Just who was King Hezekiah?

Introduction

I can bet most of us know about King Hezekiah because of his sickness. And when Prophet Isaiah visited him, he told him to put his house in order for he will die and not recover. It has been preached to us or we have read ourselves, that the king turned to the wall and wept bitterly calling on the LORD in prayer to remember his deeds and good works.

God heard the prayer of Hezekiah and while Prophet Isaiah was within the courts, God sent him back to announce 15 more additional years to the life of King Hezekiah.

What they missed to say

King Hezekiah was only 25 years old when he begun to reign in Israel. He reigned 29 years of which we know 15 years were a bonus. Without his prayer, he would have reigned 14 years!

In his bitter prayer (above), he was referring to his good works which included Spiritual transformation and reforms of his people at a time where every man and woman in Israel had turned away from worshiping the true God.

Previous Kings before him had made the hearts of people to turn away to false foreign gods such as baal and sacrificing on defiled alters to evil spirits. The priests too had defiled themselves and vacated their vocation. The temple too  had been rampaged, even the beautiful temple that Solomon had built and overlaid with gold and which God had chosen to let His glory dwell there. It lay in ruin with neither the beauty of the gold or the glory of God. Neither its occupants who were supposed to be the priests were available for service. The Kings before Hezekiah had done very great abominable things including burning their sons with fire as a sacrifice to the foreign gods that could neither speak nor deliver.

This was the state of affairs when Hezekiah assumed the throne as a youthful King.

Leading the Reforms

He opened the doors of the House of the Lord that had been shut by his father Ahaz and repaired them. His callout to the Levites that they should sanctify themselves and cleanse the temple was the starting point for restoration of true Worship in Israel and Judah.

He was determined to renew the covenant between God and His people Israel. He gathered the elders and the priests in the house of the LORD and commanded that burnt offerings for sins be offered. Every part of the service was divinely ordered just like at first when King Solomon dedicated the temple. The King and the people rejoiced greatly.

Hezekiah then invited all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh to come up to Jerusalem, and hold a Passover to the Lord in the second month. This is despite the fact that the Passover was to be kept in the first month! This is a clear illustration that the King was very willing to obey God and all that was written in the law.

His messengers (couriers) were met with great opposition from the people especially in Israel, who mocked them. But Judah was different. They had one heart and they took away the idolatrous altars.

The priests were ashamed, those of them who had been dilatory or negligent in sanctifying themselves were put to the blush and stimulated to their duty by the greater alacrity and zeal of the people.

A multitude of people ate the Passover while they had not sanctified themselves according to the written order but Hezekiah prayed for them and God heard him and healed the people.

They kept the Passover for 7 days with great gladness. Surprisingly, the revival had begun and the people agreed to keep the Passover for 7 more days. King Hezekiah who led this, gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep for offerings!

Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and true before the LORD his God. And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he prospered. 2 Chronicles 31:21.

The Rumor of War

After these deeds of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered Judah; he encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them over to himself.

He had a host of army that could not be numbered.

He encouraged the captain of the army by telling them, “Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles."

He also sent to the Prophet Isaiah to inquire of the LORD for him. He himself went to the House of The LORD with the letter the King of Assyria had sent to him mocking God and intimidating the people. Hezekiah presented the letter before the LORD and prayed before God.

 God sent His angel who cut down every mighty man of valor, leader, and captain in the camp of the king of Assyria. 185,000 lay dead in the morning and Sennacherib king of Assyria returned to his country where he did.

Hezekiah did not have to fight the battle.

His Sickness

King Hezekiah became sick and near death, but he prayed to God and was healed. However his heart was lifted up because of pride and the LORD was displeased. In the end he repented his sin.

Lessons from His life

1.       He was fully dependent on God. He fully relied on the help of God and when faced with difficult situations, his first resort was prayer. Prayer is a sign that we are trusting (counting) on God. He was counting on God to the point he took the letter of Sennacherib before the House of God and “read it to Him”. I suggest we bring those medical reports, academic reports, termination letters, auction letters or eviction notices before the House of the LORD.

2.       Past obedience is not a guarantee of future obedience. Just because we obeyed in the past does not mean we are not prone to disobeying God now or in the future. Therefore, we ought to be careful and not allow our past relationship with God cause a sense of familiarity to the point we disobey God.

3.       God is yet to do more with our lives, if we let Him. The 15 additional years were more significant for King Hezekiah. The next king was born during this time. (Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 33:1)

Also remember, he reigned in Jerusalem for 29 years, 15 of which were additional. If not for his prayer, his reign would have been 14 years!

 Shalom!

Just discovered another blog with great lessons from King Hezekiah: Lessons of Life from Hezekiah: A Man of Action