Influencers Weekly Devotional

Hezekiah’s Journey By

Albert Scotland

God’s Word is a treasure chest full of stories, life lessons, insights and power, if we would only take time to open it up. As much as I love the New Testament and the accounts of our wonderful Lord and Savior Jesus and the adventure of the beginnings of The Church, I equally love reading and meditating in the Old Testament. Many may say that the Old Testament is Law and the New Testament is Grace or the Old Testament is the Old Covenant and the New Testament is the New Covenant. That may be true, but I believe “The Word was with God, and the Word was God.”John 1:1. I believe every word in the whole Bible is there for a reason, and I yield myself to its lessons. I also believe that the men who are portrayed in the Old Testament are real, and we have much to learn from their lives. Sure, the New Testament introduces us to men with names like Paul and John and Peter, names which seem closer to our names. In the Old Testament, we meet men like Hezekiah. A funny name…but have you met Hezekiah? Hezekiah was King of Judah. He became king at only 25 years of age. Here is what Scripture says about him: “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord, and did not cease to follow Him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook.” 2 Kings 18:3, 5-7 Hezekiah was one of God’s men. He trusted the Lord. But if you read about his life, you will see that it was not without challenge. As most kings of that day, he lived during a time of war. The Goliath of Hezekiah’s day was Assyria. Sennacherib, King of Assyria, led a powerful army, and he was set against God’s people. After a three year battle, he was able to capture Samaria and the fortified cities of Judah, and next, he had his sights set on Jerusalem. As you read the account, it is easy to see that Hezekiah was fearful. He makes Sennacherib a peace offering of three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. He took these straight from the temple of the Lord. It seems he was buying time until Egypt could overtake Assyria. Sennacherib sent messengers to Jerusalem. They came to intimidate Hezekiah. They laughed at his military strategy, and then, they went onto to blaspheme his God and his faith. Furthermore, they began to attempt to persuade Hezekiah’s people to turn against him. They planted doubt in their minds that God would really deliver them. Looking at all their military success, they could build a pretty good case for their confidence. The people of Israel looked to their leader, Hezekiah, to see what he would do. Hezekiah did not know what to do except seek the Lord. He fasted and prayed, and he laid Sennacherib’s threats before the Lord. Even as he prayed, Sennacherib’s force intensified and the future looked uncertain. In the midst of all of this, we also read that Hezekiah received a word from Isaiah, one of God’s prophets, that he had a life-threatening illness. He was told that he should get his affairs in order, for he was going to die. Once again, Hezekiah fell on his face, crying out to the Lord. It would be easy to understand how Hezekiah might have doubted God. Everything seemed to be going against him. But he prayed, yielding himself to God’s will. Isaiah assured Hezekiah that the Lord heard his prayers, and furthermore, the Lord had heard Sennacherib’s blasphemous words. He wanted Hezekiah to know that he should not worry, for He would defend the city Himself. And in verse 35 of 2 Kings 19, we read that during the night, an angel of the Lord put to death 185,000 Assyrian soldiers! The remaining army retreated, and not long after, Sennacherib’s own sons killed him. Isaiah also had more good news for Hezekiah. The Lord had heard his prayers for healing, and He granted Hezekiah 15 more years of life. God delivered Hezekiah from the Assyrian army, and He delivered him from sickness! It should be noted that two times God says, through Isaiah, that the reason he is answering Hezekiah’s prayers is for His sake and for the sake of His servant David. It’s hard to understand God and why He does what He does, when He does it. We have to know that He has good reasons, and that He can be trusted. I’ve always wondered why God have Hezekiah 15 years more to live. What was the significance? One year, at Christmastime, I discovered the answer. In reading the beginning Matthew, where we are given the genealogy of Jesus, I couldn’t help but notice Hezekiah’s name listed. Until that time, I never knew that Hezekiah was in the lineage of Jesus. As I dug further, I discovered that Hezekiah’s son, Manasseh, who is also listed in the genealogy, was conceived and born AFTER Hezekiah was healed from his illness. It became clear to me. God allowed Hezekiah to live longer because He had a VERY important plan for him to fulfill, continuing on the line of David, which eventually led to our Lord Jesus and salvation for all mankind! Men, we should learn from our brother Hezekiah. As men of God, we should understand that we will not be exempt from challenge. We will have enemies and we could face death. We will experience fear and doubts, and many people will be watching us to see how we react to life’s circumstances. We must be men of Prayer. We must be real with God, crying out to Him when we are confused and in anguish. We must trust His plans for they are way beyond anything we could imagine or conceive. We may make some mistakes along the way, like when Hezekiah gave away God’s gold, but God understands. He honors the man who will humble himself and pray. God only knows how your story will go down in the annals of Faith. However, you should know that all that you are experiencing in life right now has supreme significance in God’s plans. Seek Him, Abide in Him, Trust Him….He is with you, and He will never leave you or forsake you. Bless you. Download file