2Kings 18 – 20 If truth be known, boasting comes rather easily to us. The prophet Jeremiah said this:
“If people want to boast, they should boast about this: They should boast that they understand and know me. They should boast that they know and understand that I, the Lord, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earth and that I desire people to do these things,” says the Lord”
Let’s see if Hezekiah passed that test and then check ourselves as well.
It seems that no matter how good, how powerful, how majestic God is, men vacillate between being faithful and unfaithful. An enemy surfaces and men capitulate and surrender failing to realize that God can and will drive them out. So it was with Hezekiah first time around. He saw the kingdom of Israel right next door surrender and taken captive to the land of Assyria yet he did not learn from that error of judgment. Instead when faced with the same scenario, used bribery instead of prayer. Having been successful, Assyria escalated the demand expecting the same result but this time Hezekiah submitted not to him but to God. God routed the enemy and peace returned because Hezekiah turned to God. If only we would learn the first time around.
Next Hezekiah is sick unto death and he prays for healing and God restores him to full health. But, then another enemy, Babylon comes knocking. Hezekiah misses an opportunity to share the power of God. Instead, Hezekiah shares his wealth. The Chronicle writer notes that God left Hezekiah alone when they came to “test what was in his heart.” Hezekiah missed a golden opportunity to share the power of God to heal. It wasn’t his wealth that made him whole but God!