The slogan rang out in the late 60s and early 70s as the young adults in America tried to convince the government to pull out of Viet Nam. They were tired of the brutal war that was taking the lives of their friends. They feared being sent to die as well. And while the slogan was the beginning of a sexual revolution that took our country into a huge slide when it came to respect of others, and strength of marriages and families, it was not totally void of being a good idea. It was just that the love was focused in the wrong direction.
When Hezekiah became king of Judah, he immediately set out to teach the people to focus their love on God. He followed his father Ahaz who had been one of the worst kings Judah ever had. The country was in shambles because he had desecrated the temple and followed after other gods, even sacrificing his own sons in the fires as he worshipped other gods. The king of Aram and the king of Israel had pilfered his country and taken prisoners (though Israel did return the prisoners at the request of Obed, the prophet). (II Chronicles 28) But Hezekiah set out immediately to turn things around and get rid of the idolatrous worship and turn the people back to the one and only true God.
While other leaders would have begun to rebuild the infrastructure of the country and try to fight the countries who had invaded their land, Hezekiah “opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired them. He brought in the priest and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side and said, ‘Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your fathers. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. Our fathers were unfaithful; they did evil… turned their faces away from the Lord… This is why our fathers have fallen by the sword and why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity. Now I intend to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us. My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense.’” II Chronicles 29:3-11
Hezekiah demonstrated godly leadership. The first thing he did was get the temple of the Lord cleaned up and got the priests and Levites back into position doing their duties. It took them 16 days to clean out and purify the temple again, but they stuck with it and got the job done. The very next morning king Hezekiah was there with offerings and sacrifices. “He stationed the Levites in the temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king’s seer and Nathan the prophet… As the offering began, singing to the Lord began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments of David king of Israel. The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the singers sang and the trumpeters played. All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering was completed. When the offerings were finished, the king and everyone present with him knelt down and worshiped… they sang praises with gladness and bowed their heads and worshiped… So the service of the temple of the Lord was reestablished.” II Chronicles 29:25-30; 35
Once he had the priests and Levites functioning again, he invited all the people in Judah and Israel to come and celebrate the Passover together. He not only invited his own nation of Judah to return to the Lord, but extended the invitation to Israel (who had just raided their nation a short time ago). “ People of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. Do not be like your fathers… do not be stiff-necked… submit to the Lord… for the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.” II Chronicles 30:6-9
While many from Israel scoffed at him, some did come and join in the celebration. “Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the Lord.” II Chronicles 30:12 Through praise and worship of God, the people were united again.
I imagine that at the beginning of Hezekiah’s reign, the people were disheartened, wounded by the invasions that had taken some of their loved ones into captivity and taken the treasures of the land. Hezekiah, with God’s wisdom, first ministered to the hurts of the people and taught them to worship God again. After four years of rebuilding and refocusing the spirits and the minds of the people, they were threatened by Sennacherib, king of Assyria. Now came the time of testing to see how deep their love for God had grown. Would they trust God to meet their needs or cave under the taunting from Sennacherib? Would they trust Hezekiah’s leadership?
I wonder what Hezekiah was thinking at this time. He had spent four years telling the people to trust in God and God would take care of them. But it appeared at the moment, God was not taking care of them. They were under siege. II Kings 18-19 tells the story in more detail how Hezekiah laid out the words written by Sennacherib before the Lord and asked for God’s mercy and protection and how God wiped out the army of Sennacherib. The people of Judah did not have to do anything but worship God. They loved the Lord their God and worshiped him rather than war with their enemies. God took care of them.
As I read the stories of the different kings, I find that those who were able to humble themselves before God and trust in him were the ones who were successful kings. Those who were full of pride and were self-seeking were the ones who led their nation to destruction.
I wonder if I can learn from this… Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18 Lord, may I remain humble before you and trust you completely with my life that I may experience your goodness and mercy as I follow you.
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