One thing I think all Christians have in common (we actually have many things in common), is we contemplate God’s “response time” to our prayers. Don’t we? Especially if we are in a crisis and we need help and need it quickly, don’t we all wonder sometimes, how soon God will respond?
Think about the response time of paramedics, fireman, policeman, after making a 911 call. I’ve read many news stories about people making such calls and it was reported that the response time was under 10 minutes. When our daughter Christen experienced a medical emergency a few months ago and her husband, Hop made a 911 call, the response time was literally in seconds. Thankfully, an EMS/fireman was just passing Baker street when he heard the call over his unit and was able to turn his car around and be there in a matter of seconds. How thankful we all were that this response was so quick! Well, why don’t we always get that kind of response from God? Or, are you getting that kind of response?
This morning I’ve been reading in 2 Chronicles 29. It was so refreshing to FINALLY be reading about a king that “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done”. You know if you read 1 & 2 Kings as well as 1 & 2 Chronicles (which is a re-telling historically of Kings) you’ll find there was this constant back and forth, back and forth of Kings that would either rebel against God or would follow God. It reminds me of the new emoji’s that we are all making of ourselves, especially the one where the top of the head blows up! I keep asking myself…what are these people thinking? Don’t they see what happens when you rebel against God and do evil? “This is simple people….just do the right thing!” But….we aren’t much different are we? We are just as guilty of allowing our flesh to lead as they were.
But back to my reading this morning. King Hezekiah was different, in that he got serious…I mean really serious about restoring the temple of God and the worship of God in that temple. It says in verse 3 that “in the FIRST year of his reign, in the first MONTH, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them”. You see, many kings prior had actually torn down sections of the temple, had destroyed parts of it, taken out the holy vessels and discarded them…many were used for sacrifices to idols. So Hezekiah brought in all the priests and Levites and commanded them to consecrate themselves and the house of the Lord and to carry out the “filth” from the Holy Place. He acknowledged how unfaithful their fathers had been and how evil they had behaved. He described all the abominations that were allowed under their rule. It would be the same as you and I confessing our sin before the Lord and repenting. He also acknowledged that this disobedience had caused their suffering. His exact words were “He has made us an object of horror, of astonishment, and of hissing”. Their enemies had been able to take advantage of them because they had removed themselves from the protection of God. But in verse 10 King Hezekiah said “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”. In other words, he was saying, I want to “renew” the covenant that God made with his people long ago. I want us to hold up our end of the covenant.
Immediately the Levites (ordained by God in the beginning) began their work. Now let me say here, there were not that many ordained priests because these wicked kings prior to Hezekiah, killed many of them and those that were left were often living in hiding places, fearing for their lives. In verse 12 it names specifically the men (Levites) that did this job of repairing and consecrating the temple. There were only 14 of them. Over the next few verses, it describes what all they had to do to accomplish this task. It was enormous, especially for the few in number that were doing this job. What’s incredible here is that they divided the job up into two parts. The first part was completed in 8 days and the second in another 8 days. You see it wasn’t just the labor and time it should have taken to repair and replace actual structures, but the process that God required to consecrate every material contained in the temple as well as all the vessels required for sacrifice and worship. It was a huge undertaking! But only 16 days after King Hezekiah began his reign, all the work had been completed!! Do you see the commitment here? Do you see the intensity of this commitment? King Hezekiah was SERIOUS about this! He renewed His covenant with God, confessed their sin, asked for forgiveness and immediately began to walk out that commitment! How impressive! God could not only see his heart, but he took note of his actions as well.
But after all this, the following description of the worship and sacrifices made was incredible. There were seven days of festival of unleavened bread, followed by an additional seven days of joyous celebrations. It was so incredible that commentators compare it to the huge number of sacrifices Solomon and the people offered at the first temple dedication. The sacrifices were so many, that the priests and Levites could not handle all that was required to do so. They had to solicit brothers of Levites to help prepare the sacrifices!
I want to speak to some significant numbers included in this recounting of events. Numbers are very important in the Bible. I want to look at the number “16”. That is the number of days it took to restore the temple. Sixteen is the number of love. It was because of the love of God that Jesus was nailed to the cross for the sin of the world. The cross manifested the love of God for all mankind. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life”.
In the great “Love Chapter” of 1 Cor. 13:4-8, Paul lists sixteen characteristics of love. “Love is patient (1), love is kind (2), and is not jealous (3); love does not brag (4) and is not arrogant (5), 5 does not act unbecomingly (6); it does not seek its own (7), is not provoked (8), does not take into account a wrong suffered (9), 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness (10), but rejoices with the truth (11); 7 bears all things, (12) believes all things (13), hopes all things (14), endures all things (15). 8 Love never fails (16). The 16 names of God in the O.T. symbolize his love towards the children of Israel.
In the tabernacle of Moses, there were 16 sockets of silver to hold up the 8 boards on each side. Ex. 26:25 says, “And there shall be eight boards with their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets under one board and two sockets under another board”. The sockets held the boards in place and gave the tabernacle stability. But today God indwells us. We are His temple, or tabernacle. Paul alludes to this in Eph. 3:17-19 “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love [the sockets], 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
The restoration of the temple was an act of love on King Hezekiah’s part. He also was attempting to repair the relationships between Judah and Israel. He wanted to unit the people and instill in them a love for God and worship in the house of the Lord.
Now I want to look at the number 14. There were 14 Levites that carried out this task over the course of 16 days. The number “14” represents deliverance or “salvation”. The 14th day of the first month is the Passover, when God delivered the firstborn of Israel from the death angel that passed through all of Egypt, the night before Moses led them out. On the night of the 14th day of the first month, God made his covenant promises to Abraham. There are 14 generations from Abraham to David, from David to the captivity in Babylon are 14 generations and from the captivity in Babylon until Christ are 14 generations. Fourteen is a multiple of 7, which is the number for spiritual perfection, implying a double measure of spiritual perfection.
So why am I emphasizing these numbers? It’s because of the last verse in this chapter. It says “And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had prepared for the people, for the thing came about suddenly”. When I researched the Hebrew and many commentaries, I found that all agreed that this meant that because Hezekiah loved the Lord so much that he took immediate action to restore the place that the Lord God inhabited and did so with such intensity, God helped them to accomplish this in an unprecedented amount of time! In other words, God knew the heart of this King before he pledged his love and renewed commitment and had already prepared these 14 men to be equipped to do things supernaturally….to do things that under their own power, they could not. God responded quickly. Chronicles says it came about suddenly!!!
So what is the purpose in this writing? I heard the Holy Spirit speak so clearly to me “when you sincerely turn toward me, when your motives are out of pure love for me and you set your eyes on that love, acting on it consistently, I respond quickly! James 1:5-8 says “ If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
And in James 1:12-26 says “ Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
I’m encouraged this morning by this devotional time. I’ve been encouraged to have a heart like King Hezekiah. To be purposeful, intense and consistent in my love for the Lord. I’ve been encouraged to do the work he’s called me to do. I’ve also been encouraged to know that God looks on the heart and when my heart turns completely to him, he quickly responds! Praying for your renewed commitment to the Lord and the response you will get as a result! Love you!
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