Well, I'm glad to see we are back on track here. Hezekiah is moving in a good direction again. The people must feel like yo-yos. Back and forth.
17 They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and by the eighth day of the month they reached the portico of the Lord. For eight more days they consecrated the temple of the Lord itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month.
The lesson for me here is that it can a long time to rectify things when I make bad decisions. It took them 16 days to purify the temple. I imagine them working long hours to get all the work completed. Probably thinking about the bad decision that led them to the point of needing to do this work.
You wrote exactly what I was feeling...man what a lot of work to get back on track when you've been off the rails like they were. Then before I could write what I was thinking I read this last verse--
ReplyDelete36 Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly.
It made me think I was missing the point because I felt like you did. Maybe even though it was a lot of work to clean up their messes, the good inner feeling from following God overwhelmed any thoughts of the time and energy needed to get back on track.
knut