Hezekiah

Hezekiah reigned as king of Judah for 29 years and he followed God.  In his first month as king he cleared out all the idols his wicked father King Ahaz placed in the sanctuary.  He had the Temple repaired and prepared for worship.  The people confessed their sins, accepted God's righteousness to cover their lives, and they celebrated the Passover for the first time in a long time.

After these deeds of faithfulness the Assyrian's came up against Jerusalem.  Hezekiah encouraged the people by saying, "Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed, with him is the arm of flesh but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles".  The Assyrians mocked the God of heaven and told the people not to listen to Hezekiah.  Hezekiah prayed to the Lord.  Isaiah the prophet assured Hezekiah of Assyria's defeat.  Then the Lord sent an angel who cut down every mighty man in the Assyrian army.

In those days Hezekiah became very sick.  Isaiah came and told him that he would die.  Hezekiah prayed to the Lord.  The Lord told Isaiah to tell Hezekiah that his life would be extended 15 years.  Hezekiah asked for a sign of God's healing, so God moved the sun back 10 degrees.

When the king of Babylon heard of Hezekiah's healing he sent presents to him.  Hezekiah showed off all the wealth of Jerusalem and the temple but he did not mention the Lord God.  Afterwards Isaiah told Hezekiah that all he had shown them would eventually be taken away and brought to Babylon.  100 years later, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came back and destroyed Jerusalem and took the people captive.'

There are many wise lessons that we can learn from the life of Hezekiah.

Picture originally found here