Revealing Our Heart
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2 Chronicles 32:31 (NLT)
31 However, when ambassadors arrived from Babylon to ask about the remarkable events that had taken place in the land, God withdrew from Hezekiah in order to test him and to see what was really in his heart.
Point: God withdrew...
The Godly decisions and responses we make are because God is guiding, speaking,
protecting
Point: Two events happened at the same time for Hezekiah
Hezekiah had been attacked by Assyria, and God defeated them all in one night 185,000 dead
at the same time....
Hezekiah had an illness that the Lord miraculously healed which gave him 15 years more life.
Sun-Dial went back 10 degrees
Point: This got the attention of the Babylonians (worship sun god) and who were enemies with Assyria
They came to visit Hezekiah to find out how to defeat the Assyrians & why their Sun god SHAMASH (PICTURE) had shown such a miracle to Hezekiah
2 Kings tells us more about there visit & Hezekiah’s handling of it
12 Soon after this, Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent Hezekiah his best wishes and a gift, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been very sick. 13 Hezekiah received the Babylonian envoys and showed them everything in his treasure-houses—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the aromatic oils. He also took them to see his armory and showed them everything in his royal treasuries! There was nothing in his palace or kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them. 14 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did those men want? Where were they from?” Hezekiah replied, “They came from the distant land of Babylon.” 15 “What did they see in your palace?” Isaiah asked. “They saw everything,” Hezekiah replied. “I showed them everything I own—all my royal treasuries.” 16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to this message from the Lord: 17 The time is coming when everything in your palace—all the treasures stored up by your ancestors until now—will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. 18 Some of your very own sons will be taken away into exile. They will become eunuchs who will serve in the palace of Babylon’s king.” 19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “This message you have given me from the Lord is good.” For the king was thinking, “At least there will be peace and security during my lifetime.”
Point: God has left Hezekiah during this visit…God’s conscience/Spirit influence gone
Hezekiah’s real character was allowed to display itself
Point: There are a few reasons someone might go to the length Hezekiah went to show his possessions
To brag and try and earn prestige and awe from his visitors (Pride)
15 “What did they see in your palace?” Isaiah asked. “They saw everything,” Hezekiah replied. “I showed them everything I own—all my royal treasuries.”
Notice “ everything I own”...”My tresuries”…not God gave me
To intimidate them and cause them to fear or respect you because of your military and wealth
Babylon would in less than 100 years return to take Judah into captivity
Point: Whatever Hezekiah’s character weakness was. God left him in order to reveal it.
Chronicles tells us how Hezekiah handled the error of his character
25 But Hezekiah did not respond appropriately to the kindness shown him, and he became proud. So the Lord’s anger came against him and against Judah and Jerusalem. 26 Then Hezekiah humbled himself and repented of his pride, as did the people of Jerusalem. So the Lord’s anger did not fall on them during Hezekiah’s lifetime.
Point: Two things happened here:
A prophet declared the sin of Hezekiah ( was that a good thing or bad thing for him to do?)
Hezekiah repented and so did all of Jerusalem
Point: God’s revealing of our flawed character is not for our destruction…but redemption
There is scriptural precedent for God doing this:
2 Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. 3 Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 For all these forty years your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t blister or swell. 5 Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good. 6 “So obey the commands of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and fearing him.
Point: This happened so God could TEACH THEM SOMETHING
He is doing it for our own good
Why does God test us and allow us to see what is in our heart
“he wishes to ‘make [something] known’ that is, to provide an opportunity for people to show heartfelt repentance. God tests in order to refine, to stimulate repentance and to deepen faith”
Point: A wonderful example of this is given in the New Testament:
Paul had sent a very strong letter of rebuke about some of the things in the Corinthian church
This is why......
8 I am not sorry that I sent that severe letter to you, though I was sorry at first, for I know it was painful to you for a little while. 9 Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way. 10 For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. 11 Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves, such indignation, such alarm, such longing to see me, such zeal, and such a readiness to punish wrong. You showed that you have done everything necessary to make things right. 12 My purpose, then, was not to write about who did the wrong or who was wronged. I wrote to you so that in the sight of God you could see for yourselves how loyal you are to us. 13 We have been greatly encouraged by this. In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was about the way all of you welcomed him and set his mind at ease.
Point: God’s purpose in revealing something about you that it brings correction…not condemnation
Point: Everything God does is redemptive ( acting to save someone from error or evil.)