The Kings Of Israel And Judah. Day 194, Hezekiah King Of Judah, Part Eleven

The reign of King Hezekiah of Judah has been prosperous because he immediately began religious reforms when he ascended to the throne. We've seen him ordering the high places and the pagan altars destroyed. We've seen him ordering the temple to be purified and put back into use. As a result of his faithfulness, we were told that he prospered in everything that he did.

During his fourth year on the throne of Judah, the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel was attacked by the Assyrian army. "In King Hezekiah's fourth year, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it." (2 Kings 18:9) You'll recall that King Hoshea served Shalmaneser's father, Tiglath-Pileser, but that after Tiglath-Pileser's death he attempted to form an alliance with King So of Egypt (believed to be Pharaoh Osorkon IV) in order to rebel against paying any further tribute to Assyria. But King So backed out of coming to his aid and Shalmaneser's forces came and laid siege to Samaria; it fell to the Assyrian army after three years. Hezekiah also rebelled against Assyria according to 2 Kings 18:7b: "He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him."

For a time Hezekiah gets away with refusing to pay tribute to Assyria in exchange for not being attacked by its mighty army. Hezekiah is prospering during that time and the Lord prevents Assyria from attacking Judah. But the Lord doesn't prevent Assyria from attacking and defeating Israel because, "They had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated His covenant---all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened to the commands nor carried them out." (2 Kings 18:12) This sad spiritual statement cannot be made of King Hezekiah or of the majority of the citizens of Judah at this time in the nation's history. Instead we were told as we closed yesterday's study session: "In everything that he undertook in the service of God's temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered." (2 Chronicles 31:21) During the time Hezekiah is restoring the temple, reinstating the proper worship of the Lord in Judah, and wholeheartedly giving himself to learning about and obeying the laws of the Lord, the Lord prevents Judah from being invaded by the Assyrians. But He does not protect Judah from Assyria throughout the entirety of Hezekiah's reign, which is what we might have expected Him to do.

We often think that if we are wholeheartedly trying to live a life that pleases the Lord, trouble won't come knocking at our door. But living according to the Lord's will doesn't guarantee us trouble-free lives. We have only to look at the lives of the godly men and women of the Bible for examples of bad things happening to good people. We live in a fallen world that's been polluted by sin. It's a world where a person's ungodliness is sometimes rewarded by his fellow man. It's a world where a person who lives according to the word of God is sometimes scorned and passed over by his fellow man. It's a world where tragedy can strike anyone---whether they are wicked or whether they are a child of God---at any time. Or, as the Lord Jesus phrased it, in this world the sun rises on the evil and the good, and the rain falls on the righteous and on the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:45b) We might expect Hezekiah's entire reign to be blessed by uninterrupted peace, and the author of 2 Chronicles may have expected that too, for he says, "After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah." (2 Chronicles 32:1a)

We might rephrase his words like this: "In spite of how faithfully Hezekiah served the Lord, the Lord allowed Assyria to trouble the nation of Judah." It's important that we don't misunderstand what's going on here. The Lord isn't rewarding Hezekiah's faithfulness with unfaithfulness. To the faithful He shows Himself faithful. (Psalm 18:25a) This statement was made by David, who endured his share of hardship in this world even when he was living smack dab in the middle of the Lord's will. But in spite of his many troubles, David said many times that the Lord was his refuge in trouble. I am sure that David, like us, wondered why some of the troubles came into his life. I think he clearly understood the connection between deliberate sin and the hardships that follow deliberate sin, for he committed some deliberate sins and brought trouble upon himself. We all can understand having to suffer the consequences of our own willful mistakes. But what about when we are striving to do what is right in the Lord's eyes, as Hezekiah was? Why does calamity strike us in those times?

There are things we will never fully understand until this life is over and we are in the presence of the Lord for eternity. I think He will make all things clear to us then. I think we will declare that He was righteous in everything He allowed to happen to us during our life on earth. Hezekiah and the people of Judah probably wondered why the Lord allowed them to be threatened by the king of Assyria now that a great revival has broken out across the land, now that they have repented of their waywardness and committed themselves to the Lord, now that they have destroyed the unlawful altars and idolatrous symbols that were scattered throughout the nation. Perhaps the Lord allowed it, at least in part, to prove to them that their faith in Him is justified. Would they have become spiritually lazy if they enjoyed nothing but peace and prosperity? Would they have been absolutely sure in their minds that the Lord is who He says He is and that the Lord can do what He says He can do if they never experienced Him coming to their aid? If His faithfulness to the faithful had not been tested and proven true, they could not have said to the Lord what David said: "Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and Your servant loves them." (Psalm 119:140) 

We can believe, intellectually speaking, that everything the Bible says about the Lord is true. But until push comes to shove and He rushes to our aid in a mighty way, have His promises been thoroughly tested? Until we experience Him keeping the promises He's made to us, we cannot really say what David said: "Your promises have been thoroughly tested." When David said this, he meant that the Lord's promises had been proven true. They had been proven trustworthy. And because they had been proven true and trustworthy, David was able to also say, "Your servant loves them." Could we truly and fully love the Lord, in the way that we were created to love Him, if our lives on this earth were always peaceful and easy? I do not think so. Don't get me wrong; I don't enjoy trouble any more than anyone else does. I hate it, in fact. When trouble comes into my life I want it to go away as quickly as possible. But I have to admit that there are things I know about the Lord that I wouldn't have known if I'd never experienced any troubles. There are promises that have been thoroughly tested and proven true. 

The Lord is allowing trouble to come into the lives of King Hezekiah and the people of Judah. But as we continue our study of the invasion of the Assyrians, we will find the Lord's promises being tested and proven true.