I know we just pray. Can we pray again?
Can we just ask the Lord to help us now as we open the
Scriptures? Father, we do thank you that
You've allowed us to be here tonight.
We never take it for granted that we can freely explore and
examine and enjoy the Bible as a church.
This is a gift from you and we give you thanks for it.
And Lord, now as we come with our with our eyes, yes, more
importantly, the eyes of our hearts, we pray that you would
open us up to the truths found in this chapter and that it
would move us to the core of our being.
And that Christ would become more attractive to us.
Holiness would be pursued with greater zeal and dedication, and
that we would repel all sin and all rebellion in our hearts.
We want to be consumed with the truths that we know in this book
and that we will learn in this book.
We ask these things in the precious name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, Amen and Amen. Meet me in Second Kings chapter
20 as we complete this chapter tonight, by the grace of God,
and as you're turning there, I want to let you know that
Hezekiah's greatest failure did not occur when he was surrounded
by the Assyrians, nor did it take place when his body was
ravaged by a terminal disease. It would come after overcoming
all of that. In other words, neither siege
nor sickness would pose the greatest temptation for Hezekiah
to forsake the Lord. It would be when he experienced
and enjoyed success. That is a sobering lesson that
is presented to us in this section of Scripture.
And what's amazing is these verses will provide a profound
and accurate assessment of one of the many tendencies of the
children of God. Because, you see, we are more
likely to stay near the Lord when persecution arises and when
our bodies betray us. But we are often less inclined
to cling to the Master when our enemies are silent, when our
health is cooperating, and when prosperity is increasing.
And in case you haven't been with us for the past few weeks,
I want to let you know why you should be attentive from the
beginning of this study. The disappointing attitude that
you and I are about to examine will be coming from a man who
ranks among the very few that imitated the devotion of King
David, a very rare spiritual specimen.
King Hezekiah is crowned with the recognition of bringing
unique spiritual reform to the King of Judah, and he is one of
the very few leaders in our study of first and second kings
who demonstrates the rewards of a pious and prayerful life.
So I want to let you know from the beginning why this should
captivate us. Because if this happened, what
we're about to see, if this lapse of faith, if this adoption
of a mindset that is detrimental to 1's testimony and experience
of God can happen to a man like Hezekiah.
And surely it can happen to you and me.
And that is not meant for us to live in anxiety, because the
Lord in his great mercy has supplied us this very story,
which is brought up in two other places in the Bible, may I add,
in order to protect us from falling to the very same pitfall
that Hezekiah fell. And so I think the best way to
to approach the last verses of Second Kings 20s, to read, to
read in its entirety, to get a whole picture of it before we
dissect it verse by verse. So I hope you're with me here in
Second Kings 20, beginning at verse 12.
Give yourself over with great attention to the reading of the
word. Don't allow yourself to get
distracted. And we're going to trust that
even in the reading of these passages, we will be blessed.
At that time Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of
Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to
Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
And Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them all his treasure
house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his
Armory, all that was found in his storehouses.
There is nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah
did not show them. Then Isaiah the prophet came to
King Hezekiah and said to him, What did these men say, and from
where did they come to you? And Hezekiah said, They have
come from a far country, from Babylon.
He said, what have they seen in your house?
And Hezekiah answered, They have seen all that is in my house.
There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show
them. Then Isaiah said the Hezekiah,
hear the word of the Lord, Behold, the days are coming when
all that is in your house, and not which your father's have
stored up till this day shall be carried to Babylon.
Nothing shall be left, says the Lord, And some of your own sons
who shall be born to you shall be taken away, and they shall be
eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, The word of the Lord that you've
spoken is good for rethought. Why not, if there will be peace
and security in my days, the rest of the deeds of Hezekiah
and all his might, and how he made the pool in the conduit and
brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of
the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
And Hezekiah slept with his father's, and Manasseh, his son,
reigned in his place. I want you to be prepared
because we're going to flip to a parallel passage in order to
make the most sense of what we just read.
And right from the beginning, I want to let you know that in
Isaiah 39, verse one, you don't have to turn there.
We're given more explanation why the Babylonians visited King
Hezekiah. We're told that they not only
came because they heard that he was sick, but that they heard
that he also recovered. So the Babylonians arriving on
the scene is not because they were checking up on King
Hezekiah, it's because they wanted to congratulate him.
That seems like a kind gesture. That seems like a noble cause.
But if you feel a little suspicious about their true
motives, you have the right to be.
What are the Babylonians doing here, this Gentile nation,
nation reaching out in this way? And the only concrete evidence
that the Scriptures give us is in Second Chronicles 32.
And again, you don't have to turn there.
I know we're going to turn to different passages in a moment
here in that chapter. We read the verse last week.
The Babylonians were curious in coming to Jerusalem because they
heard of what the sign that was performed in relation to
Hezekiah's miraculous healing. So the news of how God
autographed that healing miracle reached all the way to Babylon,
and they wanted to inquire of it.
And so they sent dignitaries and representatives to investigate.
That's all we can say with absolute confidence.
But is there any other potential clue that might indicate why
this is happening? And I think there is.
I think there is some political motivation here.
And the best way to understand is to look at the wider context.
You see, Babylon was not the superpower nation it will one
day be. That title still belongs to who,
the Assyrians, the Assyrians. And what you discover, and I'll
ask you to turn here now, is in Second Kings 17.
We've covered this in Second Kings 1724, confirming that
Babylon was inferior to the assyrians, giving us some kind
of insight, at least a potential reason why they approached the
Kingdom of Judah. Look at second king 17 verse 24
and the king of Assyria brought people from where Babylon good
Kuta Ava Hamath and Sephora volume and plate and place them
in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel.
They took possession of Samaria and lived in its city.
So Babylon was one of the neighboring nations that were
dominated by the Assyrians and that was still the case as we
come now to chapter 20, which may inform us that Babylon made
such efforts to potentially make an alliance with the Kingdom of
Judah, which makes sense doesn't it?
I mean, you just heard the news that this very small Kingdom in
comparison to the empire of Assyria, in one evening
destroyed 185,000 of their soldiers and close to that event
its king was divinely touched by God and recovered.
That is a very promising ally. And so it could be that Babylon
is drawn to Israel for for their own purposes, for for their own
advantage in the long run. And that's quite possible that
there's a prospective partnership that is about to
take place. But that's speculation, right?
Because we don't want to make too much of silence in
Scripture. But let me add this.
We do have a explanation for the spiritual dimension of what's
happening in verse 12 of our study, and the answer is in the
parallel passage. So now I'll ask you to go to
Second Chronicles 32, and I want you to see how the chronicler by
the Spirit gives us the divine perspective of what's happening
here. Second Chronicles 32 and verse
31. And so in the matter of the
envoys of the Princess of Babylon, who had been sent to
him to inquire about the sign that had been done in the land,
God left him to himself in order to test him and to know all that
was in his heart. What a profound verse.
The key to understanding this passage is by answering the
single question, What does it mean that God left Hezekiah to
himself? I'll be honest, I was wrestling
with this verse for quite some time yesterday, back and forth
in my thinking and even in my praying.
What does it mean, Lord, that you left Hezekiah to himself?
And I believe the last sentence of verse 30 of Second Chronicles
32 gives us some kind of a clue. And Hezekiah prospered in all
his works. So think about it this way.
As the king reached the peak of his achievements, as he
accumulated impressive amounts of wealth and advancements in
the infrastructure and the economy of the Kingdom of Judah,
God intentionally became quiet, especially when the exciting
news arrived that the Babylonians came to honor King
Hezekiah. And I believe this manifested in
one way of a sense of God's presence being withdrawn from
Hezekiah. And with that, the accompaniment
of the silence of any prophetic interjection or instruction for
the matter at hand, God became quiet, stepped back.
And before we can even ask why the Lord would do this, we're
told in the very same verse that it was to see how Hezekiah would
relate to the Lord at the height of his success and at this
pivotal moment that is set before him.
How will you relate to me now, Hezekiah?
You cried out to Me when you were afraid.
You sought Me when you were sick.
Now what will you do? As you are soaring with success
and doors are opening before you and your name is becoming more
known, will you remain rooted in me?
Will you still abide in My word? Will you still seek Me for
wisdom in your winds just as much as in your losses?
Will you protect your identity and satisfaction in me?
God left Hezekiah to himself to see what he would do at the peak
of his performance. And I believe a verse like this
is more relevant to us than we might imagine.
Because you see, though it has an immediate application, there
is a broader principle for the children of God.
If you get this, it will prepare you for those stretches of time
when God seems to become more quiet, when his guidance is not
so obvious, when His presence is not always felt.
What will you do when God leaves you to yourself?
Will you still cling to him? Will you still commune with Him
even though you're in the dark? Even though the the the light is
not provided for the path ahead, even though sensations are not
necessarily there? What will you do?
Will you stay close or will you be content to live disconnected
from it? This verse just to testify came
to me during the first year of my walk with the Lord, and I
praise God that it did because it was a constant reminder to me
that when God seems silent, it could be a test.
Where are you going to go? I can't tell you the amount of
believers who in their frustration, perhaps because of
a lack of an answer, delayed intervention, maybe frustration
with their feelings, easily drop out of the scene altogether,
drift into this sin, walk away from their commitment to serving
the Lord. I want you to never forget this
when those moments arise, when Monday morning comes and it
seems like the heavens above, you are like brass, what will
you do? This conviction?
Sit in the driver's seat of your devotion or this experience.
Are you in this? As long as God gives you what
you want, when you want it, how you want it, are you willing to
serve Him no matter what? We're all familiar with the
golden calf story. I'm not sure how many of us are
familiar from the human standpoint where it all began.
Let me say it this way. Lack of immediate intervention.
Delayed divine interjection. Answers are God's tools to
expose what's really in our hearts.
Turn to Exodus 32 with me and look at verse one.
This is the chapter that describes the heinous crime of
the golden calf being created. But remember the context.
What sprung these people to make such an evil and despicable
thing? Exodus 32 verse one, when the
people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain,
that people gather themselves together the Aaron and set them
up. Make us gods who shall go before
us. As for this Moses, the man who
brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has
become of him. Remember that Moses was God's
mouthpiece. He was set apart by God to be
the compass for the nation. And for this designated period
of time he was on the mountaintop receiving fresh
instruction for the next steps for the nation of Israel.
But it took too long. Apparently things got quiet.
And so when they realized that there was a delay, you know what
happened? Something emerged in their
hearts that was there all along. So when Israel felt stuck, when
Israel felt like they were in the dark, when they were removed
from an obvious and experiential sense of God's presence and
power and provision, things began to stir up from within.
And so, as much as they left Egypt, Egypt was still in
Israel. Understood.
When God leaves us to ourselves for a time, that's strategic,
that's not accidental. Yes, sometimes because of
unrepentant sin, we forfeit some of the blessings of God.
I'm talking about when you are walking with the Lord and He
turns off the lights. Hezekiah up to this point was
faithful. He was prayerful, He was
obedient, but things began to escalate very quickly in terms
of his ambitions and his desires and his accomplishments, and the
Lord stepped back to see, OK, what are you going to do now?
Did you notice in our reading of our study, there is no mention
of prayer? How many times have we seen
Hezekiah praying? It almost became redundant to us
because it was something that he held on to so strongly.
But as he began to prosper, as he began to grow, as he became
more renowned, things begin to slip away.
The Lord could have stepped in and whispered at Hezekiah's ear.
Hey, be careful. These Babylonians, don't be
tempted to make an alliance. Hey, be careful.
They might be coming here to spy on your resources.
He doesn't. He steps back to see.
Are you going to come to me? What are you going to do now?
And this is something for you and I to consider in those
moments where we may not be able to sense God the way we once
enjoyed in a way that was once familiar to us.
Never forget this verse. Could it be that the Lord is
testing you? Where are you going to go?
What are you going to do? Well, let's see what happens
back in our main text in Second Kings 20 verse 13.
When the Babylonians arrived, Hezekiah, let's read it again,
welcome them, and he showed them all his treasure house, the
silver, the gold, the spices, the pressure of his army, all
that was found in his storehouses.
There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that
Hezekiah did not show them. Now, you would think that this
is just Hezekiah being a courteous host.
This is him just giving the Babylonians a, you know, a tour
of the Kingdom. Did you notice how many times
the word His appears in verse 13 alone?
His, His His His and Second Chronicles confirms the true
reason behind his actions. Here.
Second Chronicles 32. Listen to verse 24 and 25.
In those days Hezekiah became sick, was at the point of death,
and he prayed to the Lord, and he answered them, and he gave
him a sign. But Hezekiah did not make return
according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud.
Therefore wrath came upon him in Judah and Jerusalem.
So the motive for this comprehensive tour, this
parading around his palace and all his possessions was because
Hezekiah wanted to show off. He's proud.
He was proud of his achievements.
And this is really the tragedy of his pride because he took for
himself the glory that belonged to the Lord alone.
And because of his arrogance, he squandered a wonderful
opportunity to do what? To testify of the true and
living God before these Babylonians there's no pointing
to the glory of God. That's not indicated here.
Hezekiah saw this as a way of growing in his fame, growing in
his leadership acknowledgement. He just, he's just taking
advantage of this for his own glory.
And instead of boldly testifying to these Pagan guests about the
power and mercy of the true and living God, instead of reminding
him that the Lord was a source of every blessing that he and
his Kingdom enjoyed, he made it about himself.
His, his, his. His pride is robbery.
And in the same verse, we learn how even the godliest of men and
women can be puffed up. You're there in Second
Chronicles, right? 32 Look at verse 25 again.
But Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to
him. What benefit?
God rescued him from the Assyrians and God healed him of
his sickness. So how do we summarize the
breeding ground for pride in Hezekiah's heart?
He became forgetful and unthankful.
That's what happened. He become forgetful and he
became ungrateful according to the benefit done to him.
And here's what you have to understand, and I'm here to
understand it with you, that a failure to consistently
acknowledge God as the source of every blessing, every ability,
everything that you own, will encourage the cultivation of
entitlement and a belief of 1's own greatness.
Heartfelt gratitude weakens self exaltation, and if you and I
allow our Thanksgiving to simply be depended upon spontaneity and
a combustion of emotion because of something that you
experienced in a moment, you will not know the full benefit
of being thankful. It's commanded.
It's everywhere. I think of that cluster of
verses in First Thessalonians chapter 5, beginning at verse
16. Rejoice, always pray without
ceasing. Give thanks in what some
circumstances, all circumstances, for this is the
will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Give thanks in all. I mean, you got to put into
drive. Thanksgiving isn't going to
drive on its own. You have to put the key in the
ignition, turn it on and put the pedal to the metal and and watch
how things begin to fall off. And watch how your heart is soft
and it remains soft. And how joy bubbles up, and how
God is kept in His rightful place and you are kept in your
rightful place as a recipient of every single joy and goodness
that He bestows upon you. Hezekiah lost touch with his
past, lost touch with the testimonies of God's
intervention in his life. And it began to excite in him
this self importance and the crediting of the things that he
saw and witnessed and developed to his own strength and his own
mind. And any doubt about his self
centeredness are clarified as we come back to our main text and
look at the remaining verses of our study.
Then Isaiah the prophet in verse 14 came to king Hezekiah and
said to him, what did these men say and from where did they come
to you? And Hezekiah said they have come
from a far country, from Babylon.
He said, what have they seen in your house?
And Hezekiah answered, they have seen all that is in my house.
There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show
them. Isaiah the prophet who is by
Hezekiah side and the good and the bad approaches him.
Now he shows up on the scene and he asks 3 questions.
The first one is pretty clear is it not?
He says here what do these men say?
The second one is where do they come from?
And lastly what did you show them?
Here's what interested me. Out of the three, Hezekiah
answers the last two, he doesn't acknowledge the first one.
Did you see that in his answer? Look again at verse 14.
What did these men say and from where they come to you?
And Hezekiah said they have come from a far country, from
Babylon. Again, we can't be dogmatic
about this, but let me give you my explanation.
I think Hezekiah, as he entertained these Babylonian
guests, eventually got into a conversation about a potential
alliance. And when Isaiah came to confront
him about these visitors, he knew that he would not like
knowing about a potential partnership with these pagans.
And so he leaves it out of his answer, but he is eager to
answer the last two. It makes you wonder if it's
because he was energized by the accolades and the recognition
and it just fed his pride. So what does he say?
Well, where do these men come from?
Well, they came from a far country, from Babylon.
They weren't just like next door neighbors.
They came from Babylon, Isaiah. They came all the way from there
to pay homage to us, to me. And what we learned from this is
that pride grows when net recognition is poorly managed.
You may not be able to help how men praise you, but it is your
responsibility what you do with that praise.
And make it a habit. No matter what anybody says to
you, if it's a parent, a pastor, a friend, somebody you're
witnessing to, to lay every crown that you receive as
quickly as possible at the feet of Jesus Christ.
Pride grows when recognition, validation is poorly managed.
Additionally, pride can be inflated by one's possessions.
Notice the answer to the third question.
They have seen all that is in my house.
There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show
them. And unbeknownst to Hezekiah,
he's about to learn the foolishness of his actions and
just how much the Lord despises A haughty spirit.
You got to think about it from a military standpoint, from a
political standpoint. There are so many examples in
the Scriptures that when a foreign nation with its
representatives show up to your front door, you have every right
to be suspicious. There's so many examples that we
can point to. And so for Hezekiah to just
swing open the door and allow these people to come in and see
everything was pretty foolish. And here's one reason why you
don't have to turn there. But in Obadiah verse 3, we
learned there that he tells his readers, the pride of your heart
has deceived you. You know, sometimes you look at
people and you see the decisions that they make, especially
leaders. And you wonder, did you not
think about the potential consequences of that action or
that decision or that sin, not taking into account that perhaps
there was a sin harbored before that sin that manifested
publicly pride. It blinds you and me.
It doesn't let you see the full picture.
It doesn't let you come to an answer with the equation of your
choices. Scripture says that there is
wisdom with who? The humble.
And so you see here that this manages as a king, as a ruler.
What are you thinking, just revealing every ounce of your
inventory to this nation where you don't know why they're
really there? You, they don't serve the living
God. You don't know what they're
planning. Pride blinds you.
It confuses you. And when it's not repented of
quickly, it leads to 1's own destruction.
And Isaiah the prophet is here to tell Hezekiah just that.
Let's come back to our main text.
Look at verse 16 with me. Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah,
Hear the word of the Lord, Behold, the days are coming when
all that is in your house and that which is in your father's
have stored up till this day shall be carried to Babylon.
Nothing shall be left, says the Lord.
And some of your own sons who shall be born to you shall be
taken away, and they shall become eunuchs in the palace of
the king of Babylon. Now, before we look into this
prophecy, can we just admire how remarkable this prediction is?
Again, be reminded that at this time, Babylon was just one of
the several small kingdoms surrounding the empire of
Assyria, all under its control and domination.
And yet you have this man making this kind of a prediction.
Like from a human perspective, no one could have foreseen such
a dramatic shift in geopolitical power.
You tell me, Babylon, we read it back in 2nd 17.
Babylon that was violated and invaded.
Babylon is going to have the upper hand and begin to take
over nations, including Judah. All to say that what you and I
have before us, even in this text, is a wonderful testament
to the divine authorship of the Bible.
And I want to encourage, I really mean this when I say
this. Be familiar with the prophecies
of the Bible. Be familiar with them and not
just the ones about the Messiah, as paramount as those are.
Be familiar with the historical ones, the ones that happened in
the Old Testament. Do you know why?
Because if anybody asks you why you believe that this is this
book is God's word instead of any other religious texts, one
of your go to answers should be the fulfilled prophecies of this
book. In fact, the Lord himself
highlights that power of his, that omniscience of his as one
of the determining factors that he is the one true God and that
he is set apart from all other so-called deities.
So I really admonish you, I encourage you be familiar with
the predictions of this book and the fulfillments of it.
OK, maybe you're not convinced. So in Isaiah 46, nine, and 10,
this is something that I myself have been memorizing lately.
Remember the former things of old.
For I am God, and there is no other.
I am God, and there is none like me declaring the end from the
beginning, from ancient times, things not yet done, saying My
counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose.
What is God saying there? Let me prove to you that there
was no one like me. I declare the end from the
beginning. I declare from ancient times
things not yet done. Do you know those things?
We should. Here's one of them, that 100
years before Babylon took over the known world, Isaiah said it
would happen. And that's what I've been
answering with people lately. Why do you believe the Bible is
God's word? Because God in this word
predicts the future and he's never failed once.
How do you explain that this is the only history book that
predicts the future? Does your book do that?
Well, no, has no has good lessons in there and maybe
stretch some kind of prediction that anybody can fulfill.
Not this God. He talks about nations.
He talks about names of rulers of those nations.
He talks about so many things and that should at least peak
your curiosity to read the Bible.
Forgive me, I got carried away. Let's look at the content of
this prophecy. Everything that you show to
these Babylonians that will be confiscated by the Babylonians,
and moreover, your own sons who shall be born to you shall be
taken away, and they should become eunuchs in the palace of
the king of Babylon. Question I'm actually asking if
you know the answer, where in the Bible do we have the
clearest answer of this prophecy being fulfilled?
Very good. That didn't take very long, did
it? Daniel 1123.
Why don't we just turn there to look at it?
We're in no rush, right? Some of you drove quite a bit to
get here. So somebody from Seattle is
here. So why are we going to rush,
right? Let's look at Daniel 1123 just
to see it. Just to see with our own eyes.
It's right after the book of Ezekiel.
Here it is in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of
Judah. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,
came to Jerusalem and besieged it there.
It is just over 100 years after Isaiah said to Hezekiah that it
would happen. Put that as a reference if you
write in your Bible. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim,
king of Judah, into his hand with some of the vessels of the
House of God. There it is.
You have a descendant of Hezekiah, and you have the
possessions of the Kingdom. What what's happening?
And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the House of his
God, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his God.
Then the king commanded Aspen as his chief eunuch to bring some
of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and the
nobility. And who was among those of the
royal family nobility? Daniel.
Here's what blessed me. As much as this was a prediction
of judgement, God had a redemptive threat in it.
He took what most believes to be a 15 year old with his friends
and allow them to be brought into a foreign land.
And it was through Daniel's ministry that we have one of the
clearest apocalyptic prophecies about the end times, among many
other things that he accomplished.
Let's come back to our main text, shall we?
If you if you're not shocked by Hezekiah's attitude yet, I think
verse 19 will do it. Look at his response to this
pronouncement of judgement. Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah,
the word of the Lord that you've spoken is good.
For he thought, why not if there will be peace and security in my
days, Huh. Now this has disturbed students
of the Bible and trying to make sense of this.
This seems so out of character for this great man of God.
And there's going to be another cross reference here that may
make this even more challenging. But let's just take it at face
value. What do you get from this?
That there was this sigh of relief that though judgement was
declared, it would not happen in Hezekiah's lifetime.
This doesn't happen to me and my family, at least my immediate
family. The word of the Lord is good and
debate all you want, but it becomes very difficult to
justify this response, especially when you compare it
to another king who received his own pronouncement of judgement
because of his own pride as a king.
Do you know who I'm speaking about, David?
Yes. The answers are coming quick
tonight. Remember what David did at the
end of his reign, At least near the end of his reign, he created
what a census. And the crime was not just a
census. It's the motive of that census
and what the people did with that census.
We studied this at great length when we looked through Second
Samuel, but let's refresh our memories and recall the words of
King David when he was told that judgement would come upon
Jerusalem in Second Samuel 2417. You can turn there if you like,
but I'm going to read it and I want you to compare it just by
hearing it with what we read with Hezekiah.
Listen to what David does in Second Samuel 24 verse 17.
Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the Angel who was
striking the people, and said, Behold, I have sinned and I have
done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they
done? Please let your hand be against
me and against my father's house.
Take this now and place it beside what we read in Second
Kings 20. The word of the Lord is good.
Why not? There'll be peace and security
in my days. David was a true shepherd.
He really loved his people. Not that Hezekiah didn't, but
this is where he falls short as he seeks to emulate King David.
A true leader cares about those that he's leading, and if it
means that they suffer so they don't, he will suffer.
If it means that they will prosper and grow at the expense
of whatever they have to give up, they will do that.
That's a Holy Spirit thing and David is a wonderful model of
that because we see, yes, and Hezekiah and then David a
comparison. But we're also reminded in this
overall that leaders especially, and I'm not just talking about
leaders in ministry. Some of you here are fathers.
Some of you are aspiring fathers and mothers.
Your leadership with those that God has given to you matters.
Your attitude matters. In fact, we didn't touch on
something. I'm not sure if you noticed it,
but again, there's no rush, right?
When Hezekiah was indicted for his pride, did you notice that
he was not the only one that became proud?
OK, I know we're going to flip back and forth here, but go back
to Second Chronicles. We looked at this verse earlier,
but look at it again. The Second Chronicles 32, verse
25. But Hezekiah did not make return
according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud.
Therefore wrath came upon him. And who else?
And Judah And Jerusalem. Why?
Here's the best explanation. Hezekiah's pride was contagious.
His attitude rubbed off on those that were under his leadership.
And so this is for all of us. Anybody that looks up to you,
anybody that's under your care, how you lead is important.
And your investment is not always direct.
It's indirect. How you and I talk, how you and
I carry ourselves, how you and I view the ministry, how you and I
cherish the word, all these things have impact beyond our
own lives. So Hezekiah's pride became the
people's pride. When he was self absorbed and he
was receiving this praise, the people began to lose their focus
on who God was and what he's done.
And now they're placing it on themselves, including Hezekiah.
So parents, let me give you an example.
The way you approach the local church, how you speak about the
church, how you express your sentiments about the church,
your your attitude towards the church, that's not just going to
stay with you. It will in some way affect your
children if you moan and groan when it comes to Sunday service
because you have to go. Guess who's going to moan and
groan eventually? But if you're excited and you're
passionate, then you express what a privilege it is to serve
God in any capacity. You're going to give your
children a better chance to imitate that.
So Hezekiah becomes proud and the people become proud.
I know that's not always the case, but it is a it is a rule.
It's a general observation. So he says here back at our main
text, why not? If there will be peace and
security In my days, self centeredness and pride go hand
in hand. Self preservation.
This man for this moment did not care what would happen beyond
his life. Here's where it gets really
interesting. Go to Second Chronicles 32 again
and look at one verse with me in verse 26.
But Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of
the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
So this has LED some to believe that what you read back in
Second Kings 20 verse 19 wasn't Hezekiah being selfish, it was
him just expressing his gratitude.
That judgment was an immediate. I'm not persuaded, nor do I
think that this is contradictory.
Instead, this is simply an accurate description of the
complexity of the human heart. Here's how to make sense of
this. That his initial reaction is
what you read in Second Kings 20 verse 19, and shortly after that
he truly humbles himself. I'm so glad that this verse is
included in our Bibles because if you were left with just
Second Kings 20, you would have to conclude that Hezekiah ended
bad. But because of this little
phrase, this little statement, we know that he was able and
eventually humbled himself. As powerful as pride can be, as
hopeless as proud people can seem, have you ever met somebody
who was proud and arrogant? Look at them.
You think you're, you're like, you're sealed, dude.
There's I can't imagine you any other way.
I've only known you wearing that perfume of pride and it stinks.
But what does Hezekiah show us? That it's possible for the proud
and heart to be humble. God can uproot that.
So here's here's the encouraging note in this Bible study.
If you know yourself, if this Bible study has done some kind
of work in you to help you recognize that you crave the
validation of man, that you do take pride in your achievements
and your possessions even, or that maybe you're you're just
self-centered. The world revolves around me and
if I get to escape, even though others around me even that I
care about them are are going to so be it.
As long as I'm good. If it's going to cost them, it
doesn't cost me. That's fine as long as there's
peace and security in my life. If you're so upset, do you see
it? God can change your heart.
He can change my heart. He can do a miracle in your
bosom. He can radically shift your
outlook, your inlook. He can do it.
He did it in Hezekiah. And here's what's so important
to consider. Look back at the last two verses
of Second Kings 20. The rest of these of Hezekiah
and all his mind, how he made it, the pool and the conduit and
brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of
the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
I mean, Hezekiah's work in Jerusalem, the things that he
did for the city can still be seen today.
You can look this up if you haven't seen it for yourself in
person in Israel. Hezekiah's tunnel, incredible by
the grace of God had the opportunity to actually walk
through Hezekiah's tunnel before COVID happened.
It was just fascinating to walk through this and think to
myself, Hezekiah's men made this tunnel possible in order to
bring water into the city when they were under siege.
This is fascinating. That's wonderful, but you know
what the Scripture says in Proverbs 16, verse 32.
Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he
who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
What's more impressive in Hezekiah doing all these things
and arriving at all these feats and revolutionizing how
Jerusalem would thrive and survive economically and a
national security is a fact that he was able to overcome pride.
And that's what the Bible prizes more than anything else.
Now what we do in the world, now what we do at the workplace, now
what we do with our bank account, what you do with your
character, what you're able to achieve in the inner man by the
power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of God's Word.
And that's something for you and I to consider as we close
Hezekiah's story. Is there anything in our own
hearts that we know needs to change?
Can I tell you how it's going to happen?
We have the ingredients here with Hezekiah.
Two things, at least two things. One, hear the word of the Lord.
That's where it all started for Hezekiah, right?
And two, somebody who loved him enough to speak the word of the
Lord to him. There's going to be any victory
in our hearts. It's for us to stand in the
presence of God's Word and sometimes be willing to be the
recipient of the rebuke of a God fearing man or woman.
God's voice and community will help us stay humble.
That's why it's so important that you go to a Bible teaching
church. Has the Lord's Word touched your
heart today? I hope it did.
Can I tell you how it touched mine when I studied it this
week? Hezekiah was so close to
finishing badly and didn't come when he was youthful and when he
started out as a king at the age of 25.
It came when the Lord added 15 years to his life and he knew
that his days were numbered. Imagine that.
He knew that his days were numbered.
He knew the exact year he was going to die, and he still
became proud. If I knew when I was going to
die, I mean, every day is going to count.
I'm going to make sure that I'm as close to Christ as possible
every day. And even with that kind of an
insight, he let his heart become proud.
And I found myself praying. Lord, if there's an overarching
lesson in the study of kings, yes #1 there's no king like
Jesus, but #2 I want to finish well.
Help me, help me finish well. They're, they're all these vices
and temptations waiting to destroy my testimony.
David had Bathsheba, David had the senses.
Hezekiah in this moment, pride of his achievements.
Uzziah wanting to be a priest, not satisfied and content with
his own calling. All these different things that
we've been studying, I hope and I pray that you're taking it to
heart. These have been given to us for
our instruction and our example, that we may not desire evil as
they did, Paul tells us in first Corinthians 10.
I think that's enough for Bible study tonight.
Let's bow our hearts before the King of Kings and ask Him, Lord,
even if you choose to leave us to ourselves, help us stay close
to you. Help us trust you, help us seek
you. Help us remain in your presence
even when all is well. That is our heart.
Cry tonight, Lord, we we see what we are capable of and in a
holy way. It inspires A godly fear and it
drives us to your feet. And we ask that you would remove
anything that is beginning in our hearts.
Even if it's beginning, if it's at that larva state, we pray
that you would deal with it, and Your great power might.
With all that was said, we pray that You would help us recall
these things. We need you, Lord.
We can't do this without you. Help us now, even as we open our
hearts to You in your presence this evening in Jesus name,
Amen. The praise thing will come, but
listen, don't rush, don't rush. When God speaks to us, it is
appropriate to speak back to Him.
And so I want to encourage you, just commune with the Lord
before we sing any note, any lyric.
Ask the Lord to guard your heart, to keep your heart and He
will do it. He's faithful.