29:1
Hezekiah became king after ruling with his father, Ahaz. He reigned from 715 to 686 BC.
Study notes
2 Chronicles 29
29:1–32:33 Section
Right away when he started ruling, Hezekiah opened the doors of the temple. This was a sign of everything he did to help God’s people worship God faithfully.
Hezekiah led the people to once again worship God according to the Mount Sinai covenant. That was how the Israelites had worshipped God when David and Solomon were kings. Hezekiah made many changes in Judah so that this could happen. The changes included having the priests and Levites once again do their work. Each group of priests and Levites had been given their duties when David was king.
The changes included making all places and objects used in worship clean and pure. The changes included the king and the people giving a tenth of everything they had. They gave it freely to provide for the priests and Levites. This allowed the Levites and priests to spend their time leading worship and teaching the people.
Worshipping God faithfully included celebrating the feasts the way Moses had taught the Israelites to. The people celebrated the Day of Atonement. That is the day when sins were paid for.
Hezekiah wanted all 12 tribes of Israel to celebrate the Passover Feast together again. That hadn’t happened since Solomon was king. Hezekiah invited all Israelites left in the land of the northern kingdom. These people had been left behind after the Assyrian army took control of the northern kingdom. They hadn’t been forced to live in exile in Assyria.
Some people from a few tribes went to Jerusalem for the feast. Some outsiders living among them also went. Even people who hadn’t made themselves pure and clean could be part of the feast. This was because they wanted to worship God with all their heart. Hezekiah’s prayer showed that he understood something about God. God cares deeply about people being committed to him in their heart. God forgave the people’s sins and healed them.
Many years before God had promised Solomon that he would do this. He would forgive his people and heal their land. He would do this if they turned away from evil. He would do it if they were humble and prayed to him (2 Chronicles 7:14).
29:3–4
Hezekiah's first act as king was to repair the temple doors (2 Chronicles 29:3). The verb used (yekhazzeqem, “he made them strong”) is a pun on King Hezekiah's name (yekhizqiyyahu, “Yah makes strong”). This action set the stage for the king’s speech to the priests and Levites (2 Chronicles 29:5–11).
29:5–11
Hezekiah's speech used words common during exile to describe the nation's failure. Like during Rehoboam's separation (2 Chronicles 12:1; see 13:10), the people were unfaithful when they abandoned the Lord.
29:12
Kohath, Merari, and Gershon were the three sons of Levi. Their descendants formed the three main clans of the Levite tribe (see Exodus 6:16).
29:12–36
To start sanctifying the temple, the Levites first sanctified themselves. They likely purified themselves by bringing offerings (see 2 Chronicles 30:15). Then they began to cleanse the temple. Two steps were needed to restore the temple:
Purification (removing pollution, 2 Chronicles 29:15–17)
Sanctification (rededicating the temple for holy worship, 2 Chronicles 29:20–36)
29:21
The bulls, rams, and lambs were for the burnt offering, and the male goats were for the sin offering (see Leviticus 1; 4:1–5:13).
29:31–36
After purifying and rededicating the temple, people made individual offerings and sacrifices.
The thanksgiving offerings were also known as praise offerings, peace offerings, or offerings of well-being (see Leviticus 3).
29:34
The Chronicler feels surprised and delighted by the people's spontaneous actions and the large number of praise offerings during the thanksgiving festivities. These events show that the Lord prepared the people's hearts for the occasion, exceeding the expectations of the priests and Levites.
Verse notes: Adapted by Mission Mutual (Aquifer Open Study Notes) from Tyndale Open Study Notes © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. CC BY-SA 4.0. Section notes: Biblica Study Notes © 2023 Biblica, Inc. CC BY-SA 4.0, via BibleAquifer. About the sources