Hezekiah and his faith

In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). He trusted in the LORD the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. (2Ki 18:1-5)

Hezekiah was one of the faithful kings of Judah during the time of Old Testament. He was described as the best of all the kings who ruled Judah. What made him so great? Let us look further and see how faithful he was during his era.

Hezekiah understood the gospel:

"O people of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were faithless to the LORD God of their fathers, so that he made them a desolation, as you see. Do not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the LORD and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the LORD your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you. For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him." (2Ch 30:6-9)

If we look into the context in which Hezekiah became the king, we can see that Judah was in spiritual shambles. His predecessors were doing evil in the sight of the Lord. They were worshipping idols and were defaming God to such an extent that his father’s sin was much greater than a pagan. Yet, Hezekiah was faithful to God. He understood that he needed forgiveness from the Holy and righteous Sovereign God who controls everything in this universe. He rightly understood that the reason for the failures of his empire was the faithlessness of the people and sinfulness of his fathers. So he sought for the true forgiveness from God which is possible not by sacrifices but through broken heart and repentance. With this change in heart, he called for repentance of his people.

When people hear the true gospel, it always involves in action. History proves that. From the toppling of evil Roman Empire to the deliverance from the superstitions of Catholic Church, true Christians showed that true gospel produces actions radical to the course of the history.

Effects of repentance:

"Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the LORD, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place. For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the LORD our God. They have forsaken him and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD and turned their backs. They also shut the doors of the vestibule and put out the lamps and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the Holy Place to the God of Israel. Therefore the wrath of the LORD came on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them an object of horror, of astonishment, and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes. For behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, in order that his fierce anger may turn away from us. My sons, do not now be negligent, for the LORD has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him and to be his ministers and make offerings to him." (2Ch 29:5-11)

. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan) (2Kings 18:4)

As soon as he realised that his country needed to repent, he made the Levites to repent and turn to God. Repentance requires change from current practices and destruction of idols. He destroyed the 1000 year old bronze serpent which Moses made so that they will not be tempted to worship it. Moses, for the nation Israel was like Gandhi of the present India. Moses made the bronze serpent for the Israelites to remind them of their sins. But that souvenir had become a snare for Israel. None of the kings before had the boldness to destroy it and even great kings like David, Solomon never bothered about it. Yet he did it out of his theological belief, that God looks in the heart not our external sacrifices and actions. He had understood that renewal of mind (Rom12:2) is much more important than the national pride of Israel.

From this event in Scripture we can learn two things. When apostasy happens in society, generally it happens through two ways. Making the things related to Christianity as idols to be worshipped instead of the substance, Christ. It can be Mary worship, worshipping the saints, penance, prosperity preaching etc. And the apostates will call themselves as the true worshippers of Christ.

When a society understands the true gospel, it changes radically. The love of Christ will become the ultimate gift to be treasured. Everything else will be secondary and even to the point of leaving the things which were precious to them before. Before protestant reformation, European society believed that worshipping saints and participating in the sacraments were the things of priority. So their church buildings were very beautiful and magnificent. The kings spent most of the tax money in building splendid churches. After protestant reformation, reformers built churches which were not very great and beautiful. They realised that it can become a snare for the Christians in future. Instead they spent most of their resources in building schools and universities to educate Christians so that they can read and understand Scriptures and also apply their knowledge for the betterment of the society. This kindled the fire of innovation, science and technology. And Western Europe and USA became the blessed nations in the history. True repentance thus involves in radical changes in society. God blesses us if we sacrifice our comforts for the sake of Christ.

And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the LORD. (2Ch 29:21)

Solomon sacrificed 22000 oxen and 120000 sheep for the Lord. When compared with that, Hezekiah’s sacrifice was nothing. Yet God blessed him for his faithfulness in the midst of the evil people. Thus he was called the best king of Judah.

And Samuel said, "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. (1Sa 15:22)

Hezekiah understood this and came to the Lord with a broken heart. Thus let us also be like Hezekiah and turn to God and live a life glorifying His name. Then true blessing will come from the Lord. We may be surrounded by unbelievers who mock at us for our faith. But we should always remember that eternal blessing of God is better than the present earthly one.

“Lord, stamp eternity on my eyeballs.” – Jonathan Edwards