(2 Kings 20)
Hezekiah was a good king. Unlike his father Ahaz, he chose to worship Yahweh, getting rid of the idols and removing the high places. And when big bad king Sennacherib of Assyria came to defy the powers of the Almighty, Hezekiah stood firm in his faith and refused to be intimidated. He put his trust in God’s character, and asked for God’s glory to be revealed. And the Lord listened to his prayer and gave Judah deliverance.
Sometime later, King Hezekiah becomes ill and is told by the prophet Isaiah that his time had come, and the illness would be terminal. Upon hearing this, Hezekiah weeps bitterly and pleads with God to extend his life. Unlike his prayer in chapter 19, this isn’t an eloquent prayer asking for God’s glory to be shown to the nations. It is simply Hezekiah calling out for help in his distress. He asks God to remember his faithfulness and devotion to Yahweh and to grant him a longer life.
And once again, God answers Hezekiah’s prayer. Before the prophet Isaiah even has the chance to get out of the building, God sends him back with a new message for Hezekiah: “I (God) have heard your cry and seen your prayers, and I will let you live 15 more years. And I will protect you from the Assyrians, for the sake of my servant David.”
Then Isaiah has them prepare a poultice of figs for Hezekiah’s boil, and he recovers. Then Hezekiah asks Isaiah what sign God will give to show that He will do as He promised. Isaiah gives him an option: “do you want the shadow on the steps to go forward ten steps, or backward ten steps?”
“Making it go back ten steps would be more impressive,” Hezekiah answers, and God moves the shadow back ten steps that it had gone down.
The next event in our story is that the king of Babylon sends Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of his illness. The account in 2 Chronicles tells us that the envoy from Babylon came because they had heard of his miraculous healing and wanted to know about it. King Hezekiah not only welcomes the messengers, but he takes the liberty to show off all of his wealth to them. He gives them the grand tour of all of his storehouses, his armory and his treasuries.
God is greatly displeased by Hezekiah’s prideful display. He again sends Isaiah with a message of prophecy, and this time it’s not a good one. He tells Hezekiah that one day all of the treasures stored up in his palace would be taken away to Babylon, and not only his wealth but his descendants would be taken to Babylon as captives. Hezekiah responds by saying, “Okay, whatever God says.” but inside he’s selfishly thinking, “Who cares, at least it won’t happen in MY lifetime!”
God is true to His word, and a few generations later, the land of Judah is exiled to Babylon and all of Jerusalem is completely destroyed. Hezekiah’s son Manasseh is the most wicked king of Judah yet, and his sins arouse the anger of the Lord. And even though a couple generations later, king Josiah, who is Judah’s best king yet, does everything he can to remove idolatry and re-establish a covenant relationship with Yahweh, he cannot atone for all the wickedness of the kings before him, and ultimately our just God has to let his people suffer the consequences they deserve.
So what lessons can we learn from this story of Hezekiah?
One might accuse Hezekiah of pride right from the beginning of our story. After all, asking for healing and a longer life seems a rather selfish request and he uses his own righteousness as his basis for why God should grant his plea. But the fact that God immediately and willingly answers his prayer, leads me to believe differently. We have a Heavenly Father who delights in giving good gifts to His children. Hezekiah cried out for help, and God came to his rescue. I think it’s a beautiful picture of God’s gracious compassion for each one of us. We have a God who cares. And I think it’s okay for us to ask for deliverance from our troubles. After all, how else can we be saved? We have a God who is not only powerful, but tender-hearted. And He hears the cries and sees the tears of His children. We might wonder if God will answer our prayers of desperation, not because we doubt His ability but because we doubt whether He really cares. And I think this is one of those stories that serves to remind us: He does.
And yet, I think the following commentary in 2 Chronicles 32 is helpful in explaining what happened in Hezekiah’s heart. It says, “But Hezekiah’s heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the Lord’s wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.” I think Hezekiah’s pride snuck in, not when he was pleading for his life, but after he had received his miracle. Once God promises him fifteen more years, his attitude changes. Now he wants God to give him a sign and to make it a good one. Now he wants to show off what he’s got to those who come to ask about it. And perhaps worst of all, he is completely unrepentant and selfishly doesn’t give a care about the harsh consequences his prideful attitude would have on the following generations. We may have humility when we cry out to God for mercy, but when He gives it to us, how do we respond? Do we let ourselves grow prideful and think, “Wow, I must be something pretty special,” or do we receive it with humble gratitude knowing that it is a gift of grace?
Both Hezekiah’s miraculous healing and Hezekiah’s wealth were gifts from a generous, loving God. But where Hezekiah went wrong is that he was led to think that being the recipient of those gifts spoke of his own greatness, rather than the greatness of the One who gave them. I can just imagine him thinking, “So these foreigners came because they heard about how God gave me healing from my illness? Well, just wait until they see everything else God’s given me. Then they’ll really be impressed.” Hezekiah liked the attention. He wanted the glory. He wanted his Babylonian visitors to think highly of him because of all he had. But he forgot that every good gift comes from above. He forgot that he was blessed, not because he was a great person, but because He served a great God.
In the previous chapter, when Hezekiah was in circumstances beyond his control, he humbled himself to receive God’s help. And when he was sick and thought he was going to die, he cried out to the God he knew could save him. But when things were looking pretty good, he let his pride get the better of him. It’s a lot easier to turn to God on our bad days when things are falling apart and we realize we have no other options. It’s a lot harder to remember our dependence on him on our good days when we feel like we’ve got things under control. But the key to humility is the awareness that we need His grace just as much on our best days, as much as we do on our worst.
Remember how we said that Hezekiah was a good king? Well, He WAS! And it’s good to be good, but the danger in it is that we start to see ourselves as good in our own eyes, and forget that there is no one righteous, not even one. Isaiah 46:6 says that all our righteous acts are like filthy rags. There is nothing righteous about our self-righteousness. I don’t know about you, but I know I struggle with pride over my own self-righteousness. But the thing that humbles me is the reminder of God’s grace. The only way we can be truly righteous is through the incredible and completely undeserved gift of forgiveness that is given to us in Christ Jesus.
And that gift should be a reminder to us of the awesomeness of our God. Like Hezekiah, sometimes we look at everything God’s blessed us with, and we begin to think highly of ourselves, rather than giving credit, thanks and praise to God for all He’s done. But God doesn’t bless us so that we can make much of ourselves. He blesses us so that we can make much of Him. His love and grace don’t serve to tell us of our worthiness, but of HIS. He is the only one who is worthy, the only one who is good, the only one who is righteous, the only one who deserves glory and honor and praise.
So my challenge to you is to remember the gift of grace you’ve been given. Remember that you have a God who cares about your needs, sees your tears, and hears your prayers of desperation. Remember that He delights in showing mercy, and that He gives freely and generously to all who ask. And then when you receive good things from His mighty and loving hand, remember that it is HE who is great and good. Remember that the grace you receive is not of yourselves but a gift from God, not by works so that no one can boast. Remember that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Remember that you don’t stop needing Him in times of health, blessing or prosperity. Remember that the best you have to offer is but filthy rags, and that it’s no longer you who live, but Christ living in you. And most importantly, remember to give glory to the Lamb who alone is worthy.
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