God Doing God Things (Where did Hezekiah come from?)

2 Chronicles 28:1–4 KJV 1900

1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord, like David his father: 2 For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. 3 Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. 4 He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

2 Chronicles 29:1–11 KJV 1900

1 Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. 2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. 3 He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them. 4 And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street, 5 And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. 6 For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs. 7 Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel. 8 Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes. 9 For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. 10 Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us. 11 My sons, be not now negligent: for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense.

Introduction

Nepo-Babies

Carrie Fisher

Not everyone gets to have such a hand up in life.

A look at the father (28:1-4)

Ahaz is a character that we have examined in the book of Isaiah.

We have seen that he is not an admirable person.

If you were with us on Sunday nights, then what we’ve read tonight does not surprise you.

Ahaz had little use for the God of his people.

We get a better overhead view of Ahaz’s life in 2 Chronicles 28.

He was a young man when he began to reign.

His reign did not last long, but the damage he cause was tremendous.

The Chronicler tells us that Ahaz failed to walk rightly in God’s estimation.

One commentator noted that Ahaz was a man that lost himself in the culture of his day.

If you remember from our study of Isaiah, Ahaz was infatuated and consumed with the Assyrians.

This had a horrible influence on the Judean king.

The passage says he lived like the Israelite kings of the north.

The Israelite kings were influenced by the pagan kings around them too.

All the sins that we read about in Ahaz’s life stemmed from his inability to rise above his circumstances.

How bad was Ahaz?

Really bad.

He actively worked to corrupt true worship in Judah.

He had a strange fascination with the temple.

He consistently tampered with the altars, the furniture, and the practices.

A weak High Priest, just stood by and allowed this all to happen.

Eventually, Ahaz actually shut down worship at the temple all together.

He promoted Baal worship in Judah.

He distributed idols of Baal to all the people.

His preferred version of Baal was Baal-Moloch.

To appease this false deity, Ahaz set up worship for him in the valley of Hinnom.

This included burning incense.

But, even worse than that, the Chronicler tells us that Ahaz offered multiple of his children as burnt offerings to Baal.

Under his rule, and with his participation, idol worship spread like wildfire through the nation.

Not hard to imagine why he would lockdown the temple.

Ahaz’s life was filled with political unrest.

Hundreds of thousands of Judean citizens were either killed or taken into captivity.

Over and over Ahaz was embarrassed by his enemies.

Rather than abandoning his false gods and turning to the true God...

Ahaz made it his habit to adopt the gods of the nations that had humiliated him.

Finally, after 16 years, Ahaz dies at the ripe old age of 36.

The kingdom passes to one of his sons that escaped the altar of Moloch.

What hope does this young man have of breaking free of his father’s footsteps?

The new king, Hezekiah (God is my strength), definitely has a hard road ahead of him.

The miracle of the son (29:1-11)

Hezekiah would need his name to be true if he was to change the course set by his father.

God’s strength would need to be evident in his life.

From the very beginning, we see evidence that this was the case.

Though we know his mother’s name, we don’t know anything about her or her father who is mentioned here.

Verse 2 is a miracle given the example set for Hezekiah by his dad, Ahaz.

Unlike Joash, from our last study, Hezekiah never even had a Jehoiada to guide him.

How then is it possible for Hezekiah to turn out the way that he did?

His dad did the opposite of what was right.

The Chronicler tells us that Hezekiah did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.

Check out the introduction to Hezekiah’s reign.

Hezekiah prioritized the house of God and corporate worship of Yahweh in Judah. 3

His father had shut the doors.

Hezekiah opened and repaired them.

His father had desecrated and polluted Yahweh worship.

Hezekiah commissioned the levites to restore and purify the temple for it holy purpose.

He acknowledged the failures of the past. 6

Hezekiah doesn’t shy away from tagging the sins of the past for what they were.

“Our fathers have trespassed.”

Trespass in Hebrew means the same as it does in english.

To walk or stride on something that doesn’t belong to you.

To expand your property into what doesn’t belong to you.

Ahaz was not alone in doing evil in the eyes of the Lord.

The nation had followed him in his descent into idolatry.

The king, together with the people and their spiritual leaders had abandoned the worship of Yahweh.

Because of these transgressions, Hezekiah could see that there had been consequences.

He understood that disobedience had resulted in God’s judgment.

Hezekiah was determined to lead his generation in a renewed devotion to God.

This started as a personal conviction within Hezekiah’s heart.

He was determined not to repeat the failures of the past.

Hezekiah’s righteous actions began as a decision in his heart.

He made a commitment to the Lord that things would be different than they had been with his father.

No one could view the fruits of Ahaz’s reign as desirable.

He had set himself up against God.

Hezekiah commits to a different approach.

Hezekiah’s commitment grew into rallying cry for other leaders to join him.

Iron sharpens Iron.

Hezekiah promotes this commitment to the priests and Levites that he had gathered.

If he is going to separate himself from the example of his father, they need to separate themselves from the examples of the past too.

Their duty is to stand, serve, and minister to the Lord.

Hezekiah’s father had pressured the levites to compromise and abandon their god-ordained duties.

Hezekiah positions himself to support and, if need be, pressure the levites fulfill their holy office.

By God’s strength, this is what he will do with his life.

Hezekiah proved that God was his strength when he refused to allow a disadvantage to prevent him from pleasing the Lord.

Hezekiah’s life could have looked a lot different than it did.

He could have allowed the character and example of his dad to carry right on through to his life.

He could have bemoaned the lack of a strong fatherly figure.

He could have even looked back at someone like Joash and said, “oh yeah, his granny tried to murder him, but at least he had a godly Jehoiada to lean on, who do I have?”

Instead, Hezekiah found his strength from the same place we all must draw our strength from, God.

Hezekiah, the one whom God strengthens.

He lived up to his name.

What are the disadvantages that you need God’s strength to overcome in your life.

Some of you need God’s strength to overcome your family background, just like Hezekiah.

Some of you need God’s strength to overcome your own past.

Regardless of where you come from, God’s strength can give you an effective future.

How can you see God’s power implemented in your life?

Prioritize corporate worship.

Acknowledge the failures of the past.

Recognize the consequences of disobeying God.

You will recognize God’s power when...

Your hearts commitment to the Lord is strengthened.

You have a desire to encourage others to join you in serving the Lord.

No one may ever accuse you of being a nepo-baby, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a productive future serving God in His power.