A key interpretive passage of these events of Hezekiah’s life is 2 Chron. 32:31: However, regarding the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, whom they sent to him to inquire about the wonder that was done in the land, God withdrew from him, in order to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.
Like Abraham (Gen. 22:1), God tested Hezekiah
to see what was in his heart. Because of
Hezekiah’s faithful stand in the Assyrian situation, Hezekiah was rewarded with
great possessions and glory (cf. 2 Chron. 32:27-30). But then Hezekiah became ill and God told him
he was going to die. Hezekiah pled with
God and God extended his life by 15 years.
Because of the sickness the Babylonians had sent ambassadors with a gift
to Hezekiah. Hezekiah’s response to
these men was to show them all his wealth, a revealing of the pride in his
heart. Thus, God told Hezekiah that the
day would come when the Babylonians would take all that wealth for themselves,
but not until after Hezekiah died.
There are two passages that give us insight
into Hezekiah’s response to this test.
The first is Hezekiah’s prayer for healing: Remember now, O LORD, I
pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have
done what was good in Your sight (2 Ki. 20:3). His attitude was that he deserved better from
God.
The second passage is his response to
God’s promise to heal him, found in Isa. 38:9-20. Again, v10-14 emphasizes how terrible his
death would have been. He was in the “prime
of life,” and if he were to die he would no longer be able to praise God. As you read on, however, you see that God’s
testing of Hezekiah also was beneficial for the great king. There is a deep view of suffering in
v17. It includes a great picture of
forgiveness: God “cast all my sins behind Your back.” Our sins have been placed in that “middle of
the back” spot that you cannot reach. God
has forgiven and will not bring them up again.
It concludes, as do many of the Psalms, with a promise to give praise
for the rest of his life.
What Hezekiah experienced is, as 1 Cor. 10:13
puts it, “common to man.” Even when we
know that our accomplishments and deliverances are solely the work of God, we
still cannot help ourselves. We begin to
think that somehow we are responsible for our successes, that it was our hard
work or good investments or our “being in the right place at the right time.”
I recently spent a little time in Psalm 105,
and in the opening verses was reminded of what must be our attitude toward our
successes. The question is, “how do we
make God known to those around us?” (105:1).
We sing and talk of His works (v2), and we seek the LORD and His strength
in times of struggle (v3-4). For the
children of Israel there was a specific work of God they needed to always
remember. That “work” was His keeping
the promise He made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ((v8-10ff). That is exactly what God did for
Hezekiah. He saved them from the
Assyrians who had dispersed the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He kept His word. That is what needs to be the testimony of our
lives. God has been faithful to His
word. We live out of His great and
precious promises. Let us remember that
and declare this to those around us.
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