2 chronicles 31 and 32

Read 2 Chronicles 31 and 32

The Hebrew paragraph divisions:

2 Chr 31:1 {p} The assembly went through Judah and cleansed it of idols, until they were utterly destroyed
2 Chr 31:2 {s} Hezekiah reinstated the divisions of priests and Levites to serve in the temple
2 Chr 31:3-6 {s} Hezekiah provided for the daily + festival offerings/ the people provided for the priests + Levites
2 Chr 31:7 {s} They laid up the people’s tithes + gifts from the 3rd to the 7th month
2 Chr 31:8 {p} Hezekiah + leaders saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and His people Israel
2 Chr 31:9-10 {s} The testimony of the chief priest: the people have provided for us, and this abundance is left over
2 Chr 31:11-21 {p} Hezekiah established provision for the priests + Levites/ He sought God with all his heart and prospered
2 Chr 32:1-8 {p} When Assyria came against Judah, Hezekiah strengthed the land + people against them
2 Chr 32:9-19 {s} Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sent his messengers to mock God + discourage the people
2 Chr 32:20 {s} Because of this King Hezekiah + prophet Isaiah prayed and cried out to heaven
2 Chr 32:21-23 {p} Angel cut down the Assyrian camp + Sennacherib shamed, murdered/ Hezekiah exalted
2 Chr 32:24-33 {p} Hezekiah’s illness + recovery/ prosperity/ works/ honor/ death; his son reigned in his place

The strong themes:

2 Chr 31:1 {p} The assembly went through Judah and cleansed it of idols, until they were utterly destroyed
2 Chr 31:2-8 {sx3+p} Hezekiah provided for the Temple service/ the people provided tithes for the priests + Levites
2 Chr 31:9-21 {s+p} People + Hezekiah provided for the priests + Levites abundantly/ the king prospered before God
2 Chr 32:1-8 {p} When Assyria came against Judah, Hezekiah strengthed the land + people against them
2 Chr 32:9-23 {s+s+p} Sennacherib mocked God/ his forces slain, Sennacherib shamed, murdered/ Hezekiah exalted
2 Chr 32:24-33 {p} Hezekiah’s illness + recovery/ prosperity/ works/ honor/ death; his son reigned in his place

The chiastic structure of the reign of Hezekiah:

1a) 2 Chr 27:1-9 {p} vs. 6, So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God;

1b) 2 Chr 28:1-27 {sx5+p+p} Ahaz did wickedly, was defeated before Syria, Israel, Edom, Philistia, Assyria;

1c) 2 Chr 29:1-36 {p+sx5+px3} Hezekiah commanded the purification of priests, Levites, temple/ reinstated the temple service;

central axis) 2 Chr 30:1-27 {sx7+p} Hezekiah and the great rededication of Israel to the LORD God at the Passover feast;

2c) 2 Chr 31:2-21 {sx3+p+s+p} Hezekiah reinstated the divisions of + provision for the priests + Levites;

2b) 2 Chr 32:1-23 {p+s+s+p} Hezekiah + Jerusalem delivered from Assyria for the LORD helped him;

2a) 2 Chr 32:24-33 {p} Hezekiah’s illness + recovery/ prosperity/ works/ honor/ death.

Because the structure goes beyond the reign of Hezekiah, something comes to light:

Ahaz, Hezekiah’s father shut up the doors to the house of the LORD:

2 Chr 28:24, So Ahaz gathered the articles of the house of God, cut in pieces the articles of the house of God, shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem.

In the first month of the first year of Hezekiah’s reign (in other words, his first order of business as king) Hezekiah directly repudiated his father’s actions, as the parallel language of the Scripture makes clear:

2 Chr 29:3, In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them.

Likewise, the people who came to the Passover celebration repudiated Ahaz’s works:

2 Chr 30:14, They took away the altars + incense altars in Jerusalem + cast them into the Brook Kidron;

Ahaz also filled the entire land of Judah with idolatry:

2 Chr 28:25, And in every single city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers.

And immediately following the Passover celebration, the people also repudiated this act of Ahaz:

2 Chr 31:1 {p} The assembly went through Judah and cleansed it of idols, until they were utterly destroyed.

The message of the structure: Return to the LORD God and serve Him with a whole heart, in obedience to His commands, and you will prosper.