King Hezekiah's Personal Seals
article by Jerold Aust
God's mercy is always available to people in a repentant attitude, who acknowledge their inadequacies and strive to honor and serve Him. Hezekiah's life proves this is true.
Speaking in Hebrew, the arrogant representatives of the Assyrian king threatened Jerusalem's defenders: "Do not listen to your king, Hezekiah, for he deceives you. He will tell you there is only one God who can and will save you from the great king of Assyria. That's foolishness. Tell us who were the gods who saved other nations from the mighty kings of Assyria? You know the nations by name. You know of their demise. You know not one of them was saved by their gods.
"So don't allow Hezekiah to fool you into thinking your one God can save you. The record is clear and telling. Lay down your weapons, open up the gates, and surrender. Why should you resist and suffer certain death?" (2 Kings 18:28-35 [28] Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria:
[29] Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand:
[30] Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
[31] Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern:
[32] Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The LORD will deliver us.
[33] Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
[34] Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?
[35] Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?
See All..., paraphrased).
Spoken by Rabshakeh, a commander in the great Assyrian army, these words were cleverly crafted psychological warfare against a fearful and embattled citizenry. Rabshakeh's sayings struck dread in the hearts of the city's defenders. Theirs was a time of terror. Death or exile seemed their only choices. They could choose to fight and face certain annihilation, or they could lay down their arms and be deported hundreds of miles to other lands.
The God of Judah, declared Rabshakeh, was powerless to resist the Assyrians' might. The Assyrians would destroy the kingdom of Judah just as the they had crushed so many other nations before them.
Judah's soldiers, manning Jerusalem's walls, did not reply. Rather, they did just as their king had instructed them. They well knew that the mighty Assyrian Empire had conquered and exiled their cousins to the north, the 10 tribes of Israel, a few years earlier (721-718 B.C.).
Could King Hezekiah withstand the Assyrians? Would God intervene and come to his aid? Hezekiah had given himself to God, cleared the land of idols and even conquered the Philistines, then a vassal state of Assyria. Would the army of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, overrun Jerusalem and raze it?
The answer to these questions can teach us important spiritual lessons.
A King Reforms his Kingdom
Hezekiah lived at a time during which the very existence of Judah was threatened. But Jerusalem was blessed with a righteous king and an outstanding Hebrew prophet, Isaiah, at this critical point in its history.
Hezekiah was one of the best of Judah's kings, a man who passionately pursued pleasing God. Ironically, righteous Hezekiah was born the son of a wicked man. As a youth, Hezekiah turned to God when almost everyone else busied himself satisfying selfish cravings and pursuing evil desires.
Hezekiah ascended the throne when he was only 25. The young monarch smashed the pagan altars and images that dotted Judah's rolling hills. "And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done. He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden images and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it ..." (2 Kings 18:3-4 [3] And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.
[4] He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.
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"He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any who were before him. For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. The Lord was with him; he prospered wherever he went" (verses 5-7).
A Kingdom Returned to God
Hezekiah's reign was one of national religious reform and spiritual rejuvenation. He restored temple worship (2 Chronicles 29). One of his first acts was to initiate repairs on the magnificent "house of the Lord" built earlier by Solomon (verse 3). He commanded the priests and Levites to sanctify themselves and the temple, to "carry out the rubbish from the holy place" (verses 4-5).
The king warned that God was angry with His chosen nation; they had turned their backs on their Creator (verse 6). "... Because of this our fathers have fallen by the sword; and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity. Now it is within my heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us" (verses 9-10). So they gathered together, sanctified themselves and cleansed the house of God.
Some three centuries had elapsed since the reign of King David, a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.
See All...). No king since David had set his mind to follow God like Hezekiah, who "did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done" (2 Kings 18:3And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.
See All...).
Hezekiah's Memorable Passover
Hezekiah's godly attitude and concern for his people is shown in his approach to the first Passover observance of his reign. By the time the priests and Levites had sanctified themselves and the temple, it was past the 14th of Nisan, the first month of the Hebrew year, the time God instructed that His people celebrate the Passover. Hezekiah established an alternate time—a second Passover—in the second month according to God's instructions (Numbers 9:9-14 [9] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
[10] Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD.
[11] The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
[12] They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it.
[13] But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the LORD in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.
[14] And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the LORD; according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.
See All...).
"And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to the Lord God of Israel. For the king and his leaders and all the assembly in Jerusalem had agreed to keep the Passover in the second month. For they could not keep it at the regular time, because a sufficient number of priests had not consecrated themselves, nor had the people gathered together at Jerusalem. And the matter pleased the king and all the assembly" (2 Chronicles 30:1-4 [1] And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel.
[2] For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month.
[3] For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem.
[4] And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation.
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The king invited the remnant of the 10 tribes in the former northern kingdom of Israel to join Judah, the southern kingdom, in commemorating the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. "So the runners passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun; but they laughed them to scorn and mocked them. Nevertheless some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came up to Jerusalem ... Now many people, a very great congregation, gathered at Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month" (2 Chronicles 30:10-11 [10] So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them.
[11] Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.
See All..., 13).
The time was an exciting one for Judah and the remnant of Israel. Some who came from the remnants of the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not as yet prepared themselves, "yet they ate the Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, 'May the good Lord provide atonement for everyone who prepares his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he is not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.' And the Lord listened to Hezekiah and healed the people. So the children of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great gladness" (2 Chronicles 30:18-21 [18] For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good LORD pardon every one
[19] That prepareth his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.
[20] And the LORD hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.
[21] And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness: and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the LORD.
See All...).
Those who kept this feast of God were so moved by the experience that "the whole assembly agreed to keep the feast another seven days, and they kept it another seven days with gladness" (verse 23).
God was making His name known to Judah and the surrounding gentile nations, symbolic of what Christ will do at His return (Malachi 1:11For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.
See All...). Thanks to King Hezekiah's reforms, Judah once again worshiped God.
In turn God blessed Hezekiah. "The Lord was with him; he prospered wherever he went." Hezekiah was also emboldened to resist the Assyrians. "And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. He subdued the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city" (2 Kings 18:7-8 [7] 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.
[8] He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
See All...). This angered the already busy Sennacherib, king of Assyria.
Jerusalem Showdown
Less than a decade earlier, the Assyrian kings Shalmaneser and Sargon had defeated and taken captive the northern kingdom, the 10 tribes of Israel. The northerners had repeatedly disobeyed God and rejected Him; their defeat and captivity were a consequence of their disobedience (2 Kings 18:11-12 [11] 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:
[12] 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.
See All...).
The Assyrians were the dominant regional power in that day. When Hezekiah refused to submit, Assyria's King Sennacherib invaded Judah and stormed its fortified cities, setting the stage for a showdown at Jerusalem.
With the Assyrian monarch's forces on his doorstep, Hezekiah tried to buy his way out of danger. Hezekiah's message to the mighty Assyrian was brief: "I have done wrong; turn away from me; whatever you impose on me I will pay" (verse 14).
Sennacherib demanded nearly $40 million by today's rate of exchange. Hezekiah gave him more than he demanded. He presented him with all the silver from the temple and national treasuries. He even stripped the gold from the doors and pillars of the temple (verses 15-16).
Thinking that additional treasure was just waiting to be plundered behind the walls of Jerusalem, Sennacherib broke his agreement with King Hezekiah and surrounded Judah's capital city. Sennacherib's envoys threatened the Jews in their own language, trying to persuade them to lay down their arms and accept exile to a foreign land over certain death. After all, the Assyrians boasted, history showed that resistance would be futile.
Trust in God
King Hezekiah turned to God: "... When King Hezekiah heard it ... [the enemy's arrogant boasts], he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord" (2 Kings 19:1And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.
See All...).
He sent this message to the prophet Isaiah: "This day is a day of trouble, and rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth. It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left" (2 Kings 19:3-4 [3] And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
[4] It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.
See All...).
Isaiah responded to Hezekiah: "Thus says the Lord: 'Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Surely I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land' " (verses 6-7).
Hezekiah turned to God in faith. He would need no force of arms to bring about Sennacherib's demise.
God heard Hezekiah's humble prayer and reassured him: "Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: 'He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor build a siege mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same way shall he return; And he shall not come into this city,' says the Lord. 'For I will defend this city, to save it for My own sake and for My servant David's sake' " (2 Kings 19:32-34 [32] Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.
[33] By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.
[34] For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
See All...).
Even though Jerusalem's situation seemed hopeless—the city surrounded by hundreds of thousands of battle-hardened Assyrians—God was true to His word. He dramatically intervened to spare Hezekiah and the trapped Jews.
"And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead" (verse 35).
The stunned Assyrians retreated before this demonstration of God's power. The mighty Sennacherib stole away in humiliation and defeat. "So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the temple of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword ... Then Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place" (verses 36-37).
Sennacherib came to a sad end, assassinated by two of his sons while worshiping a false god. God had spared His people and the kingdom of Judah in the face of apparently overwhelming odds.
Hezekiah's Death Averted
God again dramatically intervened in Hezekiah's life. Not long after Sennacherib's demise, the king of Judah grew deathly ill. The prophet Isaiah came to him and advised, "Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live" (2 Kings 20:1In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
See All...). Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and wept bitterly. He pleaded with God to save him: "Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight" (verse 3).
But, before Isaiah had even left the palace, God answered the king's prayer. He instructed Isaiah to tell him: "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you ... And I will add to your days fifteen years" (verses 5-6).
Although taking heart, Hezekiah asked Isaiah for a sign. The prophet offered him a choice of miracles: "Shall the shadow go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees?" Hezekiah, noting that it would be natural for shadows to go forward 10 degrees as the sun passed through the sky, asked that the shadow go backward. On a nearby sundial, the sun's shadow moved backward 10 degrees (verses 8-11).
God had performed another mighty miracle. He healed Hezekiah, extended his life and caused the sun's shadow to reverse its course.
Hezekiah Shows his Weakness
Word soon spread of the dramatic events in Judah. The king of Babylon, beginning to rise in the East, sent envoys bearing a gift (2 Kings 20:12At that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
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But a problem arose. Hezekiah's "heart was lifted up" (2 Chronicles 32:25But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.
See All...). He began to drift from God. So God withdrew from Hezekiah "in order to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart" (verse 31).
Hezekiah had assumed too much. He momentarily forgot God and showed the Babylonian envoys objects of his wealth.
Hezekiah's pride brought more problems on his kingdom. God warned him that the same Babylonian nation that had sent its friendly emissaries would ultimately threaten and destroy Judah (2 Kings 20:14-18 [14] Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.
[15] And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.
[16] And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD.
[17] Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.
[18] And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
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However, "Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah" (2 Chronicles 32:25-26 [25] But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.
[26] Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
See All...). God spared Hezekiah's kingdom for the balance of his lifetime and for another century. In later years, in the reign of kings who rejected Hezekiah's righteous acts and example, destruction overcame Judah.
Passing of a Faithful King
Hezekiah's distinction was that he "trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah ... He held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses" (2 Kings 18:5-6 [5] 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.
[6] For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.
See All...). When he died his countrymen "buried him in the upper tombs of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him at his death" (2 Chronicles 32:33And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.
See All...).
God's mercy is always available to people in a repentant attitude, who acknowledge their inadequacies and strive to honor and serve Him. Hezekiah's life proves this is true. The key to an honorable life now, and ultimately eternal life, is to humble ourselves before God and obey Him and His laws.
After all, those laws are given for our benefit so we may acquire a godly relationship with God and man. GN
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