Wesley Corpus

Chapter XXIX Hezekiah's exhortation to the priests and Levites, ver. 1 - 11. The care of the Levites to cleanse the temple and put things into order, ver. 12 - 19. A solemn revival of God's ordinances, ver. 20 - 36. And he brought in, &c - He found Judah low and naked, yet did not make it his first business to revive the civil interests of his kingdom, but to restore religion to a good posture. Those that begin with God, begin at the right end of their work; and it will prosper accordingly. Filthiness - That filthy altar, which Ahaz had put in the place of God's altar, 2Kings 16:11, and the idols, or other abominable things which were there. Turned, &c. - They have wilfully and obstinately forsaken God and his worship; that posture being a signification of contempt. They - He saith not, my father, because it became him as a son, to be as tender as might be of his father's name: and because his father would not have done all this, if their fathers had not neglected their duty. Hissing - To such calamities as all that see and hear of, shall be astonished at, and hiss at those, who by their own sin and folly have brought such miseries upon themselves. When we are under the rebukes of God's providence, it is good for us to enquire, Whether we have not neglected God's ordinances, and whether that be not the controversy he has with us Captivity - Tho' they were presently released, chap.28:5,14,15. Sons - So he calls them, though many of them were elder than himself, because he was by his tender love and affection, as he was by his office obliged to be, a nursing father to them. Negligent - In sanctifying yourselves and the temple, ver.5, and in quickening and preparing yourselves and the people for God's service. To cleanse - From the dirt it had contracted, while it was so long shut up; from dust, cobwebs, and the rust of the vessels. Much more from the idols, and idolatrous altars which had been set up therein. The first day - A happy beginning of the new year! Thus should every year begin with the reformation of what is amiss, and the purging away of all the defilements contracted the foregoing year.