Title: The Trip of a Lifetime
Bible Book: 2 Kings 18 : 5-8
Author: Preston A. Taylor
Subject: God, Fellowship With; Joy of the Lord; Life at It's Best
Objective:
Introduction
Most of us would like to take a trip all across the world, wouldn’t we? The trip would take a long time if we made it with our bicycles or if we walked. We might like to make a trip to Hong Kong, London, New York, Buenos Aires and a thousand other places. We see a lot of people and sights as we travel. Life is a journey that sometimes is a long one, and for some it is short. None live to be 965 years of age like Methusaleh or 175 years of age like Abraham or even 120 years of age like Moses. And yet, life is a journey.
For Hezekiah, one of the few "good kings" of the Old Testament, life almost came to a close, then he had a miraculous extension of his life for 15 years. Whether we are notable people or if we are among the majority of unknown ones, we all have a journey to make. We can make our journey a great one, if we follow the example of Hezekiah. His name means, "God strengthens." If we allow God to strengthen us, and God wants to do this, then we may have a successful life. Let’s notice the features of life that is successful from God’s viewpoint.
I. Trust The Lord
In the first place, we need to cleave to the Lord. In 2 Kings 18:5, the original text states that "Hezekiah was ‘cleaving’ to the Lord." The revised version says "trust." We know what it is to see a baby holding tight to the hand of a parent or one who is holding his little hands around the neck of a parent or another family member or friend. You may have seen vines that cling or wrap around a tree. This is the idea of that which Hezekiah was doing. He was "cleaving" to the Lord. He was "holding tight" to God.
Who can "cleave" to the Lord? Young people can do this. Children can be taught to cleave to the Lord. Adults, young and old, men and women, need to "cleave" or hold tight to the Lord.
We should imitate Hezekiah in this kind of way. Verse 5 of the text states that "there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him." That is, Hezekiah had a unique grasp or "intertwining" to the Lord. You can be one like Hezekiah. Sunday School teachers, ordinary church people, or family members can be outstanding in the way you hold on to the Lord with an intimate relationship and fellowship with Him.
The text states furthermore that Hezekiah "held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow Him" (v. 5). This is the meaning of Proverbs 3:5-6 that Solomon wrote a long time before Hezekiah, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don’t lean to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths."
Some may need for the first time in life say, "Okay. Today I want to make this commitment to the Lord. I’ve never started my life with Him. Now I do that. Just where you may be listening to these words or for someone who may be reading these words, you can commit your life to Christ at this moment.
What a way to begin life.
Your meaningful journey in life begins when you trust Him. And you should do that. As we think of God’s love for us, of the way that Christ gave His life for us, dying on the cross to give us freedom and cleansing from sin, we can let God give us life everlasting. Then as you live daily, you can let God empower you and help you. Begin that life with Jesus or renew that walk with the Lord at this moment. Right in the middle of this message, we can stop now and pray and ask God to renew our commitment to Him and help us live in fellowship with Him. Let’s pray this prayer now for myself and for all of you. Before we move to the second step in the journey of life, join me as I pray for you and for myself, will you?
II. Obey The Lord
The second big step in the journey of life is one of obedience. That is, we need to do what God tells us to do. 1 John 3:23 makes God’s commandments very plain to us. We are to believe on the name of God’s Son and love one another as He commands us. Now we can carry out these commands of trust, love, and obedience in practical ways. Look at the example of Hezekiah again.
Like Hezekiah, we can stop idolatry that runs like crazy in our lives. Whatever becomes central in life that replaces Christ on the throne of our lives is idolatry. When we push God out of His controlling place in life, we commit idolatry.
The first verses of this chapter state that Hezekiah start ruling as king over Judah, or the southern two tribes, when he was 25 years of age, and he ruled for 29 years. His father was king Ahaz.
Hezekiah’s father had brought idolatry into the two tribes of Judah. One idolatrous act that you probably have never heard about before came from the time of Moses in the desert.
You remember the story that when the people in the 40 years of wilderness wanderings started complaining against Moses and other leaders, that God sent snakes among them. So be careful how you complain about the Sunday School superintendent or director, or the teacher of some class, or other workers because snakes might start biting you, too….The Lord told Moses to put a brass serpent on a pole and all who looked at that serpent would be healed. And the miracle took place, and the snakes stopped biting the people. The Hebrews kept that brass serpent for a long time.
Then they brought that brass snake into God’s house, and it became an idol that they worshipped by burning incense to it as though it would answer their prayers. Hezekiah broke the brass serpent and scattered the ashes of that thing so that the people could never find it again.
The snake was called "Nehushtan" or "the brass thing." Do you have a few "brass things" in your house? Do we have a few "Ne-hush-tans" in our church. Let’s not even let song books or the pulpit or a stained window or a pew become an "idol" that we think is so sacred that it is almost worshipped. Clean out the idols of your life.
We can follow Hezekiah’s example and keep the doors of the church building open. 2 Chronicles 29:3-7 tells that Hezekiah opened the doors of the temple, repaired them, and asked the Levites who led in worship to consecrate themselves anew to God. Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah, had closed God’s house, but the son opened again God’s house and called the people back to worship, to offer incense or prayers to God, and let the lights shine again in God’s house (2 Chronicles 29:25-31, etc).
How sad it would be to see God’s house shut down and people not coming together to worship. Of course, we can worship almost in whatever place we may be found. But we know that as a church family we come together to worship, to sing praises to God, to hear His Word, to pray, and to be challenged to live and witness for Christ.
III. Serve The Lord
Like Hezekiah, we don’t need to serve the enemy. We are God’s servants, not the servants of the devil nor of the world.
Sennacherib was the king in Assyria with Nineveh as the capital. He sent word to Hezekiah that he had conquered every nation all around him, and now he wanted Hezekiah to surrender and serve him, too. What can we do when we are challenged to give up our allegiance to the enemy? We can follow Hezekiah’s example. Here it is.
We should seek spiritual counsel. We can go to those who know what God’s Word says and what God wants us to do. The counselors may include church leaders or parents or someone else. All of us should keep an ear open to wise, spiritual counsel. The Bible states, "In a multitude of counselors there is wisdom" ((Proverbs 11:14; 24:6). The Bible also warns us "not to lean to our own understanding" (Prov. 3:5-6). That is, let’s not be exempt or skip God’s clear biblical directions, or we will get in "hot water" fast!
Hezekiah made a quick trip to see the prophet Isaiah. The time was a little before 700 B.C. Isaiah told King Hezekiah not to be afraid. Hezekiah had put the letter that he had received from the Assyrian king before Isaiah, and the prophet told him to "calm down" and trust God. What does this mean? Do we then sit idly by? No, God’s Word call us to action. We are to do what God says to do.
Hezekiah goes to work. He defends himself and his people. He repaired the walls of Jerusalem. He brought in water through a tunnel to the city. The tunnel through solid rock demanded a lot of work because the tunnel was about 1,750 feet long through rock (2 Kings 20:20). Yes, go to work, Hezekiah! Then the king had his people to bring in weapons to protect themselves (2 Chronicles 32:2-8). The king’s people also stopped up all the wells around the outside of the walls of Jerusalem so their enemies could not have water to drink. Thus, they knew protected themselves and made life difficult for their enemies
IV. Enjoy The Lord
Another step on life’s successful journey is a tough one. That is, we need to step back and let God do His work. God had told Hezekiah in plain words, "The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this (His work)" (2 Kings 19:31. God said that the king of Assyria would Not enter Jerusalem nor even build a ramp to climb over the walls of their capital. God said that He would defend the city (2 Kings 19:32-34).
The army of Assyria came to Jerusalem and encircled the city. As the people peeped over the city walls and as the men in the watch towers looked, they didn’t know what to expect. Many people in the city probably didn’t sleep that night, not knowing if God would really protect them against such a mighty army or not. They would have to wait and see.
The sun rose the following day. As the king and others in Jerusalem looked over the walls of their city, they could hardly believe what they saw. An entire army of 185,000 soldiers had been conquered by the Lord. God sent His death angel and everyone of the enemy soldiers except General Sennacherib and his body guards had died during the night (2 Kings 19:35-37). God did His work in a quiet, victorious way.
King Sennacherib, the general of his own army, returned as fast as he could to Nineveh. He went to his pagan temple to worship his god, Nisroch, and as he did so, the king’s two sons killed their father. Thus, God gave victory over the enemy.
God gave David victory over Goliath. He gave Joshua victory after victory as he led the Israelites into the Promised Land. God can give us victory, too. 1 John 4:4 states that the One within us (the Holy Spirit) is greater than the one (the devil) who lives in the world." God wins the victory, but we follow His instructions. We allow God to work.
Billy Graham began his crusades with a big tent revival in Los Angeles in 1948. When asked how it happened, he said, "I told a few stories, sprinkled them with the Word of God, and stepped aside and watched God work." God will work in a wonderful way in our lives.
Conclusion
God wants to do His work in your personal life. Will you let Him do it? He will work in your home life? Are you allowing Him to do it? God wants to do a mighty work in His church in the place where we are. Will we allow Him to do it? God wants to work in our nation, if we allow Him to do it. John Knox of Scotland prayed upon the seashore of his country, saying, "Oh God, give me Scotland or I die. Give me Scotland, or I die." God wants to work in our nation. He wants to do a mighty work in God’s own world that belongs to Him. Will we allow Him to do it?
The right time to allow God to do His work is now. It’s when we follow God’s instructions. It’s when we cling to the Lord. It’s when we do what He asks us to do. It’s when we refuse to give place to the enemy, and when we step aside and let God work.
Here’s a postscript. We need to be ready to end life when God says that our time has come. Hezekiah had a message from Isaiah that he was going to die. But Hezekiah didn’t want to die. He turned his face to the wall, and told God that he had been a faithful king and that he wanted to live (Isaiah 38; 2 Kings 20:1-11). God granted Hezekiah 15 more years of life. We wonder if that was a good prayer for King Hezekiah to pray.
Afterwards, he showed a group of messengers from Babylon many things in his palace and in the city (2 Kings 20:12ff). He also had a son by the name of Mannaseh born after his recovery from illness who became the worst king that Judah ever had (2 Kings 21). So maybe when the time came for Hezekiah to die, he should have accepted God’s will for his life, and not asked for God’s "permissive will."
You and I are on a journey of life. It can be a great one as we follow the Lord with our whole heart from beginning to end. Are you ready to commit your life in a new way to the Lord today and say that you want your life to honor and glorify Him in all you do? This kind of whole-hearted commitment can change you and all those around you. Are you ready to make this "first step" at this time?
