2 Chronicles 29:1
Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
The verse stands in the wonderfully interesting historical book of Chronicles in the portion carrying from the beginning of the reign of Joash to the Babylonian captivity, and it is to be read together with 2 Chronicles 29-30. There is nothing in its record that cannot be understood, and fuller information is obtained by comparing the parallel account in 2 Kings. It identifies Hezekiah as a good king of Judah in the sequence of Judah's kings and introduces the account of his reign and his actions in response to Judah's idolatry, which began when he was twenty-five years old and lasted twenty-nine years in Jerusalem.
His mother was Abijah, shortened to Abi, the daughter of Zechariah, who was a pious woman, as shown by the name she gave her son, Hezekiah, meaning strength of God. He was the son of the bad father Ahaz and the grandson of the also bad Jotham, so he was reared amid corrupt surroundings where evil beliefs and practices were still strong, even though the people were dissatisfied with conditions under his father and grandfather. By beginning a good reign despite that background, he proves that a person need not be bad because his environment is bad.
In the first year of his reign his first work was to open the temple, clear it of the accumulated rubbish of years, restore the priests to their proper positions, order repairs to the house of the Lord, and re-establish the worship of the true God, which took ability and determination. After the temple was cleared he sent letters by messengers from city to city throughout the northern kingdom inviting the people to forsake idols, return to the true God, and come to a great religious festival at Jerusalem. Though some mocked and some came, a great fourteen-day Passover feast was held with many sacrifices and great gladness, the greatest revival since Solomon, after which under his direction the people broke down idols, cut down groves, and destroyed high places and altars.
The verse thus presents Hezekiah as an example of a king taking the initiative in a national religious revival, with the civil ruler and prophet working together in the affairs of the nation, giving a concrete example showing God's principles in dealing with men.