#5. Hezekiah’s pre-eminence (II Kings xviii. 5).


It is interesting and sometimes corrective to observe exactly what feature is singled out by the Holy Spirit as of eminence in the lives of those who figure in the Scriptures.

For instance, were we to be called upon to do so, what one thing of eminence should we choose out of all the many incidents in the life of Joseph? It is morally certain we should not have lifted into isolated pre-eminence the fact that Joseph “gave commandment concerning his bones”, yet this is the one fact brought forward in Heb. xi. 22. So in the case of Hezekiah who comes before us in this matter of trust in the Lord. He was eminent in many ways. His action in breaking down the images, cutting down the groves, and his possession of sufficient spiritual insight and courage to see the necessity of destroying the time-honoured brazen serpent made by Moses, calling it Nehushtan, “A piece of brass”, would alone have lifted his name and memory above the commonplace (II Kings xviii. 1-4). But this might be a negative attitude, for one can be an iconoclast, or a Protestant, without being definitely for God or for the truth. This could never be said of Hezekiah for the parallel record in II Chron. xxix. makes no mention of his attack upon idolatry, but of his opening of the doors of the house of the Lord and the call of the Levites to a rededication. The feature that is stressed is Hezekiah’s trust in the Lord:

“He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him” (II Kings xviii. 5).

As identical language is used of another king, namely Josiah, in II Kings xxiii. 25, we realize that Hezekiah’s pre-eminence was in the one stated thing, his trust in the Lord, even as Josiah’s pre-eminence was in the stated being, that “he turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might”.

It is alas possible to discover in the recorded actions of Hezekiah some things for which praise and commendation cannot be given; in this common frailty we all have a share. The great moment comes when things look blackest, and Rabshakeh’s taunts seem to have stiffened Hezekiah’s backbone, for the more that evil emissary vilified Hezekiah’s trust, the more that trust grew. There are nine occurrences of the word “Trust” in the second book of Kings. All of them are found in chapters xviii. and xix., and all have to do with Hezekiah and the invasion of Sennacherib. It will help us if we note them together.

Hezekiah.
“He trusted in the Lord God of Israel” (II Kings xviii. 5).

Rabshakeh.
“Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?” (verse 19).
“Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?” (verse 20).

“Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it; so is Pharaoh King of Egypt unto all that trust in him” (verse 21).
“But if ye say unto me, We trust in the Lord our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar at Jerusalem” (verse 22).
“How . . . . . put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?” (verse 24).
“Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand: neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria” (verses 29, 30).
“Let not thy God in Whom thou trustest deceive thee . . . . . Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed?” (II Kings xix. 10-12).

Unwittingly, Rabshakeh may have been used to reveal to Hezekiah the way of true trust. He had questioned the ground of his trust, “Whom dost thou trust?” What answer could Hezekiah make but that he trusted in the living God, the God of Abraham, and covenant promises?

He had revealed the utter untrustworthiness of Pharaoh, and had confused the idolatry—which Hezekiah had sought to stamp out—with the worship of the true God. The more Rabshakeh taunted him regarding the foolishness of his trust, the more his trust in the living God grew—such at least ought to be one of the lessons from this ninefold emphasis on the word “trust” in this book of Kings.

It may not be for us to attain pre-eminence in the affairs of men or in the eyes of the world, but, Oh, for a trust that could receive such commendation as is given in II Kings xviii. 5!

(From The Berean Expositor, Volume 33, page 212).

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