 |
| Hezekiah destroys an ancient artifact. |
In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother's name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.) 2 Kings 18:1-4
Hezekiah is one of those people in the Bible that makes me want to cheer and cry. Cheer when he does right and cry when he messes up.
Here at the very beginning of his rule, he not only destroys all of the foreign gods, but he destroys an ancient relic from the days of Moses because the people of Israel have turned it into an idol. This was clearly an act of courage and an act of wisdom. There could have been all kinds of justifications to keep it, but Hezekiah knew it would be a stumbling block for his people. It was a tough call, but he did it. The question is, are we willing to do the same?
What does the Bible say about Hezekiah because of these actions? “Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.” WOW! What a comment.
No comments:
Post a Comment