Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.
The book of 2 Chronicles is a chronicled history of the kings of Judah. It goes king by king by king and, in most cases, tells us when they ruled, how long they ruled, who ruled in Israel while they ruled in Judah and, more importantly, how they ruled. Here are just a few to account that have already been listed by the writer:
1. Hezekiah’s father:
2 Chronicles 28:1 (ESV)
Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done,
2. Hezekiah’s grandfather:
2 Chronicles 27:1-3 (ESV)
Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok. And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD according to all that his father Uzziah had done, except he did not enter the temple of the LORD. But the people still followed corrupt practices. He built the upper gate of the house of the LORD and did much building on the wall of Ophel.
3. Hezekiah’s great-grandfather:
2 Chronicles 25:1-2 (ESV)
Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, yet not with a whole heart.
So, we can see that the chronicler wants us to see not only who was leading the nation but how they lead in relationship to God and His word. Some started out well, but ended poorly. For instance Hezekiah’s father, Ahaz. Note his downfall:
2 Chronicles 28:19-22 (ESV)
For the LORD humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made Judah act sinfully and had been very unfaithful to the LORD. So Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. For Ahaz took a portion from the house of the LORD and the house of the king and of the princes, and gave tribute to the king of Assyria, but it did not help him. In the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the LORD—this same King Ahaz.
While all the kings of Israel (to the north) were evil kings, the kings of Judah (to the south) were mostly godly kings. Hezekiah was one of the most faithful to God. We will read later, however, that Hezekiah struggled to finish well:
2 Chronicles 32:24-26 (ESV)
In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death, and he prayed to the LORD, and he answered him and gave him a sign. But Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud. Therefore wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem. But Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
And that his son failed to start well:
2 Chronicles 33:1-2 (ESV)
Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.
So, as we read about these kings we have to realize that they, like us, struggled in their faith. But the common denominator for those who reigned well was that they obeyed God’s word. Those who failed, disobeyed God’s word. That is the common theme throughout Chronicles and the Scriptures. We all might want to ask ourselves this question: “If someone chronicled my life how would it read? Would it read that I did what was right in the sight of the LORD or that I did evil in the sight of the LORD?
The problem is that Hezekiah would fail in the end. When the Babylonians came to spy out the land Hezekiah’s heart was lifted up in pride. He would fall into a trap and that would be his end:
2 Chronicles 32:31 (ESV)
And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon, who had been sent to him to inquire about the sign that had been done in the land, God left him to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart.
Don’t let it be your end!
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