In today’s post let’s talk about King Hezekiah. An interesting fact concerning this great and righteous King is that he was preceded by his father, King Ahaz and followed by his son, King Manasseh. Both Ahaz (2 Chron. 28) and Manasseh (2 Chron. 33) were extremely wicked. Of Ahaz it was said, he had encouraged moral decline in Judah and had been continually unfaithful to the LORD … this was that King Ahaz (28:19,22). As for Manasseh, he was the king whose wickedness brought God to the final conclusion that judgment would come on Judah (Jer. 15:4).
Concerning Hezekiah, there are basically four
stories. The deliverance of Jerusalem
from the Assyrians, God’s granting 15 years extension to his life, and the
visit of envoys from Babylon are repeated in 2 Kings, 2 Chron. and Isaiah. The other story has to do with the great
revival that took place in his reign.
That is told briefly in 2 Kings 18:1-8 and in detail in 2 Chron. 29-31. This is the first of the four stories and we
want to highlight in this post.
·
29:3: In the first year and first month of his
reign he restored the temple! Given his
father’s wickedness I find this amazing.
·
29:13-14: Note the 3 musical leaders, families
that went back to David’s organization of the temple worship: Asaph, Heman and
Jeduthun.
·
29:27-30: What a great concert of
thanksgiving. First the sin offering was
started. Imagine the animal’s death noises
as his throat is slit. As this happened the
“Song of the LORD” started. Then the choir sang and the trumpeters sounded. Then
everyone bowed to the LORD. Why such
joy? That animal represented salvation
for Israel.
·
29:32: These numbers are small compared to the
great feasts in the times of Solomon and Josiah. BUT it was from the people. Hezekiah
was trying to eliminate the spiritual disconnect between King and people
(v32-36).
·
30:5: Then an invitation was proclaimed from
Beersheva to Dan to come For Passover.
·
30:6-9: This invitation that was proclaimed was
the “Gospel message.” It is an
invitation for Passover which is the greatest picture of salvation in the OT. It was preached to all, it was good news that
would keep the fierceness of God’s wrath away from them, and it called to
repentance.
·
30:12: Is this just obedience from the king or is
it heart-felt? That is always the
question in times of revival.
·
29:16 and 30:14: The “paraphernalia” of idolatry
was destroyed in the Brook Kidron! For
me, the Kidron stands for the removal of idolatry. King David in the time of Absalom and Jesus
on the night He was betrayed crossed the Kidron twice. Heading east each was aware of the burden of
sin and the sorrow it causes. Heading
west each was strengthened by God and prepared for His will.
·
30:3,17-20: This was “heart” religion. The Law demanded a certain date and a
specific protocol. But God blessed
anyway. This was a wonderful event.
·
31:1: The “cleansing” then went from Jerusalem
all through Judah and even into the area of the northern kingdom. When we have visited Tel Arad, east of
Beersheba, we have seen ruins of one of those “high places.” We will include some photos.
Hezekiah shows us
the value and the nature of godly leadership.
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| Temple at Tel Arad |
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| Holy of Holies at Tel Arad |
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| Altar at Tel Arad |
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| High Place at Tel Arad |
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