The Thursday after the Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on October 24, 2024 by under
Scripture: 2 Chronicles 29:1-11 (NKJV)
29:1 Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done.
3 In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. 4 Then he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them in the East Square, 5 and said to them: “Hear me, Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place. 6 For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the Lord our God; they have forsaken Him, have turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the Lord, and turned their backs on Him. 7 They have also shut up the doors of the vestibule, put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel. 8 Therefore the wrath of the Lord fell upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has given them up to trouble, to desolation, and to jeering, as you see with your eyes. 9 For indeed, because of this our fathers have fallen by the sword; and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity.
10 “Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us. 11 My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and that you should minister to Him and burn incense.”
Devotion
Many candidates running for an elected office have a list of ‘first-month’ promises. These promises represent those political issues which the candidate deems to be the most critical. Often they involve radical reversals of policies of the previous administration. As the new king of Judah, Hezekiah had his own list of ‘first-month’ priorities. He used the first thirty days of his reign to open the doors of the Lord’s house and restore the articles which his wicked father, Ahaz, had removed. Since the wrath of God had fallen upon Judah through Ahaz’ wicked policies, Hezekiah reversed them and restored the true worship of God at the temple.
The wrath of God is not turned away by the policies of men. God would not relent simply because the Levites started offering sacrifices again. Hezekiah and other Old Testament believers were saved from God’s wrath by faith. Like us, they were saved by trusting in the Messiah and the sacrifice which He would offer for their sins. St. Paul affirms in Romans chapter 5, “having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (vs. 9).
Hezekiah restored the temple worship because the temple worship taught about Christ. The perpetual sacrifices performed by the Levites taught the people that one pure sacrifice was still needed to make an atonement for their sins.
Collect: Lord, we beseech Thee to keep Thy household, the Church, in continual godliness; that through Thy protection it may be free from all adversities, and devoutly given to serve Thee in good works, to the glory of Thy Name; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
