Inner Cleansing - Hilkiah

The king instructed Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second rank and the Temple gatekeepers to remove from the LORD’s Temple all the articles that were used to worship Baal, Asherah, and all the powers of the heavens. The king had all these things burned outside Jerusalem on the terraces of the Kidron Valley, and he carried the ashes away to Bethel.

2 Kings 23:4

If you were about to undergo a risky but needed surgical procedure, what would concern you more, the conditions in the hospital lobby or the conditions in the operating room? Surely you would want to feel confident that the operating room was absolutely sterile.

The same applies when it comes to your spiritual hygiene. When your heart is clean and pure before the Lord, you can be assured of receiving his best for you.

An Old Testament priest named Hilkiah shows the importance of inner cleansing. Hilkiah was God’s high priest during the reign of King Josiah, who left a legacy of unbending loyalty to the Lord and a commitment to spiritual renewal among the people of Judah.

Josiah gave Hilkiah an important assignment. He would lead a group of spiritual leaders into the Temple and cleanse it of everything the ungodly priests before him had used for idol worship. Hilkiah approached the job with passion. He removed all the poisonous trappings of idolatry and took them outside the city to burn them. To make sure that nothing remained, he deposited the ashes in Bethel, about ten miles from Jerusalem.

Hilkiah must have felt overwhelming joy when he completed his task. For the first time in years, the interior of God’s Temple was completely clean and ready for worshiping God.

Life can sometimes overwhelm us with responsibilities. Don’t forget to stop regularly to take out the trash.

You may not think you’ve committed any big sins, but it’s still important to examine yourself from time to time and clean out anything that keeps you from enjoying full fellowship with the Lord.