04.1.7.3. Four Kings In Judah - Hezekiah

FOUR GOOD KINGS IN JUDAH SUBSEQUENT TO THE DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM Chapter 7iii - Hezekiah

Hezekiah (the name means “strengthened of Jehovah”) was the third good king in Christ’s genealogy (2 Kings 18:1-37; 2 Kings 19:1-37; 2 Kings 20:1-21; 2 Chronicles 29:1-36; 2 Chronicles 30:1-27; 2 Chronicles 31:1-21; 2 Chronicles 32:1-33; Isaiah 36:1-22; Isaiah 37:1-38; Isaiah 38:1-22; Isaiah 39:1-8). There is more recorded history on Hezekiah (spelled Ezekias in Matthew 1:9) than on the other good kings in Judah subsequent to the division of the kingdom. The civil events of Hezekiah’s reign are emphasized over his religious life in II Kings; however, his religious life is stressed over his secular life in II Chronicles. Each book demonstrates that it is independent of but complimentary to the other. Difficulties are created by persons assuming that the books should be alike. Since both were written by one Author, God, they were written for the edification of His people. The life of Hezekiah challenges the supremacy of influence and circumstances. He was the good son of a wicked father, Ahaz, whose precept and example contributed nothing to his morality. Ahaz supported every form of heathenism he found in the land and introduced new varieties of sin from other lands. There was evil not only in the home but also in the southern kingdom. History proves that oftentimes the worst of fathers leave behind them the best of sons. This is only another proof of God’s absolute sovereignty. We are informed that God makes a distinction between persons (1 Corinthians 4:7). Ahaz could take no credit for the good character of his son, Hezekiah. Hezekiah did not honor the things his father had done; if he had, he would have dishonored God. The record states the following about Hezekiah:

He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses, And the LORD was with him, and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not. He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. —2 Kings 18:5-8

Hezekiah set out immediately to restore what Ahaz his father had destroyed. Hezekiah has been called a Jewish iconoclast (one who attacks cherished beliefs, traditional customs, and traditional institutions as being based on error or superstition—a destroyer of images). Therefore, he began by removing the high places, breaking the images, and cutting down the groves; and he broke in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made (2 Kings 18:4). The King saw that the brazen serpent was nothing but a piece of brass. Hence, he saw that what the people accounted as a god and worshipped by burning incense to it was only a lifeless, senseless piece of brass. The brazen serpent was not made for an object of worship, but for a means of a cure. Destruction of the brazen serpent was to the great displeasure of the people who worshipped it.

Blind veneration for the past often becomes an obstacle in the path of spiritual progress. An intelligent regard for the past helps in the direction of progress, but clinging to customs becomes a hindrance. That which has been ordained by God for a blessing might be misused so as to become a curse. For example, ordinances may become curses if we worship them instead of Him whom they portray. Every symbol loses its significance and value if it is converted into an idol. The brazen serpent had not been mentioned for nearly 800 years until it became necessary for Hezekiah to destroy it. Although God commanded the serpent of brass to be made and used, there is no record of a Divine command for its preservation, as in the case of the golden pot that had manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant. This demonstrates the importance of God’s people knowing the teaching of Scripture. A consideration of the record of the purpose for the brazen serpent is important at this point (Numbers 21:1-35). Making the distinction between “look and live” of Numbers 21:8-9 and “live and look” of Ezekiel 16:6-8 is absolutely imperative. The serpent was lifted up in the fortieth year of Israel’s wilderness journey. Chronologically, this event followed the “red heifer” offering of Numbers 19:1-22, God’s provision for the flesh during the wilderness journey. Those who lived by looking upon the serpent of brass lived in view of their entering Canaan, the promised possession. There is no looking in Ezekiel 16:6, because “living” there is by the voice of God which is regeneration. However, looking in Numbers 21:8-9 is conversion because Jesus Christ must be lifted up to effect a true conversion experience. Eternal life is outside the life of the flesh. The type in Numbers 21:1-35 teaches that sinful flesh has been condemned (Romans 8:3). Life involves the gift of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:10). Therefore, by the Spirit the believer puts to death the deeds of the body (Romans 8:13) by looking at what the brazen serpent symbolizes. The cause for God’s ordering the making of the serpent of brass was twofold:
(1) sin on man’s side and
(2) grace on God’s side. The bite of the serpent was Divine conviction in the Israelites of what the flesh truly is in the source of its being. God is determined to bring His people to judge the root of the flesh. The serpent’s bite brought a conversion experience in the lives of the bitten Israelites who were healed. Christ did not use the analogy of the serpent of brass with Nicodemus (John 3:14-16) to teach how a person is regenerated (John 3:8). Conversion does not come in the same manner as regeneration. The sinner is passive in regeneration, but he is active in conversion. Regeneration is the motion of God toward the sinner, and conversion is the motion of the quickened sinner toward God. The brazen serpent was carried, not by God’s command, by the Israelites into the land of Canaan; and it became the object of idolatry which Hezekiah destroyed.

Christians in any age must beware of uses and abuses of “church” history. Progress in the Christian life can be greatly hindered by romanticizing or absolutizing “church” history. Romanticizing the past means giving it a quality which it does not possess. Christians should be grateful to God for His servants of the past who made a contribution to the cause of Christ; but since Christians are imperfect, their achievements cannot be regarded as perfect. Absolutizing the past is to regard some period in the past as a norm for all time. As important as the reformation was, it should never be considered as the norm for all time. Although the puritans had a lot of truth, they should never take precedence over the Scriptures which are God’s absolute truth settled in heaven before the foundation of the world. A fallible “church” history must never take the place of the infallible Scriptures.

Hezekiah was an outspoken King who called things by their correct names. He called the brazen serpent, Nehushtan, which means “a piece of brass.” While many were regarding the serpent of brass as some kind of god by burning incense to it, Hezekiah recognized it as an idol that must be destroyed. Many religionists assume that the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s supper are a means of getting into Christ Jesus and Christ getting into them. May God grant us the courage to do as Hezekiah did and call things by their correct names. To make the ordinances the means of obtaining salvation is to make idols out of symbols ordained to portray salvation. Ordinances may become curses if we worship them instead of Him whom they reveal. Symbols lose their significance and value if they are converted into idols.

Hezekiah demonstrated that he was a man of action by not only condemning but also destroying all the idols. Unlike the ordinances of the assembly of Christ, Hezekiah could destroy the idols, which included the brazen serpent, because there was no command from God for their preservation. The ordinances of the tabernacle, priesthood, and offerings have served their purpose. Christians, therefore, have moved from the symbols to embrace the substance. (See Hebrews 10:1-39.)

Hezekiah’s surroundings were extremely unfavorable (2 Chronicles 29:1-36); therefore, the character of his work deserves special attention. His wicked father had not only corrupted the court but also closed the door to God’s house. Knowing that the cause of Judah’s trouble was ungodliness, Hezekiah immediately began to put things in order.
(1) His work began on the first day of the first month of the first year of his reign (2 Chronicles 29:3; 2 Chronicles 29:17).
(2) He opened the doors of the Lord’s house and repaired them (2 Chronicles 29:3). Reverence for God is at the foundation of all that is trustworthy in private character and enduring in public order.
(3) The work was of a positive nature. It did not address itself chiefly to the destruction of the emblems of idolatry, but to the work of reconsecrating the temple (2 Chronicles 29:3-19).
(4) Extreme measures were adopted in the work (2 Chronicles 31:1). Hezekiah went further in destroying the idols than either Asa or Jehoshaphat because he wanted no remaining germs of idolatry in Judah.
(5) The work included putting things in order (2 Chronicles 29:4-5; 2 Chronicles 29:20; 2 Chronicles 29:28). He began with the priests; then the Levites, and then the rulers of the city.
(6) The work called for sanctification (2 Chronicles 29:5; 2 Chronicles 29:15-16; 2 Chronicles 29:31), which went further than external legal rites to include repentance, faith, obedience, and fitting themselves for their respective services.
(7) Hezekiah’s work had a good beginning. He was correct in life (2 Chronicles 29:2), prompt in action (2 Chronicles 29:3; 2 Chronicles 29:20), and holy in influence (2 Chronicles 29:5).
(8) His work included the sad confession that the Lord had been forsaken (2 Chronicles 29:6); the Lord’s house had been abandoned (2 Chronicles 29:7); and God’s wrath had been incurred (2 Chronicles 29:8).
(9) His work contained a wise appeal because he desired to make a covenant with the Lord (2 Chronicles 29:10), avert God’s wrath (2 Chronicles 29:10), and perform his duty (2 Chronicles 29:11).

We must not conclude our consideration of Hezekiah without observing his sin before his death. After the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, many brought gifts to Hezekiah. Thus, He was exalted in the sight of all nations. He became mortally ill and prayed to the Lord. The Lord gave him a sign, but Hezekiah failed to acknowledge the benefit he received because his heart was lifted up with pride. Therefore, the wrath of the Lord came on him, Judah, and Jerusalem
(2 Chronicles 32:22-25). Hezekiah was very wealthy (2 Chronicles 32:27-30). If he had remained close to the Lord, he would have spoken to the ambassadors of Babylon of God’s unsearchable riches and not of his own worthless treasures of silver and gold
(2 Chronicles 32:31).

Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah. And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour.... —2 Chronicles 32:26-27

Genuine goodness desires neither record nor remembrance. God left Hezekiah to try him in order that the King might know all that was in his heart (2 Chronicles 32:31). This trial, like all trials in the lives of God’s people, was in order that the King might discover for himself and others what he really was in himself.