A Spiritual Revival and a Display of Grace in the Old Testament

Praise God for allowing our minds to be enlightened by the truth of His word. As He dealt with the people of Israel long ago, so He deals with us today, calling us to repentance and faith, and commanding us to turn to Him and seek after Him with a heart full of praise. After a long string of kings who did not follow the Lord and who caused Israel to sin and go down a dark path of immorality, the Lord raised up a young 25-year old king who did what was right His eyes. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob remained faithful, though his people did not, and His glorious light was again ready to be shed upon this nation.

Hezekiah began to reign 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. And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them. He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east and said to them, "Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the LORD, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place. For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the LORD our God. They have forsaken him and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD and turned their backs. They also shut the doors of the vestibule and put out the lamps and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the Holy Place to the God of Israel. Therefore the wrath of the LORD came on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them an object of horror, of astonishment, and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes. For behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, in order that his fierce anger may turn away from us. My sons, do not now be negligent, for the LORD has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him and to be his ministers and make offerings to him."
(2 Chronicles 29:1-11 ESV)


It starts with a call to holiness and consecration before the Lord. The people responded, and holy worship was reestablished.

And he stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the commandment of David and of Gad the king's seer and of Nathan the prophet, for the commandment was from the LORD through his prophets. The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. Then Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song to the LORD began also, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel. The whole assembly worshiped, and the singers sang and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished. When the offering was finished, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped. And Hezekiah the king and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped. And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had prepared for the people, for the thing came about suddenly.
(2 Chronicles 29:25-30,36 ESV)

Notice in verse 36 that the people rejoiced because "God had prepared for the people." The KJV states that the people rejoiced because "God had prepared the people" and the NIV states they rejoiced at "what God had brought about for His people." This thing came about not by years and years of planning, but in a matter days. "For the thing came about suddenly." This is not a thing of man, but a mighty work of God. We respond to His revelation. It reminds me of the revival of 1735 in Northampton, in which God did a marvelous work, as part of a sequence of events now known as the Great Awakening. Jonathan Edwards testifies:

"The fact that God would use a weak instrument like myself is analogous to other circumstances of the work of God. God has ordered the work in such a way as to show that it is His own particular and immediate work. Through all the circumstances surrounding the revival, God has intended to secure the glory of it wholly to His almighty power and sovereign grace. Whatever the means have been to carry on this work, and though we are so unworthy, yet it has pleased God to work in such a way. We are evidently a people blessed by God! For here, in this corner of the world, God dwells and manifests His glory."

Oh, that God will again show His mighty hand in igniting our hearts to desire Him once more!

When something this glorious takes place, it is natural that the godly rulers of the land invite all people to join.

So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his princes, as the king had commanded, saying,

"O people of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that He may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were faithless to the LORD God of their fathers, so that he made them a desolation, as you see. Do not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the LORD and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the LORD your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you. For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him."
(2 Chronicles 30:6-9 ESV)

So the call went out to all the towns, but the people scored and ridiculed them. Nevertheless, there were those who humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem. To those that were there, the hand of God was upon them, giving them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the Lord. A very large crowd assembled to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread (The Passover) in the second month. The feast was appointed to be celebrated in the first month but they could not this time because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not all gathered in Jerusalem. Also, many in the crowd had not consecrated themselves, and thus were not ceremonially clean, so the Levites had to kill the Passover lambs to the Lord for them. Some had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written.

But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "May the LORD, who is good, pardon everyone who sets his heart on seeking God—the LORD, the God of his fathers—even if he is not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary." And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.
(2 Chronicles 30:18-20 NIV)

What grace! God is not a stickler to rules when it comes to jubilant celebrations such as this, especially after the sun has just begun to dawn over a land that has experienced years of darkness. There was much to celebrate and the praises of the Lord filled the city. It was so good that after the traditional one week of celebration was over, the whole assembly agreed to celebrate a second week.

There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place.
(2 Chronicles 30:26-27 NIV)

Oh, that the Good Lord will again show His glory! People of this land, return to the Lord and He will not turn His face from you. If we return to the Lord, we will see that He is gracious and compassionate and will cleanse and heal us. Set your hearts on seeking God and praise Him all the days of your life!