2 Kings Chapter 18

When God Brings Revival

 

 RD V.1-8

                

Hezekiah is one of FOUR outstanding kings of Judah whose lives are recorded in BOTH the book of Kings and Chronicles.

 

Asa, Jehoshaphat, Josiah, and Hezekiah

Well God brought revival to Judah thru Hezekiah

 

Note: He was 25 yrs old – when God used him to bring Revival to the nation

A) Now this should be encouraging to every young person in this Sanctuary tonight

 

B) God can use you to do great things – even though you might feel - - I AM YOUNG

 

C) Young people have energy: Old people might

have great ideas – not the energy to carry them out

 

D) Young people have a Zeal: Dream

1) Passion

2) Also can be idealistic – good and bad

 

E) Good: Because not going to settle for the Status

Quo – Want to see Change

Bad – It can make you Judgmental and Critical of others – Me with Pastor Chuck – no clue {leading a church

 

E) That can cause them to try things – or seek to make something better.

Young Person I want to encourage you to make yourselves available to God

A) I want you to know – something you shouldn’t hear here at CCV – We don’t do that!

 

B) Dream – Pray – Seek out – Ideas

1) Promise - take them to the Lord

 

C) So God uses Hezekiah in a big time way.

1) Revival was the result

 

Now 2 KINGS 18 gives us the snap shot version of this revival –

A) Sort of gives us the end result of the revival and the actions that resulted

 

B) 2 Chronicles 29 gives us insight into what led up top the Revival happening.

1) Starting point and steps

 

C) So turn to 2 Chronicles 29

 

2 Chron 29:1-3

Hezekiah became king 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. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done.

In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them.

#1 He placed a Priority on worship!

A) He repaired the doors to the house of God

 

Aa) Remember that Ahaz had nailed shut the doors of the temple. Nobody was using it. See V.6-8

1) As soon as Hezekiah began to reign, he opened the doors of the temple.

 

B) The house of God was opened once again to worship the Lord

 

C) Let's get back to seeking God!

 

 

#2 He challenged the Leaders:

4 Then he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them in the East Square, 5 and said to them: "Hear me, Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place.

 

He challenged them in 3 ways

1) Sanctify themselves – Set apart – others words get the compromise out of their own lives.

 

There had to be a return to holy living, to honesty, and to integrity. There had to be a setting-apart for God.

 

Leaders need to be set apart – they should be different especially spiritual leaders

 

Has to be something about them I think that motivates others to follow their example

 

Contagious affect -

 

So first he called the Leaders to be set apart unto the Lord

 

2) He called them to clean up God’s house

carry out the rubbish from the holy place.

 

A) Rubbish is the uncleanness Impurity

 

B) Everything that didn’t belong – everything that was not of the Lord –

1) Remove it

 

1) He called the Leaders to be set apart unto the Lord

2) He called them to clean up God’s house.

 

3) He challenged them to not be negligent to their calling.

10 "Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us. 11 My sons, do not be negligent now, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and that you should minister to Him and burn incense."

 

 

Their calling consisted of 4 things

Here we have the 4 Fold Role of the Elder

 

1) They were called to stand before God.

A) We stand before God as his representative

 

B) We represent God to the people and the people to God

 

2) They were called to serve God.

A) We serve the Lord by serving his people

 

B) By ministering to them and caring for them.

 

3) They were called to minister to Him: This speaks of our devotional life and our worship to the Lord

A)Two crucial things – Mary Lk 10

 

4) They were called to burn incense – This speaks of the ministry of intercessory prayer.

 

Now all of this is happening before they pulled down one altar or idol.

A) What Hezekiah is doing is he is surrounding himself with likeminded – like hearted men

 

B) This wasn’t going to be a one man show {Team effort – Like minded men – seeking God

 

C) This is always a starting place – Revival

1) Group committed to pray

D) A group ready to step in and do what is needed –

1) Set an example / set the pace / for others to run

 

One more thing: RD V.25-30

 

He stationed them in the house of the Lord

A) He appointed them places in the temple and they led the people in worship

 

B) The assembly followed

1) Leaders lead – most by example

 

C) Here is the result:  2 Chron 29:35-36

 

So the service of the house of the LORD was set in order. 36 Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced that God had prepared the people, since the events took place so suddenly.

 

1) So he set a priority on worship

2) He challenged the leaders

3) He reinstituted the Passover Ch.31

 

Passover is the OT equivalent to communion

A) Remembrance of deliverance from Egypt

 

B) Passover Lamb

 

C) I think in any true revival there is going to be a focus on the Cross –

1) Coming back to giving worth to the Lord’s Table

D) Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11 – Many weak and sick among you – Not giving worth to the Lords table

 

E) Need to regularly sit at the foot of the Cross

 

So Hezekiah reinstituted the Passover 

 

Again this was all before 2 Kings 182 Chronicles 31 takes us to the place – started pulling down altars

A) After his team is assembled – after the Leaders were on the right tract

                           Turn back to 2 Kings 18

 

4 He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan (Neh oosh tan )

 

#1 He instituted a house cleaning in Judah

Notice the verbs in v.4 Removed / Broke/ cutdown

A) We are talking a violent aggressive house cleaning going on here in Judah

 

B) Removed the high places – Started as convenient places of worship

1) Ended up idolatry

 

C) Broke the  (Neh oosh tan ) 

1) Bronze serpent – Curse – look to

 

D) But over the yrs it had become what it was never intended to be. {

 

It was an instrument that was intended at that time to be a pt of faith – believe and look to the pole

A) Believe and look to the cross

 

B) The instrument that was intended to spark faith

1) Became the focal point instead of God

 

C) Hezekiah called it what it was – Brass things

 

D) Focus in the wrong Place – Man – Just a Man

1) Guitar Just a guitar

2) Building just a building

 

E) If the man or the guitar or the building can be used to get people to focus on God – great

 

 

So Hezekiah instituted a house cleaning in Judah

#2 He trusted in the Lord.  V.5

A) His confidence was going to be in the Lord

 

B) Trust = Dependency – cling to rely upon

 

#3 He held fast to the word. V.6

 

God’s instruction to Joshua

Joshua 1:7-8

7 Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

 

John 15:7-8

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

 

Psalm  1:1-3

 

Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

3 He shall be like a tree

Planted by the rivers of water,

That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither;

And whatever he does shall prosper.

 

 

 

Result of Hezekiah’s actions?

V.7 He Prospered –

V.8 He had victory over his enemies

 

Now is it any different for us today than Hezekiah?

Joshua? David? The Lord’s Disciples

 

Hey you want to Prosper – follow this pattern

 

So God used Hezekiah to bring Revival to the nation

All happened in his first year as King

 

Unfortunately it didn’t last -  RD V. 9-16

 

 

Hezekiah does NOT know what to do. In his panic he errs

A)NOTE: Isn’t that when we most often err.... When we panic.

 

B) The place of trusting in the Lord is when we are LEAST likely to err.

 

C) SO Hezekiah gives in to the Pressure of the enemy tries to satisfy him with payment from God’s house

1) Note the enemy is never satisfied

 

D) One drink / one toke / one look – one fling

1) Never says ok that is enough  Keeps coming and so does Sennacherib -         RD V. 17-35

 

Now note this v.29-35 he makes 3 arguments for the people to give in.

 

1.) PROMISES PROSPERITY

 

If you come over we’ll prosper you. We’ll give you your own vine and well. Our land is a good land.

 

Interesting: “The Jews KNEW that the Assyrians did NOT treat ANYONE like that when they were taken captive. Yet, this man appeals to them on this basis.

 

 

2.) DENIES DEATH

 

You will live and NOT die if you come over to my side

 

3.) CAUSED QUESTIONING

 

Where are the gods of Samaria? They were of no help. What makes you think that your God will be able to help?

 

NOTE: These are the same three things that Satan did in the Garden

A)The PROMISE OF PROSPERITY, the DENIAL OF DEATH and the CREATING OF QUESTIONS

 

B) Hath God said?   You shall not die   The day that you eat your eyes will be opened.

 

C) When you study the Bible you find out that Satan’s repertoire is very limited.... His play book is really small.

1) He only has a couple of plays that he runs over and over again. Da Vinci Code

 

D) IF a team only had three plays you would think that the opposing team would be able to stop them.

 

E) Satan only has THREE basic plays that we should KNOW and DEFEND against.

 

 

PROMISES PROSPERITY

A) “You can cheat a little here and there and prosper”

 

DENIES DEATH

“You’re not going to die and go to hell”

 

CAUSES QUESTIONS

“What about those aborigines that never heard the Gospel?”

 

“If God’s a God of love how come there is so much suffering?”

 

NOTE: Here is how we should deal with the Devil

               V.36

 

 

 

2 Kings 18:36-37

36 But the people held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king's commandment was, "Do not answer him." 37 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

 

V.36 This is very practical: ANSWER HIM NOT

 

James 4:7-8

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

 

We start yelling at Satan and making demands on Satan

 

 Just Submit to God – Devil will flee –

 

Ch.19 We looked at earlier – Sunday

 

Letter into the house of the Lord –

 

Cast all your cares –

 

Hezekiah is back on track – the result

 

God causes one angel to come and blow away 185,000 Assyrian in one shot