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#5.
Hezekiah's pre-eminence (II Kings 18: 5).
pp. 69, 70
It is interesting and sometimes corrective to observe exactly what feature is singled
out by the Holy Spirit as of eminence in the lives of those who figure in the Scriptures.
For instance, were we to be called upon to do so, what one thing of eminence should
we choose out of all the many incidents in the life of Joseph? It is morally certain we
should not have lifted into isolated pre-eminence the fact that Joseph "gave
commandment concerning his bones", yet this is the one fact brought forward in
Heb. 11: 22. So in the case of Hezekiah who comes before us in this matter of trust in the
Lord. He was eminent in many ways. His action in breaking down the images, cutting
down the groves, and his possession of sufficient spiritual insight and courage to see the
necessity of destroying the time-honoured brazen serpent made by Moses, calling it
Nehushtan, "A piece of brass", would alone have lifted his name and memory above the
commonplace (II Kings 18: 1-4). But this might be a negative attitude, for one can be
an iconoclast, or a Protestant, without being definitely for God or for the truth. This
could never be said of Hezekiah for the parallel record in II Chron. 29: makes no
mention of his attack upon idolatry, but of his opening of the doors of the house of the
Lord and the call of the Levites to a rededication. The feature that is stressed is
Hezekiah's trust in the Lord:
"He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all
the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him" (II Kings 18: 5).
As identical language is used of another king, namely Josiah, in II Kings 23: 25,
we realize that Hezekiah's pre-eminence was in the one stated thing, his trust in the Lord,
even as Josiah's pre-eminence was in the stated being, that "he turned to the Lord with all
his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might".
It is alas possible to discover in the recorded actions of Hezekiah some things for
which praise and commendation cannot be given; in this common frailty we all have a
share. The great moment comes when things look blackest, and Rabshakeh's taunts seem
to have stiffened Hezekiah's backbone, for the more that evil emissary vilified
Hezekiah's trust, the more that trust grew. There are nine occurrences of the word
"Trust" in the second book of Kings. All of them are found in chapters 18: and 19:,
and all have to do with Hezekiah and the invasion of Sennacherib. It will help us if we
note them together.
Hezekiah.
"He trusted in the Lord God of Israel" (II Kings 18: 5).
Rabshakeh.
"Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou
trustest?" (verse 19).
"Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?" (verse 20).