26 Mar 2014

King Hezekiah

Posted by joncooper

How He Became King: After his father Ahaz died
When He Began Reigning: 25 years old
Reign Length: 29 years
Ruled Over: Judah
Type of King: Good
Prophet: Isaiah, Hosea, Micah
Death: Died after God extended his life for 15 years
Burial: Buried in Jerusalem

Hezekiah became king after his father Ahaz died. He began reigning when he was 25 years old and he reigned over Judah for 29 years. He did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord:

2 Chronicles 29:1: “Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.”

He removed the high places, repaired the Temple, and restarted the sacrifices:

2 Chronicles 29:3: “He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them.
4 And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street,
5 And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.
6 For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs.
7 Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel.”

Not only did he restore the Temple (after his father Ahaz had defiled it), but he also kept the Passover for the first time in generations:

2 Chronicles 30:1: “And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the Lord God of Israel.”

Some people refused to come, but many others came and celebrated the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread with great rejoicing:

2 Chronicles 30:21: “And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness: and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the Lord.
22 And Hezekiah spake comfortably unto all the Levites that taught the good knowledge of the Lord: and they did eat throughout the feast seven days, offering peace offerings, and making confession to the Lord God of their fathers.
23 And the whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven days: and they kept other seven days with gladness.
24 For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the congregation a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests sanctified themselves.
25 And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced.
26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem.
27 Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven.”

After this celebration there was a revival among the people. The people gathered together and destroyed the idols that were in the land of Judah:

2 Chronicles 31:1: “Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.”

Hezekiah also appointed priests and made sure they carried out their Temple duties:

2 Chronicles 31:2: “And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites after their courses, every man according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the tents of the Lord.
3 He appointed also the king’s portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the Lord.”

The king also commanded the people to give their tithe to the Levites. They did so, and the Levites were greatly blessed:

2 Chronicles 31:4: “Moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the Lord.
5 And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.
6 And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the Lord their God, and laid them by heaps.
. . .
10 And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the Lord hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store.”

Hezekiah served the Lord with all his heart:

2 Chronicles 31:20: “And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the Lord his God.
21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.”

The Lord blessed Hezekiah and was with him. Hezekiah rebelled against Assyria and defeated the Philistines:

2 Kings 18:7: “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.
8 He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.”

However, the king of Assyria sent an army to Judah and conquered the nation’s fenced cities. Instead of seeking the Lord, Hezekiah tried to bribe the Assyrian king and pay him to leave. When there was not enough money in the palace to pay the bribe, Hezekiah looted the Temple to raise the rest of the money:

2 Kings 18:14: “And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king’s house.
16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.”

However, the bribe did not work. Instead of leaving, the king of Assyria sent his army against Jerusalem:

2 Kings 18:17: “And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller’s field.”

When the Assyrians taunted the Israelites and told them that their God could not deliver them, Hezekiah sought the Lord:

2 Kings 19:1: “And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.
2 And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
4 It may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.”

The prophet Isaiah told the king that God would make them return to their own land. Rabshakeh did leave, but he sent messengers to threaten Israel. God then said that He would defend Jerusalem, and that night the angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 people:

2 Kings 19:35: “And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.”

When Sennacherib returned home, his sons murdered him.

After this, Hezekiah fell sick, and Isaiah told him that he was going to die. When Hezekiah cried out to the Lord and begged God to spare him, the Lord agreed to give him fifteen more years of life:

2 Kings 20:4: “And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord.
6 And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.”

After he recovered, Babylon sent an envoy to the king because they heard that he had been sick. Hezekiah proudly showed off all of his wealth and power:

2 Kings 20:12: “At that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.”

When Isaiah told Hezekiah that one day the Babylonians would come and carry away everything he had shown them, including Hezekiah’s own children, Hezekiah replied that he didn’t really care as long as things were good during his lifetime (2 Kings 20:14-19).

When Hezekiah died, he was buried with great honor in Jerusalem:

2 Chronicles 32:33: “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. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.”

His son Manasseh then reigned in his stead.

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