HEZEKIAH WAS THE THIRTEENTH king of Judah from David. He was preceded by his father Ahaz, and succeeded by his son, Manasseh both of whom “did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” (2 Kings 21:2) Hezekiah’s reign lasted twenty-nine years, was marked by his faithfulness to God, and the favor of God. “And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook.” (2 Kings 18:7) The details of his story show the rise of a nation restored in faithfulness to God, the trials the king and the nation faced, and ultimately, at a moment in time, God’s miraculous protection. In the midst of the story, Hezekiah is the foremost character, but it is God who is the architect of both the foundation and the completion of the story. In this tale, God’s favor is clearly shown, even as it ends with Hezekiah’s character damaged, and the shadow of Ahaz once again looms over the nation.
Hezekiah inherited a kingdom from his father Ahaz, who had led Judah far away from God. Ahaz “Did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God. He sacrificed his son in the fire. He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places.” (2 Kings 16:2) When Hezekiah ascended the throne, the first thing he did was to restore worship at the temple. “He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made.” (2 Kings 18:4) Of his faithfulness, scripture records this high praise: “There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses.” (2 Kings 18:5) He singlehandedly shamed the fallen priesthood, both the Levites and the priests, back into true worship of the Lord. “Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your fathers. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary.” (2 Chron. 29:5)
This began a renewal of faith, and the energies of faith, throughout all Judah. As the Levites and the priesthood began to function again, the temple was restored, and the city walls were restored. From Jerusalem to the outermost cities and villages, the people knew once again that Yahweh was their God, and was for them, not against them. So thorough was Hezekiah that the priesthood even began training the next generation: “they distributed to the males three years old or more whose names were in the genealogical records—all who would enter the temple of the Lord to perform the daily duties.” (2 Chron. 31:16)
Hezekiah’s leadership brought the nation back from spiritual apostasy, lethargy, and the brink of financial ruin. His keen eye and faithful hand were applied from top to bottom throughout the kingdom. Over time, faith increased, productivity increased, and the fortunes of the nation rose. Tithes and offerings flowed into the Temple of the Lord. During this time, Sennacherib, the king of Assyria to the north, had been bent on conquest. He had already conquered Israel, and now “came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself.” (2 Chron. 32:1) As the drumbeat of war mounts, all seems lost, and finally Jerusalem herself is in danger of falling. But “the Lord sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace.” (2 Chron. 32:21, 2 Kings 19:35-36) There, Sennacherib was assassinated by his own sons.
Now the story takes an ominous path. Hezekiah falls direly ill. “In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. He prayed to the Lord, who answered him and gave him a miraculous sign.” (2 Chron. 32:24, 2 Kings 20:1) At this point, 2 Kings simply says, “Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. And Hezekiah wept bitterly.” (2 Kings 20:2-3) 2 Chronicles, however, says “But Hezekiah’s heart was proud, therefore the Lord’s wrath was upon him. Then Hezekiah repented of the pride of his heart.” (2 Chron. 32:26) In the Kings version, Hezekiah asks Isaiah the prophet what the sign of the Lord’s healing will be, and Isaiah gives him a choice: the sun will either go forward or backward in time. Hezekiah made his choice. “Then the prophet Isaiah called upon the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.” (2 Kings 20:11) The descending spiritual path of Ahaz, leading to destruction of the nation, is pushed back in time for now.
Hezekiah is healed. But in the 2 Kings version, a harbinger of another disaster to come is quickly brought to light. Hezekiah, in an uncharacteristic display of foolishness, shows his treasuries to envoys from the king of Babylon. Isaiah rebukes Hezekiah, saying, “The time will surely come all that your fathers have stored up will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, will be taken away.” (2 Kings 20:17-18)
Hezekiah’s response is one coming from a man worn down by time and responsibilities. “The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,” For he thought, “Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?” (2 Kings 20:19) In the Chronicles version, he lives another fifteen years, and does many works to strengthen Jerusalem. But also, Manasseh is born, his son who will become king, and lead Judah back down the steps of Ahaz again. “But Manasseh led Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.” (2 Chron. 33:9)
We are mindful of the proverb, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.” (Prov. 21:20) Hezekiah’s heart was faithful, and God used him to restore a nation. But, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Prov. 16:18) And so when Hezekiah’s heart became proud, God humbled him to the point of death. As we contemplate Hezekiah’s story, a sobering but encouraging verse reemerges from earlier: “There was no one like him after him.” (2 Kings 18:5) After Hezekiah came eight centuries of decline for Israel. She fell into subjugation by the kings of other nations, fell into cycles of diaspora, and ultimately, the expulsion of the people from the Promised Land.
And so this thought surfaces: Families, businesses, cultures, and nations all rise and fall on leadership. And as scrutinize our own responsibilities in our time and place in history, Paul reminds us of the destruction of the nation that turned away from God. “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (1 Cor. 10:11)
Q. Am I standing with integrity in my place of Godly leadership?
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