The children of Israel at Jerusalem held the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great rejoicing and praising, and they repeated it with joy for another seven days (2 Chron. 30:21-26). Have you ever enjoyed the Lord’s table so much on the Lord’s Day that you had the Lord’s table again the next day? How good that would be! After the people repeated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for another seven days, the priests and the Levites blessed the people, and their voice was heard and their prayer went up to God’s sanctuary, to heaven (v. 27).
When all this was finished, all Israel in the cities of Judah went out to smash the pillars, hew down the Asherim, and pull down the high places and the altars out of all Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh (31:1). In doing this, Hezekiah was surely pleasing to God.
In 31:2-21 Hezekiah set the services of the priests and the Levites in order. This signifies Christ, as the Head, setting in order the services of God in the church.
Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and the Levites by their divisions for the offerings and praise in the gates of the temple of Jehovah (v. 2).
Hezekiah appointed his portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, the morning and evening burnt offerings and the burnt offerings of the Sabbath, the new moon, and the appointed feasts (v. 3). This indicates that he offered much of his substance to God.
Hezekiah commanded the people who dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion for the priests and the Levites (v. 4), thereby supporting the priests and the Levites according to their daily necessities. This indicates that prior to this time, the need of the priests and the Levites had been neglected. The children of Israel gave in abundance for the priests and the Levites in distribution according to their divisions (vv. 5-19). The people took the responsibility of supporting the priests and the Levites.
What Hezekiah did in verses 4 through 19 he did throughout all Judah. He did what was good, upright, and faithful before Jehovah his God with all his heart, and he prospered (vv. 20-21). He was the kind of person who should prosper.
Hezekiah built a defense against the invasion of the Assyrians (32:1-5). He trusted in God and encouraged his people to do so by saying, “Be strong and be bold; do not be afraid or dismayed because of the king of Assyria or because of all the multitude that is with him, for there is Someone greater with us than with him: with him is an arm of flesh, but with us is Jehovah our God to help us and to fight our battles” (vv. 6-8a). Here we see Hezekiah’s faith, his trust in Jehovah. Here we also see that the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah (v. 8b).
However, not even Hezekiah was perfect. Here in 2 Chronicles there is no mention of Hezekiah’s shortcomings, but within him there was something for his own interest and desire. This is clearly revealed in 2 Kings 20:1-19 and Isaiah 38 and 39.