Articles
Person Of The Week: Hezekiah
In the kings of David’s lineage, many are unremarkable and some just plain wicked. But one stands out as a man of faith and regard for God – King Hezekiah, “who trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any who were before him” (II Kings 18:5).
Hezekiah was a reformer who valiantly tried to renew the hearts of the people to Jehovah. But two major crises during his administration pushed his own faith to the breaking point. The first was when Assyria invaded Judah, eventually surrounding Jerusalem (II Kings 18-19). When King Sennacherib sent a threatening letter to Hezekiah, he took the letter and laid it before God pleading, “I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone” (II Kings 19:19).
God responded by destroying the entire Assyrian army in one night. The second crisis came when the prophet Isaiah told Hezekiah to put his affairs in order, for he would soon die (he was only 39). Hezekiah again poured his heart out to God and was granted a 15-year extension of life (II Kings 20:1-11).
Like the rest of us, Hezekiah was imperfect and made mistakes, but he is a great example of humble trust in God. When the going got rough, Hezekiah dropped to his knees and prayed.
