First Steps to Greatness

II Chronicles 29:1-7II Chronicles 29:1-7
1. Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother's name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.
2. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.
3. In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired them.
4. He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side
5. and said: "Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your fathers. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary.
6. Our fathers 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.
7. They also shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamps. They did not burn incense or present any burnt offerings at the sanctuary to the God of Israel.

From the black pot comes out the white pap according to an adage. So is the story of King Hezekiah in the Bible. He was the son of the wicked King Ahaz who did not do what was right in the sight of God. An ardent idol worshipper who greatly promoted idoltatory in Israel, King Ahaz took the treasure from the temple of the Lord and presented them to King of Assyria. He shut the doors of the Lord's temple. He set up idolatory altars at every street corner in Jerusalem and in everytown in Judah. He built high places to burn sacrifices to other gods and thereby provoked the Lord to anger. II Chronicles 28:24-25II Chronicles 28:24-25
24. Ahaz gathered together the furnishings from the temple of God and took them away. He shut the doors of the Lord's temple and set up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem. 25. In every town in Judah he built high places to burn sacrifices to other gods and provoked the Lord, the God of his fathers, to anger. Hezekiah was raised in the culture of unrighteousness and idolatory but he did not follow the way of his wicked father when he began to reign in Israel at the age of 25. He completely changed the songs of his father and followed the path of righteousness.

In the first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah, a reformer, opened the door of the temple of the Lord that his father had shut earlier and effected necessary repairs. He boldly cleaned the house. The high places and the idol of pagan were utterly destroyed. Even the bronze snake that Moses made in the wilderness was destroyed because it had ceased to point the people to God. II Kings 18:4II Kings 18:4
4. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan)

II Chronicles Chapter 29

In vs 4-5 and 15-17, King Hezekiah gathered the Levites and returned the roles they had been ordained to play in keeping charge of the tabernacle of God. Numbers 1:50-53Numbers 1:50-53
50. Instead, appoint the Levites to be in charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony - over all its furnishings and everything belonging to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they are to take care of it and encamp around it.
51. Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it. Anyone else who goes near it shall be put to death.
52. The Israelites are to set up their tents by divisions, each man in his own camp under his own standard.
53. The Levites, however, are to set up their tents around the tabernacle of the Testimony so that wrath will not fall on the Israelites community. The Levites are to be responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the Testimony. He commanded them to consecrate themselves first and also to consecrate the temple of the Lord and remove all the defilement from the sanctuary. The Levites completed the cleansing and the consecration of the temple on the sixteenth day and reported back to the king.

vs 6-10 King Hezekiah, in diagonizing the reason why the Israelites were in captivity said it was because the anger of the Lord had fallen on Judah and Jerusalem. The king confessed the wickedness and the reign of terror of his father in Israel and summed up courage to make a convenant with the Lord.

vs 20- On the seventeenth day of the first month of his reign as the king of Israel, after the consecration of the temple, King Hezekiah rose early in the morning, gathered all the officials of his kingdom, and led them to the temple of Living God to make sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary and for Judah. vs 29 King Hezekiah righteously led by example in his kingdom. He worshipped in the Temple of Living God. He also revived the passover feast that had long been forgotten and abandoned in Israel and proclaimed its celebration in his kingdom.

I Chronicles 30:4-9I Chronicles 30:4-9
4. The place seemed right both to the king and to the whole assembly.
5. They decided to send a proclamation throughout Israel, from Beersheba to Dan calling the people to come to Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel. It had not been celebrated in large numbers according to what was written.
6. At the king's command, couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and from his officials, which read: "People of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.
7. Do not be like your fathers and brothers, who were unfaithful to the Lord, the God of their fathers so that he made them an object of horror as you see.
8. Do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were; submit to the Lord. Come to the sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the Lord your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you.
9. If you return to the Lord, then your brothers and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will come back to this land, for the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.; II Chronicles 7:14II Chronicles 7:14
14. ". . . if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

King Hezekiah humbled himself before God by restoring the temple of the Lord. He led his kingdom away from the wickedness of his father, Ahaz, by destroying the idol images in the high places in Israel and by putting the Levites in their rightful positions in the temple of God. He sought the face of God in worship and in repentance he made sin offering for his kingdom, the sanctuary of God and for Judah. He revived the passover feast and kept the covenant he made with the Lord. Was there any wonder why God dealt faithfully and mercifully with him? When we turn our back against God, we turn on the wrath of God upon ourselves. But when we turn our back against the world and face God we turn on the mercy of God unto our situations.

Apply this teaching from the Bible in the kingdom of your home, in your community, in your country and in our world. It worked in the kingdom of Hezekiah and it will work in our situations if we can faithfully and wholeheartedly humble ourselves, turn away from our wickedness, pray and seek the face of the Lord.

Reflect on this:
Think of the steps you must take in order to be in tune with your Creator. Deep down in your heart, list out all the besetting sins in your life that is constituting a stumbling block between you and the sweet relationship with God. Apply the wisdom of King Hezekiah in changing the sinfull ways of your life. Prayerfully deal with them one by one and eliminate them in your life!