2 Chronicles 31:1
1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.
Our verse today is the product of the past two chapters. As soon as Hezekiah took the throne, he began to make reforms. Not to the roads or diplomacy of the nation, but to their worship. The society was falling apart because they had fallen away from the only one who ever made it great in the first place, God. Many nations are in the same situation today; we forgot God and now our nation is being turned into hell. Not only nations, but churches and even families are in the same boat. We forget God, then we begin to fall apart at the seams, and instead of getting to the root of the issue, we spend the rest of our lives treating the symptoms.
Idol worship had long been an issue for the nation and many other sinful practices, but after Hezekiah's reforms came Israel's Revival. Notice in our verses that it was not Hezekiah breaking down these idols, but the people of Israel. They had gone to Jerusalem for the Passover, which was instigated by Hezekiah. They had not fully sanctified themselves, so Hezekiah prayed for their healing [30:20], and apparently they were. They left healed, forgiven, and revived, and in Chapter 31 not only do they break down their idols but they start tithing, and the house of God is furnished! [31:5-12]
These chapters show us the power of one man who will wholly follow the LORD [2 Kings 18:1-6]. Dear father, what would happen if you wholly followed the LORD? Perhaps if you made some reforms in how your family worships the LORD and brought back the family altar, you would find that your wife and children would no longer have to be persuaded to attend church, pray, or worship. In the midst of you following the LORD and praying for them, God could heal them, forgive them, and revive them, and your reforms could pave the way for a revival in your own home. Break down your idols, and they will break down theirs. Dear pastors, what if you decided that our church is going to get back to the Bible? We are going to repair the doors of the House of the LORD as Hezekiah did. Set in order the things that are wanting, break down the idols that have been set up in the church. Make the church a church again and teach the "Good Knowledge of the Lord" as Hezekiah did. Before long, people would be healed, forgiven, and revived, and then they'd go home and break down their own idols. No longer is Hezekiah left to labor alone, but now there is a nation of people going throughout the land reforming, restoring, and reviving the nation.
Lastly and most importantly, notice when all this takes place, "Now when all this was finished." There was a lot of work to be finished before the nation reached this point. Years of reform, years of work, years of fighting, standing, and laboring with no seeming guarantee that the nation would do what was right. Many discouraging moments in the life of Hezekiah when it seemed that his reforms were not being received, but he continued and when all this was finished, then he saw the fruit of his dedication to the LORD and His Word. Galatians 6:9 "And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."
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