Hezekiah's debut in Chronicles
Although Kings and Chronicles cover similar historical events, they approach the narrative from different angles. Kings focuses on political and moral aspects, evaluating the kings based on their adherence to God's laws, while Chronicles emphasizes the religious and priestly aspects, promoting the importance of worship, the Davidic line, and the temple.Instead of ending Hezekiah's story on the tough note left for us in the book of Kings, we'll revisit his story from the perspective of the book of Chronicles...
The passage below is the description of the start of his ministry.
I'm not going to provide any commentary...
Just savour the passage.
Notice his focus, his conviction, his clear grasp of sin and repentance, the way in which he leads his people and the way he loves and honours his God.
| 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. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done. In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the LORD and repaired them. He 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 fathers. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. 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. 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. Therefore, the anger of the LORD has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of dread and horror and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes. This is why our fathers have fallen by the sword and why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity. Now I intend to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us. My sons, do not be negligent now, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense." (2Chronicles29:1-11) |
