Hezekiah Reigns In Judah

It is good to see you and we're going to turn to our young people's address now. We're going to 2 Kings chapter 18 and I'm kind of excited about where we're going to be for the next few weeks because I do like the story of Hezekiah and that's who we're going to be thinking about for a little while together. We're in 2 Kings chapter 18. 2 Kings chapter 18 and we're going to read from verse 1 through to verse 12. Verses 1 to 12. This is the word of the Lord.

Now it came to pass in the third year of Hosea, son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did. He removed the high places, and break the images, and cut down the groves, and break in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made. For unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it, and he called it Nehushtan. He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.

For he claimed to the Lord and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments which the Lord commanded Moses. 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. He smote the Philistines even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the Watchmen to the fenced city. And it came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hosea son of Elah king of Israel, that Salamancer king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. And at the end of three years they took it, even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hosea, king of Israel, Samaria was taken.

And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah, and in Habor, by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them.

Amen. May the Lord bless to us this reading from his word. Now as we read last week and as we had reminded to us in the last few verses of our reading this week, Israel is now gone. So Hezekiah had come to the throne in Judah, so here are these two parts of the nation of Israel once again.

There was Judah in the south, there were the ten tribes of Israel, or what was called the Northern Kingdom in the north. And now the Northern Kingdom is gone. The Assyrians had come. They had destroyed the cities of the 10 tribes. They had destroyed Samaria after a three-year siege. And they had taken the people of the northern tribes into Assyria. They had repatriated them. And they had brought Assyrians into the land of Israel.

And Israel is now gone. I think I mentioned last week that doesn't mean to say we won't ever hear of Israel or indeed some of the Ten Tribes again. But it is only incidentally and to the extent that the people of Judah re-adopt the name Israel and hold it as their own. So that they probably now become Israel rather than being called simply Judah. But for our purposes today, we will say once again, Israel is gone and it is Judah that remains, though it remains in a very reduced and impoverished state, an impoverished condition.

Ahaz, that was Hezekiah's father, Ahaz was the worst king. Judah ever had. Under his rule, the nation had been led deeper into idolatry than ever before. It had been battered, it had been ravished by its neighbours, its enemies, and it had been sold into Assyrian control. In Jerusalem, Ahaz built, or had Urijah, the high priest, build an altar to worship his idol gods, in order to copy the Assyrian practices. And what a sad decline Judah was in.

We read together there that Israel was destroyed and carried into captivity because of its idolatry and disobedience. Well, it would appear that Judah was a similar candidate. And we might expect that that is just about to happen to Judah as well. And yet, here is an interesting contrast.

If Ahaz was the worst king Judah ever had, the son of this evil man, a man called Hezekiah, was the best king that Judah ever had. And arguably, he was a better ruler than even David and Solomon, who both sinned greatly. Actually, there isn't any argument about it, because in verse 6 that we read together, we're told there that after Hezekiah was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. So here was Ahaz, this wicked king leading Judah into idolatry. And now we have a reformation in Judah.

We have a change because God calls this man Hezekiah to be king in the land. And Hezekiah ascended to the throne aged 25. His name means the strength of the Lord and it was a fitting name. So important is he to the church, the church of all ages, as a pointer to the Lord Jesus Christ that The account of his life is recorded twice by the Holy Spirit in Scripture for our learning and for our note. Here in Kings we're going to be studying in the next few chapters the life of Hezekiah. But also, almost word for word, there are four chapters in Isaiah's prophecy in which the same history of Hezekiah is given to us. Now, Hezekiah was not a perfect man. There is no perfect man but the Lord Jesus Christ.

But he trusted the Lord and he endeavored to serve the Lord. He was blessed by God in a most amazing way by being given a 15-year extension to his life when he was dying. We're going to read about that. and he was granted a most astonishing miracle. But that again is something that we will hear about another day, God willing. The testimony that the Bible gives us of Hezekiah is this, that he did according to all that David his father did. And this is a statement of approval. We are given a series of examples of the way that this young man went about clearing out of Judah every location and symbol of idolatry.

He removed the high places. That was places where people used to go and worship. They were told that they should worship at Jerusalem but they used to go out into the countryside, they used to go out into the mountains and they would find a high place and there they would worship to their idolatrous gods but Hezekiah removed the high places. He break the images. That was he broke and destroyed the idols that people had set up. He cut down the groves. Men had planted trees and there they would go and worship in the shade under those trees their idolatrous gods. He cut down the groves. And we read this, that he break in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made.

For unto these days the children of Israel did burn incense to it, and he called it Nehushtan. That sounds like a fairly elaborate name for this brass serpent, but I'll tell you what that means. It means a piece of brass. And what he was saying was that this thing that you are worshipping is just a piece of brass. He called it what it was. Now it may have been an important piece of brass. It may have been worthy of recognition, given what it was, but it was not worthy of worship.

This was a piece of brass shaped like a serpent that Moses had made and put on a pole while the children of Israel were in the wilderness. They had been brought out of Egypt by God and they were wandering in the wilderness because of their disobedience.

And maybe you remember the story. Because of their idolatry, even at that time in the wilderness, because of their disobedience, the Lord sent poisonous snakes, fiery serpents they're called, into the camp of Israel. And they bit the people. And so venomous were these fiery serpents that the people died of the poison, the venom. It was a punishment from God.

However, Moses asked God for mercy, and the Lord told him to make a brass serpent and place it on a pole in the middle of the camp. Anyone who had been bitten and looked at the brass serpent would be healed, but all who ignored that would die of the poison.

And the Lord Jesus tells us in John's Gospel, so that's hundreds of years after the brass serpent was made by Moses and hundreds of years after Hezekiah destroyed it, the Lord Jesus spoke about this brass serpent. And he tells us this in John's Gospel. That brass serpent was a picture, it was a type of Christ and of his death.

The Lord was speaking to Nicodemus in John chapter 3 and verse 14 and he says, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. He was speaking about His death on the cross, that the Son of Man would be lifted up off the ground and hung on a cross.

That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. What the Lord Jesus Christ was telling us is what Moses had told the people way back in the days of their journey in the wilderness. There is life for those who look to Christ. Moses was saying there is life to those who look at the brass serpent. It was an act of faith on their part and the Lord acknowledged that. Christ was telling us there is spiritual life for those who look to the crucified Christ, who look to him in faith and look to him for faith.

The brass serpent was an important piece of Jewish history. It spoke clearly of the coming Messiah, which men and women of faith would understand, of whom we know Hezekiah was one. But others had begun to honour the symbol and ignore the one of whom the symbol spoke. and it became a snare to Judah. So Hezekiah, despite the importance of this brass serpent, despite its history, despite the tradition, Hezekiah decided to be completely rid of it, even if it had been made by Moses himself.

And in his zeal for the Lord, Hezekiah destroyed it. Now the most important thing for us to know about Hezekiah is that he trusted the Lord God of Israel. He trusted the word of the Lord. Hezekiah trusted in the Lord as his savior and as his redeemer.

And for that reason, as we shall see, The troubles that he had in his life are troubles that are familiar to believers like us. Troubles that you and I might encounter as those who trust in the Lord Jesus as Hezekiah did. Being a true believer as Hezekiah was does not save us from the troubles and the trials of this world. but it does affect how we deal with that trouble, as we will see. Two acts of Hezekiah are mentioned in our verses today.

Acts that speak of strength and boldness. He was able to repel the Philistines who had gained a foothold in Judah during the time of Ahaz, his evil father. And he also rebelled against the Assyrian king, to whom his father had sworn allegiance and to whom his father had given large payments in tribute. This rebellion against the Assyrians by Hezekiah was to cause real trouble for Judah, as we shall see on another occasion.

But here are some lessons that we can take from our introduction to Hezekiah today. The first one I want to think about is this. Did you notice that despite the poor example set for Hezekiah by his father Ahaz, and by the high priest Uriah, men who should have been guides and tutors to the young king. Nevertheless, the Lord chose Hezekiah at an early age and brought him to trust in him.

This is an important point. Sometimes you will hear me speaking about particular grace or distinguishing grace. And what I mean by that is that God works his mercy in one person's life, but he passes by another. He calls one person to follow him and he leaves another in their unbelief.

Ahaz, Hezekiah's father, never knew the Lord, and he died a sinful, unbelieving man. His son, Hezekiah, by a means that we do not know, learned to trust and love the Lord. Perhaps Hezekiah's mother was a godly woman who taught her son the things of the Lord. Sure it is that many people have cause to thank the Lord for godly mothers. But whoever was the means of introducing Hezekiah to the things of the Lord, it was the Lord himself who gave Hezekiah the desire and the ability to follow him and do his will.

That's what we mean by particular grace or distinguishing grace or discriminating grace. You sometimes hear it called different things. The point is that none of us can earn God's love or get his grace by the things that we do or the things that we say. Grace is a divine gift.

Without the Lord's intervention in Hezekiah's life, that boy would have been as rebellious as his father and as hypocritical as the high priest who built an idolatrous altar. But God showed him grace and Hezekiah trusted the Lord. And you and I have been very privileged to hear the gospel of God's grace in Jesus Christ. And it is my prayer that the Lord will use this gospel that we have heard, this gospel truth that is preached to us today, to convince us of our sin and to show us our need of a saviour and to bring us by his sovereign, particular, distinguishing grace to trust in him as Hezekiah did.

A second application that we might take from these verses is this. Hezekiah destroyed the brazen serpent because the children of Israel had begun to worship the symbol rather than the one that the symbol signified. The symbol pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ. They worshipped the symbol.

That might sound a little bit complicated how you tell these two apart, but it really isn't. Let me ask you this question. Would you prefer to have your mother or a picture of your mother? Would you want a husband or a wife or just a ring to put on your finger? as a symbol that you have a husband or a wife. The symbol, the ring on your finger or the picture, it has meaning. Perhaps it has a sentimental value, but it must not, it cannot displace the real thing.

Even today, there are many people who make, listen, religion their God. They have church membership. Maybe they have a gorgeous building. Or maybe they have a really nice young pastor and an amazing music group. But what are all these things if we don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal saviour? These are just the trappings. These are just incidentals. people can be taken up with the means, with the process of religion and lose sight of the person of the Lord. and I want to keep emphasising that to you.

Don't think that I'm alright because I hear Peter preaching. Don't think I'm alright because I've been brought up in a Christian family. Don't think I'm alright because I go to church. That's not what the heart of the matter is. This is a great danger for us all. We must never be content with the activity of church at the cost of fellowship with the Lord Jesus.

The great question is, do you meet with the Lord when you go to church? That's what matters. Do you draw close to the Lord when you pray? Do you hear the Lord speak in the preaching of the gospel? Is Christ there in the midst when we gather together? Hezekiah broke up that brazen serpent, despite all its historical and traditional and sentimental value to the people of Judah. May the Lord lead us all to where Christ is the cause that causes us, brings us into fellowship and may we dwell in the presence of our Saviour. One more quick point and then I'm done today. We read in verse seven, and the Lord was with him and he prospered. Hezekiah trusted the Lord and the Lord was with him and he prospered. Prospered just means that things went well for him. He prospered whithersoever or wherever he went.

Let's think about that for a moment. Hezekiah fought the Philistines and he drove that nation out of his land and back all the way to their fortified cities on the coast. Gaza is where he fought them to. There you are, someone would say. There you are. The Lord prospered him. He went into battle. He fought against his enemies. And he prospered because he gained the victory. He rebelled against the Assyrians.

And they came and conquered all the towns and cities of Judah and besieged Jerusalem, just as they had besieged Samaria. We're going to come to that. But did the Lord prosper him then when that was happening? Do you think Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem felt prosperous with tens of thousands of armed troops standing at the city gate? Well, I say yes.

We cannot always tell, here's my point, we cannot always tell from outward events where the blessing of God is to be found. And when we have to make decisions or when we have to go about our business and when we have to do things, we don't know where the blessing of God is to be found and where it is going to be revealed. But we may be sure that the Lord is always looking after his people, even when it appears that the things that are happening to us are not good. Even when the things that we do are not good.

I won't say believers have charmed lives, because we are subject to all the troubles and problems of this world, either in our own lives or in the lives of those that we love. Nevertheless, we do have this. We have the promise that the Lord is looking after His own. And sooner or later, He will prosper all that concerns us. We can trust him, even when we mess up, even when we go the wrong way, even when we do the wrong thing, even when we let him down. And if we trust the Lord, he will look after his own, keeping us in the palm of his hand and prospering us wherever we go. And that is a wonderful and a comforting promise. May the Lord bless these thoughts to us today.

Hezekiah Reigns In Judah

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Hezekiah Reigns In Judah

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