Lesson 114

Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship

2 Chronicles 29:20-36

MEMORY VERSE2 CHRONICLES 29:29“And when they had finished offering, the king and all whowere present with him bowed and worshiped.”

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:Margarine (or butter), sugar, cocoa, water, vanilla, uncookedinstant oatmeal, measuring cups, plastic bowls, spoons, powderedsugar, and party supplies such as party hats (can be made) andnoisemakers.

A chair for each child, lively children’s worship music on CD, and aCD player.

As many “Memory Verse Puzzler” templates as the number ofchildren in your class, construction paper, glue sticks, scissors, andmarkers.

ATTENTION GRABBER!

CelebrationKing Hezekiah restored the worship in the temple of the Lord.When he did this, there was a great celebration. We, too, cancelebrate the fact that we can worship the Lord. In fact, we canworship the Lord anywhere or anytime we want to.

You will need margarine, or butter, sugar, cocoa, water, vanilla,uncooked instant oatmeal, measuring cups, plastic bowls, spoons,powdered sugar, and party supplies such as party hats (can bemade) and noisemakers.

Set out the cookie ingredients, measuring cups, plastic bowls, andspoons. Invite kids to wash their hands then join in the fun ofpreparing a special no-bake celebration treat. This recipe will makeenough cookies for 10 people.

Cream 2/3 cup of margarine or butter. Stir in 3/4 cup of sugar, 3tablespoons of cocoa, 1 tablespoon of water, and 1 teaspoon ofvanilla. Blend in 2 cups of uncooked instant oatmeal. Shape themixture into small balls, then roll the balls in powdered sugar.Hand out the cookies, party hats, and noisemakers and let kidscelebrate Jesus!

NOTE: Please make sure to notify parents that you are servingcookies so they can alert you to any allergies, etc.

LESSON TIME!Remember our lesson last week? King Hezekiah made a decision to“do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Davidhad done.” The wicked King Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah, had ledthe nation away from God and into the worship of idols. KingHezekiah determined to destroy the idols and turn the nation backto God. Within the first month of his reign, he set out to cleanseand restore the temple—the house of Lord.

When the priests announced that the cleansing and restoration ofthe temple was complete, Hezekiah rose early, gathered the rulersof the city, and went up to the house of the Lord.

2 CHRON ICLES 29:20-24Then King Hez ek iah rose ear ly , gathered the ru l er s o fthe c i t y , and w en t u p t o the hou se o f the LORD .

And they brou gh t s ev en bu l l s , s ev en ram s , s ev enlam bs , and sev en m ale goat s f or a s in o f f er ing f or thek ingdom , f or the sanc tu ary , and f or J u dah . Then hec om m anded the p r i es t s , t he sons o f Aaron , t o o f f erthem on the al t ar o f the LORD .

S o they k i l l ed the bu l l s , and the p r i es t s rec e i v ed theblood and sp r ink l ed i t on the al t ar . L i kew i se theyk i l l ed the ram s and sp r ink l ed the blood on the al t ar .They al so k i l l ed the l am bs and sp r ink l ed the bloodon the al t ar .

Then they brou gh t ou t the m ale goat s f or the s ino f f er ing bef ore the k ing and the as sem bly , and theylaid the i r hands on them .

And the p r i es t s k i l l ed them ; and they p resen tedthe i r blood on the al t ar as a s in o f f er ing t o m ake anatonem ent f or al l I s rae l , f or the k ing c om m andedthat the bu rn t o f f er ing and the s in o f f er ing be m adef or al l I s rae l .

The king and the city officials brought seven bulls, seven rams, andseven lambs for burnt offerings. According to Leviticus 1, a burntoffering is a male from a herd or flock, a year old and withoutdefect. The sacrifice is to be prepared in a specific way. The burntoffering, according to the Law of Moses, was an aroma pleasing tothe Lord. Given from the best (most valuable) of the animals, theoffering reflected a true heart of worship and dedication. Theburnt offering was an offering of consecration—the consecration ofone’s life, one’s body, to serve God. We are called to offer ourbodies as a living sacrifice in praise and worship to the Lord(Romans 12:1). God wants us to worship Him with our wholehearts.

After twenty-one burnt offerings, the seven male goats were offeredup as a sin offering. Per God’s instruction, the blood of the animalsacrifice was sprinkled on the altar after they were slaughtered. Wesee here a picture of the Lord Jesus’ blood being sprinkled, beingshed on the altar of the cross almost a thousand years later. Heoffered His body freely, one sacrifice for our sins forever. Becauseof His sacrifice, we are sanctified (set apart) for His service!

2 CHRON ICLES 29:25-30And he s t at i oned the Lev i t es in the hou se o f theLORD w i th c ym bal s , w i th s t r inged in s t ru m ent s , andw i th harp s , ac c ord ing t o the c om m andm ent o f D av id ,o f Gad the k ing's s eer , and o f N athan the p rop het ;f or thu s w as the c om m andm ent o f the LORD by h i sp rop het s .

The Lev i t es s t ood w i th the in s t ru m ent s o f D av id , andthe p r i es t s w i th the t ru m p et s .

Then Hez ek iah c om m anded them to o f f er the bu rn to f f er ing on the al t ar . And w hen the bu rn t o f f er ingbegan , the song o f the LORD al so began , w i th thet ru m p et s and w i th the in s t ru m ent s o f D av id k ing o fI s rae l .

S o al l t he as sem bly w orsh ip ed , the s ingers s ang, andthe t ru m p eters sou nded ; al l t h i s c on t inu ed u n t i l t hebu rn t o f f er ing w as f in i shed .

And w hen they had f in i shed o f f er ing, the k ing andal l w ho w ere p resen t w i th h im bow ed and w orsh ip ed .

M oreov er King Hez ek iah and the l eaders c om m andedthe Lev i t es t o s ing p rai s e t o the LORD w i th the w ordso f D av id and o f Asap h the s eer . S o they sang p rai s esw i th gl adnes s , and they bow ed the i r heads andw orsh ip ed .

Levites with instruments were stationed, per Hezekiah’sinstructions, and ready to play. In 2 Chronicles 23:18, we read thatDavid set up this special ministry of the Levites. King David lovedto worship the Lord in the tabernacle with song, instruments, anddance. Some Levites were appointed as singers; others played tothe Lord on cymbals, harps and lyres. When the burnt offeringsbegan, the song of the Lord began!

The whole assembly bowed and worshiped; they sang praises withgladness. King Hezekiah led the nation in this joyful revival.Today, the pastors and teachers of the church seek to lead theircongregations in worship and consecration to the Lord. Rememberto pray for those who work among you—that they might have anundivided heart just as Hezekiah did. God wants us to worshipHim with our whole hearts.

Musical ChairsFor a fun time, play a game of musical chairs. Find some livelychildren’s music to play, enough chairs for the number of childrenin your class, and a CD player.

Explain to the children that it is important to worship the Lord.Take the opportunity to talk about appropriate behavior duringworship and the privilege that it is.

Place all of the chairs in a circle. Have one chair for each child.When the music begins have them stand up and go in a circlearound the room. Take one chair out then stop the music. Tell thechildren to scramble to the chairs. The one child remaining can sitout until they have another turn. Keep playing as long as timeallows.

2 CHRON ICLES 29:31-36Then Hez ek iah answ ered and said , "N ow that youhav e c onsec rat ed you rse l v es t o the LORD , c om e near ,and br ing sac r i f i c es and thank o f f er ings in to thehou se o f the LORD ." S o the as sem bly brou gh t insac r i f i c es and thank o f f er ings , and as m any as w ereof a w i l l i ng hear t brou gh t bu rn t o f f er ings .

And the nu m ber o f the bu rn t o f f er ings w h i c h theas sem bly brou gh t w as s ev en ty bu l l s , one hu ndredram s , and tw o hu ndred l am bs ; al l t hese w ere f or abu rn t o f f er ing t o the LORD .

The c onsec rat ed th ings w ere s i x hu ndred bu l l s andthree thou sand sheep .

Bu t the p r i es t s w ere t oo f ew , so that they c ou ld notsk in al l t he bu rn t o f f er ings ; theref ore the i r brethrenthe Lev i t es he lp ed them u nt i l t he w ork w as endedand u n t i l t he o ther p r i es t s had sanc t i f i edthem se lv es , f or the Lev i t es w ere m ore d i l i gen t insanc t i f y ing them se lv es than the p r i es t s .

Al so the bu rn t o f f er ings w ere in abu ndanc e , w i th thef at o f the p eac e o f f er ings and w i th the d r inkof f er ings f or ev ery bu rn t o f f er ing. S o the s erv i c e o fthe hou se o f the LORD w as s e t in order .

Then Hez ek iah and al l t he p eop le re j o i c ed that Godhad p rep ared the p eop le , s inc e the ev en t s t ook p l ac eso su dden ly .

Now it was time for the people to bring their sacrifices. Rememberwhat a sacrifice is? An acceptable sacrifice was to be the best (mostvaluable) of one’s flock. The Bible says, “all whose hearts arewilling.” God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). May ourdemonstrations of worship always be with true, willing hearts.God wants us to worship Him with our whole hearts.

Try to imagine what it must have been like to offer 3,600 bulls,sheep, and goats. First they were slaughtered, then their blood wassprinkled on the altar and the pieces were all laid out in just acertain way. These things took time. The priests needed some helpfor this big task. Some of the priests had not sanctified themselvesyet (it took seven days to do this, Leviticus 8:33-35). So, some ofthe Levites were allowed to participate in the sacrificing, since theyhad already sanctified themselves by going through the specialcleansing process. Do you remember that the Levites came fromLevi, who was one of the twelve sons of Jacob? The priests wereLevites also, but they served as priests because they were great-grandsons of Aaron, the brother of Moses.

There were so many sacrifices to carry out; it probably took a fewdays to finish. Meanwhile the Levites were leading the music andall the people of Israel were rejoicing and worshipping the Lord.

So the service of the house of the LORD was set in order. Howblessed the nation was to have a godly King who turned thepeople’s heart toward the Lord. How thankful the people should bethat King Hezekiah chose to do “what was right in the eyes of theLord.” For, the Bible says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin isa reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).

Let us pray that the Lord would raise up leaders in our church andin our nation who will lead the people with an undivided heart. Letus pray for our president, that he would “do what is right in theeyes of the Lord.” And, let us pray that we will have an undividedheart, consecrating ourselves wholly to God’s service. God wantsus to worship Him with our whole hearts.

Memory Verse PuzzlerYou will need the “puzzler” template for this. Make enough copiesfor each child in your class. You will also need construction paper,glue sticks, scissors, and markers.

Have the children cut out the puzzle and glue it onto a sheet ofconstruction paper. Use the memory verse and write one word ineach puzzle piece (some can remain blank). For younger children,you can fill in the words on the puzzle pieces prior to copying yourtemplate.

Next allow the children to cut out the puzzle pieces. After they arecut out, they can mix them up and put them back together again inorder of the verse.

Note: As an option for younger children, you can just draw apicture of a temple to go with your story in addition to or insteadof the memory verse. It would be easier for young children to puttogether a picture instead of words.

PRAYERLead the children in a prayer of commitment to worship the Lordwith a pure, undivided heart. If there are any children who havenot yet responded to the Gospel, give them opportunity.

Template - Memory Verse Puzzle