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When Hezekiah took possession of the throne from his father King
Ahaz, he went on a housecleaning spree. He reopened the doors to
God's house and repaired them. He gathered the priests and Levites
and placed them on the square, on the east as they had been during
King David's reign. Temple worship was restored and the Passover
Celebration reinstated. There were music and rejoicing and praising
God like had not happened since King David and King Solomon's times.
Idol worship and pagan practices were stopped. The people were ready
for this change.
King Hezekiah loved God, and he wanted everyone to love God as he did.
He saw his people through eyes of faith, and he watched their lives
and how they lived each day. He knew obedience to God and God's
commandments would reap unexpected blessings, and he wanted the people
to understand this and want real change in their hearts. His tenure
of twenty-nine years saw many changes as he overcame struggles of
reform for the benefit of his nation. He believed they had to return
to worshiping God, and he implemented a national charge for this
change to come about.
One of King Hezekiah's major conflicts was the evil Assyrian King.
When King Hezekiah saw the Assyrian soldiers outside the gates of his
city, he and the prophet Isaiah went to God in prayer and asked for
His guidance in this attack and situation. Then God sent an angel to
destroy the mighty Assyrian soldiers as He guided them on every side.
God helped defeat this corrupt ruler and the ruler returned to his
country in disgrace.
The Israelites witnessed a great victory, and they knew God had
given the victory to them because King Hezekiah fell to his knees and
asked for God's help. They knew their king loved God with all his
heart and soul and mind and thus, was part of the victory.
The love King Hezekiah had for the God of Israel drove him to
revival and he became known as the reformer and returner to Moses'
ways. He told the masses from the tribes as they gathered during his
spiritual renewing, "Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the
Lord God of Israel, that His burning anger may turn away from us." II
Chronicles 29:10. The people understood and were willing to unharden
their hearts and obey God, as King Hezekiah encouraged them to do.
Love for God and his people is Christlike love. This love should live
in all our hearts as it lived in this king's heart.
C 2006 Carol Dee Meeks
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