6/6/2011 7:23:48 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus:
Hezekiah
the reformer Pt. 4
Bible Reading
& Meditation
Reference: 2Chronicles
31:1-21
Message of the verses: “1 ¶
Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to
the cities of Judah, broke the pillars in pieces, cut down the Asherim and
pulled down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin,
as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the sons of Israel
returned to their cities, each to his possession. 2 And Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the
priests and the Levites by their divisions, each according to his service, both
the priests and the Levites, for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to
minister and to give thanks and to praise in the gates of the camp of the LORD.
3 He also appointed the king’s portion
of his goods for the burnt offerings, namely, for the morning and evening burnt
offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths and for the new moons and
for the fixed festivals, as it is written in the law of the LORD. 4 Also he commanded the people who lived in
Jerusalem to give the portion due to the priests and the Levites, that they might devote
themselves to the law of the LORD. 5
As soon as the order spread, the sons of Israel provided in abundance
the first fruits of grain, new wine, oil, honey and of all the produce of the
field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of all. 6 The sons of Israel and Judah who lived in the
cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of
sacred gifts which were consecrated to the LORD their God, and placed them in
heaps. 7 In the third month they began
to make the heaps, and finished them by the seventh month. 8 When Hezekiah and the rulers came and saw the
heaps, they blessed the LORD and His people Israel. 9 Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and the
Levites concerning the heaps. 10 Azariah
the chief priest of the house of Zadok said to him, "Since the
contributions began to be brought into the house of the LORD, we have had
enough to eat with plenty left over, for the LORD has blessed His people, and
this great quantity is left over."
11 ¶ Then Hezekiah commanded them
to prepare rooms in the house of the LORD, and they prepared them. 12 They faithfully brought in the contributions
and the tithes and the consecrated things; and Conaniah the Levite was the
officer in charge of them and his brother Shimei was second. 13 Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth,
Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath and Benaiah were overseers under the
authority of Conaniah and Shimei his brother by the appointment of King
Hezekiah, and Azariah was the chief officer of the house of God. 14 Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the keeper
of the eastern gate, was over the freewill offerings of God, to apportion the
contributions for the LORD and the most holy things. 15 Under his authority were Eden, Miniamin,
Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah and Shecaniah in the cities of the priests, to
distribute faithfully their portions to their brothers by divisions, whether
great or small, 16 without regard to
their genealogical enrollment, to the males from thirty years old and
upward-everyone who entered the house of the LORD for his daily obligations-for
their work in their duties according to their divisions; 17 as well as the priests who were enrolled
genealogically according to their fathers’ households, and the Levites from
twenty years old and upwards, by their duties and their divisions. 18 The genealogical enrollment included all
their little children, their wives, their sons and their daughters, for the
whole assembly, for they consecrated themselves faithfully in holiness. 19 Also for the sons of Aaron the priests who
were in the pasture lands of their cities, or in each and every city, there
were men who were designated by name to distribute portions to every male among
the priests and to everyone genealogically enrolled among the Levites. 20 Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah; and
he did what was good, right and true before the LORD his God. 21 Every work which he began in the service of the house of God in law and
in commandment, seeking
his God, he did
with all his heart and prospered.
This
is the fourth and last sup-point under the first main point in chapter ten of
Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on 2Kings and also parts of 2Chronicles. He has entitled this sup-point “He commenced
and organized the temple ministry and as written above it covers the entire
chapter of 2Chronicles 31.
I
have always had a great deal of admiration for King Hezekiah, and like any man
he did make mistakes, yet it is said of Hezekiah that he was like David, and
that must mean that whenever he sinned he would confess his sin to the Lord and
turn from doing it.
After
the two week celebration was over the children of Israel returned to their
homes, but Dr. Wiersbe points out that he believes that a benediction was given
to them that was commanded by God and is found in Numbers 6:22-27: “22 ¶
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23
"Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ’Thus you shall bless the
sons of Israel. You shall say to them: 24
The LORD bless you, and keep you; 25
The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; 26 The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And
give you peace.’ 27 "So they shall
invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.’”
After
leaving for home the children of Israel began to tear down all of the things
that were used to worship Idols and thus the revival continued, it did not end
after they had left the two week celebration of the Passover. Dr. Wiersbe writes “It is one thing to have
an exciting time praising God in a two-week special meeting, but it’s quite
something else to return home afterward and live like people who have met the
Lord.”
Next
Hezekiah would set up the temple worship so that it would last as this was the
heart of the worship in Israel. He started
by making sure that the morning and evening offerings were provided by him, and
then the rest of the people began to bring the tithes and offerings to the
temple so that the priests and the Levites could minister in their duties at
the temple. Like in the days of Moses
when the tabernacle was being built there was much given so that if would fill
a special place in the temple. In verse
twenty-one it is said that King Hezekiah sought the Lord and did everything for
Him from his heart. I truly have been
spoken to by the Spirit of the Lord in these four sub-sections at the beginning
of this chapter in Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary.
Today it was verse twenty-one that the Spirit of God spoke to me as He
seems to be doing a work in my heart that I would have never dreamed possible
to have done.
As far as the tithes and offerings given
at this time Dr. Wiersbe comments “the tithes and offerings brought to the
newly consecrated temple were far more than the king expected. A worshiping people will always be a generous
people, especially when their leaders set the example, and Judah was no
exception.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I want to go over the things that I have
learned from this first main section on Hezekiah as it was so meaningful to me
and it surely seems that the Lord was speaking to my heart about doing a job at
the Kalaheo Missionary Church.
The
first thing that I learned was to ask the Lord to search my heart so that my
heart may be clean before the Lord. This
example was given when Hezekiah began his work to cleanse the temple. Next it was the consecrating of the temple,
setting it aside to do the thing that it was provided by the Lord to do and
that was to be a place of worship. As
all NT believers my heart is the temple of the Holy Spirit and therefore I must
keep it clean and have it set apart for what I am suppose to do and that is
worship the Lord and bring honor and glory to Him through my life. After I am clean and consecrated the next
step is worship and this was demonstrated by the two-week celebration of the
Passover. 2Chronicles 29:36 was the
verse that seemed to jump off the age on Saturday as I studied about the
consecration of the temple: “Then
Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people,
because the thing came about suddenly.”
I have rarely seen things happen fast when it comes to the working of
the Lord in my life even though I wanted on many occasions for things to happen
fast, and yet as verse thirty-six says “because the thing came about
suddenly.” All I can say is that ever
since the Lord saved me He has given me the desire to learn about His Word, and
to teach others about what is in His Word.
I have never been one who enjoys speaking in front of a lot of people,
but it seems that the Lord has taken away that fear, for He has done so many
things in my life that I could have never done, and I think that is the way
that the Lord works, in that He takes the things in my life that are weak and
gives me strength to do them for His glory, knowing that I could not do them
without His grace and mercy.
Today’s
verse for me was the twenty-first verse in 2Chronicles 31, “Every work which he
began in the service of the house of God in law and in commandment, seeking his
God, he did with all his heart and prospered.”
The only way that this thing that is on my heart will prosper is by the
Lord, and I must, and have a desire to seek the Lord so that He can make this
thing prosper.
My Steps of
Faith for Today:
1.
Continue to seek the Lord in prayer and study to see
if what I believe He is speaking to me is really what is on my heart. It must be of the Lord or it will never work.
2.
Give myself to the Lord for worship and for service.
3.
Continue to learn contentment.
4.
Ask the Lord to show me any unconfessed sin in my
life that I may confess it to Him that I may have fellowship with Him.
5.
Remember that I am indeed in a battle and in great
need of the spiritual armor.
6/6/2011 8:22:56 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment