A number of years ago I remarked to a friend who was playing with his little girl that he was a good father.
“We’ll find out in 25 years if that is true or not” was his reply.
So true! Anybody can be a good father, mother, wife, husband, leader, etc… for a short season. Perhaps for a few years or for a decade. But what about for the long term? Or even when just tested in severe ways?
King Hezekiah exploded onto the scene as king. His father had been so very evil yet right in his own eyes. But Hezekiah walked a different path and followed the Lord with great conviction. He removed the high places throughout the land and had the temple reconsecrated. He celebrated the Passover and invited his brothers in the split nation of Israel to come and worship with them, even they had just been at war during his father’s time. And with the help of the people, idolatry was removed in the land. It was a season of revival.
But then a test came. And it was no small test. King Sennacherib of Assyria had set his eyes against Judah and Jerusalem to destroy it. Now the Assyrians were not just another army or military power. They were a brutal force, steam-rolling over nations and torturing the captured people so horrifically that nations surrendered at just the whisper of their coming. Even today we have drawings and carvings and historical artifacts boasting of their conquests. They would skin people alive, impale them on tall polls with spears between their legs, throw babies in the air and catch them on swords, and more.
Not only that but Assyria was undefeated. Nation after nation collapsed before them. And now they were coming for Judah and Jerusalem and King Hezekiah. If Hezekiah lost, the people would suffer tortures and deaths in unimaginable ways. Surrender seemed the best option. It was the option other nations eagerly chose. But Hezekiah decided to trust the Lord.
He also encouraged the people.
“Be strong and courageous! Dn’t be afraid or discouraged before the king of Assyria or before the large army that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. He has only human strength, but we have Yahweh our God to help us and to fight our battles.” So the people relied on the words of King Hezekiah of Judah” (2 Chr 32:8).
The next thing he did was to stop up all the springs and streams. This way the invading army would have problems finding enough water for their military, while King Hezekiah kept his store of water within the city. He was later to build a tunnel that helped channel that water into the city.
But for now Hezekiah sought out the LORD.
“But Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz prayed about this and cried out to heaven” (2 Chr 32:20).
Because Hezekiah trusted in the Lord. And because of it the Lord caused Sennacherib king of Assyria to hear a rumor that made him return to his land (2 Kings 19:7). Some of his own children ended up striking him dead (2 Chr 32:21).
It was an early deliverance but more tests would come. One of the biggest of them was Hezekiah’s pride.
A time came when Hezekiah was dying. He prayed to the Lord for more years and God him a miracle.
“However, because his heart was proud, Hezekiah didn’t respond according to the benefit that had come to him” (2 Chr 32:25) and because this wrath came upon Jerusalem. He humbled himself but again pride would be a problem.
Because the Lord had done amazing things, ambassadors from Babylon came to learn more. While there Hezekiah showed them his treasury and armory. It would be like showing them inside every military installation and boasting on their bank accounts, showing invoices. It would once again be a problem for Judah as Babylon would use this information foolishly given to them by Hezekiah in order to attack them.
It was crazy how much Hezekiah trusted the LORD in the most difficult hour against the king of Assyria. But fell to the snare of pride, something so small yet so large and deceptive.
Hezekiah was one of the greatest leaders. He stood before the most feared army and trusted the Lord. Even his epitaph reads this,
“As for the rest of the events of Hezekiah’s reign and his deeds of faithful love…” (2 Chr 32:32).
Yet sometimes we can win the most extraordinary battles in life, and fall to the simple things.
We must be wise.
And faithful to the end.
