A Trio of Trials
Hezekiah “A Trio of Trials” 2 Chronicles 31&30
It isn’t so much what happens to you; it’s what happens in you that’s important.
Trials &Testings usually come after times of great blessing, and Hezekiah faced three of them. Invasion, illness and pride.
People are a lot like tea bags; they don’t know their own strength until they get into hot water.
Last week we looked at all the good things King Hezekiah was doing. His reign can certainly be called a reign of revival, as we see the nation come back to The Lord under the leadership of King Hezekiah. The Temple was re-opened and made ready for worship. The spiritual leaders consecrated themselves, they were prepared to serve and worship God properly. Hezekiah invites the Israelites to join those in Judah at Jerusalem for the Passover. Really good things are happening in the nation and it is even affecting some of the other tribes to the north.
Chapter 31 of 2 Chronicles records some of the results of this revival in Judah.
2 Kings 18-20 and Isaiah (36-39) speak of same events.
1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, broke the pillars in pieces, cut down the Asherim and pulled down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the sons of Israel returned to their cities, each to his possession. Good things are happening. They’ve turned from their idols and then they smash them. A sign of real repentance & revival.
2 And Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and the Levites by their divisions, each according to his service, both the priests and the Levites, for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister and to give thanks and to praise in the gates of the camp of the Lord.
3 He also appointed the king’s portion of his goods for the burnt offerings, namely, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths and for the new moons and for the fixed festivals, as it is written in the law of the Lord. 4 Also he commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion due to the priests and the Levites, that they might devote themselves to the law of the Lord.
The priests and levites again begin serving as the scriptures commanded in offering the daily sacrifices. Also we see the King leading in providing for the sacrifices and the people follow and provide for the priests and levites, and actually they give such an abundance that room needs to be made in the Temple. Things are going so good. (Vs 5-19)This is awesome! Now you can hear some of the pessimists just waiting for something bad to happen.
20 Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah; and he did what was good, right and true before the Lord his God. 21 Every work which he began in the service of the house of God in law and in commandment, seeking his God, he did with all his heart and prospered.
Look at how wonderful all this is. The King is sold out for The Lord here, he is on fire for God. These are tremendous things that are said here. Wow. Look at the change that this good and godly leader made initiated in such a short amount of time.
2 Chron 29:36 Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, because the thing came about suddenly.
In just months this is a different nation from the one his father had lead.
The King has been doing all this good stuff. Now look what happens in vs 1 of Chapter 32
Chapter 32
Sennacherib Invades Judah
1 After these acts of faithfulness Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities, and thought to break into them for himself.
After all these good things Hezekiah has been doing now comes this great big trial. Things had been going so well. Now this enemy is on the move, the enemy has set out to destroy. And some would cry, but that’s not fair. It’s not fair. Life is not fair. Trials come our way, to the believer and the unbeliever. Some wrongly think that if you do everything right, if we are right with God we will never have any problems, never deal with any trials. Nowhere do the scriptures teach that. Often because we are doing the right things problems, difficulties, trials come our way.
Job was one of those people that faced some trials. Job 5:7 But mankind is born for trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.
Job’s attitude is inspiring: “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15).
Job’s friends would have diagnosed that Hezekiah must have sin in his life. The Health and wealth preachers would say that Hezekiah doesn’t have enough faith.
But it is clear in the scriptures that our Faith will be tested. And faith that can’t be tested can’t be trusted. Real faith can handle testing. Real faith is made stronger through testing and trial.
Oswald Chambers penned this, the author of My Utmost for His Highest. A saint's life is in the hands of God as a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see; he stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint says, "I cannot stand any more." But God does not heed; he goes on stretching until his purpose is in sight, then he lets fly. We are here for God's designs, not for our own.
— Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The Invasion. After other times of awakening, the nation was given protection and rest from enemies (2 Chron. 15:15; 20:29–30), but this time, God allowed the enemy to come in. God was testing the faith of the king and the people to see how deep it really was. It is one thing to participate in a religious meeting, even have a revival meeting but quite something else to have your land invaded and your capital city threatened by invasion.
2 Now when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to make war on Jerusalem, 3 he decided with his officers and his warriors to cut off the supply of water from the springs which were outside the city, and they helped him.
4 So many people assembled and stopped up all the springs and the stream which flowed through the region, saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find abundant water?”
They don’t lay down and say oh woe is me, The king leads the people to action, to deal with this trial. They even accomplish an amazing achievement.
SILOAM [sigh LOW um] (sent) — a storage pool and water tunnel that provided a water supply for early residents of the city of Jerusalem. The pool and tunnel drew water from the Gihon spring outside the city wall.
Hezekiah’s tunnel was discovered accidentally in 1838 and was explored by the American traveler, Edward Robinson, and his missionary friend, Eli Smith. They found the Siloam tunnel to be about 518 meters (1,750 feet) long, although the straight line distance between the storage pool and the Gihon spring is only 332 meters (1,090 feet). By any standards, however, Hezekiah’s tunnel was a tremendous achievement. Some folks do their best work when in the midst of trials & testing.
And the King has further plans. He is active in the midst of this, he is not passive just waiting for something to happen. He is forward looking and makes preparations.
5 And he took courage and rebuilt all the wall that had been broken down and erected towers on it, and built another outside wall and strengthened the Millo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in great number. 6 He appointed military officers over the people and gathered them to him in the square at the city gate, and spoke encouragingly to them, saying,
7 “Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him; for the one with us is greater than the one with him.
8 “With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
1 John 4:4 “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”
Hezekiah is saying trust The Lord, look to Him. The people look to Hezekiah and his leadership, his trust in The Lord. What a great example he is to the people. People are looking at you in the midst of trial & crisis as well.
Sennacherib Undermines Hezekiah
9 After this Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem while he was besieging Lachish with all his forces with him, against Hezekiah king of Judah and against all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying, 10 “Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, ‘On what are you trusting that you are remaining in Jerusalem under siege? 11‘Is not Hezekiah misleading you to give yourselves over to die by hunger and by thirst, saying, “The Lord our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria”? 12 ‘Has not the same Hezekiah taken away His high places and His altars, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, “You shall worship before one altar, and on it you shall burn incense”?
13‘Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of the lands able at all to deliver their land from my hand?
14 ‘Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed who could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand? 15 ‘Now therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?’ ”
16 His servants spoke further against the Lord God and against His servant Hezekiah.
17 He also wrote letters to insult the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, “As the gods of the nations of the lands have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand.” 18 They called this out with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, so that they might take the city.
19 They spoke of the God of Jerusalem as of the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of men’s hands.
The enemy tries to scare the people with words. He tries to get them to doubt God. Just as the Devil tries to get you and me to doubt God, to doubt His Word. The serpent hasn’t changed his tactics has he? He keeps using basically the same tactics.
Hezekiah’s Prayer Is Answered
20 But King Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed about this and cried out to heaven. Isaiah’s added commentary- Isaiah 36-39 speak of Hezekiah’s reign
Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Help Chapter 37 of Isaiah
1 And when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the Lord. 2 Then he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke and rejection; for children have come to birth, and there is no strength to deliver. 4 ‘Perhaps the Lord your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the remnant that is left.’ ”
5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. 7 “Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.” ’ ”
8 Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. 9 When he heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, “He has come out to fight against you,” and when he heard it he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of Judah, ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 11 ‘Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be spared?
12 ‘Did the gods of those nations which my fathers have destroyed deliver them, even Gozan and Haran and Rezeph and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar?
13‘Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’ ”
14 Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord.
15 Hezekiah prayed to the Lord saying, 16 “O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 17 “Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to reproach the living God. 18 “Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated all the countries and their lands,
19 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them.
20 “Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, Lord, are God.” (God Answers through Isaiah)
21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria,
22 this is the word that the Lord has spoken against him: “She has despised you and mocked you, The virgin daughter of Zion; She has shaken her head behind you, The daughter of Jerusalem! 23 “Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? And against whom have you raised your voice And haughtily lifted up your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel!
33 “Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield, or throw up a siege ramp against it. 34 ‘By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he will not come to this city,’ declares the Lord. 35 ‘For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’ ”
36 Then the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, all of these were dead. 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh. 38 It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.
The Trial & Testing of invasion: I’d say Hezekiah passed with flying colors.
Back to 2 Chronicles 31
23 And many were bringing gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem and choice presents to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations thereafter.
24 In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill; and he prayed to the Lord, and the Lord spoke to him and gave him a sign.
Illness can be a tremendous trial can’t it? Oh some of our people that are in the midst of this.
A sickbed often teaches more than a sermon
2 Kings 20 gives some greater detail here. Hezekiah again cries out to The Lord and The Lord graciously answers his prayers giving him another 15 years to live.
In the trial of illness I would say Hezekiah gets another A+, he did very well.
But now lets look at the last one that we have before us.
25 But Hezekiah gave no return for the benefit he received, because his heart was proud; therefore wrath came on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.
Pride - Hezekiah weathered the invasion and the illness, but he caved in to pride. It began when he failed to thank God for sparing his life, and apparently even God’s chastening did not cure him. The extent of his wealth and the praises of the visiting dignitaries made Hezekiah proud, and God had to deal with him.
We learn here that if Satan cannot conquer us when he comes as the lion (1 Pet. 5:8), (When he comes at us with a frontal attack as in invasion & illness) he will come again as the serpent (2 Cor. 11:1–3). You & I may be in greater danger when things are going well than when you are fighting a battle, so keep alert. Be Vigilant!
Satan and his ontorage don’t take any days off. They are in the battle day after day. A believer can’t take a day off spiritually for our adversary is ever there to attack. Ever there to temp and render the believer useless.
26 However, Hezekiah humbled the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come on them in the days of Hezekiah.
We see that Hezekiah is not perfect, he still has some things to learn. We can also learn here from Hezekiah how to deal with sin. Hezekiah turned from his sin, he turned from his pride and humbled himself before The Lord.
27 Now Hezekiah had immense riches and honor; and he made for himself treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields and all kinds of valuable articles, 28 storehouses also for the produce of grain, wine and oil, pens for all kinds of cattle and sheepfolds for the flocks. 29 He made cities for himself and acquired flocks and herds in abundance, for God had given him very great wealth. 30 It was Hezekiah who stopped the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and directed them to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all that he did. 31 Even in the matter of the envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone only to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.
32 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his deeds of devotion, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 33 So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the upper section of the tombs of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him at his death. And his son Manasseh became king in his place.
Trials
1. Trials often prioritize our prayer life/ We make it a point to pray and pray specifically-
Not just habitual prayers, but intense and heartfelt prayers. We get serious about prayer.
2. Trials can promote our spiritual maturity (Ps 105:16ff) ‘The tougher the going the greater the growing’ “When working out do a set to the point of muscle failure”
3. Trials prove our integrity – When we are in the midst of a trial what’s inside is gonna come out.
Hudson Taylor was talking to a young missionary about to start work in China. “Look at this,” Taylor said as he brought his fist down hard on the table, knocking over the tea cups and spilling their contents. As he gazed at the startled young man, Taylor said, “When you begin your work, you will be buffeted in numerous ways. The trials will be like blows. Remember, those blows will only bring out what is in you.”
4. Trials produce a sense of dependence on God
We realize our need and dependence on Him,
5. Trials purify & test our faith 1 Peter 1:7-9
It isn’t so much what happens to you; it’s what happens in you that’s important.