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King Hezekiah: His Crisis

by | May 30, 2023 | Bible Brief

(Character Study, Part 3)

KING HEZEKIAH’S CRISES

  1. There were three great crises in the life of King Hezekiah:
  2. A national or military crisis: 2 Kgs. 18-19:37; 2 Chron. 32:9-

                  22; Isa. 36-37

  1. A physical crisis: 2 Kgs. 20:1-11; 2 Chron. 32:24; Isa. 38:1-22
  2. A mental crisis: 2 Kgs. 20:12-21; 2 Chron. 32:31; Isa. 39:1-8
  3. We will do well to observe King Hezekiah and learn how we             should or should not handle a crisis in our lives since …
  4. Crisis will come in your life: 2 Tim. 3:12; 1 Pet. 4:12.
  5. Crisis will reveal your character: 1 Pet. 1:7; 2 Chron. 32:31
  6. Crisis will either make you or break you.
  7. King Hezekiah’s crises came the hardest when …
  8. He was attempting to fully follow the Lord: 2 Chron. 32:1; 2 Tim. 3:12
  1. He was at the peak of his prosperity: 2 Chron. 31:20-21, cf., 32:1; 26:16; 2 Cor. 12:1-10
  2. King Hezekiah’s first crisis was a national crisis: 2 Kgs. 18-19;

2 Chron. 32:9-22; Isa. 36-37

  1. This crisis came in the form of two military invasions by the Assyrian armies of King Sennacherib. (1) 2 Kgs. 18:13-16. Here King Hezekiah failed miserably because of unbelief,  compromise, and prayerlessness, and this was costly: 2 Kgs. 18:15-16. (2) 2 Kgs. 18:17-19:37.  (1) Now King Hezekiah is learning how to face successfully the storms of crisis: He trusts God and prays: 2 Kgs. 19:1, 14-19; and he enlists the prayers and help of Isaiah: 2 Kgs. 19:2-4; 2 Chron. 32:20.
  1. The Lord graciously intervenes: 2 Kgs. 19:34. Killing 185,000 Assyrian soldiers: 2 Kgs. 19:35; promising the Assyrians would  not come into the city: 2 Kgs. 19:32-33; promising the Assyrians would return to their own land: 2 Kgs. 19:7; Promising the Southern Kingdom a measure of peace and prosperity: 2 Kgs. 19:29-30.
  1. The victory did not come easy for King Hezekiah. He had to learn some lessons, but in the end, he found the “way of escape”: 1 Cor. 10:13, and prosperity: 2 Chron. 32:22-23.
  1. King Hezekiah’s second crisis was a physical crisis: 2 Kgs. 20:1-11; 2 Chron. 32:24; Isa. 38:1-22.
  1. This crisis came in the form of deadly boils: 2 Kgs. 20:7.
  2. Hezekiah is on his death bed and told to put his house in order: 2 Kgs. 20:1.
  1. Hezekiah prays: 2 Kgs. 20:2-3; Isa. 38:2-3, being sorrowful and pleading for his life because he did not want the revival to stop; He had no son at this time to carry on; and he wanted to be alive when Messiah came to earth to set up His Kingdom : Isa. 38:11.
  1. The Lord again graciously intervenes: 2 Kgs. 20:4-11; Isa. 38:4-8. He gave Hezekiah 15 additional years to live: 2 Kgs. 20:6; His recovery is so complete that he is promised in 3 days he’ll go to the Temple: 2 Kgs. 20:5. The sun’s shadow will return 10 degrees as evidence of God’s intervening grace: 2 Kgs. 20:10-11…the power of prayer: 2 Kgs. 20:11.
  1. Again, the Lord provided a “wqy of escape” and King Hezekiah availed himself of God’s grace.
  1. King Hezekiah’s third crisis was a mental crisis.
  2. This crisis comes in the form of an innocent friendly visit from the ambassadors of the King of Babylon: 2 Kgs. 20:12.
  3. In this crisis, King Hezekiah will become a monument to human frailty: 1 Cor. 10:12.
  4. This crisis is ordained of God to test Hezekiah and to reveal his sinful nature to him: 2 Chron. 32:31; 1 Pet. 1:7.
  5. King Hezekiah’s sin does not appear to be very great (“a little sin”). On the surface it appears that he is simply being courteous and extending royal hospitality to those who showed him kindness: 2 Kgs. 20:12-13.
  6. In reality, King Hezekiah’s sin was the great sin of pride: 2 Chron. 32:25-26. King Hezekiah sought his own glory: 2 Kgs. 20:13. He wanted to be feared and he also wanted his alliance to be sought after. He should have realized that all the things that he boasted of were earthly and temporal; things that are empty, worthless and temporal (2 Cor.  4:18., especially since he had been so close to death! He had a wonderful opportunity to be a soul winner. He could have told the Gentiles,(1) what God had done for Israel in former times; (2) what God had most recently done in the Southern Kingdom; (3) His own personal testimony about being delivered from the jaws of death by God; (4) and that God , Who is the Almighty God, could not only create the sun but make it move backward 10 degrees and could save their souls.

King Hezekiah did not seek the good of his friends: (1) Gentles were to be blessed (saved) through the agency of the Jews : Jn. 4:12; Isa. 49:5-12; 56:1-8; 66:18-19. (2) Hezekiah ‘s boasting of self hindered these Gentiles from finding salvation. (3) Hezekiah’s sin here is not unlike the sin of Bar-Jesus: Acts 13:6-11). (4) He utterly forgot the necessities of their souls and was promoting his own glory rather than their eternal welfare. Millions of Gentiles might have been saved had King Hezekiah not failed in this crisis.

  1. King Hezekiah’s sin brought the heavy judgment of God: 2 Kgs. 20:14-18.
  1. He lost his nations riches and glory.
  2. His sons emasculated and made slaves in the Babylonian king’s Palace.
  1. His whole nation eventually were led into captivity. It is true King Hezekiah did humble himself and repent, nor did he attempt to hid his sin as did Saul: 1 Sam. 15:20-21 but it came too late.
  1. In view of this crisis and the failure of King Hezekiah, let us be Mindful …
  2. That we, too, have an old sinful nature: Jer. 17:9; 1 Cor. 10:12
  3. That “little sins” have disastrous results.
  4. That the crises of life are ordained of God to test us.
  5. That it is important to honor God in all things.
  6. That we ought to catch the birth of sin in our heart.
  7. That sin greatly offends God.
  8. That God must judge sin.
  9. That if we do sin, to confess it and not hide or excuse it.
  10. That we have an advocate with the Father: 1 Jn. 2:1.
  11. That God gives us the victory through Jesus Christ: 1 Cor. 10:13; 15:57.