Hezekiah: Shining Brightly During Dark Times
(2 Chronicles 29:1-32:33)
1. People can surprise us.
My friend called me in hysterics.“I just saw a mouse in my kitchen!”she yelled.“I’m so grossed out! It’s so disgusting!”
“What are you going to do?”I asked.
“I’m not sure. But you can bet I’ll never eat the stuff I drop on the floor anymore.”[rd.com]
2. Soon after 9/11 I was flying between two European countries. A felt a bit nervous. I got especially nervous when a nervous looking Middle Easter man sat next to me. Our plane hit big turbulence and it was shaking violently, as the man looked at me and asked if he could hold my hand, as he was very scared. And so we sat, holding hands… [reveriechaser.com]
4. Sometimes people can surprise us in an amazing way. King Hezekiah was just such a person. He had an awful father, and gained the throne of Judah after dark times. His ability to turn the nation around was unsurpassed. He shone brightly in dark times, and illuminated the way for others. Why? Like King David, he had a heart for God.
Main Ideas: Having a heart for God does not mean we are flawless, but that heart is demonstrated by our actions and routines.
I. Hezekiah Initiated Judah’s Turn AROUND (29:1-36).
A. His father, AHAZ, was an evil, pagan king.
B. He REOPENED the Temple and reinstituted the worship of Yahweh as proscribed in the Torah.
• He interpreted recent events (Syrian raids) as God’s judgment upon the nation.
• He urged the priests and Levities to begin the sanctification process…
C. This including CLEANSING the Temple and the land and setting the nation apart for Yahweh.
• He held a massive dedication ceremony to motivate the people and create enthusiasm for the restored worship of Yahweh.
D. God’s people need a certain amount of STRUCTURE.
II. Hezekiah Developed SYSTEMS to Encourage Judah’s Long-term Obedience (30:1-31:21).
A. He reinstated the ROUTINE of Passover (30:1-27).
1. Hezekiah exemplified something Jesus taught later, that is, making adjustments to the Law for unusual circumstances in order to carry out the spirit of the Law.
2. Since there were not enough priests who were sanctified to celebrate the Passover, they delayed the celebration for a month.
3. He invited the Jews from the northern kingdom, which was in disarray at this time, to come down to Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover with the people of Judah.
4. These northern Jews had not gone through the necessary rituals and were ceremonially unclean to celebrate the Passover, but they exempted them because of their ignorance; again, the focus was on the heart. Hezekiah prays that God would forgive them in light of their circumstances.
5. Read verses 30:25-27
B. He Systematized and MOTIVATED people to nurture solid spiritual leadership (31:1-21).
1. Read 31:4-5
2. Read 31:20-21
3. They trashed their idols, opened their hearts to God, confessed their sins and lack of knowledge, and united under a common allegiance to Yahweh.
4. They did not just turn to God, they also turned away from their sinful ways.
I Thessalonians 1:9, “For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,”
III. Hezekiah TRUSTED God Through the Bad Times, but Mishandled Success (32:1-43).
This is also recorded in 2 Kings 18-19
A. . The CHURCHILL-like leadership of Hezekiah (32:7-8).
• Read these verses
.
• Trouble had been brewing, so Hezekiah militarized the city and people, added another wall, adjusted water supplies – did everything he could to prepare.
B The DEMORALIZING attack by the Assyrians
• King Sennacherib’s spokesman spoke in Hebrew to intimidate them.
C. Hezekiah joins with ISAIAH in crying out to God for deliverance.
D. God delivers JUDAH, but not Israel.
• God sends an angel to destroy the officers and best warriors; the others retreated.
• The king of Assyria later falls from grace and is killed by his own sons.
E. Isaiah later prophesies Hezekiah will soon DIE, but God graciously extends his life 15 years.
F . Hezekiah let SUCCESS make him careless and proud when the King of Babylon visits (24-33).
IV. Hezekiah’s Experience is RICH with Applications.
A. Our OBEDIENCE brings God’s blessing, if not now, then in eternity.
1. I know some godly believers who have lived difficult lives… reward in eternity.
2. I have known many more ungodly believers who have brought many problems and sorrows upon themselves through disobedience.
B. Like the Temple, we sometimes need a CLEANSING and a renewal of dedication.
1. In this busy, rush-rush world, we need some quiet time to examine our hearts before God.
2. We need to claim the promise of I John 1:9.
3. We need to remind ourselves that we have set our hand to the plough.
C. God’s blessing does not prevent us from being STRESSED.
1. Hezekiah was greatly stressed when his nation was under attack.
2. Believers in Ukraine are not somehow happy and oblivious to the misery…
3. Often, being a Christian adds to stress…
4. But we have God’s enabling grace to get us through stressful times, and we have hope.
D. Words can DEMORALIZE or INSPIRE.
1. Critical, cynical, and overly pessimistic words do more harm than we realize.
2. People accuse others of being too sensitive, but maybe the sensitive people are just honest and aware of their feelings?
3. Fear, discouragement, throwing in the towel – these are the fruit of demoralizing words.
4. People say you can do anything you want to do. That is unrealistic. But to throw cold water on another’s dreams or aspirations – that is a different story.
5. Roy F. Baumeister, a professor of social psychology at Florida State University, writes,“Bad emotions, bad parents and bad feedback have more impact than good ones. Bad impressions and bad stereotypes are quicker to form and more resistant to disconfirmation than good ones.”
6. Encouraging words do some good, but discouraging words do more harm than encouraging words do good. That is just how we work.
E. A genuine heart for God results in ACTIONS and HABITS that nurture growth.
F. Success itself is a TEMPTATION.
G. There is no better legacy and memory to leave our descendants than a FAITHFUL one.
