What I Noticed Today (2 Kings 18; 2 Chronicles 29-31; Psalm 48)
2 Kings 18
In verses 1-8, Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, began to rule in Judah in the third year of Hoshea king of Israel.
- Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king and reigned in Jerusalem for 29 years (729-686 B.C.).
Note: Hezekiah ruled as co-regent with his father Ahaz for 14 years (729-715 B.C.), then ruled alone for 18 years (715-686 B.C.)
- Hezekiah was a good king, doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He removed the high places and cut down the Asherah. Because of his faithfulness, God blessed him, and he prospered.
Note: Only four kings of Judah were described as doing right in the eyes of the Lord; Asa (1 Kings 15;11), Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17:3), Josiah (2 Kings 22:2), and Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:3).
In verses 8-12, in Hezekiah’s fourth year, the seventh year of Israel’s King Hoshea, Shalmaneser king of Assyria besieged Samaria for three years and captured it. Shalmaneser deported the Israelites. This occurred because the Israelites did not obey God.
Note: This is the second recounting of the fall and deportation of the Israelites in Samaria (2 Kings 17:3-6).
In verses 13-18, in the 14th year of Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria came up against Judah and captured many of the fortified cities.
- Hezekiah attempted to pay a tribute of 300 talents (11 tons) of silver and 30 talents (1 ton) of gold to the Assyrians to get them to leave Jerusalem alone. They stripped the gold and silver from the house of the Lord and the house of the king.
- Despite receiving the tribute, Sennacherib sent a large army to Jerusalem demanding surrender.
In verses 19-37, Rabshakeh, the commander of the Assyrian army, challenged the people of Jerusalem saying, do you trust Egypt to come and save you, or do you trust your God to save you?
- Rabshakeh even claimed God had commanded the Assyrians to attack and destroy Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 29
In verses 1-2, Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king of Judah, and he reigned 29 years from Jerusalem (715-686 B.C.)
Note: Hezekiah also reigned as coregent with his father for 14 years (729-715 B.C.).
- Hezekiah was a good king, who did right in the eyes of the Lord.
In verses 3-9, the first thing, Hezekiah did in his first month was to begin the process of restoring the people to worshipping the Lord.
- He began by assembling the priests and Levites and commanded them to consecrate themselves and begin the process of cleansing and restoring the temple of the Lord. After 16 days the temple was cleansed.
In verses 10-19, Hezekiah announced his intention to renew the Mosaic covenant between the people and the Lord.
- The heads of the Levite families came together with their brothers and began the process of cleansing the Lord’s temple.
- It took eight days to cleanse the temple and consecrate all the utensils in preparation for making offerings to the Lord.
In verses 20-36, next, Hezekiah gathered the officials of the city of Jerusalem together to present offerings to the Lord as they restored temple worship.
- Hezekiah began by having the priests make a sin offering of seven bulls, seven rams, and seven lambs.
- Hezekiah then commanded the burnt offering to be made.
- Finally, the whole assembly presented their offerings, sang, and worshiped the Lord.
2 Chronicles 30
In verses 1- 12, Hezekiah then reinstated the celebration of Passover, which had not been practiced for many years.
- Hezekiah sent messengers throughout the land telling people to prepare themselves to celebrate the Passover.
- Some people laughed and refused, but others humbled themselves and prepared to celebrate the Passover.
Note: Hezekiah told the people to return to the Lord (2 Chronicles 30:6), to not be like their stubborn fathers (v. 7-8), and promised that if they did return to the Lord, He would have compassion on them (v. 9).
In verses 13-21, in addition to assembling to celebrate the Passover, the people gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread (which follows the Passover celebration).
- The people removed the high places and altars that had been built around Jerusalem.
- The people celebrated the Passover for a week and then decided to celebrate for another week.
- There was great joy in the city of Jerusalem, the priests blessed the people, and God heard their prayers.
Some thoughts for additional consideration:
- It is hard to understand how Ahaz, who had a faithful father and grandfather, could so completely turn away from the Lord. Despite his failures, he turned himself and the people of Judah further and further from the Lord.
- Just as surprising, is how Hezekiah could be so completely devoted to the Lord considering the example of his father, Ahaz. Hezekiah did everything he could, in exactly the right order, to encourage the people to return to worshipping the Lord by choice. The result was those who returned to the Lord did so joyfully!
2 Chronicles 31
The people removed idols in Judah and Hezekiah reestablished freewill offering to support the priests and Levites.
In verse 1, after celebrating the Passover, the people of Judah went throughout the cities and destroyed the Asherim, high places, and articles of idol worship.
In verses 2-13, Hezekiah reinstated the worship of God in the temple through the priests and Levites.
- To set an example for the people, he contributed the first offerings to the priests.
- Then he told the people living in Jerusalem to contribute to the priests and Levites, so they could devote all their energy to serving the Lord.
- Word of the offering spread throughout the land, and the people brought a tithe into Jerusalem for four months from the third month through the seventh month.
- Hezekiah told the Levites to store all the surplus in the temple.
Note: The third month would correspond with the grain harvest, and the seventh month would correspond to the grape and fruit harvests.
Note: Hezekiah organized the priests differently than David. David had established a rotation among the priests where they would serve one month in the temple and then go home. Hezekiah ordered the people to provide a tithe to the priests so that the priests could serve full-time. The people responded enthusiastically. They gave so much that the Levites had more than enough to meet their needs.
In verses 14-21, Kore, the Levite along with his six associates was responsible for the freewill offerings
- They distributed the offerings to the priests and Levites who lived outside of Jerusalem.
- Levites received their portions only when they were over 20-years old, but priests received a portion of the freewill offering when they were only 3-years old.
Psalm 48
Psalm 48 is about the city of Jerusalem; its glory and deliverance from enemies by God who is praised.
In verses 1-3, Jerusalem is described as God’s holy mountain; the joy of the whole earth because God has made her His fortress.
In verses 4-8, the psalmist describes the defeat of Jerusalem’s enemies as the Lord destroyed them, making the city secure.
In verses 9-14, the psalmist offers praise to God for His steadfast love and righteousness, and for being Jerusalem’s protector forever.
