READ: 2 Chronicles 31-32.
Verses chosen for meditation: 2 Chronicles 31:1.
31 Now when all this was finished, all Israel who
were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and broke down the high places and the altars throughout all
Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed
them all. Then all the people of Israel returned to their cities, every
man to his possession.
REFLECT
Chronicles 30:26 recorded that the people of Judah and some
of the God-fearing and repentant people of the northern tribes had gathered in
Jerusalem and celebrated a Passover for the first time in years. These people
repented, and prayed, and worshiped God with a sincerity and fervency that they
had never experienced.
This fervency and spiritual awakening do not seem
to fade away but resulted in further reforms such as the restoration of the
Temple services. So, the final stage of Hezekiah’s reforms, he started the restoration
with complete cleansing (“until they had destroyed them all”) of the Temple when
all Israelites went out to the cities of Judah to destroy the “sacred debris”
of the pagan gods, v.1.
Hezekiah then reorganised the priest and Levites for
the offering of sacrifices and praise (v.2) and the re-instatement of tithes
and offering to support the temple personnel (vv.4-19). Finally, orderliness with
temple worship was restored in the House of God.
RELATE
What do we relate to this cleansing?
Firstly, the cleansing act
is likened to the cleansing of our spirit, to put away the filth which has
accumulated. It is to turn away from our wrong ideas, concepts, and attitudes but
to turn back with the cleansing of the Lord and the renewing of our minds with His
truth. The cleansing has to affect all areas of our practical daily lives, not
just our spiritual being, since our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit.
As our Lord Jesus has put it: “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to
enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the
fire that shall never goes out. … “(Mark 9:43-48). Nothing should be considered too “sacred” to remove if it keeps us from
a whole-hearted reform before God. The active reform should impact every aspect
of our lives, be it social, family, or work life and letting Him to change us inside
out. Hence in our private closet, we need to examine our inner most being before
the Lord to get rid of any sin (debris) in our lives.
Secondly, the ministry of the local church is what God places a high
priority on, along with the sacred things that the people was called to do. It
is so sad to learn that even some believers consider church life to be an
option or irrelevant or, worst of all, to suggest that the local church is no
longer necessary. Cleansing must take place here; that is to remove the “debris
of such attitudes”. Just like in a true revival, when the vital importance of
local church life is restored, people begin again to rightly esteem and support
the ministry of God’s house (church) and God’s appointed stewards.
This reminds us that a local church is different from any other secular organisation.
As the apostle Paul puts it rightly in 1 Timothy 3:15, God’s appointed servants
are to consider carefully how they are to conduct themselves “in the house of
God, which is the church of our God, the pillar and ground of the Truth”. In
fact, each local church (Christ’s covenanted and gathered people) is a necessary institution
for the spiritual health and well-being of His people (Hebrews 13:17) with Jesus,
as the only King and Head of the Church.
Therefore, do we see ourselves to be accountable to one another, that is
to cut away from the “touch and go” culture within the local church?”
REST
Pleased to share this song, “God
of Revival”, in line
with the theme of cleansing and revival:
https://youtu.be/QOdvmbtPGcY?si=kUcUEy3Yjz-i3J9T
Vincent
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