The Story, Chapter 16 "Beginning of The End"

The Story, Chapter 16

Beginning of the End.

Hezekiah came to the throne of Judah at the age of 25 years. He ruled with his whole heart by zealous enthusiasm for God, which spread to the people of Judah and throughout Israel. He showed great humility and wisdom and God caused him to prosper through tremendous blessings.

Ironically Hezekiah grew up under the rule of his wicked father Ahaz, so he didn’t exactly have a good role model to look to. King Ahaz faltered in every conceivable way against God, even sacrificing one of his sons to Molech through the fire (2 Kings 16:1-4). Perhaps Ahaz had no time or interest in his son and instead Hezekiah was influenced by his mother Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. In any event, Hezekiah immediately changed everything once he assumed the throne and had the power to do so. God did not expect Hezekiah to take on the huge task of turning the kingdom around by himself. God gave Hezekiah the Hebrew prophet Isaiah to help him throughout his life.

Hezekiah immediately destroys pagan idols

In the first month of his reign, Hezekiah immediately got to work and smashed down all the pagan altars and wooden images throughout the hills of Judah. He began to clean out and repair the temple and restored temple worship. The temple had been neglected for many years to the point where the rooms were full of junk and rubbish, including idols in the sanctuary. Hezekiah gave orders for the Levites to begin the sanctification of the Lord’s house, for them and the animals slaughtered for sacrificial atonement of the sins for all Israel, and this was carried out quickly over 16 days, but not in time for the Passover. There was just so much to do in such a short period of time to be ready for the Passover. You can read about all the details in 2 Chronicles 29 and 30. Hence, King Hezekiah and his people kept a second Passover (Numbers 9:10-12) and did so with such joy and enthusiasm that they kept the Days of Unleavened Bread for an additional seven days. Hezekiah began his reign with total heartfelt dedication and obedience to God. He also showed godly attitude and concern for his people

In 2 Kings 18:5-7 we are told, “He (Hezekiah) trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. The Lord was with him; he prospered wherever he went” (New King James Version). Despite the many accounts of others attempting to overthrow his rule, God blessed Hezekiah for success in conquering his enemies despite seemingly overwhelming odds, and so he conquered the Philistines and the relentless evil Sennacherib.

Hezekiah seeks God to fight for the people of Israel

The famous account of Sennacherib, king of Assyria in approximately 701 B.C., who attempted to overthrow and capture Jerusalem, is a very interesting read in 2 Kings 19. God intervened for Hezekiah by sending an angel to destroy 185,000 Assyrians in one night. Why did God do this? Hezekiah was faithful and sought God through prayer. Hezekiah listened to God through the prophet Isaiah despite Sennacherib’s false words and lies, trickery, cunning, deceit, ridicule, taunting, intimidation and reputation for severe cruelty. In 2 Kings 19:14-19 and Isaiah 37:14-20 you can read exactly what Hezekiah did when faced with these threats in the form of a delivered letter. His prayer was so heartfelt, humble and praiseworthy to God. God indeed listened to Hezekiah’s prayers and delivered His people.

Arrogant Sennacherib was feared by so many due to the abject terror he displayed, but as soon as he returned home to Nineveh he was brutally killed by his sons and his untimely end can be referred to in 2 Kings 19:36-37.

God extends Hezekiah’s life

At some point after this Hezekiah became ill and was near death. Isaiah came to Hezekiah in the palace and told him that he must set his house in order, as he will shortly die. Upon hearing this proclamation Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to God and wept bitterly, asking nothing more than he be remembered for his loyalty (2 Kings 20:1-3). Even before Isaiah left the building, God told him to return and tell Hezekiah that He saw his tears and He would heal him and add 15 years to his life. Isaiah returned and put figs on the boil of Hezekiah’s flesh and he was healed. 

God did even more than this for Hezekiah. He gave him a sign of his own choosing to know that he would be healed. Through the prophet Isaiah, God offered Hezekiah a choice of whether he wanted the shadow on the sundial to move forward or backward by ten degrees. Hezekiah reasoned that moving time backward would be more difficult, as time always moves forward. This is spoken of in 2 Kings 20:8-11. Imagine God turning back time for one of us if we asked Him to! 

News of Hezekiah’s illness reaches Babylon

In 2 Kings 20:12-19 we see that Berodach-Baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, and the Bible says that Hezekiah was responsive to this attention. So much so that Hezekiah welcomed him without regard to intent or purposes, and readily showed him everything he had in his treasury house, his entire armory, and all within his dominion. In fact, there was nothing that he did not show Berodach-Baladan. 

Obviously this was not a wise thing to do. Hezekiah got caught up rather naively in thinking that the king of Babylon and his son meant well and wanted to bring gifts as part of genuine concern for his health and well-being, and to show kindness and peace. Having had God work so miraculously in fighting his battles, news of Hezekiah and his success over the “undefeated” king of Assyria would have spread to far-off lands. It would appear that Hezekiah was caught in a weak moment of pride while abundance and peace prevailed. God allowed for Hezekiah to be tested so he would know exactly all that was in his heart. In 2 Chronicles 32:25-26 we are told that Hezekiah’s heart was lifted up and that wrath was impending over him, Judah and Jerusalem. But “then Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.” 

When Isaiah confronted Hezekiah by asking what the visitors had seen in his house, Hezekiah responded truthfully and told him that not one thing was held back from their sight. Isaiah then declared from the word of the Lord that everything Hezekiah and his fathers had accumulated until this time would be carried off to Babylon. Not only that, but some of Hezekiah’s sons would become eunuchs in the king of Babylon’s palace.

There are always consequences to each and every decision we make. God chose not to punish Hezekiah directly because of his repentant attitude, but the consequences would be put onto the forthcoming generations.

 

https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/timely-lessons-from-the-life-of-hezekiah