I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 31-33.

    As part of the revival and religious reform which he was leading, Hezekiah asked the people of Jerusalem to bring offerings for the support of the priests and Levites. The reason for this was so that the priests and Levites could dedicate themselves to studying and teaching the Law of God. We get an understanding of the degree to which Hezekiah’s reforms were supported by the people in the response to his edict. The response came not just from the people of Jerusalem, to whom Hezekiah had directed his edict, it came from all of the people of Judah AND from the people who had moved to Judah from other parts of Israel. The response was vastly more than Hezekiah, or his officials, had expected. My interpretation of this passage is that before this reform was instituted by Hezekiah those priests and Levites who were not politically connected were living a subsistence life and barely getting by (both in Jerusalem and in the countryside). Initially, the intention had been to provide for the priests and Levites just within Jerusalem (at least as I understand what is written here). However, the response of the people was so overwhelming that they set up a system to distribute these goods to those priests and Levites living outside of Jerusalem as well. This is the sort of thing which happens when people wholeheartedly seek God.

    I could talk about what happened when the Assyrians invaded Judah during Hezekiah’s reign, but I have already covered that his year when I read it in 2 Kings. What I want to focus on next is Hezekiah’s on, Manasseh. When Manasseh first became king he was self indulgent and pursued various pagan worship practices, leading the people of the land to do likewise. He even set up an idol which he himself had made in the Temple (the wording in the passage could indicate that he had it made, but I think from the context that he actually carved this idol himself). As a result of his sines, Manasseh was taken captive and into exile by the Assyrians. While in captivity, Manasseh repented of his sins and turned to God. When Manasseh returned to Jerusalem he was a changed man. He himself started worshiping God and led the people to return to worshiping God. While he failed to restore the centralized worship which his father had championed, he did convince the people to devote themselves to God.