2 Chronicles 29:23
And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them: And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them:
This verse belongs to the account of Hezekiah's cleansing and reopening of the temple and his restoration of the work of the temple and the worship of Jehovah, the true God. Hezekiah undertook this as his first and immediate work after coming to the throne at twenty-five years old, as the son of a bad father. He came after a season of great decline in temporal affairs and morals under the bad influence left by his father Ahaz and his grandfather Jotham, when evil beliefs and practices were strong, yet having been given a pious mould through the influence of his mother he set about opening the temple and re-establishing true worship after the temple was cleared of the accumulated rubbish of years.
The he-goats for the sin offering were brought before the king, Hezekiah, and the congregation or assembly, who laid their hands on them before they were slain by the priests. That laying on of hands before the slaying was held by some to have been done by the priests. The offering was made for all Israel, with its blood used to make atonement.
The sin offering before the king and congregation belonged to many sacrifices offered with great gladness during a great fourteen-day Passover feast at Jerusalem. Messengers were sent from city to city through the northern kingdom inviting the people to forsake idols and return to the true God, with some coming and others mocking. It was the greatest revival since Solomon, and under the king's direction it led the people to break down idols, cut down groves, and destroy high places and altars. Hezekiah thus took the initiative in a national revival, acting in the civil and political sphere alongside religious leadership. The verse shows that God honors those who honor Him.
As part of the contemporary history of the kings of Israel and Judah, the verse widens the horizon and presents the setting for Bible events, and its value lies in the precious spiritual lessons to be gleaned from it. It is directly connected with God's historical revelation which culminated in Christ, receiving illuminating rays from Christ as the central light and central sun who holds together all the various parts of Scripture. It testifies of Christ for wisdom unto salvation and eternal life.