Broken Kingdoms: WK4 - TUE
A Kingdom Reform - 2 Chronicles 29:1-11
29 Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became the king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. 2 He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just as his ancestor David had done.
3 In the very first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah reopened the doors of the Temple of the Lord and repaired them. 4 He summoned the priests and Levites to meet him at the courtyard east of the Temple. 5 He said to them, “Listen to me, you Levites! Purify yourselves, and purify the Temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all the defiled things from the sanctuary. 6 Our ancestors were unfaithful and did what was evil in the sight of the Lordour God. They abandoned the Lord and his dwelling place; they turned their backs on him. 7 They also shut the doors to the Temple’s entry room, and they snuffed out the lamps. They stopped burning incense and presenting burnt offerings at the sanctuary of the God of Israel.
8 “That is why the Lord’s anger has fallen upon Judah and Jerusalem. He has made them an object of dread, horror, and ridicule, as you can see with your own eyes. 9 Because of this, our fathers have been killed in battle, and our sons and daughters and wives have been captured.10 But now I will make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us. 11 My sons, do not neglect your duties any longer! The Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him, and to lead the people in worship and present offerings to him.”
Doing a deep-dive into the life of Queen Abijah, we learn that she actually remained faithful to God even though her husband, Ahaz, was not. Likely, it was her influence in Hezekiah’s life that helped him become the kind of king who put God first. Oh the power of a Godly mother.
Even at the age of 25, Hezekiah knew all the evil that his father had done, and the impact it had on his people. He knew what he had to do first, if the kingdom in his time was going to fair better. He had to put God first. What happened from there is called Hezekiah’s reform.
Hezekiah seeks to root out the evil that his father, and others before him, had let prevail. He went back to God’s Word, he restored the temple and removed anything put in Judah to honor the gods, instead of honoring the one true God, Yahweh.
And I love that he brings the priests and Levites in to meet with him. Hezekiah knows he can’t be the only one to bring about the reform. He’s going to need other workers to till the soil, to put God first, to help the people repent of their evil ways. He recruits the priests and Levites to his reform by reminding them what God had chosen them to do in the first place; “to stand in his presence, to minister to him, and to lead the people in worship and present offerings to him.”
Sometimes, we too have to be reminded of our call.
I’ve been thinking about this often, as of late, as it pertains to my journey planting a Crosswalk church in Portland. I moved to Portland in June of 2020, just a few months into the pandemic. I joined forces with a group of people that were hungry and passionate to bring a Jesus-centric form of worship and community to the greater Portland area. We worked hard, we stayed up late, we poured everything we had into it.
And here we are, almost 6 years later, and God has blessed. Our community has grown, lives have been impacted, people have given their hearts to Jesus, and I know in my heart of hearts that God’s just getting started with us.
However, I also know some of us are tired. It can be easy to get distracted by the budget, or the building situation, or the need for volunteers. We can get so caught up doing all this good for Jesus, that we forget to do any of it with Jesus.
So from time to time, we have to come away with Jesus for a while and remember our story, our call, and the incredible opportunity we have when we partner with Him. We have to sit around a living room and share the stories of lives changed. We have to take time to dream and remind each other that God is till moving. We have to help each other keep the main thing the main thing. And that main thing, is Jesus? That call? To lovewell. Let us never forget His call.
29 Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became the king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. 2 He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just as his ancestor David had done.
3 In the very first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah reopened the doors of the Temple of the Lord and repaired them. 4 He summoned the priests and Levites to meet him at the courtyard east of the Temple. 5 He said to them, “Listen to me, you Levites! Purify yourselves, and purify the Temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all the defiled things from the sanctuary. 6 Our ancestors were unfaithful and did what was evil in the sight of the Lordour God. They abandoned the Lord and his dwelling place; they turned their backs on him. 7 They also shut the doors to the Temple’s entry room, and they snuffed out the lamps. They stopped burning incense and presenting burnt offerings at the sanctuary of the God of Israel.
8 “That is why the Lord’s anger has fallen upon Judah and Jerusalem. He has made them an object of dread, horror, and ridicule, as you can see with your own eyes. 9 Because of this, our fathers have been killed in battle, and our sons and daughters and wives have been captured.10 But now I will make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us. 11 My sons, do not neglect your duties any longer! The Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him, and to lead the people in worship and present offerings to him.”
Doing a deep-dive into the life of Queen Abijah, we learn that she actually remained faithful to God even though her husband, Ahaz, was not. Likely, it was her influence in Hezekiah’s life that helped him become the kind of king who put God first. Oh the power of a Godly mother.
Even at the age of 25, Hezekiah knew all the evil that his father had done, and the impact it had on his people. He knew what he had to do first, if the kingdom in his time was going to fair better. He had to put God first. What happened from there is called Hezekiah’s reform.
Hezekiah seeks to root out the evil that his father, and others before him, had let prevail. He went back to God’s Word, he restored the temple and removed anything put in Judah to honor the gods, instead of honoring the one true God, Yahweh.
And I love that he brings the priests and Levites in to meet with him. Hezekiah knows he can’t be the only one to bring about the reform. He’s going to need other workers to till the soil, to put God first, to help the people repent of their evil ways. He recruits the priests and Levites to his reform by reminding them what God had chosen them to do in the first place; “to stand in his presence, to minister to him, and to lead the people in worship and present offerings to him.”
Sometimes, we too have to be reminded of our call.
I’ve been thinking about this often, as of late, as it pertains to my journey planting a Crosswalk church in Portland. I moved to Portland in June of 2020, just a few months into the pandemic. I joined forces with a group of people that were hungry and passionate to bring a Jesus-centric form of worship and community to the greater Portland area. We worked hard, we stayed up late, we poured everything we had into it.
And here we are, almost 6 years later, and God has blessed. Our community has grown, lives have been impacted, people have given their hearts to Jesus, and I know in my heart of hearts that God’s just getting started with us.
However, I also know some of us are tired. It can be easy to get distracted by the budget, or the building situation, or the need for volunteers. We can get so caught up doing all this good for Jesus, that we forget to do any of it with Jesus.
So from time to time, we have to come away with Jesus for a while and remember our story, our call, and the incredible opportunity we have when we partner with Him. We have to sit around a living room and share the stories of lives changed. We have to take time to dream and remind each other that God is till moving. We have to help each other keep the main thing the main thing. And that main thing, is Jesus? That call? To lovewell. Let us never forget His call.
- If you have given your life to Jesus, when did you do it and what was the catalyst that drove you to make that decision?
- What about your community of faith? What draws you there and what might you need to be reminded of when it comes to serving in that community?
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