place he set up idols on the street corners of every town and village.
King Ahaz participated in all the pagan practices of the surrounding nation, including human sacrifice. 2 Chronicles 28:3 says he sacrificed his own children in the idolatrous fires. Ahaz was so bad that when he died he wasn’t even buried with the other Kings. Scripture sums up his life by saying he gave himself over to every kind of wickedness.
When King Ahaz died, his oldest son, Hezekiah, became King at the young age of 25. Here’s how scripture sums him up: He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. 2 Chronicles 29:2
How did a dad like Ahaz produce a son like Hezekiah? His name might give a clue. The name Hezekiah means “The Lord strengthens.” Evidently from a young age, Hezekiah chose to reject the paganism of his father and follow the ways of Jehovah. Because Hezekiah chose to follow the Lord, God strengthened him.
There’s an important lesson here. Hezekiah’s family heritage was about as bad as it gets. But his background didn’t determine his future. Revelations 22:17 says, “whosoever will,” may come to the Lord. In this case, Ahaz was NOT willing --- but Hezekiah WAS willing! We see it all the time. Two kids are raised in the same family. One will and one won’t. One decides to follow Jesus and the other decides to go the other way.
Very few people come from a perfect family --- (actually, no one comes from a perfect family.) But your past doesn’t determine your future. It’s your CHOICE that determines your future. When it comes to following Jesus, WILL you or WON’T you? God gives “whosoever will” the invitation to choose to follow Him. If that is your choice, then your past won’t hold you back at all.
Hezekiah didn’t let his past hold him back. Verse 3 says In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired them. That shows how bad it was when Hezekiah came into office. The Temple doors were broken and boarded up. His first step was to open the doors and see what shape the temple itself was in. And it wasn’t a pretty picture!
2. You can cast out the past
2 Chronicles 29:4-6 says, Hezekiah brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side and said: “Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. Our parents were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the Lord our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the Lord’s dwelling place and turned their backs on him.
The Temple was piled up with junk. And it was no easy job for the Levites to CAST out the PAST! 2 Chronicles 29:16-17 says it took the Levites 16 days to clear out all the garbage.
It’s easy for churches to accumulate a great deal of “religious rubbish.” That’s one of the main jobs we do on church work days – clearing out classrooms and storage closets of a bunch of junk that has piled up.
But the bigger problem is the spiritual stuff that can pile up and get in the way. A few years back the elders and ministers all read a book called “Simple Church” written by Thom Rainer. It was a great book because it called for getting rid of clutter and focusing on what the church is really here for.
There is a natural propensity to want to do new things in the church. We love the idea of being on the cutting edge, and doing things in a fresh way. If a church keeps adding new activities without ever getting rid of old activities they get completely clogged up with programs and policies and committees and so forth! What should be simple gets really complicated.
Every so often we have to do some “cleansing of the temple.” We need to remember our “simple purpose” as a church. We need RESTORATION of the things the church is meant to do: prayer, study of God’s word, preaching, teaching, fellowship, and evangelism.
Hebrews 12:1 says, Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
If your life has gotten clogged up with too much stuff … too many commitments … to much pointless activity … it might be time to clean house! You may have a lot of “baggage” to get rid of … but it won’t happen overnight. You may need help, and that’s what your church family is for.
For the Levites “cleansing the temple” took everyone working non-stop for 16 days.
2 Chronicles 29:18-19 says Then they went in to King Hezekiah and reported: “We have purified the entire temple of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table for setting out the consecrated bread, with all its articles. We have prepared and consecrated all the articles that King Ahaz removed in his unfaithfulness while he was king. They are now in front of the Lord’s altar.”
After clearing out the junk and purifying the Temple, God’s people were ready to worship. The sin sacrifices and the music … the scripture reading and ceremonies were patterned after the great celebration that Solomon had when he dedicated the first Temple.
But Hezekiah ran into two big obstacles:
• For one, they were too late. The clean up took so long that they weren’t ready for Passover on the Day of Passover.
• The other problem was that not all of them were ready. Some of the priests didn’t take the whole thing seriously, and they had not purified themselves in time to do the sacrifices.
And that leads to the third lesson we can learn from Hezekiah ---
3. God always has a “plan B”
There are all kinds of circumstances that cause people to think, “well, I’ve messed up too much … it’s too late for me to have RESTORATION.” We need to learn from Hezekiah’s story that it is never too late with God. Our God is the God of second chances … he always has a “plan B.”
When it comes to having a good, satisfying life, the best thing to do is follow God from a young age, all the way through your life. You can avoid all kinds of pain and agony that way. I guess you could call that “plan A.”
The problem is, no one can follow God perfectly all the time. And some people get the idea that if they have messed up in their past then it’s all over for them. “I’ve had a divorce … or I’ve been an addict … or I’ve lived an immoral life … or I’ve been in prison … so it’s too late for God to RESTORE my life.”
The truth is that --- as long as you’re still living and breathing --- and if you are able to repent and turn to God, then it’s NEVER too late. God is always able to give new life to whosoever will.
Israel had completely turned away from God. Under Hezekiah’s leadership, the Nation repented … but they still couldn’t get it right.
The day for Passover came and went and they missed it. But God had provided a plan B. Instead of celebrating on the 14th day of the 1st month, they celebrated Passover on the alternate date that God provided – the 14th day of the 2nd month. (Numbers 9:11)
Their celebration was patterned after the dedication of Solomon’s Temple. They even restored and used the same musical instruments of David.
Vs. 27 says, Hezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. As the offering began, singing to the Lord began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments of David king of Israel.
The Law of God said that only the Priests were to make these sacrifices. But not enough priests had purified themselves. So they went to plan B and the Levites pitched in until the “slacker” priests got their act together.
Vs. 31 says, So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all whose hearts were willing brought burnt offerings.
It was a huge celebration. You have to imagine the noise and crowds. According to vs. 33 they sacrificed 600 bulls and 3,000 goats and sheep. These were thank offerings to the Lord … and they were also to feed the people. It was a big, Holy, barbeque!
It was supposed to last for a week, but everyone was having such a good time that they kept celebrating for a second week. This was just like what had happened 200 years earlier when Solomon first dedicated the temple. That celebration also lasted two weeks.
Vs. 35-36 says, So the service of the temple of the Lord was reestablished. Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people …
CONCLUSION:
Hezekiah took the people back to the worship they enjoyed in Solomon’s time 200 years before. I’m reminded of the old song, “Give me that old time religion; it’s good enough for me
In Revelation 2:4-5 Jesus gave a message to one of the churches in Asia. He said, Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.
In all their busy activity for the Lord, this church had forgotten to love the Lord himself like they did in the beginning. The same thing can happen to us. Has your life gotten cluttered up with too much junk? Is it time to clean house?
It’s never too late to remember and return to God. When our lives get off track, it’s not something new that we need. We never need MORE than Jesus --- we just need to get back to Jesus!
