Some thoughts on II Chronicles 29, in particular verses 15-18

And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.
And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron.
Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the LORD: so they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.
Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof.

The house of the Lord, indeed the whole nation had been defiled by the disobedience and idolatry of previous kings who ruled Judah and Israel. Under King Hezekiah the worship of God was restored. The most crucial of all was the cleansing of the temple (built and dedicated to the Name of the Lord God, during the reign of King Solomon, David’s son).

Let us observe the words - “to cleanse the house of the Lord”. In doing so, let us also consider the statement by the Apostle Paul -“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” I Corinthians 3:16, (see also: I Corinthians 6:19, II Corinthians 6:16). As glorious and as wonderful as the temple was that Solomon constructed, and the magnificent manner in which it was restored by King Hezekiah, that temple was but a shadow and type of God’s true temple - man. Jesus Himself is the ultimate example of the temple of God “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up... He spake of the temple of His body.” John 2:19&21. Jesus, being God incarnate, was a perfect man, and the full embodiment of God. He was the temple of God on earth. “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth”. John 1:14. We sing “Oh to be like Thee… not in a measure, but in God’s fulness”, and other aspiring words. That is the desire and will of God for all men - “to be like Jesus”.

When a person is born from above - born of the Spirit - the Spirit begins to work in them to sanctity them wholly, to the end that their “whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”. I Thessalonians 5:23. As the temple of God we have within us an “inner part” “And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron”. II Chronicles 29:16. The “inner part” of each of us needs cleansing, the “uncleanliness” needs to be “brought out” of “the temple of the Lord.” This is the sanctifying work of the priests, in our case the work of our High Priest. 

The “inner part” of the temple was the Holy of Holies, where the presence of God resided; where the Ark of the Covenant rested, upon which was the Mercy Seat. For God to reside in our “inner part” He must first cleanse it of its uncleanness; thereby making it the holy dwelling place of God. God could not enter into our "inner place" until Christ was crucified, rose again, ascended into heaven and received from the Father the gift of the Holy Spirit. God desires to take up residence in our "inner part". He has made that possible though the baptism in the Holy Spirit. It is the HOLY Spirit that makes us holy by cleansing the “inner part”.

God wants us to be holy, within and without, because we are the house of God, His residence, His dwelling place. "Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end." Hebrew 3:6. Not only so, God dwells with those who are humble and contrite - "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." Isaiah 57:15. "Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." Isaiah 66:1-2. If we are to be the dwelling place of God we must humble ourselves. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart" Matthew 11:29.

"Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Ephesians 2:5-8.

Out of the Heart
"That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man." Mark 7:20-23.

There is that within us which is hidden to others, but not to God. “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man”. Ephesians 3:16. “…the hidden man of the heart, in the incorruptible thing of the meek and quiet spirit, which is, before God, of great price”. I Peter 3:4. It is this “inner part”, the "heart of a man", where the Lord desires to dwell. It is the uncleanliness of heart that “defiles the man”, and therefore it is the “heart of the matter”. That uncleanliness in the “inner part” needs to be brought out and cast away.

The uncleanliness that remained in the “inner part” of the temple in Hezekiah‘s day was the idols that had been brought in; idols that usurped the place of the Ark of the Covenant with it’s Mercy Seat, for which Holy of Holies had been specifically created. But that is a type of you and of me, a type of the man that God has created. 

A New Heart and New Spirit
In Ezekiel 36 (23-33), the Lord said, "I shall be sanctified in you", "a new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, ...and I will put my Spirit within you". This promise is fulfilled through Jesus Christ, in the New Covenant. It is an inward work of God.

“…sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.” I Peter 3:15.