God Is Our Strength and shield
By Matt Watson
In this series, we will explore Jesus’ family tree, looking at some key figures and their lives as told in Scripture. We believe the church is in part a family, and so we look to Christ’s family to help us see our own sin better, but also to know and worship Jesus even more.
There is a theme revealed when you read the books of Kings and Chronicles: There are not many good kings. After Solomon, the kingship split when Israel divided into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah. The kings of Israel were consistently horrible. They worshipped demons, murdered babies in sacrifices, and murdered their own countrymen to take their land (1 Kgs 21). The southern kingdom of Judah (comprised of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with some Levites) faired a little bit better, with the occasional king that “did what was right in the Lord’s sight.” This was the case for Hezekiah, who is described as doing right, “ just as his ancestor David had done” (2 Kgs 18:2-3 CSB).
The Lord Strengthens
Hezekiah’s character and legacy can be summed up by the meaning of his name: “The Lord strengthens.” God often likes to show himself through the works of his servants, so that “the steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way” (Ps 37:23). Hezekiah loved the Lord and delighted in his way, and the Lord strengthened and established him.
When Judah was under siege by Assyria, we see God’s strengthening. Assyria had already conquered and occupied Israel, and it had an on-again/off-again relationship with Judah, an uneasy peace that inevitably collapsed. As tyrannical conquerors like to do, Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, taunted Hezekiah, the people of Judah, and most unwisely, God.
“Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand. Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with me and come out to me … And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? … Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’” (2 Kgs 18:28-35).
Hezekiah responds to this taunt in three ways. First, he ordered the people not to respond to the Assyrian envoy (2 Kgs 18:36). The people were not to mock and jeer back (1 Pet 2:23-25), and instead modeled what the Messiah would do in the future when he was on the cross and did not revile those who mocked him. Second, he sought God’s counsel through the prophet Isaiah (2 Kgs 19:1-7). Instead of turning to Egypt for allied support, he turned to God, the only support he needed. Third, he prayed (2 Kgs 19:14-19). Like Jesus in the garden before his trial, he leaned into the Lord in his distress.
And the Lord answered.
“‘Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.’ And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies” (2 Kgs 19:32-35).
When we trust in the Lord, we are strengthened to endure the vilest of harassment and the most violent of threats, because we know he is in control and victorious.
How You Worship Matters
In 2 Chronicles 29-30, it says in the first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah started work to repair the temple, which was neglected and damaged from the war. He reinstituted the service of the Levites and restored temple worship. He called on the Levites to consecrate themselves and “consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place” (2 Chr 29:5-11). He said because their fathers neglected proper worship and forsook God, the wrath of God was against Judah and Jerusalem and was the cause of the war with Assyria. Hezekiah was concerned with correct worship. He cleansed the temple and is used by God to bring about restoration and redemption to his people.
Christ, as the final and ultimate sacrifice, has fulfilled the ceremonial law requiring temple sacrifices. But while we don’t have to worry about the Holy of Holies and what incense to burn, we do still need to honor and worship God in the way he prescribes. Christians, therefore, take things like communion and prayer seriously. We don’t do certain things, from eating meat devoted to idols (1 Cor 8:1-7) to having sex with temple prostitutes (Deut 23:17-19). And while those seem like they are more obvious prohibitions, you might be surprised at some of the things done in churches in the name of God, from the erratic spectacles of healing seen in many prosperity gospel churches to demonic “grave soaking” as seen from Bethel (i.e. literal necromancy). However, God also cares about the small things, and therefore, we do not try to worship God while we are holding anything against a brother or sister (Matt 5:23-24), nor do we let unbelievers participate in the Lord’s Supper because they are not joined with him in regenerated faith (1 Cor 11:28-31; 2 Cor 13:5).
Hezekiah knew that worshipping false gods was not the only form of idolatry Israel and Judah were guilty of, but also their idolatry of worshipping God in a manner he does not prescribe, which is disobedience and sin, not worship.
Keep in mind, even though the Bible describes Hezekiah as doing good “just as his ancestor David had done,” that David was quite the imperfect do-gooder. Likewise, Hezekiah had his shortfalls. In Isaiah 39:5-8, Isaiah says, “‘Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.’ For he thought, ‘There will be peace and security in my days.’”
But despite shortcomings like this, Hezekiah was wise and good and teaches us in his virtues how to emulate Jesus.
How Hezekiah Points Us to Jesus
Hezekiah was a faithful king, foreshadowing the coming of the most faithful of all kings, Jesus. Hezekiah humbled himself before God and prayed on behalf of his people before a great enemy. Likewise, Jesus humbled himself before God the Father on our behalf and prayed for us. Hezekiah cared about the right worship of God and cleansed the temple of filth, restoring it for the country to worship. Jesus flipped tables and drove out merchants with whips when they defiled God’s temple (Matt 21:12-17). They were specifically set up in the part of the temple set aside for the gentiles and therefore were preventing them from worshiping God. Last, Hezekiah stood against the siege of Assyria, trusting in the rescuing of the Lord. Jesus himself rescues us from Satan and his siegeworks (Mark 3:26-27; Col 1:13) by redeeming us from our slavery to sin and restoring us to a right relationship with the Father.
Let this then help you to stand firm against Satan’s devices by trusting in the victorious and risen Jesus. You will have people oppose you and mock you for your faith in God and your convictions to the truth. Like Sennacherib, they are not really mocking you, but God himself. Our response should be similar to Hezekiah's, where we pray and turn to Jesus for strength. Jesus wins the battle every time. He may not strike down 185,000 Assyrians, but his word will stand while those who mock him will perish.