The Story of King Hezekiah

The Story of King Hezekiah

2 Kings 16 – 20

Hezekiah was the son of the wicked King Ahaz. King Ahaz did not do that which was right in the sight of the Lord. He was known for his idolatry and contempt for the one true God. He made molten images for Baal and he burned his sons in the fire to them. He sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

Once in his time of distress, King Ahaz became yet even more unfaithful to the Lord. For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him, and said, “Because the gods of the kings of Aram helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they became the downfall of him and all Israel.

King Ahaz gathered together the utensils out of the house of God and smashed them to pieces. He closed the doors to the house of the Lord and made altars for himself in every corner of Jerusalem. In every city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked the Lord God to anger.

Ahaz died never repenting for his actions against the Lord and his son Hezekiah took the throne. Hezekiah begins his reign at the age of 25. He refused to walk in the wicked ways of his father. He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David had done. He was more zealous for the Lord than any of his predecessors.

After his father’s wicked reign, there was much work to do, and Hezekiah boldly cleaned house. Pagan alters, idols, and temples were destroyed. The bronze serpent that Moses had made in the wilderness was also destroyed because the people had made it an idol. The temple in Jerusalem, whose doors had been nailed shut by his father, was cleaned out and reopened. The Levitical priesthood was reinstated along with the Passover feast. Under Hezekiah’s reforms, revival came to Judah.

The Bible says, “Hezekiah trusted the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. Because King Hezekiah put God first in everything he did, God prospered him. He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given to Moses. And the Lord was with him and he was successful in whatever he undertook.

Hezekiah is greatly known for how he responded when faced with a crisis. The Assyrians had already conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and many other nations, and now they threatened Judah. King Hezekiah laid out a plan to protect the city. He had the people to assemble before him in the city square, and he encouraged them with these words: “Be strong and courageous, Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is greater power with us than with them. He has but a strong arm, we have the Lord our God to help us and fight our battles.” And the people gained confidence from what King Hezekiah said.

Sennacherib, the Assyrians king sent messengers to give Hezekiah and the people of Judah a message. They spoke in a loud voice in the Jews language, saying, “Do not let Hezekiah deceive you into trusting the Lord by saying, ‘The Lord will surely deliver us and the Assyrians will not defeat us!’ Do not listen to your king, but instead come and make peace with me and I will take you to a better land. Do not listen to Hezekiah when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us!’ Every land we have conquered had their own god, but none of their gods were able to save them. What makes you think the Lord can deliver you out of my hand?” But the people held their peace and did not answer them.

As soon as Hezekiah heard about this he went into the house of the Lord and mourned. Then he sent some people to Isaiah the prophet. They told Isaiah everything that happened. Isaiah answered, “Tell Hezekiah thus saith the Lord, ‘Do not be afraid of the words you heard from the servants of the king of Assyria who has blasphemed me. He shall return to his own land and there I will cause him to fall by the sword.”

After this, the Assyrian’s chief officer went back to talk with Sennacherib. The Assyrians’ king was busy with another battle at the time but he sent messengers back to Hezekiah with another message, that said, “Do not let your God who you trust deceive you by promising that your land will not be given to me. You have heard how we have destroyed all the lands around you and none of their gods were able to help them.”

When Hezekiah received the letter at the hand of the messengers, he went into the house of the Lord and spread the letter before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, “O, Lord God, you are God alone of all the kingdoms of the earth. It is you who made the heavens and earth. Lord, bow down your ear, and hear: open, Lord your eyes and see: hear the words of Sennacherib, which he sent to mock the living God. It is true Lord, that they destroyed the gods of those other nations because they were not gods at all but mere statues made by men. I beg you Lord, save us out of his hand. Save us so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, and you alone, are the Lord God!”

Then Isaiah sent a message to Hezekiah to tell him that God had heard his prayer. God said, “I will defend this city and I will save it for my sake, and for my servant, David’s sake.”

God faithful as always, kept His promise to protect Jerusalem. That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death 185,000 soldiers in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning there were dead bodies everywhere. The remaining Assyrians quickly broke camp and withdrew in defeat. So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem, he took care of them on every side.

Many people brought gifts to Jerusalem for the Lord and presents for Hezekiah king of Judah. From then on he was highly regarded by all the nations.

The king of Assyria went back to his own land with shame and while he was worshipping in the house of his god, his own sons went in and killed him with a sword.

Later, Hezekiah became sick. Isaiah came to him and said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Put your house in order, for it is time for you to die. You will not recover from this sickness.”’

Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed, “O Lord, please remember how I have walked before you and been faithful with my whole heart and have done what is good in your sight.” Then Hezekiah wept bitterly.

As Isaiah was leaving the king’s court the word of the Lord came to him, and said, “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you, and on the third day you shall go to the house of the Lord, and I will add 15 years to your life, and continue to keep you safe from your enemies.”

Then Isaiah told them to apply a poultice of figs to the boil, they did so and Hezekiah recovered.

Hezekiah asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and I shall go up into the house of the Lord on the third day?

And Isaiah said, “This is the Lord’s sign to you that He will do what He has promised. Shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?

Hezekiah reasoned that it was a light thing for the shadow to go forward ten degrees, so he chose for the shadow to go back ten degrees. Isaiah cried unto the Lord and He brought the shadow ten degrees backward by the dial of Ahaz.

God altered the position of the sun such that time went backwards! That means time was added to that day and every day since. How much time? If we were to assume 360 degrees on a sundial, as we have 360 degrees in a circle, then there would be 30 degrees in an hour, so 10 degrees would be 20 minutes.  Assuming the 20 minutes idea to be correct, that day would have been longer by about 40 minutes. Really, this miracle was hardly less than when the sun stood still for Joshua almost a whole day while Israel fought God’s enemies. Some may try and reason this away and try and figure out just how God did this, but they forget, the Lord can do anything!

However, soon after Hezekiah made a serious mistake. The Babylonians sent a gift to Hezekiah, for they had heard Hezekiah had been sick. In foolish pride, Hezekiah showed the Babylonians all of his treasures, all the silver and gold. There was nothing he did not parade in front of them.

Afterward Isaiah the prophet came to Hezekiah and said, “What did those men want? Where did they come from?” And Hezekiah said, “They came all the way from Babylon!”

Isaiah asked, “What did they see in your house?”  And he answered, “They seen everything. There is nothing that I did not show them.”

We are told that Hezekiah’s heart was lifted up with pride and that wrath was impeding over him, Judah and Jerusalem. But then Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

Isaiah rebuked Hezekiah for this act and prophesied that all the king had shown the Babylonians would one day be taken to Babylon – along with his own sons who would become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” He then thought, “Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?”

Hezekiah’s life for the most part was a model of faithfulness and trust in the Lord. When he died he was buried with his fathers in a chief spot along with David’s sons. All of Judah and the people of Jerusalem honored him when he died.

And Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

You can tell how much Hezekiah meant to God simply by how much scripture is written about him. Hezekiah’s trust in the Lord was rewarded with answered prayers, successful endeavors, and miraculous victory over his enemies. When faced with an impossible situation, surrounded by the dreadful and determined Assyrian army, Hezekiah did exactly the right thing – he prayed. And God answered.

The lessons we can take from King Hezekiah’s story is to remember to always do what is right in the eyes of the Lord, to follow God’s commandments and walk humbly before Him. The Lord wants us to trust Him for every situation in our life, and He gives us examples in the Bible of great people that did just that – trusted in God! If for some reason our hearts get lifted up with pride, or we stumble along the way, God has made a way for us to repent – and God will graciously forgive us!