SANCTIFY NOW YOURSELVES, AND … THE HOUSE OF THE LORD … CARRY FORTH THE FILTHINESS

At the very outset of his reign, Hezekiah set about restoring the temple following its devastation at the hand of his father Ahaz. To this end, he reopened the doors of the Lord’s house which his father had shut, 28. 24. But Hezekiah realised that the temple itself needed to be cleansed if it was to be a fit dwelling-place for the living God - that all ‘filthiness’, that which was polluted and loathsome, v. 5, and all ‘uncleanness’, v. 16, must be removed. This ‘filthiness’ no doubt included all the apparatus of idolatry, such as the pagan altar which Ahaz had substituted for the Lord’s altar, 2 Kings 16. 10-16.

Hezekiah was also aware that, because the Lord was a holy God, it was necessary that anyone or anything involved with Him and His service needed to be pure. He therefore required the priests and the Levites to cleanse and set themselves apart before they proceeded to cleanse and set apart the house of God. This doubtless involved them in washing themselves and their garments and avoiding anything which involved ritual defile­ment, Exod. 19. 10,15; 30. 17-21. In the event, the Levites proved more conscientious and diligent at this than did the priests, v. 34. Although, in terms of our standing as Christians, we are sanctified by faith in the Lord Jesus and His once-for-all sacrifice, Acts 20. 32; Heb. 10. 10; 13. 12, we also need to be sanctified pro­gressively at the practical level in terms of our conduct. This is not an optional extra. God requires it of all His people; ‘This is the will of God, even your sanctification’, 1 Thess. 4. 3. Only purified and sanctified vessels are suitable for the Master’s use, 2 Tim. 2. 21. In our day, the local church is ‘the house of God’, 1 Tim. 3. 15. And it is clear from the New Testament that there are many things which are altogether unacceptable in God’s house. High on the list of those things which need to be banished from there are: partiality and favouritism, James 2. 2-4; anger and deceit, Col. 3. 8-9; a spirit of revenge, Rom. 12. 19; immorality, 1 Cor. 5. 1-13; unscriptural teaching, Tit. 3. 10; the love of the first place, 3 John 9-10; and lukewarmness, Rev. 3. 15-16. Let’s go to it!