2Ki 18:5-7 | KingComments | STEP | The beginning of the last part of 2 Kings is about the history of Judah, the kingdom of the two tribes. This history is mainly determined by the kings Hezekiah and Josiah. The LORD has provided a period of revival by each of them. The history of Hezekiah can be found three times in Scripture: in 2 Kings 18-20, 2 Chronicles 29-32 and Isaiah 36-39. The fact that his history is told three times does not mean that we read the same story three times. It is not just a repetition. The history in Isaiah largely corresponds with what we find here, but in 2 Chronicles it is often different. In 2 Chronicles the priestly side is described, while here we have the historical events. In Isaiah history is described from a prophetic perspective. In 2 Chronicles it is mainly about the restoration of the temple and the celebration of the Passover. Both events take place in the early days of the reign of Hezekiah. In 2 Kings and Isaiah it is more about events that take place in the second half of his reign. In Isaiah, this history gets its prophetic meaning. Isaiah 36-39 closes the first part of the book, with Assyria as the great enemy. This is also what will happen in the end time. The extermination of the king of Assyria, the king of the north, will be done by the LORD Himself, the Lord Jesus. Thereby He will deliver His people and thereafter the people will be in the realm of peace under the rule of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus. The direct lesson is that there can be trust in the Lord Jesus in the most difficult circumstances. Only a few years after Hezekiah became king, the ten tribes were carried away into exile from the land of Israel. What remains is the history of the two tribes. As has already been mentioned, the two tribes took no notice of the warning of judgment by what had happened to the ten tribes. Nevertheless, it took some time before the curtain also fell on them and they were taken away into exile. The two tribes continued to be the object of God’s grace for quite some time. We get to see some special evidences of that grace from the period of time that the two tribes remained in the land. The first proof is that God gave Ahaz, an ungodly king, a God-fearing son, Hezekiah. In this we see God’s care for a remnant. The name of Hezekiah’s mother is mentioned. She was called Abi, which means ‘my father’. She knew in the LORD a Father who helped her to raise her son Hezekiah, in the fear of the LORD, a fear that was completely lacking in Ahaz. Hezekiah was a king upon whom the LORD looked down with joy, and who reminded him of David, the man after His own heart. The first acts of Hezekiah’s reign to be noted were things concerning idolatry. He took away and destroyed what had seized the hearts of the people, and by which the LORD was forgotten and despised. This included the bronze serpent, which was once a blessing by the grace of God. It had been a God-given means for everyone who had been bitten by a poisonous serpent, to be healed when he looked at it ( ). That is not to say that the bronze serpent gave healing. A person was healed only when he looked at the serpent in obedience to what God had said. So someone only looked if he believed in what God had said. However, the bronze serpent had become an object of worship instead of God. As if the bronze serpent, that piece of metal, had given salvation. It can also be the same with wearing a cross. The cross brings salvation to anyone who believes that Christ died there for him ( ). But whoever wears a wooden cross and pays homage to it, shows that for him this cross is a mascot. That must be destroyed. This is also what Hezekiah does with the Nehushtan. He shatters this idolatrous image. The strength of Hezekiah’s actions lay in his faithfulness. give an impressive testimony to this. There we read that “he trusted in the LORD” in a way that was unique “among all the kings of Judah”. He “clung to the LORD”, another beautiful expression. “He did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses.” His whole manner of life bears witness of his faithfulness to the LORD, submitting himself to what the LORD had said to Moses. The word that the LORD had spoken many centuries before, was for Hezekiah the absolute measure for his behavior. The same applies to us. We, who also live in an end time, are reminded of “the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior [spoken] by your apostles” ( ; ). It should come as no surprise then that we read of Hezekiah that “the LORD was with him” and that “wherever he went he prospered”. Because he trusted in God, he put an end to the alliance with the king of Assyria. Every human support is a denial of trust in the LORD. The consequence of breaking off his contacts with the king of Assyria was that he defeated the Philistines. The Philistines were allies of Assyria and were a great threat to Israel because of their claim to the land.

‏ 2 Kings 18:5-7

Introduction

The beginning of the last part of 2 Kings is about the history of Judah, the kingdom of the two tribes. This history is mainly determined by the kings Hezekiah and Josiah. The LORD has provided a period of revival by each of them.

The history of Hezekiah can be found three times in Scripture: in 2 Kings 18-20, 2 Chronicles 29-32 and Isaiah 36-39. The fact that his history is told three times does not mean that we read the same story three times. It is not just a repetition. The history in Isaiah largely corresponds with what we find here, but in 2 Chronicles it is often different. In 2 Chronicles the priestly side is described, while here we have the historical events. In Isaiah history is described from a prophetic perspective.

In 2 Chronicles it is mainly about the restoration of the temple and the celebration of the Passover. Both events take place in the early days of the reign of Hezekiah. In 2 Kings and Isaiah it is more about events that take place in the second half of his reign.

In Isaiah, this history gets its prophetic meaning. Isaiah 36-39 closes the first part of the book, with Assyria as the great enemy. This is also what will happen in the end time. The extermination of the king of Assyria, the king of the north, will be done by the LORD Himself, the Lord Jesus. Thereby He will deliver His people and thereafter the people will be in the realm of peace under the rule of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus. The direct lesson is that there can be trust in the Lord Jesus in the most difficult circumstances.

Hezekiah Becomes King of Judah

Only a few years after Hezekiah became king, the ten tribes were carried away into exile from the land of Israel. What remains is the history of the two tribes. As has already been mentioned, the two tribes took no notice of the warning of judgment by what had happened to the ten tribes. Nevertheless, it took some time before the curtain also fell on them and they were taken away into exile. The two tribes continued to be the object of God’s grace for quite some time. We get to see some special evidences of that grace from the period of time that the two tribes remained in the land.

The first proof is that God gave Ahaz, an ungodly king, a God-fearing son, Hezekiah. In this we see God’s care for a remnant. The name of Hezekiah’s mother is mentioned. She was called Abi, which means ‘my father’. She knew in the LORD a Father who helped her to raise her son Hezekiah, in the fear of the LORD, a fear that was completely lacking in Ahaz.

Hezekiah was a king upon whom the LORD looked down with joy, and who reminded him of David, the man after His own heart. The first acts of Hezekiah’s reign to be noted were things concerning idolatry. He took away and destroyed what had seized the hearts of the people, and by which the LORD was forgotten and despised. This included the bronze serpent, which was once a blessing by the grace of God. It had been a God-given means for everyone who had been bitten by a poisonous serpent, to be healed when he looked at it (Num 21:9).

That is not to say that the bronze serpent gave healing. A person was healed only when he looked at the serpent in obedience to what God had said. So someone only looked if he believed in what God had said. However, the bronze serpent had become an object of worship instead of God. As if the bronze serpent, that piece of metal, had given salvation.

It can also be the same with wearing a cross. The cross brings salvation to anyone who believes that Christ died there for him (Jn 3:14-16). But whoever wears a wooden cross and pays homage to it, shows that for him this cross is a mascot. That must be destroyed. This is also what Hezekiah does with the Nehushtan. He shatters this idolatrous image.

The strength of Hezekiah’s actions lay in his faithfulness. 2Kgs 18:5-6 give an impressive testimony to this. There we read that “he trusted in the LORD” in a way that was unique “among all the kings of Judah”. He “clung to the LORD”, another beautiful expression. “He did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses.”

His whole manner of life bears witness of his faithfulness to the LORD, submitting himself to what the LORD had said to Moses. The word that the LORD had spoken many centuries before, was for Hezekiah the absolute measure for his behavior. The same applies to us. We, who also live in an end time, are reminded of “the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior [spoken] by your apostles” (2Pet 3:2; Jude 1:17).

It should come as no surprise then that we read of Hezekiah that “the LORD was with him” and that “wherever he went he prospered”. Because he trusted in God, he put an end to the alliance with the king of Assyria. Every human support is a denial of trust in the LORD. The consequence of breaking off his contacts with the king of Assyria was that he defeated the Philistines. The Philistines were allies of Assyria and were a great threat to Israel because of their claim to the land.