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Friday 28 March 2014

2 Chronicles 29 - Good leadership

Ahaz was replaced by one of the best kings, Hezekiah. Hezekiah receives most attention of the post-Solomon kings in Chronicles, whereas Josiah is the favourite in Kings. Kings does devote a significant amount of space to Hezekiah, but the emphasis is on the Assyrian conflict. There is very little direct overlap between the material in Chronicles and Kings. In Chronicles the emphasis is on his religious reforms, this being the primary concern of the writer of Chronicles. Note how David is called his father. Now David is many generations back, so this teaches us something about the way the term "father" is used in the Old Testament. 
Right from the start Hezekiah set about repairing the temple. He did this by setting the Levites to work, ie he followed the teaching of the Law, giving the task to those who had been appointed by God to that task. They had to clean out the defilement, and to replace it with the good stuff. Note also that although the Levites were appointed and anointed, it needed leadership to set them in the right direction. In our churches we need to recognise the gifts and ministries that God has given to various people, and we need to set them off in the right direction. 
Hezekiah understood the true reasons why the nation and the people had suffered. People will have many explanations, but most of them will miss the real issue. So Hezekiah sought to put things right by making a covenant with the Lord. He knew the source of the problem, their sin, and the only One who could provide the answer.
After the temple had been sorted out a great celebration, involving sacrifice, took place.
They celebrated with gladness. Note also that it is God who brought all this about (v36) and things were turned around quickly. When a people repent and believe situations can be turned around remarkably quickly. 

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