Hezekiah | Reform, Regret & Repentance Kings to Captivity | Episode 5
Hezekiah sought to bring reform to Judah while he served as king,
and he started off his reign very promisingly.
In the crisis he was a man for his time,
and one of the first things he did
was restore the temple services that have been neglected for so long.
He appealed to a faithful band of priests
to help him in this work of reform.
The temple needed cleansing, repairs needed to be done,
and when it was finally ready,
the king and the priest asked forgiveness for the sins of the nation.
[music]
The passover service had not been practiced
as a national festival for a long time.
The splitting of the kingdom made it difficult,
and it had been many years.
Hezekiah brought back this national festival
and they invited people from all over
for a solemn, seven-day occasion.
It was a time of great revival,
and many people made changes in their lives.
Now as they went home, they had a decision
to continue this work of reformation in their homes,
and 2 Chronicles 31 records that they cleared out the altars
and images that were spread around the land.
[music]
In the midst of his prosperous reign, Hezekiah was struck down with illness.
'Sick unto death,' the Bible says.
The prophet Isaiah came to see him
and told him to set his affairs in order
for he was going to die and not live.
As he was leaving, though, God told him to turn around
and tell Hezekiah that he'd be healed after three days
and would live for another 15 years.
Hezekiah pleaded for a sign to know that this message came from God.
He was asked if he wanted the shadow on the sundial
to go forwards 10 degrees or backwards 10 degrees.
He said for it to go forward is not so impressive,
so please have it go backwards.
[music]
This the Lord did.
However, in the fertile valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates
there lived a group of people who were destined to rule the world
who gave much attention to astronomy.
When they noticed the shadow on their sundials go backwards 10 degrees,
they began to inquire about it,
and learning that it was a miracle attributed to the God of Israel,
King Merodach-Baladan sent ambassadors to Jerusalem.
This gave king Hezekiah the perfect opportunity
to testify about the power of the living God.
[music]
Unfortunately, pride and vanity took hold of Hezekiah's heart,
and instead of sharing a testimony about God,
he showed them his gold, silver, spices, and precious ointments.
He also showed the house of his armor and all his treasures.
In 2 Kings 20:15 the Bible says,
'There is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.'
All this did was reveal the true nature of the king's heart.
Unfortunately, when the ambassadors went home
they took a story of gold and silver
instead of a story about the power of God.
This implanted in them a desire
to come back one day and steal these treasures.
[music]
Hezekiah was rebuked by Isaiah,
who then prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem.
It was foretold that their sons would be carried away as slaves
and that the treasures of the temple would be stolen.
Hezekiah missed a golden opportunity to witness
and this is so often the case with us.
God brings people into our path to witness to,
to share the word of God with,
but all too often we talk with them
about unimportant and frivolous subjects.
May we be in tune with God
and ready to witness whenever the opportunity arises.