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Good King Hezekiah
 | After the Kingdom of Israel was divided between Rehoboam in the north (Israel) and Jeroboam in the south (Judah), neither kingdom was ruled well. Israel never had a truly good king who was faithful to God. Judah, the kingdom of Jeroboam, had a few good kings. The very best king that Judah ever had was its 13th king, Hezekiah. Although his father King Ahaz was not a good king, Hezekiah's grandfather King Jotham had walked with God. Jotham had a big influence on his grandson. King Ahaz had agreed to pay tribute to the Assyrian king. Because of this when Hezekiah came to the throne Judah was no longer an independent nation. The new king wanted more than anything for his beloved country to be free again, and he knew that this would never happen without God's help. Hezekiah did many things to bring his nation back to God. As soon as he became King, Hezekiah had all of the idols scattered throughout his kingdom destroyed. The temple in Jerusalem was repaired. The king ordered classes in the Torah around the country so that people could again learn how to worship and walk with God. The Torah said that people should make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and worship at the temple three times a year. During his father's reign this important ritual had been abandoned. Hezekiah encouraged people to once again come to Jerusalem to worship and make sacrifices to God. He reestablished the observance of Passover and invited everyone - including the people of Israel - to join in its observation. Only a few came, but those who did were inspired by the ceremonies and by Hezekiah's sermons. Some who came from Israel decided to stay in Judah, and that made the country and its faith even stronger. Hezekiah's people only had to look to Israel to see how lucky they were to have a righteous ruler and God on their side. The Assyrians had almost destroyed Israel, and brought many of its people back to Assyria as slaves. Hezekiah then set out to reorganize the army and rebuild the forts that had been destroyed by Judah's enemies during King Ahaz's reign. He recaptured much of the land lost in skirmishes with the Philistines and other surrounding tribes. Isaiah told Hezekiah that God promised that as long as Judah stayed close to God, no foreign powers would defeat them. The prophet even suggested that Hezekiah should confront the powerful Assyrians and refuse to continue to pay tributes! Hezekiah expected the Assyrians to surround the city, so he directed that a wall be built on the western hills, redirected water into the city, and built a store of supplies. Egypt, Phoenicia, the Philistines, Kush and Babylon were all controlled by Assyria and they were tired of it, too. When King Sennaherib of Assyria realized there was a real revolt brewing, he sent his army to stop it. The Assyrian army restored order in its other territories and then marched toward Jerusalem. None of the other countries were able to help Judah. Hezekiah knew he was in big trouble. His army was not as large or as well-trained as the mighty Assyrians! The king did not panic. He drafted most of the young men in the country and made sure they were well-trained. Fearing the Assyrians would surround Jerusalem, Hezekiah had provisions stockpiled. Even after all these efforts, Hezekiah knew that it would be almost impossible for little Judah to defeat Assyria. Isaiah assured Hezekiah that God would protect Judah, and that is exactly what God did! As the Assyrian army began to surround Jerusalem, a mysterious illness spread in its ranks. The Bible says that 185,000 soldiers died in just one night! That scared Senneherib, and he ordered his troops back to Assyria. Jerusalem and all of Judah was saved! The people celebrated God's victory, but their good king Hezekiah was very sick. The prophet Isaiah told him to prepare to die! Hezekiah begged God for more time and God granted him 15 more years. The king wrote a prayer of thanksgiving to praise God for all of the mercy and kindness He had shown Hezekiah and his kingdom. On our own Thanksgiving Day we should remember Hezekiah, and take time to think about and thank God for all He has done for us. |
| November 2016 | ||||
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