Second Kings 18:1-4 briefly introduces us to the reign of Hezekiah, the son of King Ahaz of Judah. His mother was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah. Hezekiah succeeded his father on the throne in the third year of Hoshea’s reign of Israel. When he became king of Judah, he was 25 years old, and he reigned for 29 years. The description of him as a king was a favorable one. He began on the right footing by doing what was right in the eye of the Lord. For followed in the footsteps of King David and did what the latter had done.
Verse
4 describes some of the things he did when he became king. Firstly, he removed
the high places and broke down the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah. He
also destroyed Nehushtan, by breaking it into pieces. This was the bronze
serpent that Moses made to deliver the people from the fiery serpents in the
wilderness. Hezekiah had to destroy it because the people had made it into an
idol and were venerating and burning incense to it.
Verse
6 hailed him as an outstanding king. For there was none like him before and
also none after him. The reason: he trusted in the LORD the God of
Israel. His trust in the LORD was
an enduring one. It was said that “he clung to the Lord; he did not
depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had
commanded Moses.”
We
can see that Hezekiah started on the right footing. He had a solid foundation.
Trusting and clinging to the LORD were the keys to Hezekiah’s success. Without a deep
conviction and love for God, it would be impossible to achieve what he had
achieved. Like him, no one can be effective for God without this
very basic foundation in life. A lofty building can never be built if the
foundation is weak. In much the same way, an effective life cannot be achieved
without a strong foundation of trust in God. Like a tree, its fruitfulness is
determined by its rootedness. Our fruitfulness in the Lord is also determined
by how deeply we are rooted in Him. The deeper the root, the more
will be the fruit.
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