When King Hezekiah succeeded to power, he set his heart upon a mission to cleanse the temple of God. He issued the following command:
Hear me, Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place. (2 Chronicles 29 v 5)
I believe that we are living in a time where The Lord is seeking once again to raise up a culture within the church where we “carry out the rubbish from the holy place.”
In case you did not know, the holy place is you and it is me. We are now the holy place. We are the place that He chooses to rest. The Spirit of God lives within us and we are His temple, both corporately and individually. In response to the King’s command the story goes on:
Then the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and brought out all the debris that they found in the temple of the Lord to the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it out and carried it to the Brook Kidron.” (2 Chronicles 29:16)
Where is the rubbish and the debris in our lives?
We all have junk in our lives, somewhere. I am not talking about sinful habits or actions alone. I am referring to crooked thought processes, bent beliefs, insecurities and fears that are harmful and counterproductive.
The “debris” in our hearts and minds is those thoughts and emotions we have after something in our lives is broken. Debris is left after the impact of hurtful situations and encounters. Many of us have debris in our hearts from 20, 30 and 40 years ago that has never been cleared away. We learn to live with these “aches and pains” and we learn to skirt around the emotional and psychological debris. We call it coping, or living with the lot we have been given. In reality, it takes a lot of emotional and mental energy to live with “rubbish” on the inside. I do not believe that The Lord desires us to live this way –
“And the Levites took it (the rubbish) out and carried it to the Brook Kidron.” (2 Chronicles 29:16)
We have a place to dump it all
In response to the command of The King, the Levites took all of the rubbish and debris and disposed of it in The Brook of Kidron.
Do you know that the brook of Kidron is significant? It’s meaning is “place of darkness or mourning.” It is a brook that was also used for the disposal of idols at other times by the priests and levites. It was crossed by David when he was being pursued by his enemies and The Brook of Kidron crossed by Jesus prior to His final entrance to Gethsemane.
I believe that The Brook of Kidron can be viewed as a type of cross. It is the place of sorrow and mourning endured by Christ that we might have a place to discard our “rubbish.”
It is because of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross we can come, as Levites and priests to dispose of our rubbish and debris. We can participate with “the king” in order that the Holy Place can be cleansed.
I am encouraged that we live in a time where The Lord is imparting so much revelation and so many “tools” for healing and restoration. I believe it denotes a season where The Lord himself is preparing for Himself a bride without spot or blemish. A time where He is nourishing and cleansing the church in order that she might be ready.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:25-27)
I believe it is time for every believer to participate in this cleansing. For some of us, that may mean allowing “priests and Levites” into our “holy place.” WE may have to allow others to help us clean out the rubbish via prayer ministry or counselling. James writes of this principle when he asserts “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed.” (james 5 v 19) While this may be humbling, it is well worth the rewards of being healed.
It’s time! “Carry out the rubbish from the holy place …and all the debris.”
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Stephanie Jones is the co-pastor here at New Day, alongside her husband Scott. With their 4 children, they moved from Michigan to Summerville to start New Day Community Church over 4 years ago. Stephanie has been radically impacted by the Father’s love and makes it her life’s mission to impart what she has with those around her – healing of the heart, hearing God’s voice, evangelism and flowing in the prophetic. You can listen to their sermons and read more about them on our main site: http://newdaychurchsc.com