Old Testament Scriptural
Summaries and Commentary
Old Testament, 2 Chronicles
29-30, 32, 34
Supplemental Scripture Study: 2
Kings 18-23
Gospel Doctrine Class, Sunday
School Lesson #30
"Come to the House of the
Lord" (2 Chronicles 30:1)
2 Chronicles 29 - King Hezekiah cleanses and restores the temple at
Jerusalem
"Hezekiah’s father, Ahaz,
was a wicked king who had desecrated the temple of the Lord and 'shut up [its]
doors' (2 Chronicles 28:24). When Hezekiah became king of Judah (the
Southern Kingdom) in 715 B.C., one of the first things he did was open the
doors of the temple and order the priests and Levites to cleanse and sanctify
it" (Old Testament: Gospel
Doctrine Teacher’s Manual, (2001), 144–50).
Hezekiah began to reign in Judah when he was
25 years old and he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. "And he did that which was right in the
sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father [ancestor] had done."
After he restored the temple he brought the priests and Levites together
and told them to "sanctify" themselves and the house of the Lord
which had been defiled during the reign of his father, Ahaz (v. 29:1-6). During that time of wickedness, their fathers
had "fallen by the sword," and their sons and daughters and wives were
taken in captivity because the wrath of the Lord was on them (vv. 29:8-9). Hezekiah said, "Now it is in
mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel,
that his fierce wrath may turn away from us" (v. 29:10).
So the Levites gathered and
sanctified themselves and cleansed the temple of all the remnants of evil and false
worship (vv. 29:15-17). And Hezekiah
gathered the rulers of the city and went to the house of the Lord. And he commanded the priests, the sons of
Aaron, to make burnt animal sacrifices with blood sprinkled on the altar for their
sins and for reconciliation, to make atonement for all Israel (vv.
29:20-24). "And all the
congregation worshipped the Lord and the singers sang, and the trumpeters
sounded; and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished" (v.
29:28). Now Hezekiah told the people to
bring in to the temple their "sacrifices and thank offerings." And so much was given with a "free
heart" [willing, generous, footnote
31b] that the priests required help
from the Levites till the work was finished.
"So the house of the LORD was set in order" (vv. 29:31-35).
Note: Not all Levites were
priests of the temple (see 2 Chronicles 29:34 below).
34 But the priests were too few, so that they could
not flay all the burnt offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites did help
them, till the work was ended, and until the other priests had
sanctified themselves: for the Levites were more upright
in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.
D&C 13:1. Who Are the “Sons of Levi”?
President
Joseph Fielding Smith explained that “after the children of Israel came out of
Egypt and while they were sojourning in the wilderness, Moses received a
commandment from the Lord to take Aaron and his sons and ordain them and
consecrate them as priests for the people. (Ex. 28.) At that time the males of
the entire tribe of Levi were chosen to be the priests instead of the firstborn
of all the tribes, and Aaron and his sons were given the presidency over the
Priesthood thus conferred. Since that time it has been known as the Priesthood
of Aaron, including the Levitical Priesthood.” (Church History and Modern
Revelation, 1:63.)
D&C 13:1. What Is Meant by the Sons of Levi Offering an
Offering of Righteousness unto the Lord?
The Prophet
Joseph Smith commented as follows on this scripture:
“It is
generally supposed that sacrifice was entirely done away when the Great
Sacrifice [i.e.,] the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus was offered up, and that
there will be no necessity for the ordinance of sacrifice in the future; but
those who assert this are certainly not acquainted with the duties, privileges
and authority of the Priesthood, or with the Prophets.
“The
offering of sacrifice has ever been connected and forms a part of the duties of
the Priesthood. It began with the Priesthood, and will be continued until after
the coming of Christ, from generation to generation. …" (Teachings,
pp. 172–73; Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual, (2002),
28–29.)
2 Chronicles 30 - Hezekiah calls all Israel to come to the Temple
"Hezekiah sent to all Israel
and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come
to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD God
of Israel" (v. 30:1). At this time
most of the Kingdom of Israel [the
Northern Kingdom] had already been taken captive and carried away by the
Assyrians. And Hezekiah sent out "posts"
with letters to make a proclamation imploring the people, "be ye not
stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and
enter his sanctuary…and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his
wrath may turn away from you" (vv. 30:5-6, 8). And he promised that if they turned to the
Lord, they would find compassion from those [Assyrians] who kept their brethren captive that they could come
back to their land. But some of Ephraim,
Manasseh and Zebulun "laughed them to scorn, and mocked them" (v.
30:10).
Nevertheless, a multitude of
people came to Jerusalem to celebrate the renewed passover with King
Hezekiah. And the Levites [who had cleansed themselves] offered
sacrifices according to the Law of Moses.
Hezekiah prayed for those in the congregation who were "not
clean" saying, "The good LORD pardon every one That prepareth his
heart to seek God…though he be not cleansed according to the purification of
the sanctuary." And the scripture
says the Lord "healed the people" (vv. 30:13-20). And the Levites taught them "the good
knowledge of the LORD." For
fourteen days they made peace offerings and "confession" to the Lord
and many more priests "sanctified themselves" and everyone rejoiced. "So there was great joy in
Jerusalem" for the first time since the days of Solomon. The priests and Levites rose up and blessed
the people and their voices were heard in heaven (vv. 30:21-27).
2 Chronicles 32 - Sennacherib, King of Assyria, invades Judea
From the Gospel Doctrine Teachers
Manual: "[To] help defend Jerusalem against attacks by the Assyrians, King
Hezekiah diverted the water of the spring of Gihon to the pool of Siloam,
inside the city walls (2 Chronicles 32:2–4, 30; Bible Dictionary, “Hezekiah’s Tunnel,” 702). This was done
by digging a conduit (tunnel) for the water through about 1770 feet of
limestone rock. Hezekiah then ordered that the fountains outside the city be
covered to deny the Assyrians easy access to the water. Without this water
inside the walls of the city, the people of Jerusalem would not have survived
the siege by the Assyrians (pp. 144–50).
When King Hezekiah saw that
Sennacherib [Sen-nak-er-rib] had
invaded Judea and was camped next to Judah's "fenced cities" he
prepared the country for war. He stopped
the fountains outside the city and that ran through the land; he built up the
broken walls and raised towers; and he repaired the Millo at Jerusalem [most
likely an earthen embankment; see Internet]. He told the people to be
strong and courageous, and not afraid "for there be more with us than
with him: With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help
us, and to fight our battles." And the people "relied on"
the words of Hezekiah [see footnote 8b]
(vv. 32:1-8).
Now Sennacherib sent his servants
to the king and all the people at Jerusalem (while he and his army were laying
seize to the city of Lachish) to persuade them that they shouldn't trust
Hezekiah or the Lord their God to deliver them from famine and thirst during
the coming Assyrian siege. And he
reminded them that all the gods of their previous conquests in other lands had
not saved those nations from destruction.
And they continued, "no god of any nation or kingdom" much
less Hezekiah's one god could deliver them from "the hand of my fathers." And they spoke much against the Lord God and
against (his servant) Hezekiah. And they
[the Assyrians] continued to cry
against God and all the [idol] gods
to the Jerusalemites in their own language from the city wall to frighten the
people so they could take the city. "And for this cause Hezekiah the king,
and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven" (vv.
32:9-20).
"And the Lord sent an angel, which cut off all
the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king
of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was
come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels [his sons] slew him there with the sword.
Isaiah wrote the following of
the Assyrian siege: (Isaiah 37:33-38)
"Therefore thus saith
the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this
city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast
a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he
return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. For I will defend this city to save
it for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake. Then the angel of
the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of
the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and
when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all
dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of
Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in
the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him
with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esar-haddo his
son ruled in his stead."
2 Chronicles 34 -The reign of King Josiah
(See also supplemental scripture study 2 Kings 22-23.)
A brief history: "Hezekiah
was succeeded as king by his son Manasseh and his grandson Amon
(2 Chronicles 33). Manasseh ruled Judah in wickedness, placing idols in
the temple and leading the people to sin. Manasseh eventually humbled himself,
however, and repented before his death. Manasseh’s son Amon also ruled in
wickedness, worshiping the idols his father had made. Amon did not repent, and
he was slain by his own servants. Amon’s son Josiah was made king of Judah when
he was eight years old. He became a righteous king who rejected the wicked ways
of his father and grandfather" (Old
Testament: Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual, (2001), 144–50).
Josiah reigned in Jerusalem for
thirty-one years. Eight years after he
was named king, as a young man of sixteen, he "began to seek after the God
of David [his ancestor]…and in the
twelfth year [20 years old] he began
to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the
carved images, and the molten images" (v. 34:3). And he did the same thing in the cities of Manasseh,
Ephraim, Simeon, and Naphtali with their mattocks [tools-hoe, spade, axes, and
picks, see Internet] "round about." And he returned to Jerusalem (vv. 34:4-7).
In the eighteenth year of his
reign, after purging the land, Josiah sent for certain leaders to repair [and purify] the house of the Lord. And when they went to Hilkiah, the high
priest, they delivered to him all the money the Levites had gathered "that
was brought into the house of God" from "all the remnant of Israel,
and of all Judah and Benjamin" and they gave it to the Levite overseers of
the workman to repair and amend the Temple.
While the work was progressing, Hilkiah found "the book of the law
in the house of the LORD" given by Moses (vv. 34:14-15). And he gave it to Shaphan, the scribe, who
took it and read it to the king. And
when Josiah heard the words of the law, he rent his clothes. Then he commanded Hilkiah and others:
"Go enquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and
in Judah concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath
of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the
word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book" (vv.
34:16-21).
So Hilkiah and "they that
the king had appointed" went to Huldah, a prophetess in Jerusalem, to ask
her about these words. And she prophesied,
telling them to say to the man who sent them that he [the Lord] will bring evil and curses "upon this place"
and "all the inhabitants," as it is written in the book because they
have forsaken me [the Lord] by
worshipping other gods; "that they might provoke me to anger with all the
works of their hands" [graven images
and idols]. "[Therefore] my wrath shall be poured out upon this place,
and shall not be quenched." But,
she told them to say to the king of Judah, who sent them to enquire of the
Lord, "Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself
before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the
inhabitants thereof,…and didst rent thy clothes, and weep before me; I have
even heard thee also, saith the LORD."
And Huldah told them to tell the king that he would be "gathered to
thy grave in peace" and would not live to see all the evil the Lord will
bring upon the inhabitants of the land (vv. 34:22-28).
And King Josiah gathered together
the elders, priests and Levites, and all the people great and small into the
house of the Lord, and he read them all the words of the book of the covenant
that was found therein. And the king
made a covenant "before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his
commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and
with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in
this book" (vv. 34:29-31). And
Josiah caused those present to "stand to it" [covenant with him] and they did accordingly. King Josiah continued to purge all the
abominations from all the countries pertaining to the children of Israel and to
serve the Lord their God. "And all
his days they departed not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers"
(vv. 34:32-33).
"And
like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to
the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his
might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like
him" (2 Kings 23:25).
(See the cause of Josiah's death in supplemental study of 2 Kings 23.)
President
Spencer W. Kimball said: “The Lord is not trifling with us when he gives
us these things, [the scriptures] for
‘unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.’ (Luke 12:48.)
Access to these things means responsibility for them. We must study the
scriptures according to the Lord’s commandment (see 3 Nephi 23:1–5);
and we must let them govern our lives” (“How Rare a Possession—the Scriptures!”Ensign, Sept.
1976, 5, quoted in the OT Student Manual).
Supplemental Scripture Study
2 Kings 18-19 - Hezekiah of Judah
Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz is
thought to have ruled jointly with his father for a time before he became
king. While Ahaz was not a righteous
king, his son Hezekiah, “did that which was right in the sight of the LORD” (v.
18:3) Ahaz previously made a treaty with
Tiglath-pileser which continued with his successors Shalmaneser and Sargon II,
to pay tribute to Assyria as a vassal state. When Sargon II died, Hezekiah
revolted and the new Assyrian king Sennacherib [Sen-nak-er-rib] invaded Judah
and took “all the fenced [fortified]
cities of Judah Jerusalem
When Hezekiah’s envoys return
with the chilling message from the Assyrians, he rent his clothes and “went to
the house of the LORD” (v. 19:1). And,
he sent the same men to Isaiah, the prophet, the son of Amoz (v. 19:2). “And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say
to your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast
heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he
shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to
fall by the sword in his own land” (vv. 19:6-7). And again, the Assyrian king sent messengers
with a letter for Hezekiah telling of the nations that they had already
conquered and destroyed whose gods did not help them. Hezekiah took the letter to the house of the
Lord and spread it before the Lord and prayed for deliverance; that the Lord
would see and hear the words of Sennacherib, who had spoken against the “living
God” (vv. 19:14-16). Isaiah told
Hezekiah that the Lord had heard his prayer and that all things are
accomplished by the Lord’s power and will, including the Assyrian conquests
that were used only as tools by the Lord to accomplish his purposes (Student Manual, II, p.
128).
“And it came to pass that night,
that the angel of the LORD went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an
hundred fourscore and five thousand (185,000) and …when [they who were left arose, JST] early in the morning, behold, they
were all dead corpses” (v. 19:35).
Sennacherib, king of Assyria departed and went to Nineveh
2 Kings 20 - Hezekiah is appointed unto death
The prophet Isaiah went to King
Hezekiah with the message from the Lord that he should set his house in order
because he was going to die (v. 20:1).
And Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord and
wept. As Isaiah was leaving, the word of
the Lord came to him that he should go tell Hezekiah that his prayer had been
heard and he would be healed and fifteen years would be added to his life. He also told Isaiah “I will deliver thee and
this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria
and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake”
(vv. 20:2-6). But Hezekiah was still
afraid and asked Isaiah for a sign that the Lord would heal him. Isaiah told Hezekiah that the shadow on the
sundial that his father Ahaz had built would go back ten degrees (vv. 20:9-10). And the Lord caused the shadow to return
backward ten degrees and Hezekiah knew that only the Lord had the power to
cause this miracle (v. 20:11)—the sun
stood still in the heaven (see Joshua 10:12-14).
The king of Babylon
2 Kings 21 - Manasseh and Amon are wicked and evil kings
“Manasseh was twelve years old
when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem
2 Kings 22-23 - Josiah rules in righteousness
“Josiah was eight years old when
he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem
Josiah called all the people
together and read them the words of the book of the covenant. And he covenanted before the Lord that they
would keep the commandments and statutes with all their hearts and souls; “And
all the people stood to the covenant” (vv. 23:2-3). Then King Josiah cleansed the temple of all
unholy objects and killed the idolatrous priests. He burned the groves and destroyed the place
where child sacrifices were performed (vv. 23:5-13). “And he brake in pieces the images, and cut
down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men” (v. 23:14). Then he went to Beth-el and burned the
heathen shrine and fulfilled the prophecy that a man named Josiah would offer
the priests of the high places that burn incense upon [the altar] and men’s bones would he
burn on the altar (see 1 Kings 13:2). And Josiah went into the cities of Samaria
Josiah was killed at Megiddo fighting against Egypt
who had joined with Assyria against the
onslaught of Babylonian power.
"In the scramble for power that came with Babylonia’s
conquest of Assyria, Egypt sought to move north and help Assyria, since they
preferred a weak Assyria to a powerful Babylonia. For reasons not named, Josiah
sought to stop Pharaoh Necho’s passage through the promised land. It has been
suggested that “Josiah’s motives can only be conjectured, but it is probable
that in the downfall of Assyria’s power he hoped to extend his authority over
what had once been the northern kingdom, and feared that his designs would be
foiled by the Egyptian advance. … Josiah took up his position here [at Megiddo]
to dispute the passage across Carmel. … For the sorrow occasioned by Josiah’s
death [see 2 Chronicles 35:25; Ecclesiastes 49:2–3]." (J. R. Dummelow, ed., A
Commentary on the Holy Bible, p. 246; quoted in OT Student Manual, II, p. 215.)
Jehoahaz, the twenty-thee year
old son of Josiah, was made king in his father’s stead and was taken captive to
Egypt Judah was made a vassal of Egypt Judah
was taxed for the payment of tribute to Egypt Jerusalem
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