I now ask you to meet me in Second Kings Chapter 18 because
we begin our study in one of the most prominent and highly
praised kings in the history of the Kingdom of Judah.
The fact that three extensive chapters are dedicated to this
one man highlights the significance of his story.
And that doesn't even count what is said of him in Second
Chronicles. That doesn't count what is
included in the book of Isaiah. This leader is significant.
Some even consider him to be a second David because this very
chapter that we're going to study tonight celebrates his
emulation of the man after God's own heart.
And he who I speak of tonight goes by the name of Hezekiah.
His name means Yahweh strengthens.
As we come to this text, we are going to witness a unique
strengthening in the Kingdom of Judah because of one man's firm
devotion to the true God. And I trust that after all we've
been through in Second Kings thus far, we will know great
refreshment from Hezekiah's walk with God.
And so this is going to be a little bit of an Oasis for us as
we have traversed through this book faithfully.
Now we come to receive much encouragement of what it means,
what it looks like to really serve the Lord when you have
every reason in your personal life, in your culture that would
encourage you otherwise. So there's much to glean from in
these verses tonight. We'll consider the 1st 12 of
them in this chapter, but let's begin now looking at the first 3
verses. Second Kings 18 verse one.
In the third year of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel,
Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign.
He was 25 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
29 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abby, the
daughter of Zechariah, and he did what was right in the eyes
of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.
We've often reflected on the remarkable truth that children
of unrighteous parents are still able to develop a sincere and
vibrant walk with God even with the absence of a godly role
model. And that inspiration can be
found here with righteous Hezekiah because we are reminded
right away of his wicked father, A has.
We've studied a has in depth in previous weeks.
So I don't want to revisit that point because we've touched on
on many occasions in the study of second Kings.
But I do want to look at a unique aspect of Hezekiah's
upbringing that I trust will provide a deeper sense of hope.
Because if you remember studying A has, we not only confirm that
he was an unrighteous king, we also came to the conclusion that
he was a monstrous father. If there's any hesitation to
believe that, may I remind you one of the greatest atrocities
that he committed as recorded in Second Chronicles chapter 28.
Let me read this to you from verse three of Second Chronicles
28. And he being a has.
And he made offerings in the valley of the son of Henom, and
burned his sons as an offering according to the abominations of
the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.
Oh, I have so many questions with this horrendous insight and
how it connects with the story of Hezekiah, but if there was
one, I would want to ask and find an answer for it.
Is this. How did Hezekiah survive in a
household where the father slaughtered his sons with
religious conviction? If we're told here that he has
burned his sons, plural, how did Hezekiah escape?
That's a legitimate question, wouldn't you say?
Did he grow up before his father became more depraved and adopted
the abominable practices of the nations?
Could it be that unlike his siblings, Hezekiah was spared
for succession and so he became the protected heir?
We are not given the exact reason for his survival, for his
preservation, but one thing that we can say with absolute
certainty is that this this man was born and raised in a brutal,
unpredictable, frightening environment.
And that is the story of many. That their childhood isn't just
defined by a void of moral compass, a void of godly
guidance, but that they were also subject to the parents
despicable neglect and abusive behavior.
And for many of those people, their future tends to be
predictable according to statistics, where they inherit a
vulnerability, profound instability, because the father
or the mother who was called to protect them and nurture them
instead became the means to inflict various wounds upon
them. And for some, the way they cope
with that is that they themselves choose a path of self
destruction, sin, in order to try to manage the trauma that
they endured from a young age. Not Hezekiah.
But it read in Second Kings that he did what was right in the
eyes of the Lord, against all odds and statistics if you will.
There are two important words with that statement.
You can miss it very easily. He did.
It was a personal choice that he made at the age of 25.
I will choose to follow the Lord.
Imagine having a conversation with Hezekiah, 25.
Imagine interviewing him as a new king, asking about his
family background and asking about his siblings, for example.
He says yeah, my, my siblings, most of them are not here
anymore. Why?
My dad gave him up to the fire. You want to talk about trauma,
You want to talk about horrors. This man knew it.
And sometimes we just have to sit long enough in a passage of
Scripture and consider the implications.
These are real people. These are not characters of a
moral story. This is an historical account.
And Hezekiah here chooses not to resign himself to dysfunction,
justifying it by the damage that he knew from a young age.
Many people do, though. Instead, what you find here is,
is this man's testimony revealing that faith in the
grace of God can help us overcome any past relational
disadvantage, even if even if it came with unspeakable abuse.
It's OK, People are just coming. I truly wonder if the same man
who said of him that he walked in the ways of David imitated
David's faith in this particular area.
Do you remember what he said in Psalm 27, verse 10?
For my father and my mother have forsaken me.
Does anybody know the rest of it?
But the Lord will take me in. But the Lord will take me in.
What a revelation. Think about that.
David is singing about how God's love is more dependable than the
love of his parents, more secure, more available.
And I, and I like to think that Hezekiah, believe the same.
Do you? As important as human bond is,
as important as a mother's touches and a father's
affirmation may be, do you have the faith in your heart to
believe that God's love for you can make you more whole than
anything else? A lot of people get themselves
into great mess, patterns of dysfunction and relational
issues because they failed to build their identity upon that
foundation. My mom and my dad, if they
forsake me, yes, they might have forsaken me.
But let me tell you, the Lord brought me in.
Do you think that's just a theological checkbox and David's
profession of faith, or did he experience that?
I experienced that, so much so that he wrote about it.
And so we see here that Hezekiah had a bright future ahead of him
because he chose to walk in the ways of the Lord.
Speaking of David, we learned that Hezekiah, yes, walked in
the ways of that wonderful man of God.
Don't we see you there in verse three of Second Kings 18?
And there are a couple of other kings that we've already studied
that did the same, but Hezekiah was different.
And we are immediately told how, look at verse four.
He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down
the ashra, and he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that
Moses had made for until those days the people of Israel had
made offerings to it. It was called Nehushtan.
Look at the first few verses. He removed the high places.
This is the first recorded king of Judah who took that bold step
and dismantled those places of worship.
Up to this point, for the longest time, these stations of
worship were considered convenient and even harmless,
even by good kings. And when it comes down to
Hezekiah, we learned that he did not concern himself with what
other leaders did. No, instead he knew that God's
Word demanded A singular, central place of worship, and he
determined to dismantle anything that would distract from it.
What a word of encouragement for many.
Christians listen very carefully who establish what they believe
and how they live for Christ, primarily based on what a
prominent pastor or leader might believe about a certain doctrine
or truth. I've heard over the years of
people who are willing to overlook some things or even
ignore clear passage of Scripture or misinterpret it.
Why? Well, because so and so taught
it this way, or because so and so views this in a different
light, and they put too much trust in the interpretation of
another. And if that's your temptation,
learn from Hezekiah. The Word of God was his sole
authority. Not what a particular branch,
not what a particular denomination or a particular man
of God, a commentator or teacher or a wonderful preacher.
What does God's Word have to say and are you willing to abide by
God's Word even though spiritual heroes may not view with that
kind of importance If he just went with the trend, Well, you
know, King ASA didn't take him down, so I just leave him.
Jehoshaphat didn't really think it was a big deal, so I won't do
it. No, no, no, God's Word said one
place to worship. I'm going to listen to God.
Unfortunately for some people, it's no, no, it's doctor so and
so said this pastor so and so said that.
OK, great. Does it agree with God's Word?
Didn't John tell us that we've all been anointed with the Holy
Spirit to teach us? Yes, we do receive from teachers
and God has gifted certain people to explain truths, but
not with things that are clear and obvious.
Do you ignore them just because you take somebody's word for it?
Hezekiah is early on showing that he is willing to stand
alone, even if it's countercultural, even if it's
counter Christian culture. Now the extent of this man's
reform reaches areas and items that we didn't even know about.
Look at verse 4 again. He broke in pieces the bronze
serpent that Moses had made for until those days, the people of
Israel had made offerings to it. We haven't seen this since
Numbers chapter 21, this particular relic, and some
believe it's been 800 years since the people of God
originally engaged with this thing.
And yet clearly it's been preserved since the days of
Moses, since the days of the wilderness.
And we hopefully recall the testimony behind this, that when
the people of God, at a later point in their journey through
the wilderness, yet again did not believe the word of the
Lord, the Lord released fiery serpents to bite them, to punish
them, to discipline them because of their sin.
And yet it's because of a man's intercession.
The Lord instructed Moses to create a bronze serpent, to
raise it up on a pole, and to call all the people to simply
look upon it, and they would know their healing.
The Lord Jesus, when he was approached by Nicodemus at
night, taught him that that pole pointed to his work on the
cross, did he not? And that the simple look of
faith, the eyes of the heart, that gaze upon the one who was
lifted up, is enough to receive healing from spiritual poison.
Is that what he said in John 314 to 15?
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so
must the Son of Man be lifted up.
And whoever believes in him will have eternal life.
Whoever would believe in him may have eternal life.
It's amazing how many things in the Old Testament point to
Christ, things that we might not consider.
But Jesus in this case is not only the fulfillment of that
miracle. Like any other thing, any other
foreshadowing, He is the greater fulfillment of it.
In what way is the Lord Jesus greater than what that bronze
serpent was able to do for the people of God?
Well, there are many explanations.
Let me give you a major one. The healing virtue that flowed
from the faith of the people connecting with what God
instructed concerning that bronze serpent only lasted that
day. Only on that awful day did it
not. So no matter how many offerings
as we read here that the people gave to this bronze serpent, no
matter how long they stared at it, it could do nothing for the
people. The best that I can offer is a
memory of what God has done in the past.
Now consider Jesus when he was lifted up 2000 years ago
according to our calendar. The Sinner can still look upon
that truth with the eyes of faith and know and receive
healing. Unlike the bronze serpent,
century after century after century, it was just a statue.
But Jesus said that points to me being lifted up, and here we are
2000 years later, and on May 18th we're going to hear a few
testimonies of those that I looked upon him and I received
my healing. It reminds me of that hymn.
The blood will never lose its power.
It reaches to the highest mountain, it flows to the lowest
valley, and that blood that gives me strength from
day-to-day will never lose its power.
Does anybody know the other reference in the New Testament
that brings us back to the bronze serpent?
If you know the answer, you can answer.
You can say it out loud. Most people know John 314 and
15. I'll wait, no rush.
Anybody know where else is the Holy Spirit bring up the
incident of the fiery serpents in the wilderness in Numbers 21?
Hebrews is a good guess, but that's not what I'm thinking
about. It's one of Paul's writings.
You can make a case that Paul wrote Hebrews, First
Corinthians. Let's turn that together.
First Corinthians chapter 10 and let's look at verse 9.
We must not put Christ to the test as some of them did and
were destroyed by serpents. Now what's the context?
He is again pointing to the wilderness journey and drying
out principles for practical holiness.
And Paul says here that they put Christ to the test.
So listen, not only does that account point to Jesus and his
finished work on the cross, it also is a reminder that Christ
himself was the one that they did not believe in.
What does that teach us? Well two things at least.
One, that the New Testament over and over again confirms the pre
existence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Don't we see it here? What does he say?
We must not put Christ to the test as some of them did and
were destroyed by serpents. Who do they not believe in
according to Paul's words? Not just God, not just Yahweh,
Jesus Christ. Paul says let's not do the same.
Let's not do the same. And here's the second lesson
that through Jesus and the apostles teachings and the
writings, we are encouraged to know how to engage with the
Hebrew Scriptures. If I take what Christ says in
Nicodemus in John chapter 3 and what Paul says here in First
Corinthians 10, then I learned the dual purpose of my study of
the Old Testament. I'm looking for Christ and I'm
also looking for what he asks of me as a follower of him.
So we should always, as we come to the Hebrew Scriptures, look
for Jesus predictions and foreshadowings, but we should
also look for principles and illustrations of what it means
to live for him. That's how the New Testament
handles the Old Testament Jesus as it points to me and what I
did nothing you can do to imitate it, but also points to
what you can do after you put your faith and trust in me, what
it looks like to live for my glory.
That's what we endeavor to do every Friday that that's what
we're doing here tonight as we study this man, Hezekiah.
So let's return to it in second Kings 18.
Unfortunately, what was originally meant to be an
instrument of good turned into an object of worship.
Not only did they venerate this item, they began to make
offerings to it. So what's, what's the lesson
here? The lesson is very clear, is it
not, that humanity has the tendency to exalt God's means of
grace beyond their purpose? And we are very good at turning
things into idols rather than channels bringing us and
pointing us back to Him. So let's not limit this
applications to the millions of people who are fixated on
shrouds or the bones of Saints or other relics.
We too are capable of looking at past movements, past ministers,
current movements, current ministries, current ministers
and making them more than they ought to be, failing to see that
their channels of grace and actually making them the object
of our affection. And now they compete with
Christ. It's debated who labeled the
bronze serpent with the name Nehushtan because translations
depicted differently. But contextually, especially
when you know what this name means, there is greater evidence
that Hezekiah was the one who named it.
This especially you have the King James Version in your hand
because it will read there the last part of verse 4, and he
called it Nehushtan. You won't find that in the ESV.
It's a little bit more clear in the Hebrew.
What does Nehushtan mean? A thing of brass, In other
words, a piece of metal. Understanding that, it makes
sense, then, for Hezekiah to be the one who labels it in this
way. Why?
Because that's pretty degrading for an object of worship, isn't
it? A thing of brass?
That's the point. Because this man of God is
reminding the people of God. This is just an instrument.
It can't offer anything to you. It's lifeless and apart from
God's animating work, it's void of purpose.
It offers you absolutely nothing.
And listen, a true man of God will remind himself and others
that any means of God's goodness is simply an instrument in his
hand. Hello, Paul says to the
Corinthians. What is Apollo's?
Who is Paul? Servants through whom you have
believed as a Lord assigned to each.
We're nothing To view yourself that way will keep you from much
trouble. And from time to time to let
people know also that you are only human and to remind
yourself that others that you're being blessed by, they're only
human. They put on their pants one leg
at a time like you. It's got through them, it's got
in them. And this man is doing that.
In this case, I just can imagine the reaction of the people when
he took this thing and crush it into pieces.
It was around for centuries. It was normalized.
It was ingrained in their system and in their culture.
He could care less the high places.
He just was sniffing for anything that rivalled God's
word and he dealt with it. This is a true reformer, and
we're only beginning to learn from him.
Let's read from verse 5 down to verse 7, Second Kings 18, verse
five. He trusted in the Lord, the God
of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the
kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him.
For he felt help fast the Lord. He did not depart from following
him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses,
and the Lord was with him. Wherever he went out, he
prospered. He rebeled against the king of
Assyria and would not serve him. Look at the beginning of verse 7
again. And the Lord was with him, a
statement rarely made about the kings of either Israel or Judah,
but it's said of him. But what was rare in the days of
the kings does not have to be uncommon for us, because we are
granted, in those very verses that we just read, a formula to
secure the Lord being with us. Now hold on.
I know it is true that in a general sense we are promised
God's unbroken companionship as his children.
But it is unrealistic and dishonest to say that each of us
experienced the Lord's fellowship in the same way.
You can't tell me that a worldly Christian will know the same
blessings as the one who chooses to walk closely with Christ.
Impossible. So is there anything here that
can grant us the assurance or the recipe to be able to secure
this wonderful, prosperous way of life of the Lord being with
us wherever we go? Absolutely.
It's found in the preceding verses.
Look at the beginning of verse 5 again.
He trusted in the Lord #1 Now look at the beginning of verse
6. For he held fast to the Lord and
look at it again in verse 7. And the Lord was with him.
You see the formula? He trusted in the Lord, He held
fast to the Lord. So let's consider those things
separately. He trusted in the Lord.
What does it mean to truly trust the Lord?
This is synonymous with having faith in the Lord.
But is there anything that can give us confirmation?
Is there any definition, anything that we can work with
that can give us greater clarity or, or the ability to measure
the trust that God asked of us that pleases him?
And I'll never forget a New Testament passage that removed
any fogginess, any confusion around this area of a faith that
pleases Lord, a mature faith. And it's in the place where Paul
teaches about Abraham's faith and how he exercised his faith
and how he became a model of faith for believers even today.
So let's turn to Romans chapter 4 and let's look at a couple of
verses here that I hope will bless you as much as it blessed
me. Romans 4 beginning in verse 20,
it says here, no unbelief made him waver concerning the promise
of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to
God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had
promised. Look again at the words, the 2
words beginning in verse 21, fully convinced.
Can I ask you a personal question?
Does it ever disappoint you? When you assess something, you
analyze something, you explain something to someone and they
don't trust you. Does it bother you?
And we're fallible. We have a tendency of
exaggerating. We have the ability to forget.
So how much more the one who is perfectly knowledge, who never
blows things out of proportion, who has never ever been accused
of being inaccurate, what does it do to his heart when we don't
fully trust him? Nobody here would settle.
No husband here would settle for their wives to partially trust
them and vice versa. We we wouldn't settle for that
in a friendship level. It would irk us, it would bother
us, it would disturb us. So again, how much more that the
one who is perfect in all of his ways.
And yet we see here that the faith that blesses God is when
we were totally persuaded that he's able to accomplish anything
that he has said, that's Abraham.
He was fully convinced, fully convinced.
So one way for you to know the strength of your faith is to
simply ask, am I completely persuaded by the word of God
where God said something? Do I say I trust you completely?
And if we can say that we're fully convinced, then there is
much room for growth. And that's in fact how we know
we're growing in faith. Look back at verse 20, the
middle of it. But he grew strong in his faith.
He grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.
And then it's followed by fully convinced that God was able to
do what He had promised. So the way I can determine
growth in my trust is that I become more and more convinced
that whenever I come to God's Word, whenever I hear a truth
concerning him, what He's able to do, who He is in my heart, it
has this unshakable ability to rely on that you know that
you're growing and you know that you're maturing in faith.
I believe Hezekiah had that kind of faith.
He trusted in the Lord and it's proven here the courage that
this man had. He removed the high places.
He destroyed something that was recognized by everyone as a
harmless thing worthy of devotion.
He goes no, so that there's no question here.
That verse five and second Kings 18 where it says he trusts in
the Lord is the secret to his boldness.
He didn't fear what would happen to him by his own kinsmen.
It didn't worry him at all because he trusted in the Lord
and this pleased God. But not only that, it says here
that he held fast to the Lord. All this means is that Hezekiah
was consistent with his consecrated life.
It says that in the same verse, and this principle applies to
all men, even kings, that there are certain blessings that are
reserved for those who are consistent, who are consistent,
who determine I will never depart from the Lord.
I will continually submit to what is Word asks for me in all
seasons. There's something there for such
a person who remains in longevity with the Master.
Yes, He is faithful to bring us back when we veer.
Yes, He is faithful to restore us when we run away.
Absolutely. But there's something for those
who remain steadfast. Another way of saying it is as
long as you stay close to the Lord, God will stay close to
you. OK, maybe you don't believe me,
so let me show you what the Lord says to another king in Second
Chronicles. Let's turn that together in
Second Chronicles chapter 15, verse one.
This is what the Lord says through Azariah to ASA.
The Spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Oded, and he
went out to meet ASA and said to him, Hear me, ASA and all Judah
and Benjamin, the Lord is with you while you are aware you are
with Him. If you seek Him, He will be
found by you, but if you forsake him, He will forsake you.
It's very simple. Do we find the same truth in the
New Testament? What did James tell the
believers? Draw near to God and what He'll
draw near to you. So the Lord doesn't go anywhere.
He's constant. He remains.
We're the ones that take different routes.
We're the ones who delay when he moves forward.
We're the one who go goes ahead when He remains.
So as much as this is a warning, it's a wonderful promise that as
long as you seek him, he'll, he'll let you find Him.
And if you want to remain under the current of his blessings,
just stay close to him. How do you stay consistent over
all these years? Where else am I going to go?
Like, is it that much of A mystery?
What else does this world have to offer me?
So like Peter, you have the words of eternal life.
I can't go anywhere. There's no other option.
So Hezekiah, he held fast to the Lord and as long as he held fast
to the Lord, the Lord made him prosper wherever he went.
Include the Lord and everything, walk with the Lord and
everything and you will know perpetual blessing.
And we're told here back in Second Kings 18, two ways that
Hezekiah was prosperous. Let's come back to it in verse
7. The second part of verse 7,
something very important. It says here, let's just read
the whole verse. And the Lord was with him
wherever he went, he prospered. There's a new covenant version
of spiritual prosperity. But notice this.
He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him.
Why is that significant? Do we remember how Judah got
into the mess with Assyria to begin with?
Why was Assyria oppressing these people?
Because of Hezekiah's father? What did Ahaz say to Assyria
when he was threatened by Syria? Just go back a couple chapters.
Look at chapter 16, Look at verse 7.
So it has sent messengers to Tillglath Pilizer, king of
Assyria, saying, I am your servant and your son.
Remember we covered that. I am your servant and your son.
Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and
from the hand of the king of Israel who are attacking me.
And here's now the son of A has and he goes, I'm not your
servant, nor am I your son. I'm his servant and I'm his son.
Just again, another wonderful encouragement for us that we can
shake free from generational patterns.
Just because you saw your father, your mother and older
sibling or your friends walking in a certain way, it doesn't
mean that you have to submit to that blueprint for life.
You can make the choice to say, actually, I'm not going to
worship you. I'm not going to serve you.
My allegiance is to the Lord himself.
Counseling would look a lot different if we believe that
instead of allowing people to sit in their trouble and their
disorientation, No. Give people hope and pull them
out of that. Don't let that person remain a
victim. Is it true that people are
victims of people's sins? Yes, but they can no victory.
A lot of the counseling today people are offering is not real
counsel. It just numbs people and keeps
them in defeat. But notice here a very important
sequence. Hezekiah could not break free
from Assyria until he first fully trusted and committed
himself to the Lord. Did he rebel against Assyria
before he trusted and gave himself to the Lord?
No, it came after. The confidence, came after the
promise came after the blessing of being free came after.
And the same is true in our relationship with sin, our
relationship with anybody for that matter.
You can't know the blessing that God has for your personal life
and for your relationship with others until you establish your
relationship with Him. And there are many people
around, even philosophers and psychologist and pundits and
gurus that are trying to fix this whole mess in our world.
How do we establish peace? How do we create harmony?
How do we flourish injustice? Have you ever thought how the 10
commandments were organized? You have the first four that
deal with obedience and worship to God alone, and the final six
deal with our relationship with others.
That's not an accident. You want to avoid murder and
theft and adultery and covetousness.
You can't skip the first four steps.
You have to be rightly related to God if you're going to know
any kind of hope with your relationship with others and
vice versa. But everybody wants to skip
that. Everybody wants a level of
righteousness, but they don't want to be right with God.
No, no. We see it throughout Scripture
that it first begins with submission to Him before we know
any kind of sweetness in any other area.
Verse 8 is another way that He prospered.
Says here that he struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza
and its territory from watchtower to fortified city.
So in a way, here we have a subtle reference to how Hezekiah
is imitating David in another way.
In the same way that David chased off the Philistines a new
victory over them, Hezekiah is also walking in his steps.
That's why people recognize him as a second David, even in the
way that he worshipped Hezekiah, wrote a song to the Lord.
If you go to Isaiah, let's come to the final verses of our
study. This is quite interesting how it
ends, at least this section, verse 9.
Let's read the last three verses together.
In the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the 7th year
of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel, shamaniser, king of
Assyria, came up against Samaria and besieged it.
And at the end of three years he took it in the sixth year of
Hezekiah, which was the 9th year of Hosea, king of Israel.
Samaria was taken the king of Assyria.
Carry the Israelites away to Assyria, and put them in Hella,
and on the high bar the river of Gozen, and in the cities of the
Medes. Because they did not obey the
voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed His covenant.
Even all that Moses the servant the Lord commanded, they neither
listened nor obeyed. Is there any reason why these
verses should stand out to us? Think about previous studies, a
very recent study like the last two weeks.
It's not as deep as you think, it's just an observation.
Is this a review of what happened to the northern Kingdom
of Israel? It is right, but we already
covered this extensively in Second King 17.
So then why is the historian repeating it?
Why are we reviewing this again? I thought we were moving on.
I thought we're dealing with the Kingdom of Judah.
Why are we getting a flashback? It seems out of place.
But read carefully, look again at verse nine in the fourth year
of King Hezekiah, which was the 7th year of Hosea, son of Ela,
king of Israel, who was the Last King of Israel.
So the reason why this is being brought up again is because we
are to see that the Syrian exile, that the conquest of the
people of Israel took place during the reign of Hezekiah.
So that's the focus here. Hezekiah was fully aware of what
happened to his neighbors, and this was to highlight the risk
that Hezekiah took and rebelling against Assyria.
If Assyria was successful in dominating a much larger Kingdom
in Israel, what would take place?
For Judah, now that they revolted.
So in a sense, we're left here with suspense.
What's going to happen now? You turned your back on Assyria,
and it wasn't too long ago where the Syrians took over the nation
of Israel, namely the Kingdom of Israel up north.
At the same time, we're minded here that Israel did not lose
because they disobeyed Assyria, but they disobeyed who?
God. That's why they were given into
the hands of Assyria. So the additional lesson is
this, As frightening as obedience may be, there is no
safer place. And to live in full obedience to
God, there's no safer place. And Hezekiah is about to learn
that in the rest of this chapter, he's going to anger
Assyria. He's going to actually invite
the wrath of Assyria. And as we're reading this, we're
thinking, what's going to happen?
But we're also offered hope because we're told in this
commentary, yes, Israel, they didn't listen or obey Moses, who
represented God, but Hezekiah has been obeying God.
So how's this going to turn out? What's going to happen to this
man and his Kingdom? Because they have been obeying.
And I think this is a wonderful place to finish our study
tonight. Do you know why?
Because when we consider the times that we're living in, how
the entire world seems to be on edge, let's recall where the
safest place, where the safest place is to be.
I'm reminded of the words of Isaiah, who very descriptively
predicted the judgement of Judah and Jerusalem and Isaiah chapter
3, and you know this very well. I've quoted this verse many
times. I'm not ashamed to quote it
again in Isaiah 310. Tell the righteous that it will
be well with them. Interestingly enough, Isaiah is
going to come alongside Hezekiah as they're going to be tested
with the appearance of Assyria on the front step, and he is
going to bring much assurance to him and the people of Judah.
And let me offer to you as the people of Jesus Christ, no
matter what you see on the news, no matter what conspiracy
theories are out there, no matter what the market looks
like, the vacillation of our culture, of our politics, don't
put your hope in any investment. Don't put your hope in any
location that you have to move your family to ultimately put
your trust in Christ, dwell in the shelter of the Most High,
and abide in the shadow of the Almighty, and you have nothing
to fear. That's something that we're
going to see in more than one lesson as we continue in our
study of Second Kings. But for now, let's digest
together. I just encourage you now to
genuinely take a short amount of time to engage with the Lord, to
fellowship with the Lord, to respond to the Bible study.
Well, we thank you that You've reminded us what it means to you
for us to trust in you, to cling to you.
We want that for our lives. We want you to be with us.
And whatever we do, wherever we go, we thank You that you
promised us that you'll never forsake us.
But Lord, it is US who forsake you.
So we pray that even now, if anybody knows that they are not
walking with you the way that they should be walking with you,
that they would see the promise, they would see the prosperity
that's available, and they would abandoned anything that is
trying to take them away from you.
Lord, remind us that there is nothing more fulfilling than
fellowship with you, that there's nothing that can offer
the comfort and the hope and the joy that a real, vibrant
relationship with you offers. And Lord, from the bottom of our
hearts, we even ask that if there's anybody here who is not
taking that step of faith by planting their eyes on Calvary
and understanding the significance of your sacrifice
and applying it to their own lives.
Lord, may tonight be the night. May tonight be the night where
people will cross from death to life by understanding the
simplicity of the gospel. That you've come to die for us
and that it's our sin that put you on the cross.
And that on that cross you've paid our debt and that we can
receive a clearance if we but trust that that's what you did
for us. And so for any person who is
outside of the Lord Jesus this evening, may they look upon you
now, and may they receive the healing, the restoration, the
salvation that only you provide. May we look to no other, Lord,
we pray that if there are any high places in our lives, maybe
even an object, a ministry and minister, a beloved Christian,
and we have elevated them and we adore them and we're relying on
them more than you. May those things break into
pieces even now. Help us, Lord, place you above
all things, to extol and exalt you above all men or all women.
Take preeminence, Lord, and our affections and our meditations
may be Christ and Christ alone. Lord, we now sing to you and
rejoice that You are the true king of our lives.
This Bible study can only go so far.
It must be the work of Your Holy Spirit to groove these things in
US, to surgically deal with the issues of our souls.
And yes, Lord, even for those who might have had a traumatic
past, may they trust that Your grace is able to rescue them and
set them on a path of true joy and victory where they can offer
hope and healing to others in Your name.
So any person here who has convinced themselves that they
are a permanent victim, oh, in Christ, may they know victory.
Only you can do it and we give you glory for all the things
that you can do in our lives. In Jesus name we pray.
Amen. Let's stand and worship the
living Christ.