King Hezekiah was considered to be one of the more prominent, righteous and God-fearing kings in Judah’s history, probably second only to King David. He did many notable things that were pleasing to God and was greatly blessed during his reign, despite being the son of King Ahaz who was known for all the evil he did (2 Kings 16).
We will spend most of our study today in 2 Kings 20. After reigning for 14 years, Hezekiah fell ill with a sickness and was near death . Then, he received what few, if any of us are ever given ahead of time...a word from God via the prophet Isaiah that basically said ‘your time is up; set your house in order for you shall die and not live.” (1)
There is nothing to suggest here, that I know of, that this was a punishment or judgement from God. I think many might even see it as a 'gift' to be told in advance, so that they could in fact, get things in order. The word ‘house’ implies all that is his with an emphasis on his family.
I’ve been around long enough now and have been at the bedside of many a people whose lives were about to expire; and oftentimes you are gifted to witness a transformative heart in the works as broken relationships are mended, soft repentant words shared, apologies given and received. What really is happening...is ‘hearts’ are being aligned and made pure as one prepares to ‘meet their Maker’ (Amos 4:12). This is not a bad idea for any of us to do, whether we are young or old, healthy or dying and ‘on our way out’. (1 John 3:3) I would say even more so given the majority of us do not know when that day will come, that ‘appointment with death’ ...that we all have. (Heb. 9:27)
But in Hezekiah’s case, things took an unexpected turn. Instead of expressing gratefulness to the Lord for this advance ‘notice’ and then following through to make sure things in his home/family were indeed set in place...Hezekiah prays and basically begs God to change His mind. He reminds God of all the good he did...ending his petition with bitter tears. (2-3)
Now I suppose we could launch off into a hearty debate as to what it means to surrender to God’s ‘perfect’ will vs. His ‘permissive’ will. And I would also caution anyone who may be facing a terminal illness to just automatically assume at the start... that this is God’s way of saying ‘Your time is up’, only because of what we read in scripture about why ‘many have fallen asleep’ (1 Cor.11:30-32). But let’s not get sidetracked with those issues here today.
Now... for some reason that I cannot explain, God grants Hezekiah his petition, with the promise of adding 15 years to his life (5-6). (It does remind me of a phrase I’ve heard before, the one about “Be careful when God gives you what ‘you’ want!” Ps. 106:15) Then, another small, but interesting twist comes when Hezekiah asks for a ‘sign’ or confirmation, which God grants with the turning back of the ‘shadow...ten degrees’(10-11). This is where the story take a turn, for the worse, in my opinion as I would even suggest that Hezekiah does not seem to ‘finish strong in the faith’ with his extended 15 years of life. I don’t know enough to understand the ramifications involved here with what happens next, but vs. 12-15 informs us that the king opened up his home to men from Babylon, showing them all his treasures and all his armory ‘and there was nothing he did not show these strangers’.
What I do know is God was not pleased and sends word once again to Hezekiah, through Isaiah and pronounces a judgment on his ‘house’ and his descendants, foretelling of the Babylonian captivity that will occur in the future. (16-18). And it’s his response that we read in verse 19 that has always struck me as sounding flippant and self-centered. He basically says...”Oh well...so be it...at least I’ll live in peace for the remainder of my days”.
Do you know what the heart of God has always been for His people...for those who love Him with all their hearts and keep His commands? Take a moment and go read Deut. 5:29, then read vs. 9-10. How is it that we can be so short-sighted so often and fail to see how our actions (or lack thereof) can greatly influence and affect future generations, especially those that should matter most to us: our own children and grandchildren.
Nevertheless...we are told that Hezekiah ‘rested with his fathers’ after a 29 year reign, and his son Manasseh, succeeds him on the throne, at the age of 12. As we then begin to read of his fifty-five year reign where he did much evil in the ‘sight of the Lord’, (21:1-2) it’s important to note that had Hezekiah yielded to his first appointment with death having been told by God it was time...this son, Manasseh, would not have succeeded him on the throne (he would not have been born). And as you read through chapter 21, this man led the people down a very dark road. You really should take your time and read of this account; and then read how his son, Amon takes over for him at that age of twenty-two, following his father’s death.; and he fared no better as a king himself (19-22).
Things got so bad with Amon at the helm that some of his servants conspired to kill him and did so in in his own house after two years on the throne.(23).
This leads us to King Josiah coming to power at the young age of 8-years old, some 57 years after the passing of his great-grandfather, Hezekiah. (2 Kings. 22). A lot can happen over 57 years of neglect, especially when you 'veer off course' from what God wants for us.
So why spend time looking back at these OT stories, you might be asking? May I direct you to 1 Cor. 10:6,11? We will pick up from here, with King Josiah, tomorrow...Lord willing.
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