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Both King Hezekiah & King Josiah Cleansed the Temple, Then Restored Worship 

King Hezekiah of Judah grew up seeing his father, King Ahaz, committed to the worship of idols instead of the Lord. The idolatry of King Ahaz led him to burn some of his children in the fire (a practice in some pagan worship), to suffer invasion by other countries, and also led to the damage of Solomon’s temple, which was dedicated to the worship of the Lord (2 Chronicles 28).

Hezekiah became king at the age of 25 (around 715 B.C.), Hezekiah determined that he would follow the Lord, and therefore cleanse and repair the temple that his father had damaged. Scripture goes into great detail about how extensive the cleaning was in order for the temple to be considered clean (2 Chronicles 29:3-19). And then more detail is given as to how Hezekiah restored the worship of the one, true God (2 Chronicles 29:20-36). After worship was restored, Hezekiah then led the nation in the celebration of the Passover (2 Chronicles 30). 

Years later, King Josiah became king when he was only 8 years old, and he also followed a father, King Amon, who had been heavily involved in idolatry (2 Chronicles 33:21-25). By the time that Josiah was 16 he began to seek the Lord, and by the age of 20, King Josiah began to purge Israel from the many idols throughout the land (2 Chronicles 34:1-7).

At the age of 26, Josiah had workers repair some damage to the temple that had been caused by previous kings. While working on the repairs, the priest Hilkiah found the Book of the Law of Moses, read it to Josiah, and Josiah led the nation to repent & follow the Lord (2 Chron 34:8-33)    

In the New Testament, the Temple is You & Me

History tells us that the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. However, even before the Temple was destroyed, New Testament epistles declared that we, as born-again Christ followers, had become the new temple. The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church that, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16 NKJV). Then later Paul added, “do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19 NKJV). The New Testament also declares that we are “a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9 NKJV).   

How Do We Cleanse the New Testament Temple?

Once we realize that the New Testament declares that believers are the temple of God, we should think about how each one of us can cleanse our temple so that we can worship God as He desires.

The consistent reading and studying of God’s Word cleanses our lives. The psalmist said, “The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes” (Psalm 19:8 NKJV), and also that “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:11 NKJV). The word “sanctify” literally means “to make holy,” and Jesus prayed to God on behalf of His followers, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17 NKJV).

God intends that the reading and studying of His word will lead us to obey His word. The psalmist said, “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word” (Psalm 119:9 NKJV). Of course, in the New Testament the focus is on obeying Christ’s commandments (John 14:15, 21).

The “fear of the Lord” also has a role in cleansing our lives. The fear of the Lord is the awareness that God is continually watching our lives and evaluating our thoughts, actions, words and motives. As we understand that God is evaluating our thoughts and behavior, we come to realize that we should reject sinful lifestyle choices (and the consequences that result from those choices) and instead live in a way that God will bless and guide us. Therefore, Scripture says, “by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil” (Proverbs 16:6 NKJV), and that “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever” (Psalm 19:9 NKJV).

We should not overlook that confessing our sins to the Lord Jesus is important in maintaining a clean temple. We should confess to Him the thoughts, words, actions and motives that we identify from scripture are against how God’s Word teaches us to live. In the book of First John scripture tells us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 NKJV). Of course, our confession should be in a spirit of genuine repentance toward the Lord Jesus.  

Another help to cleanse our temple is the conscious awaiting of the Lord’s return. As the time of His return draws nearer and nearer, we would be wise to measure our lives against the teachings of New Testament scripture in order to identify activities that are displeasing to the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as to learn and practice those things that are pleasing to Him. The book of First John says, “we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:2-3 NKJV).        

Conclusion

Why do the Old Testament accounts of Hezekiah and Josiah go into so much detail about their efforts to cleanse Solomon’s temple? Part of the reason might be so that New Testament readers get a sense of how important it is to cleanse our lives – since we are the temple of the Holy Spirit – in order to worship the Lord Jesus as we should. We know from the book of John that Jesus enjoys it when we follow His commandments (John 14:15, 21). And Jesus Himself told us that “true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24). Let’s use the truths that we learn from the scriptures as a guide to worship the Lord in the way that He has directed us.