2 Chronicles 29 – 32

Verse 29:3 starts Hezekiah’s reign:

Hezekiah’s first action when he began to reign was reopening and repairing the Eternal’s temple.

Hezekiah is an interesting king, since he is one of the few who actually follow God during his reign. His time also was filled with problems, which give us insight to God’s nature and how he handles the world. First though we need to understand that God must come first. Hezekiah placed God first and did what was necessary to rebuild the temple in honor of God.

Verse 32:1 shows things were not all rosy for the king:

After his acts of faithfulness toward God, Hezekiah faced the greatest challenge of his reign. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities intending to conquer them for himself.

Think about it the largest kingdom was rising against Israel. Their numbers were much greater than Israel’s that it would have been a rout. But Hezekiah kept his faith in God and ensured the people understood this. Usually king’s faithful good works were rewarded with peace and prosperity, yet Hezekiah is faced with possible destruction.

How many times in our lives have we been in Hezekiah’s shoes? This is often when we are faithful and yet God seems to keep throwing obstacles in our path. How do we respond? Do we lean into God like Hezekiah or do we run from God thinking He abandoned us? In this story, Hezekiah leans into God and miracles happen to save Israel.

Verses 32:24-26 show the problems of success:

^24-26 Hezekiah became proud and neglected to appreciate the gifts he received. So the Eternal was angry with him and all of Jerusalem and Judah. When Hezekiah became deathly ill, he realized what he had done wrong. He humbled himself and prayed to the Eternal, who answered the prayer and healed him as a sign. The people of Jerusalem and Judah also humbled themselves so that He was no longer angry with His people during Hezekiah’s days.

Hezekiah starts thinking he had something to do with the success, I am sure the people were rejoicing feeding his pride. God quickly humbled him and he just as quickly realized what he was doing. In this he humbled himself before God and repented for his pride.

The key here is when things are going good, don’t take credit for anything. Humble yourself before God and be thankful. When people say “you did a great job” don’t let that get to your head, but realize it is God and give credit to Him!! Pride is the potential pitfall of success since often we get this idea that the army being defeated by an inferior force is somehow our doing. Success leads to humble thankfulness!!