2 Chronicles / Book of Records – Bible Lesson 14. Who is this King Hezekiah? (Part 1)
Just for your thoughts.
2 Chronicles / Book of Records – Bible Lesson 14.
Who is this King Hezekiah? (Part 1)
Among the kings who ruled Judah, King Hezekiah is one of the most important and unavoidable figures in history. The Bible speaks about him in many chapters. He is mentioned in three chapters in the Book of 2 Kings, four chapters in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, and four chapters in the Book of 2 Chronicles.
The Book of 2 Kings mainly records his political actions, while the Book of 2 Chronicles focuses on the renewal of the Temple and the reforms he carried out. If we summarize his character, we can see him as a person who carried the qualities of both David and Solomon.
To understand the importance of Hezekiah’s reforms after the Temple, we must first understand the damage done by his father Ahaz to the Tabernacle and its worship. During the same period when Hezekiah ruled Judah, Hoshea ruled Israel. Hoshea was the last king of Israel. The Assyrian king Shalmaneser captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria.
There are no records that those deported Israelites ever returned to their land (2 Kings 17:3, 6).
Thus, the northern part of the once-united nation of Israel came under Assyrian control. At that critical time, Hezekiah was ruling Judah.
The period in which he came to the throne was extremely important. Only by understanding this historical background can we truly realize how significant King Hezekiah was.
His father Ahaz had brought the entire nation into idol worship. During his reign, the Temple was shut down completely. He closed the doors of the portico, put out the lamps, and stopped burning incense and offering burnt sacrifices.
He filled the Temple with uncleanness, making it totally defiled. The altar of burnt offering, its utensils, the table for the Bread of the Presence, and all its articles were made unclean (2 Chronicles 29:1).
The Levites and priests had no work in the Temple. Festivals were not celebrated. In short, the whole nation was going through a deep spiritual decline.
At the same time, the Assyrian army that had conquered Israel came with a great force and surrounded Judah as well.
In the midst of such political and spiritual struggles, King Hezekiah turned the nation back to the Lord.
When the people of Judah returned to God, the Lord protected the land from the Assyrian invasion.
As a result, Judah survived for more than a hundred years afterward.
Not only that, God used King Hezekiah as an instrument to preserve the lineage of David. In the next part, we will look at the spiritual reforms carried out by Hezekiah and the actions through which the nation was saved.