HEZEKIAH-GREATNESS CUT SHORT

Hezekiah was one of the greatest kings of Judah. The passion with which he started his reign at the age of 25 years was amazing. He broke down the idols, deposed of whatever was evil and put away the yoke of the foreign oppressors. His enthusiasm for the Lord earned him a unique accolade.

Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses. And the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. (2Ki 18:5-7)

However as his reign progresses, we find a deterioration in his commitment to God.

In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the temple of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace. At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors and doorposts of the temple of the LORD, and gave it to the king of Assyria. (2Ki 18:13-16)

Many years into his reign, wherein, in all likelihood the worldliness, prosperity and the constant pressure from the troubles of running a kingdom had already taken its toll, in the passage above, we see a very different Hezekiah. His trust had waned and instead of standing up to the king of Assyria, he rushes to appease him,—–to the extent of disregarding the sanctity of the temple. He ends up not only losing the treasures from the temple, but he also fails miserably in his attempt to win over the Assyrian king. On the contrary, the Assyrian army later shows up at his doorstep to conquer Judah.

Faced with this dire situation, Hezekiah returns to the Lord with sackcloth and repentance, calling out to the Lord for deliverance and we see the incredible work of the Lord in rescuing Judah and destroying the Assyrian army without a single arrow being fired by Hezekiah’s army. Moreover, Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, who had behaved with insolence toward the Lord and defied Him, paid the price with his life, when he was slain by his own sons.

Hezekiah’s enthusiasm for the Lord was short-lived and he forgets the Lord again. Isaiah returns soon again with this ultimatum.

“Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover” (2Kings 20:1). This is a clear indictment of Hezekiah for the lack of leadership in his family and in his nation. A king had the solemn duty to turn his people whom he led toward God. His self centered nature and lack of commitment to his own generations that would follow is seen from his reaction to God’s judgment.

“The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, that will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” “The word of the LORD you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?”(2Ki 20:17-19)

The fact that Manasseh his son became an evil king and undid much of the good he had done confirmed the lack of parenting and leadership Hezekiah demonstrated in his own house despite Isaiah’s warnings.

As you turn away from the Lord, you begin to take pride not in what you have in your relationship with the Lord but in the possessions you have and the temporal things that have earthly value.

At that time Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of Hezekiah’s illness. Hezekiah received the messengers and showed them all that was in his storehouses–the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine oil–his armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them. Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?” “From a distant land,” Hezekiah replied. “They came from Babylon.” The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?” “They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.” Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD: The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. (2 Ki 20: 12-17)

Isaiah was quick to condemn Hezekiah’s pride and rebuke him. Elsewhere, Isaiah says, “And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city of my sake and for the sake of my servant David.” (2Ki20:6). No longer was Judah and Hezekiah being blessed for Hezekiah’s sake. He was only enjoying the faithfulness of God’s character and of God’s promise to David his ancestor.

Hezekiah is still counted among the good kings of Judah. But what started as a promising reign and a committed relationship to the Lord deteriorated and we are left wondering what might have been if Hezekiah had persevered in his faithfulness to God.

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