Again

 

Good king/bad king.

Good dude/bad dude.

Nice guy/really really depraved evil guy.

Reading through 2 Chronicles feels that way. 

You learn of different kings who made different choices all of which of course affect the lives of God’s people- the Israelites.     

In 2 Chronicles 29 Hezekiah becomes king. 

He is moved in his heart to clean house and align with God’s will.  

“Hear me, Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place. For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the Lord our God; they have forsaken Him, have turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the Lord, and turned their backs on Him”

2 Chronicles 29:5-6

 

The scriptures show us details of how they removed unclean and unholy things, they made a decision to cleanse themselves and they corporately made great sacrifices to the Lord…

Hezekiah desired to be right with God…

He didn’t want his time as the king to be wasted…

2 Chronicles 29:10

“Now it is in my (Hezekiah’s) heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us.”

I love this commentary by Dr. Charles Stanley:

“(M)any nonbelievers think the Bible is full of old folks tales. However we know God‘s word is absolutely true. We believe in God by faith but our hope in Him is not baseless. He confirms it to us through amazing archaeological finds* revealing the enduring witness of His servants. He even verifies scripture through the historical acts of Judah‘s enemies! It’s amazing what God can do when we’re obedient to Him as Hezekiah was and it is wonderful to think He could encourage believers thousands of years later with something He’s done through us”

{*referencing Hezekiah’s wall and tunnel in Jerusalem - these relics are still there today!}

In the lineage of good king/bad king we see a beautiful example of an “on fire” servant of God - king Hezekiah.

2 Chronicles 29:35

“There were also many burnt offerings with the fat of the peace offerings and the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. So the service of the house of the Lord was established again” (NASB)

In the NKJV, the word “again” is not there.

Again

We all have a love/hate relationship with the word again…

Let me explain:

We can repent over and over again

We can receive God’s mercies repeatedly, again and again.

We get to worship Jesus today tomorrow and in heaven again and again.   

We receive grace, God’s unmerited wonderful favor over and over again.

We hug our children, spouses, loved ones again and again.

We are thankful to God for these types of “again”

Then, there are those “agains” we grieve over and over.

We weep on the anniversary of a loved ones death year after year again and again.

We look at “missed calls” to see if the prodigal child/friend called, we mourn again and again. 

We wait with an anxious heart for a loved one to repent,  over and over, again and again.

We pray and fast and perceive God is telling us “no” so we sink down and cry all over again. 

We repent of repeated sins, over and over again.

For me, I deal with Isaac’s autistic behaviors over and over, day in, day out, year after year again and again.

When will this all end?

God is the restorer, transformer, and redeemer. 

In heaven, we won’t have to clean house like the children of Israel did under King Hezekiah’s rule.

We won’t have to dry our tears.

We won’t have broken dreams, all old things will be made new. 

What beautiful foreshadowing in 

2 Chronicles, tucked away like a toddler for her nap. 

“So the service of the house of the Lord was established again” (NASB)

Can you imagine? 

Can you picture it? 

The day when every nation every tribe every tongue will be worshiping Jesus!

Oh yes! 

In heaven that is the 1st action item every day! 

Worship! 

We will cry out “Jesus is Lord!”

We’ll sing to Him again and again! 

This reality is ALREADY happening now.

What an encouraging reminder for us here on earth…. whether your life today is a good “again” or a bad “again” whatever is on repeat like a broken record in your life give it to the Lord because in heaven we will worship him again and again!

All of us who are born “again” will proclaim HIGHEST PRAISE to the triune God forever and ever!  Hallelujah!