SERIES: Enlightening Epitaphs of the Kings and Prophets
Hezekiah: “He Sought His God and Worked Wholeheartedly. And So He Prospered.”
Introduction: Two weeks ago we examined the life of the worst of the kings of Judah. The Bible’s epitaph for Ahaz was, “In his time of trouble King Ahaz became even more unfaithful” (2 Chronicles 28:22). Thankfully the worst was succeeded by the best. Of all the kings of Judah and Israel since David himself, none had a heart for God like Ahaz’ son, Hezekiah. None was as faithful to his calling as a spiritual as well as political leader. And none is remembered with such striking words as Hezekiah: “He Sought His God and Worked Wholeheartedly. And So He Prospered.” The order of those phrases, by the way, is very important: first, he sought God, then he worked with all his heart, and only then he prospered.
Hezekiah took the throne at the very lowest point of Judah’s history but set out immediately and with great enthusiasm to bring his people back to God. One of the greatest revivals in history resulted, and Judah, which deserved the same fate as her neighbor to the north, was given a new lease on life. You will recall from last Sunday that the northern kingdom fell near the end of Ahaz’ reign[i], and there must have been a great deal of fear that the southern kingdom would also collapse under the threat of Assyria. But due in large part to spiritual revival under Hezekiah’s leadership, Judah survived for another 135 years. I believe there is much we can learn for our own time from the encouraging story of this good king.
Historical background
Hezekiah, the son of Judah’s worst king, became king at 25 and reigned for 29 years. One wonders how a son of Ahaz could have any bent toward God at all, but I think the answer may be found in his mother, as it often is. Our Scripture passage says that his mother’s name was Abijah and that she was the daughter of Zechariah. We don’t know who this particular Zechariah was, but his name means “Yahweh is renowned,” and of the nearly thirty Zechariahs mentioned in Scripture the vast majority were Levites, priests, or prophets. No doubt Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah, was the godly influence in Hezekiah’s life.
It is possible, you know, for a child to be reared in a godly fashion without the help of one’s spouse. It is not easy; in fact, it is not easy even with two parents. But it can be done. The Apostle Paul’s young protege Timothy was reared by his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois. I don’t know if these women were widows or if their husbands were unbelievers and therefore uninvolved in Timothy’s spiritual development. But clearly, they did a marvelous job. If you’re on your own in this monumental task, don’t get discouraged–press on. God Himself takes a special stake in the life of the single parent.
He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord just as his father David had done. I believe Hezekiah is the only one out of 40 kings who reigned in either Israel or Judah of whom it is said that he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord just as his ancestor David had done. Of Jehoshaphat it was said, “in his early years he walked in the ways his father David had followed,” but then he tanked. Later it is written of Josiah that “he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in the ways of his father David,” which is pretty close to what is said of Hezekiah. But none of the others even came close. Nor is this the only way Hezekiah is praised. Listen to these words from 2 Kings 18:5-7:
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. He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses. And the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook.
And consider also the rest of the paragraph from which we took Hezekiah’s epitaph:
This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God. In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered. (2 Chronicles 31:20, 21)
That’s a remarkable tribute to Hezekiah and very encouraging following the series of sad biographies we have examined. Please understand, of course, that he was not perfect, any more than King David was perfect. He made some serious mistakes that we will examine in a second message on his life two weeks from today. But the issue ultimately comes down to the heart. If one’s heart is right with God, if sin drives him to his knees in sorrow and repentance, if he seeks God’s forgiveness, and if he delights in fellowship with the Father, that person will prosper spiritually.
Preparation for revival
I mentioned that one of the great revivals in history took place early in Hezekiah’s reign. But before we examine the account of this event, I think it might be wise to ask the question,…
What is revival? If you grew up in a Baptist church or in a Nazarene church, the term revival may bring to your mind a series of evening meetings at church that generally lasted from one to three weeks, led by an evangelist and designed to get the Christians to repent of sin and rededicate their lives to Christ.
If you are a student of modern history, revival may remind you of events like the First or Second Great Awakenings or the ministries of John Wesley, Dwight Moody, Billy Sunday, or Charles Finney. During the revivals associated with their names there was a great movement of God, during which people flocked to church, confession and repentance became commonplace, taverns and bordellos closed, and there was a great outpouring of social work among God’s people.
In more recent years the term revival may conjure up the name of someone like Rodney Howard Brown, under whose ministry there were all kinds of charismatic phenomena–tongues, slaying in the spirit, holy laughter, holy barking, etc. As a result of some of these excesses, there are a lot of Christians today who have developed a negative view of revival, so much so that it’s probably the last thing they want to be involved in. But revival is very biblical. There were at least sixteen discernible revivals in Scripture, both OT and NT. Revival is not something we need to fear, nor does it need to involve bizarre behavior. It always involves coming to grips with sin, renewing one’s walk with God, and experiencing times of refreshing from the Lord (Acts 3:19).
Probably the best biblical definition of revival is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land.” Of the four main verbs in that verse–humble, pray, seek, and turn–three are clearly observable in Hezekiah’s revival. The only one not specifically mentioned is prayer, but even that is clearly implied.
Revival is needed whenever the church or the individual believer ceases to function as salt and light. Revival is needed when we become lukewarm in our love for Christ. Revival is needed when worldliness so captures our hearts that we are as entrapped by insatiable desires for leisure time, entertainment, toys, and sports as the ancient Israelites were by the idolatry of the Canaanites. Revival is needed when the church becomes characterized by jealousy, dissension and controversy rather than a spirit of love and brotherly concern. I believe the American church is in great need of revival today. And I’m not talking about the liberal mainline churches. They need resurrection; the evangelical church needs revival.
There’s no time like now. (29:3) Please notice the opening comments about Hezekiah’s reign: “In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the LORD and repaired them.” Hezekiah lost no time getting serious about the moral and spiritual crisis facing his nation. Sadly many believers seem to have a “manana complex” when it comes to their spiritual lives. They know they’ve become apathetic toward the Lord and that secret sins are sapping the joy of the LORD from their lives, but their attitude is, “I’m going to do something about that. I’m going to get serious about confessing sin, reading God’s Word, praying, witnessing, and accountability, but not today. Manana.”
Friends, there is no time like today to change directions. There may not be a tomorrow, and even if there is, apathy has a way of growing, not decreasing with time. If you sense God speaking to you about the spiritual void in your life, do something about it today. Get alone with God this afternoon, confess your sins, purpose in your heart to change the things that need to be changed. And don’t wait.
I notice another principle in Hezekiah’s revival:
It starts with leaders, and it starts with their own lives. (29:2-5) The revival in Judah started with Hezekiah himself; he is the one who opened the doors of the temple. He recognized the importance of a leader setting the standard. Obviously, God had been doing a work in his own heart to cause him to risk the wrath of the idolaters who had so much influence under his father Ahaz.
But then Hezekiah quickly brought the rest of the leaders into the process. The next verse says, “He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side and said: ‘Listen to me Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the LORD, the God of your fathers.’” A true leader challenges other leaders to be men and women of integrity and to live up to their full potential. And he calls them to focus on their own lives before he gives them any other assignment: “Consecrate yourselves now” basically means “Get right with God!” Until they correct their own walk with the Lord, they can’t lead anyone anywhere.
Now assuming that all of us who know Christ personally would like to see revival in our own lives and in the church (and I realize that may be an unwarranted assumption), it only makes sense to ask, “What are the pre-requisites to seeing that happen?” I believe Hezekiah’s story gives us a lot of insight into the requirements for revival.
Pre-requisites for revival
It requires brutal honesty about sin and its consequences. This is not only the first item mentioned in our text, but it is also the single most important factor in producing revival. There can be no revival without an honest recognition of sin. Listen as Hezekiah continues his challenge to the spiritual leaders:
Our fathers were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the LORD our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the LORD’s dwelling place and turned their backs on him. They also shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamps. They did not burn incense or present any burnt offerings at the sanctuary to the God of Israel. Therefore, the anger of the LORD has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of dread and horror and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes. This is why our fathers have fallen by the sword and why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity. (2 Chronicles 29:6-9)
When Hezekiah says, “our fathers were unfaithful,” he is not speaking in generalities. His own father was the #1 culprit. It would have been easy for him to try to protect his family’s reputation, blame the clergy (who had a lot of blame coming), or excuse his father on the basis that these were bad times. But he doesn’t. He acknowledges that sin is the problem and that sin has its consequences. In fact, he draws a quid pro quo. That is Latin for “this because of that.” The problems Israel and Judah have experienced are the direct result of sin, not the result of Assyrian terrorists or bad luck or anything else, but sin. Friends, to the extent we are willing to excuse ourselves or rationalize our behavior or blame someone else, to that extent revival is impossible. It requires a brutal honesty about sin.
It requires new commitments to God. (29:10, 11) Listen to Hezekiah as he speaks to the leaders: “Now I intend to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us. My sons, do not be negligent now, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before him and serve him.” Why does he choose to make his commitment public? Probably because it builds accountability into his life. If you make a private decision to do something, the price for breaking that commitment is small. You disappoint yourself perhaps, but there’s no embarrassment to deal with. On the other hand, if you let your friends, or more importantly your detractors, know what you intend to do, the motivation to carry through is much stronger. I think that’s why Jesus so frequently called people to declare their faith publicly; it’s why baptism has almost always been done in public; it’s why marriage is sealed by the church and the state; and it’s why Hezekiah declared his intention before his leaders.
I believe nearly every major growth spurt in my life was preceded by some kind of public commitment or covenant. For example: my profession of faith as a child, baptism as a young boy, dedication to full-time service at camp when a teenager, marriage to Jan, ordination to the Gospel ministry in 1972, the dedication of our two sons to the Lord when they were babies, our calling to St. Louis 18 years ago. These are just a few of the covenants or commitments God has used in my life to draw me to Himself. Many of the men in the audience this morning made major commitments at Promise Keepers this weekend. Doing so publicly doesn’t guarantee that those commitments will be kept; but the chances are a lot greater.
It’s amazing how often in the Scripture the people of God build stone monuments to commemorate life-changing decisions or make public agreements to turn back to God. I think the evangelical church in general, and I in particular, have under-emphasized the importance of such public commitments. I hate phony emotionalism, but in an effort to avoid that, I think I have failed to challenge God’s people sufficiently to step out of their comfort zone and declare themselves.
One of the changes I believe God is calling me to make, and I believe our leadership is fully behind this, is to find more time in our services for faith stories from our people about how God has saved them and changed them and used them. Casey’s powerful testimony this morning was scheduled before I prepared this sermon, but that is a good example of what I am talking about. It may mean I will have to preach a little shorter, but we simply must cultivate more of an atmosphere of public declaration of our faith.
It requires pure worship with clean hearts. (29:12-36) In the rest of chapter 29, from verses 12-36, we find extensive discussion of the effort of the priests and Levites, under Hezekiah’s leadership, to re-establish the pure worship of God at the temple in Jerusalem. You’ll remember that Solomon’s temple had first been neglected, then defiled, then ransacked, and finally closed and sealed by Hezekiah’s father. It took sixteen days for the priest and Levites to purify the temple. This involved cleaning out the debris and returning to its place the sacred furniture and utensils that had been removed.
Worship began with sin offerings and sacrifices, as Hezekiah gathered the city officials together and took them up to the temple. They offered bulls and rams and lambs and goats–the means God himself had specified to atone for sin. Why? Why did God require the sacrifice of an innocent animal? I think it is because only when innocent blood is shed, do we realize the awful price of our sin. Of course, animal sacrifices can never take sin away; they can only atone for it. The term atone does not mean “to forgive,” but rather “to cover.” When Israel offered sacrifices, God agreed to cover their sin, but it took a perfect sacrifice, the Lamb of God, Jesus, to forgive our sins and wash them away for good.
The next thing we read about in respect to their worship is the music. There are cymbals, harps, lyres, trumpets, and singing. Listen to 2 Chronicles 29:28-30:
. . . The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the singers sang and the trumpeters played. All this was continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering was completed.
When the offerings were finished, the king and everyone present with him knelt down and worshiped. King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed their heads and worshiped.
Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we had recordings of this music so we would know for sure what godly music sounds like? That would solve so many problems in the church today, wouldn’t it? No, not really. Even if we knew exactly what lyrics they sang and what notes they played, we would only have a better description of what they did, not necessarily a prescription of what we should do. I believe that because music has such a large personal and cultural element, God has chosen not to prescribe musical boundaries for us. What ministers to the heart and soul of one generation does not seem to touch another, and what strikes one ethnic group as worshipful may seem like sacrilege to another.
God wants His people to work out the finest musical expression of His praises for their own time. That’s not easy, and the struggle to do so can produce a lot of tension. But if our ultimate goal is to be contagious Christians, to celebrate Jesus, and to passionately spread the flame, I think that provides a framework for progress. (And I hope this passage is an encouragement to those of you who received a letter this week inviting you to consider joining our choir ministry this Fall. And if you didn’t get the letter but would like to sing with the choir, you’re welcome, too).
Earlier I mentioned the requirement of brutal honesty about sin. But being honest is only the first step.
Revival requires a turning from sin and a turning to God. (30:6-9) Last Lord’s Day I mentioned a letter that Hezekiah sent to the Israelites who remained in the northern kingdom after the fall of Samaria and the deportation of most of the population to Assyria. Hezekiah invited this remnant to come down to Judah and participate in the revival, for after all, they were fellow Israelites. I want us to read the entire letter, and while I am doing that, I want you to notice the frequent use of the terms return and turn:
People of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. Do not be like your fathers and brothers, who were unfaithful to the LORD, the God of their fathers, so that he made them an object of horror, as you see. Do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were; submit to the LORD. Come to the sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. If you return to the LORD, then your brothers and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will come back (return) to this land, for the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him (2 Chronicles 30:6-9).
I see three principles in this letter that all relate to this basic requirement for revival, namely that we must turn from sin and turn to God.
1. We must return to Him if we want God to return to us. That’s exactly what verse 6 says. But doesn’t this contradict what I said last Sunday, namely that God is the seeker, the one who is trying to find us? No, I don’t think so. No one comes to the Father and no one is saved except by the Father’s initiative. That is as clear as anything in the Bible. But if after being adopted into the Father’s family, we become rebellious and wayward, God will sometimes step back and take His hands off, so to speak.
Think, for example, of the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. The father loved his son dearly and demonstrated that in so many ways, but when the son demanded to have his inheritance and left for a far country, the father let him go. It wasn’t until the son came to his senses and timidly headed home that fellowship with the father was once again restored. The father was waiting, with open arms and with a party to beat all parties, but the son had to return first. It’s not that God is trying to play hard to get, nor does He withdraw because His feelings are hurt. It’s just that He knows that unless and until His child wants to come back, there will be no value in forcing Him back.
Friend, if you have been away from the Father, there is only one thing to say to you, “Return. Return now.” Of course, it’s possible that you have never been part of His family in the first place. In that case, you need to turn, not return. To turn is the root meaning of repent. In its fullest sense it means to turn from your sin and turn to Jesus, whose death on the Cross is the only answer for human sin.
2. We must be obedient and faithful if we want to avoid His discipline. We all know that overt acts of disobedience can lead to discipline, but have you ever thought about the fact that failure to serve might be grounds for discipline? Hezekiah writes, “Serve the LORD your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you.” I am not the least bit reticent to challenge you to serve in the family of God, because it is absolutely biblical for me to do so. And besides, it’s the only way you’re going to reach your potential as a child of God and be truly fulfilled.
There are people in this room who have been attending First Free for years–five, ten, and some even fifteen years–but have still never accepted a regular area of service. You may have all kinds of excuses, but you don’t have any that are good enough for God. He has gifted everyone in His family to serve in one way or another. What are you going to tell Him one day when He asks for an accounting of His investment in your life? But lest I be guilty of ingratitude, I want to report some good news. After my mention of the needs in Children’s Ministries last Sunday, over 40 people stepped forward to volunteer. I thank God for every one of you who responded, as well as for the hundreds who serve every year. There are still more needs in Children, Youth, and other areas, but we’re closer now.
3. If we return to Him, He will favor us with His presence and power. Verse 9: “He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.” Again I think of the Prodigal Son. For some reason he didn’t know what to expect when he returned home, but what he received is exactly what you will receive–open arms, a kind face, and the powerful presence of the Father.
Now quickly I want us to look at the results we can expect from revival
Results of revival:
Effective outreach (30:1-11) Outreach, including evangelism, missionary fervor, and compassion for the poor, are all natural outcomes of revival. The reason most churches are weak in these areas of ministry is simply because too many of their members are apathetic or even cold in their relationship with God. After all, who wants to share his faith if his own relationship with God is indifferent? Why take the Gospel to the ends of the earth if you’re not even enjoying the Gospel in your own personal life? But Hezekiah was so committed to Yahweh that he found it natural to invite the remnant from Israel to come and get right with God, too.
Unity of mind to follow the Lord (30:12) “The hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the LORD.” Disunity, bickering, and anger in the family of God are a luxury not available during revival. When the Spirit of God renews His church, a lot of the petty things that divide us begin to fade into insignificance. I’m not talking about blind ecumenism where everyone agrees to love one another and pursue some vague notion of God.
But friends, when we are truly sorry for our sins and in love with Jesus, some issues that divide us just don’t seem as important anymore–like whether we should use real wine or grape juice in communion, whether the rapture is pretrib, midtrib, posttrib, pre-wrath, or something else not thought up yet, whether women should teach in Small Churches, or whether drums are appropriate in worship. The unrelenting love of God overcomes our differences in such areas. When revival takes place, God’s people enjoy unity of mind and unified obedience to the word of the LORD.
Freedom in place of legalism (30:15-20) Legalism is another of those luxuries that vanishes when revival takes place. In its place comes a freedom that is found only in the Spirit of God. If you read this long paragraph beginning with verse 15, you discover that most of the travelers who joined the revival from the former northern kingdom had not had the opportunity to purify themselves in accordance with the Law of Moses, but they didn’t want to be left out of the joy of celebrating Passover for the first time in years. Listen to what happened:
Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun (those are all northern tribes) had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the LORD, who is good, pardon everyone who sets his heart on seeking God–the LORD, the God of his fathers–even if he is not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.” And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.
Apparently some of them had become ill or were struck with some kind of plague due to their disobedience to the ceremonial rules. But, as important as these purification ceremonies were, God recognized that the people’s hearts were right and that they wanted to take the Passover for right reasons. So, He healed them. This is only one of many illustrations we have in Scripture that substance is more important to God than form, and it should be to us as well. I don’t think there is anything more stifling to revival than legalism, a rule-based mentality that puts petty rules above people.
Unprecedented joy (30:21-27) This is a by-product of revival that we often ignore. We more readily think of the tears of repentance and the shame of sin, and that is a legitimate part of revival. But the end product of true revival is joy. In verses 21-27 you find words like celebrate, great rejoicing, encouraging, praise, celebrate, celebrate joyfully, and rejoice. Listen to verses 26, and 27:
There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place.
Furthermore, revival never stops with the people of God–it always impacts society.
Godly action (31:1) Look at 31:1:
When all this had ended, the Israelites who were there went out to the towns of Judah, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. They destroyed the high places and the altars throughout Judah and Benjamin and in Ephraim and Manasseh. After they had destroyed all of them, the Israelites returned to their own towns and to their own property.
I see similar actions after a revival mentioned in the NT. In Acts 19 we read about a revival that took place in Ephesus while Paul was preaching there. It says,
Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas (a drachma was a silver coin worth about a day’s wages). In this way the word of the LORD spread widely and grew in power.
When God’s people get serious about their relationship with Him, it changes their attitudes and causes them to make some drastic changes in their lifestyle–perhaps to burn their stash of pornography, to throw away their cigarettes, to cancel some of the channels on their cable, or even to get rid of some of their “toys” in order to focus their time and energy on the things of eternity.
Finally, we see generous giving as a result of the revival.
Generous giving (31:2-19) Once again Hezekiah led the way. It says in verse 3 that “The king contributed from his own possessions,” and then in verse 4 “he ordered the people living in Jerusalem to give the portion due the priests and Levites so they could devote themselves to the Law of the LORD.” Hezekiah realized that no revival could be sustained unless the clergy could give full time to the ministry rather than trying to eke out a living. And how did the people respond? “As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously gave the first-fruits of their grain, new wine, oil and honey and all that the fields produced. They brought a great amount, a tithe of everything.”
A few verses later we find that when Hezekiah saw the heaps (of money), he praised the LORD and blessed His people Israel. When he asked the priests and Levites about the abundance, Azariah the chief priest answered, “Since the people began to bring their contributions to the temple of the LORD, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare, because the LORD has blessed his people, and this great amount is left over.” I have often said that churches never have financial problems. They only have spiritual problems that manifest themselves financially. When God’s people are generous, He blesses them. Period.
I have struggled with what to suggest this morning by way of application. Would God be pleased to see revival at First Evangelical Free Church? I have no doubt. Is revival something I can engineer this morning. I have great doubt. Is it something I can help start today by consecrating myself and calling you to some new commitments? I think so. What is God calling you to do today?
Become a Christ-follower for the first time?
Confess your sin or your apathy and renew your vows to Him?
Become a true worshiper?
Begin to serve with your spiritual gifts?
Give generously?
I want to challenge you to write that commitment on a piece of paper, date it, and share it with someone (spouse, accountability partner, pastor, friend), and then pray that God would use that covenant to begin a revival in your own heart.
DATE: August 25, 2002
Tags:
Revival
Leaders
Public commitment
Pure worship
Outreach
Unity
Freedom
Joy
Generosity
[i] There is some confusion as to who was king of Judah when the northern kingdom of Israel fell. 2 Kings 18:1 seems to indicate that Hezekiah was already on the throne in the third year of Hoshea, the last king of Israel, while other texts would indicate that Ahaz was still on the throne when Israel fell. The answer is probably found in co-regency, namely that Hezekiah served as co-regent with his father Ahaz from 729-716, before Ahaz died and he became the sole ruler.