Week 21 2 Chronicles 29-32
The story begins: Hezekiah did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight.
It goes on to say that in all that he did in the service of the Temple of God and in his efforts to follow the law and the commandments, Hezekiah sought his God wholeheartedly .
On the personal side Hezekiah was healed of a deadly illness when he prayed and the Lord intervened.
Hezekiah trusted in the Lord…There was never another king like him in the land of Judah, either before or after his time. He remained faithful to the Lord in everything, and he carefully obeyed all the commands the Lord had given Moses. So the Lord was with Hezekiah. This is a pretty significant comment!
However (and it’s a big & a disturbing ‘however’) Hezekiah did not respond appropriately to the kindness shown him (by the Lord), and he became proud. So the Lord’s anger came against him’. This is a huge and demoralizing reversal and I feel bad about Hezekiah. But I keep reading and see that then Hezekiah repented of his pride, and the people of Jerusalem humbled themselves.
In the four chapters devoted to Hezekiah there’s a long list of the other good things he did. There’s no question he’ll be ranked close to the top. But I’ll have to assess how much his failure of pride will influence the vote. Pride is a serious collapse for sure.
Note: quotes from 2 Chronicles 29:2 31:21 2 Kings 18:5-7 2 Chronicles 32:25-26 (NLT)