SERIES N --- THE EXILE --- LESSON 07

KING HEZEKIAH OF JUDAH

From 2 Chronicles 29

When King Ahaz of Judah died and was buried in Jerusalem, his twenty-five-year-old son Hezekiah became king. His mother was Abijah, daughter of Zechariah. For the next twenty-nine years, Hezekiah ruled Judah in such a way that it pleased Adonai, as his ancestor David had done. Hezekiah began reforms during the first year of his reign when he opened and repaired the doors of the temple which his father Ahaz had closed. He called for an assembly of the priests and Levites in the open space east of the temple and there he spoke to them. [Listen to me!] he said. [You Levites must sanctify yourselves and the temple of Adonai YHVH of your ancestors. Carry the filth out of the holy place and restore it as it was before our fathers sinned by turning away from Adonai’s house and forsaking Him. They closed the doors of the porch, put out the lamps and stopped burning incense and burnt offerings. That is why Adonai’s anger has come upon Judah and Jerusalem, causing us to be objects of horror, astonishment and hissing. That is why our men have fallen in war and our women and children have been taken into captivity. I have determined to make a Covenant with Adonai, that His anger may be turned away from us. Now you must not neglect to do what Adonai has chosen for you, to minister in His presence and burn incense to Him.] The Levites began to do the necessary work in the temple. Here is a list of them according to their clans:

1 -- Kohath clan - led by Mahath the son of Amasi and Joel the son of Azariah
2 -- Merari clan - led by Kish the son of Abdi and Azariab the son of Jehelel
3 -- Gershon clan - led by Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah
4 -- Elizaphan clan - led by Shimri and Jeiel
5 -- Asaph clan - led by Zechariab and Mattaniah
6 -- Hemanite clan - led by Jehiel and Shimei
7 -- Jeduthun clan - led by Shemaiah and Uzziel.

These Levites gathered their fellow Levites together, sanctified themselves and began the work of cleaning the temple. The priests cleaned the inner sanctuary of the temple and carried the dirt into the temple court. From there the other Levites hauled it out to the Kidron Brook. The work was begun on the first day of the month and by the eighth day the work was finished as far as the outer court. Another eight days were spent cleaning the outer court. The entire project took sixteen days. When the work was finished, the Levites reported to King Hezekiah. [We have cleaned all of the house of Adonai,] they said. [We have cleaned the altar for the burnt offerings and its utensils, the table for the showbread with its utensils and all of the utensils which King Ahaz discarded when he was king. We have sanctified them, put them in order and they are now beside the Altar of Adonai.] Early the next morning King Hezekiah assembled his city officials and went to Adonai’s temple. They brought with them seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary and for Judah. The king commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer these animals on the altar of Adonai. When they had killed the animals, they sprinkled the blood against the altar. The male goats were brought before the king and his officials for a sin offering and these men laid their hands upon the animals. The priests killed the goats and placed their blood on the altar as a sin offering to atone for the entire nation of Israel, for thus King Hezekiah had commanded. Then the king formed a group of temple musicians, Levites who played the cymbals, psalteries and harps, according to the instructions which King David and the prophets Gad and Nathan had given, instructions which these men had received as Commandments from Adonai. The priests joined this musical group with their trumpets. Then the king ordered the service to begin, with the burnt offering to be sacrificed on the altar while the instruments played the songs of Adonai. The singers sang, the instruments played and the trumpets accompanied them and all of the people worshiped Adonai. This continued throughout the service until the offering was completed. When the offering was finished, King Hezekiah and his officials bowed and worshiped. Then they commanded the Levites to sing some psalms of David and the prophet Asaph as praises to Adonai. The Levites sang with gladness and they too, bowed and worshiped. [Now that you have consecrated yourselves to Adonai,] King Hezekiah said, [bring your sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of Adonai.] The people brought sacrifices and thank offerings and those who so desired brought burnt offerings. Altogether seventy bulls, one hundred rams and two hundred lambs were brought for burnt offerings. In addition, six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep were brought as consecrated offerings. There were not enough priests to do the work of preparing all the burnt offerings, so they were assisted by the Levites until the work was finished, for the Levites had been more diligent in sanctifying themselves than the priests had been. The service in Adonai’s Temple was restored with a great number of burnt offerings, the fat of peace offerings and the drink offerings which accompanied the burnt offerings. King Hezekiah and his people were very happy, for everything had happened so quickly.

COMMENTARY

THE RISE OF ASSYRIA

By 1000 B.C. Assyria had shrunk from a country in control of neighbouring trade routes and tribes to no more than a narrow strip of land. But one century later, under the rule of Ashurnasirpal II and his son Shalmaneser III, Assyria was strong enough to threaten all of western Asia. The ninth-century B.C. kings of Assyria probably did not intend to form an empire from the battles they fought each spring. They often wanted to protect their land from hostile neighbours. Raids brought them slaves, booty, tribute and trade routes as well. To them, their battle campaigns were religious crusades, for the king of Assyria represented their chief god Ashur, who was to rule all other kings and gods. In the early days, Assyria fought merely local tribal chiefs or rulers of small neighbouring states. Later campaigns ranged farther and farther from home. By the reign of Tiglath-pileser III in 745 B.C., the Assyrians were battling larger and stronger enemies like the Urartu and Meses. Tiglath-pileser III extended Assyria’s territory to a size never before seen in the ancient world. To prevent revolts and collect tribute in conquered lands, he replaced native rulers with Assyrian governors. By relocating large numbers of the conquered peoples, he avoided many of the ever-present dangers of rebellion. The next great king, Sargon II, soon controlled Syria and Palestine. But Sargon’s rule marked the last great dynasty of Assyria. Four gifted kings were all that it took to bring Assyria both to its height and to its downfall.