seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Kings 18:1 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. 3 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. 4 He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)
5 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. 6 He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. 7 And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. 8 From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.
9 In King Hezekiah’s fourth year, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it. 10 At the end of three years the Assyrians took it. So Samaria was captured in Hezekiah’s sixth year, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel. 11 The king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes. 12 This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant—all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened to the commands nor carried them out.
13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 14 So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace.
16 At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors and doorposts of the temple of the Lord, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
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Here's the link to the commentary I read.
In the third year of Hoshea: Hezekiah came to the throne of Judah at the very end of the kingdom of Israel. Three years after the start of his reign, the Assyrian armies laid siege to Samaria, and three years after that the Northern Kingdom was conquered.
He did what was right in the sight of the LORD… He removed the high places: Hezekiah was one of Judah’s most zealous reformers, even prohibiting worship on the high places. These were popular altars for sacrifice set up as the worshipper desired, not according to God’s direction.
And broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made: Numbers 21:1-9 describes how during a time of a plague of fiery serpents upon the whole nation, Moses made a bronze serpent for the nation to look upon and be spared death from the snake bites. This statement in 2 Kings tells us that this particular bronze serpent had been preserved for more than 800 years and had come to be worshipped as Nehushtan. Hezekiah, in his zeal, broke in pieces this bronze artifact and put an end to the idolatrous worship of this object.
He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him: At this time Assyria was mighty enough to completely conquer the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Yet the kingdom of Judah stood strong, because God blessed the trusting and obedient king.
He subdued the Philistines: Hezekiah also found success in subjugating Judah’s aggressive neighbors. He worked for a strong, free, and independent Judah.
They would neither hear nor do them: The people of the Northern Kingdom were not any less Israelites and descendants of Abraham by blood than were the people of the Southern Kingdom. Therefore, this clearly showed Judah that when they also stopped hearing and doing the commandments of God, they would also face judgment.
I have done wrong; turn away from me; whatever you impose on me I will pay: This was a clear — though understandable — lack of faith on the part of Hezekiah. He felt it was wiser to pay off the Assyrian king and become his subject than it was to trust God to defend Judah against this mighty king.
So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house: Hezekiah hoped that this policy of appeasement would make Judah safe. He was wrong, and his policy only impoverished Judah and the temple and made the king of Assyria more bold than ever against Judah.
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One of my neighbors says we're are in the last days.
All the volcanos and earthquakes have her watching, and now the fires in California have caused "a blood red sun".
Do I have the faith to get through all this, if it is indeed "end times"?
King Hezekiah had the faith to go in and take all the idols out of all the temples.
King Hezekiah had the faith to go up to the high places and tear down the temples people were worshipping in Judah.
King Hezekiah had the faith to fire all the fake priests.
King Hezekiah had the faith to destroy Moses' brass snake! You remember the brass snake. Moses had it put on the top of his staff, so when the plague of snakes came along, Moses' staff killed the snakes and made Israel safe.
King Hezekiah saw the people worshipping the brass snake like a god. They even named it "Nehushtan".
So. King Hezekiah busted the brass snake into pieces so they couldn't or wouldn't worship the hunk of brass anymore.
King Hezekiah was afraid though.
When Syrian Armies attacked, Hezekiah folded. He didn't go to God.... instead, he peeled the gold and silver off the temple walls and doorposts and paid the king of Syria to leave them alone.
When the chips were down, Hezekiah trusted the gold and silver to get them out of it.
I guess he didn't remember the plagues Moses' staff warned away.
I guess he didn't remember the story about the "blood red sun" the Moabites ran from.
Hezekiah just didn't have the guts to count on God.
After all that good work, Hezekiah was....
Gutless!
