Hezekiah King of Judah

2022-11-04

Hezekiah the son of Ahaz became king at a time when his father had done much spiritual damage to the kingdom. The king listened to the prophets and obeyed them. “Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest. Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls” (Jeremiah 26:18-19).

Hezekiah righted a lot those wrongs and was much like his ancestor David. He removed pagan places of worship and destroyed idols. He beat back the Philistines and rebelled against the Assyrian empire. He kept the commandments of the Lord.

He had the Levities cleanse the Temple from all the filthiness and restored Temple worship. “Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof. Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before the altar of the LORD” (2 Chronicles 29:18-19).

Hezekiah celebrated the Passover and even invited surrounding tribes to the feast. Many of them came in repentance to keep the Passover. There was not one like it since the days of Solomon.

Men in Hezekiah’s day were instrumental in preserving Solomon’s proverbs. “These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out” (Proverbs 25:1).

When the Assyrians came and overthrew cities of Judah, Hezekiah caved and took gold off the Temple doors and sent it as tribute to the Assyrians. His faith faltered there. Nonetheless, when Rabshakeh came, he and his servants would not surrender to the Assyrians. The king spent much time before the Lord in prayer. “Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only” (2 Kings 19:19). The Lord spoke by the prophet Isaiah and assured the king that He heard his prayer and would deliver him. “Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake” (2 Kings 19:32-34). They awoke the next morning to 185,000 Assyrians dead by the Angel of the Lord. Sennacherib went home to be slain by his own sons.

Hezekiah was terminally ill. He sorrowfully prayed to the Lord, and Isaiah brought news that he would have 15 more years of life. The shadow of the sundial went backwards as a miraculous sign to show he would recover. The miracle of the lump of figs restored the king. The revived king wrote, praising the Lord: “The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD” (Isaiah 38:20). About three years later, his son Manasseh was born.

Berodachbaladan (Merodachbaladan) king of Babylon came to wish King Hezekiah well after his sickness. Hezekiah showed his guest all the treasure he owned. The Lord allowed this to try his heart. Because of his boasting, Isaiah told him that Babylon would one day take away all the treasures as well as seize the sons of the king and make them eunuchs. Hezekiah’s response was that he was thankful it would not happen in these days.

King Hezekiah also set up an elaborate water system in Jerusalem. “This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works” (2 Chronicles 32:30).

Overall, Hezekiah did a lot of good. “And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death” (2 Chronicles 32:33).

We learn many from King Hezekiah.

  1. Hezekiah listened to the prophets when they brought the word of the Lord. When he heard about his sin and the sin of his people from Micah, he obeyed. We also must have a tender heart toward Him.
  2. Hezekiah saw a lot of sin in the kingdom and made drastic changes. He restored proper worship to the people. He even brought tribes from the northern kingdom to the Passover, turning their hearts back to the Lord. These would have been peoples that had not been a part of proper worship for centuries. Seek the Lord in His way and turn other people to Him.
  3. When threatened by the Assyrians, Hezekiah spent much time in prayer to the Lord. Except for sending the Assyrians tribute at first, he waited for the Lord to do a work. When hardships come, spend a lot of time with Him.
  4. When sick, the king cried out to the Lord again. Trust in the Lord who can heal every disease if it is His will.
  5. After Hezekiah’s sickness, he was strengthened and became proud. He showed the Babylonian king all his accomplishments and treasure. When he was told they would invade after his death, he did not care because it would not affect him. This attitude shows, because he apparently did not even try to raise Manasseh in the ways of the Lord. Manasseh grew up to become the most vile king in the line of David. Everything you have, be it property or skills, come from Him. Acknowledge Him in those things. Raise your children to honor the Lord.

This is a part of the Kings of Judah series. To go back to the table of contents, proceed here.