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LifeGroup Curriculum: Week 5
Return to Worship
2 Chronicles 29:1-36
King Hezekiah takes the throne of Judah and immediately launches a campaign to revive worship in the temple of the Lord. He starts by reopening and purifying the temple, reinstating the Levitical priests and urging them to prepare for their sacred duties. He leads the nation in offering sacrifices, passionately observes the Passover, and encourages everyone to wholeheartedly worship God. Hezekiah’s devotion to restoring authentic worship results in God’s favor, leading to blessings upon the kingdom and its people.
The Scripture
1 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. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.
3 In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. 4 He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east 5 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. 6 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. 7 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. 8 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. 9 For behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. 10 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. 11 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.” 12 Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites; and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah; 13 and of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; 14 and of the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. 15 They gathered their brothers and consecrated themselves and went in as the king had commanded, by the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord. 16 The priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and they brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it and carried it out to the brook Kidron. 17 They began to consecrate on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the Lord. Then for eight days they consecrated the house of the Lord, and on the sixteenth day of the first month
they finished. 18 Then they went in to Hezekiah the king and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the showbread and all its utensils. 19 All the utensils that King Ahaz discarded in his reign when he was faithless, we have made ready and consecrated, and behold, they are before the altar of the Lord.”
20 Then Hezekiah the king rose early and gathered the officials of the city and went up to the house of the Lord. 21 And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah. And he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. 22 So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests received the blood and threw it against the altar. And they slaughtered the rams, and their blood was thrown against the altar. And they slaughtered the lambs, and their blood was thrown against the altar. 23 Then the goats for the sin offering were brought to the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them, 24 and the priests slaughtered them and made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, to make atonement for all Israel. For the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.
25 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. 26 The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. 27 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. 28 The whole assembly worshiped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished. 29 When the offering was finished, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped. 30 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.
31 Then Hezekiah said, “You have now consecrated yourselves to the Lord. Come near; bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the Lord.” And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all who were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings. 32 The number of the burnt offerings that the assembly brought was 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. 33 And the consecrated offerings were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep. 34 But the priests were too few and could not flay all the burnt offerings, so until other priests had consecrated themselves, their brothers the Levites helped them, until the work was finished—for the Levites were more upright in heart than the priests in consecrating themselves. 35 Besides the great number of burnt offerings, there was the fat of the peace offerings, and there were the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the Lord was restored. 36 And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had provided for the people, for the thing came about suddenly.
[1] Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Week 5 | Life Group Questions
Opening Questions
- How would you explain what worship is to a young child?
- How do you know when you are worshipping God?
Divine Deeper
2. Reflect on 2 Chronicles 29:4-7. What does this passage reveal about the sad state of the Temple in Jerusalem? How does Hezekiah interpret the consequences of this situation in verses 8-9?
3. Rephrase Hezekiah’s charge to the Levites in 2 Chronicles 29:11 in your own words.
4. Re-reading the passage, circle the word “consecrate” and its related forms. What does that word mean?
5. Consider your own life. Is there evidence of disobedience that need to be cleansed from your own heart? How would you go about doing that?
6. Do you agree with the following phrase; why or why not?
“2 Chronicles 29 teaches us that before we can make things right with God, we must cleanse our hearts.”
Consider reading Psalm 51:2; 1 John 1:9; Psalm 103:3 to help you answer.
7. When does the process of consecrating the Temple reach its conclusion within the passage? How much time elapsed during this process? Do you find that length of time significant in any way?
8. In 2 Chronicles 29:20-24, a lot of animals are sacrificed. What is the reason for these sacrifices that’s given? Consider Hebrews 9. Why don’t followers of the Lord offer these same sacrifices today?
9. In the remainder of 2 Chronicles 29, Hezekiah directs the people to specific worshipful actions. Consider verses 25-36, and compile a list of those actions below.
10. As the chapter concludes, 2 Chronicles 29:36 provides a summary of how this all came about. What ultimately is the response of the people to this corrected way of worship? Do you feel the same way when you worship?
11. What do the following New Testament passages contribute to teach us more about what real worship looks like?
| Romans 12:1 | |
| John 4:23-24 |
12. As this week closes, are there specific things you can begin to add into your life, or even changes that you need to make that will help become more of a worshipper of God?