10/15/2008
2 Kings 18:1 - 8 (HCSB) 1In the third year of Israel’s King Hoshea son of Elah, Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah. 2He was 25 years old when he became king; he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi daughter of Zechariah. 3He did what was right in the LORD’s sight just as his ancestor David had done. 4He removed the high places and shattered the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah [poles]. He broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses made, for the Israelites burned incense to it up to that time. He called it Nehushtan.
5Hezekiah trusted in the LORD God of Israel; not one of the kings of Judah was like him, either before him or after him. 6He held fast to the LORD and did not turn from following Him but kept the commandments the LORD had commanded Moses.
7The LORD was with him, and wherever he went, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. 8He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders, from watchtower to fortified city.
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After a long succession of kings in both Israel (the northern kingdom) and Judah (the southern kingdom), Hezekiah is crowned king of Judah, and he follows the commands of the Lord. As the king, he exercises his authority to destroy all the shrines (high places) to foreign gods. He destroys the Ashereh Pole (a monument to a female god of fertility), and even destroys the bronze serpent that Moses had made in the wilderness because the people were treating it as an idol to a god itself.
A few other kings had destroyed some of the foreign gods, but not all of them. Hezekiah was the first to destroy everything that was not ordained by and honoring to God.
Hezekiah trusted the Lord and the Lord was with him. We read that Hezekiah prospered and was victorious in battle. We should not construe this passage to mean that if we are faithful to God that we will always be prosperous and victorious. Hezekiah was prosperous and victorious based on the Davidic promise for Israel. God was faithful to His promise for the people of Israel that were devoted to Him.
When we remain faithful to God, He will be faithful to us. What that means may vary from person to person. But, we can rest assured that He will not leave us when we are focused on Him. But to do so, we need to remove all the idols in our lives. We even need to remove those things that we originally set up as reminders of God that have become distractions. Just like Israel was paying false homage to the bronze snake – we need to make sure that everything in our lives is pointing to God and His Glory.
Jeff Justus
Cleff Publishing
www.cleffpublishing.com
©2008 Cleff Publishing, all rights reserved.
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