Chapter 1: The Broken Kingdom

For years, King Ahaz had led his people away from God. He shut the doors of the Temple and let the building rot in darkness. He set up altars to foreign gods on every street corner of Jerusalem. He burned incense in the Valley of Hinnom and passed his own sons through the fire as offerings to the god Molech. This was a practice so vile that God had explicitly forbidden it among His people.

Then Ahaz died. And his son Hezekiah took the throne.

Hezekiah was twenty-five years old. He was the son of Ahaz, from the royal line of David, the tribe of Judah. His mother was Abijah, daughter of Zechariah, a family that still feared the Lord.

The very first thing he did as king was walk to the Temple and open its doors. What he found inside was ruin. Pagan vessels piled where holy instruments once stood.

He gathered the priests and Levites in the square on the east side. They had watched the temple decay and done nothing. Then the young king said:

HEZEKIAH“Listen to me, Levites. Consecrate yourselves and consecrate the Temple of the Lord. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. Because of our fathers' unfaithfulness, the anger of the Lord has fallen on Judah. Our sons and daughters have fallen by the sword. Our wives have been taken into captivity.”— 2 Chronicles 29:5, 8-9

Ahaz had silenced the prophets and closed the Temple. Now his own son was reopening it and calling the nation to account.

HEZEKIAH“I intend to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that His fierce anger will turn away from us. My sons, do not be negligent now. The Lord has chosen you to stand before Him and serve Him.”— 2 Chronicles 29:10-11

And one by one, the Levites rose.