2 Chronicles 31:2
Hezekiah reestablished the divisions of the priests and Levites--each of them according to their duties as priests or Levites--for the burnt offerings and peace offerings, for ministry, for giving thanks, and for singing praises at the gates of the LORD's dwelling.
Sermons
The Camp of the LordT. Whitelaw 2 Chronicles 31:2
A Religious Reformation in the Days of HezekiahT. Whitelaw 2 Chronicles 31:1-4
The Service of the Consecrated Life, and of the SubstanceW. Clarkson 2 Chronicles 31:2-10














Hezekiah, as soon as the excitement of the great Passover and of the subsequent destruction of all idolatrous symbols was over, made wise arrangements for the regular service of Jehovah. And this included -

I. THE SERVICE OF THE CONSECRATED LIFE; that, namely, of the priests and the Levites (ver. 2). This service was threefold:

1. Discharging sacred functions at the altar; doing for the people that which only consecrated men could do - presenting their sacrifices to Jehovah, thus standing between their fellows and their God, and constituting a medium of communion between them and him.

2. Inquiry into and acquisition of all possible knowledge of the Law (2 Chronicles 17:9; Deuteronomy 33:10).

3. Conducting the service of song (ver. 2), and teaching the people the Law which they had themselves learned. There are many in the Christian Church who have undertaken to offer to their Divine Lord a consecrated life; and it devolves on them to yield to him their strength in these three ways.

(1) Ministration in his house or elsewhere; the special service which the minister of Christ, as such, can render; praying to God for his people, or helping them to draw nigh to God - a very valuable, indeed inestimable, service.

(2) Earnest thought and inquiry; becoming more and more fully acquainted with the mind of Christ as that is revealed in his Word or in his providence, or through the experience or research of other servants of his.

(3) Utterance of the truth thus acquired; by teaching or preaching, in the sanctuary, or the school, or the house, personally or instrumentally. For the advancement of the kingdom of Christ it is needful that there should be a large number of men, answering to the priests and Levites, who shall regularly give a consecrated life to the service of the Lord.

II. THE SERVICE OF THE SUBSTANCE. We have a very interesting instance here recorded of the full and cheerful dedication of the substance to the cause of God. Led as well as taught by Hezekiah, the people responded with tithes and firstfruits, so that there were "heaps "in the temple courts, even when everything had been taken that was required (Ver. 10). Even the remainder was "this great store." The scene suggests the truths:

1. That the offer of our substance is a most appropriate method of sacred service. How can we better express our gratitude to the great Giver of every good thing of every kind than by dedicating to him and to his service some serious proportion of the produce of our strength and skill?

2. That those who urge others to show this grace should be forward to illustrate it themselves (ver. 3).

3. That from those who have the greater privileges may be expected a very clear encouragement by example (ver. 4).

4. That, if rightly addressed, the people of God may be trusted to make a lair and even a liberal response (vers. 5, 6).

5. That such service, rendered in a religious spirit, will draw down the Divine blessing in abundance (ver. 10; and see Malachi 3:10). - C.

Until they had utterly destroyed them all.
Mark the word "utterly." It is for want of that word that so many men have failed. Many men have cut off the heads of weeds. Any man can do that. The weed is in the root, and the root is not straight down in the earth, so that it can be taken out easily; after a certain depth it ramifies, and care must be taken that we get out every fibre and filament, and having got it out, turn it upside down, and let the sun do the rest. A man has undertaken to abstain from some evil pursuit for a month: he has clipped off the top of the weed and looks just as well as anybody else, but he is not; he has still the root in him, and that must be taken out, though he be half murdered in the process.

(J. Parker, D.D.)

To utterly destroy an idol first, even were it possible, would not be lasting. What must come first in the order of time? Religious enthusiasm, religious conviction; deep, intense spiritual fellowship with God; a look into heaven; vital sympathy with the Cross; a purification of hand and life and tongue, and body, soul, and spirit, by the Passover rightly eaten; and then what giants will go forth with axes of lightning to smite pillar and asherah and idol and every vain thing. Men cannot strike finally if they sot only as reformers. Reform is an active word, and is to be regarded with great favour, and is the only word that is permissible under some circumstance; but the greater word is regeneration. Reform that does not point to regeneration is a waxen flower that will melt when the sun is well up in the heavens.

(J. Parker, D. D.)

There are three effects which ought always to follow our solemn assembly on the Lord's day. We should go home and —

I. BREAK IN PIECES ALL OUR IMAGES.

1. Self-righteousness.

2. Bacchus.

3. Lust.

4. Business; false measures and false weights.

5. Pride.

II. CUT DOWN THE GROVES. Groves are the places where the images have been set up. There was nothing mark you, positively sinful in the grove; but they have been used for sinful purposes, and therefore down they must come. We would specify —

1. The theatre.

2. The tavern.

3. So-called recreation, dancing, etc.

4. Evil books. Light literature, the moral of which is anything but that of piety and goodness.

III. THROW DOWN THE HIGH PLACES AND ALTARS, ETC. God had said that He would have but one altar, namely, at Jerusalem. There should be a casting down of everything in connection with the true worship that is not according to the law of God and the word of God.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, unto their own cities
In evangelising our own countrymen we must proceed —

I. IN THE EMPLOYMENT OF THOSE MEANS WHICH ARE CONGENIAL WITH THE SPIRIT OF THE DISPENSATION UNDER WHICH WE LIVE. The men of Israel were fully justified in doing as described in the text. They lived under a Theocracy, and idolatry was high treason. We live under a different dispensation. "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal." To destroy the idolatry which still reigns in our land we must go forth and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hezekiah's proclamation of the Passover and its consequences as described in the preceding chapter suggests how this has to be done.

1. Distinctly (ver. 1).

2. Boldly. In spite of ridicule (ver. 10).

3. Affectionately (ver. 6-9).

4. Prayerfully (ver. 18).

II. BY OURSELVES LIVING CONSISTENTLY WITH THE PROFESSION WE MAKE, AND THE GREAT CAUSE WE HAVE ESPOUSED. Our lives must be characterised —

1. By sincerity and uprightness (2 Chronicles 31:20, 21).

2. By joy and praise (2 Chronicles 30:21).

3. By self-denial and sacrifice (2 Chronicles 30:24).

III. WITH A DETERMINATION TO TAKE NO REST TILL THE OBJECT WE HAVE IN VIEW IS FULLY ACCOMPLISHED. "Until they had utterly destroyed them all."

(H. Townley.)

People
Aaron, Amariah, Asahel, Azariah, Azaziah, Benaiah, Benjamin, Conaniah, Cononiah, Eliel, Hezekiah, Imnah, Ismachiah, Israelites, Jehiel, Jerimoth, Jeshua, Jimnah, Jozabad, Kore, Levites, Mahath, Manasseh, Miniamin, Nahath, Shecaniah, Shechaniah, Shemaiah, Shimei, Zadok
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Appointed, Appointeth, Assigned, Burned, Burnt, Burnt-offering, Burnt-offerings, Camp, Camps, Courses, Courts, Division, Divisions, Doors, Duties, Dwelling, Fellowship, Gates, Giving, Hezekiah, Hezeki'ah, Levites, Lord's, Minister, Offer, Offerings, Order, Ordering, Peace, Peace-offerings, Praise, Praises, Priest, Priests, Relation, Serve, Service, Sing, Tents, Thanks, Worship
Outline
1. The people go forward in destroying idolatry
2. Hezekiah orders the courses of the priests and Levites,
4. and provides for their work and maintenance
5. The people's forwardness in offerings and tithes
11. Hezekiah appoints officers to dispose of the tithes
20. The sincerity of Hezekiah

Dictionary of Bible Themes
2 Chronicles 31:2

     5323   gate
     7364   fellowship offering
     8627   worship, elements

2 Chronicles 31:1-19

     8466   reformation

2 Chronicles 31:2-5

     4442   firstfruits

Library
Reform
Now there are three effects which ought always to follow our solemn assembly upon the Lord's day, especially when we gather in such a number as the present, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving. We should go home and first break our false gods; next, cut down the very groves in which we have been wont to delight, and after that break the altars which though dedicated to the God of Israel, are not according to Scripture, and therefore ought to be broken down, albeit, they be even dedicated to the true
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

Last Journey and Death, 1858 --Concluding Remarks.
We are now arrived at the closing scene of John Yeardley's labors. The impression which he had received, during his visit to Turkey in 1853, of the opening for the work of the Gospel in the Eastern countries, had never been obliterated; it had rather grown deeper with time, although his ability to accomplish such an undertaking had proportionately diminished. This consideration, however, could not satisfy his awakened sympathies, and, according to his apprehension, no other course remained for him
John Yeardley—Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel

Tithing
"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Mal. 3:10). Down deep in the heart of every Christian there is undoubtedly the conviction that he ought to tithe. There is an uneasy feeling that this is a duty which has been neglected, or, if you prefer it, a privilege that has not been
Arthur W. Pink—Tithing

The Whole Heart
LET me give the principal passages in which the words "the whole heart," "all the heart," are used. A careful study of them will show how wholehearted love and service is what God has always asked, because He can, in the very nature of things, ask nothing less. The prayerful and believing acceptance of the words will waken the assurance that such wholehearted love and service is exactly the blessing the New Covenant was meant to make possible. That assurance will prepare us for turning to the Omnipotence
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants

Chronicles
The comparative indifference with which Chronicles is regarded in modern times by all but professional scholars seems to have been shared by the ancient Jewish church. Though written by the same hand as wrote Ezra-Nehemiah, and forming, together with these books, a continuous history of Judah, it is placed after them in the Hebrew Bible, of which it forms the concluding book; and this no doubt points to the fact that it attained canonical distinction later than they. Nor is this unnatural. The book
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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