Context No. 2858 of 4322 · 2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 29:20-24: in context

20Then Hezekiah the king arose early, gathered the princes of the city, and went up to the LORD’s house. 21They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. He commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the LORD’s altar. 22So they killed the bulls, and the priests received the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. They killed the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They also killed the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar. 23They brought near the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly; and they laid their hands on them. 24Then the priests killed them, and they made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, to make atonement for all Israel; for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.

Hezekiah has come to the throne after his father Ahaz defiled the temple, and he moves fast. He rises early, gathers the city's leaders, and goes up to the LORD's house to restore its worship. And the first act of restoration is a sin offering: bulls, rams, lambs, and goats brought for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah, the priests sprinkling the blood on the altar to make atonement for all Israel.

Notice where the reform begins. Not with celebration, not with reorganizing the music or the schedule, but with atonement. Before anything else, Hezekiah deals with sin; the very first movement of renewed worship is blood on the altar to set things right with God. He does not paper over the years of idolatry under Ahaz or hurry past them. He brings them to the altar. Coming back to God begins not with fresh resolve but with sin honestly confessed and dealt with.

When I return to God after a season of drift, do I first bring my sin honestly to be dealt with, or try to skip past it to the good feelings of worship?

Sources

2 Chronicles 29:24: "The priests killed them, and they made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, to make atonement for all Israel."
Hebrews 9:22: "Apart from shedding of blood there is no remission."
1 John 1:7: "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son, cleanses us from all sin."