Genealogy of Jesus: Hezekiah
OT Lesson: 2 Kings 20:1-11 (NIV)
In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, ‘This is what the Lord says: put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.’
Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, ‘Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: ‘Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, “This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.”’
Then Isaiah said, ‘Prepare a poultice of figs.’ They did so and applied it to the boil, and he recovered.
Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, ‘What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord on the third day from now?’
Isaiah answered, ‘This is the Lord’s sign to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?’
‘It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps,’ said Hezekiah. ‘Rather, let it go back ten steps.’
Then the prophet Isaiah called on the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.
NT Lesson: Matthew 1:8-11 (NRSV)
And Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
Sermon
Introduction
Good morning. This is a beautiful sunny day, not like yesterday. As you know, we had too much snow yesterday morning and I called off the Live & Learn. It was kind of laughable amount of snow for Winnipeggers but it could be critical amount to us, the Lebanese. And I don’t want any of you to risk your safety to come to church. When I was in Winnipeg, I never skipped a church function. On a Sunday morning, even when there was a winter storm and below -40, I went to church on my bicycle for an hour. It was extremely dangerous. The Winnipeg winter weather is nothing to compare to that of here. The pastor told me, “Je, you don’t have to come to church in this weather. God understands.” That time, I did not understand the pastor. I thought, ‘Isn’t the pastor supposed to encourage people to come to church?’ But now I understand. I really do not want any of you to risk your safety. So whenever you see snow or black ice on the road, just stay home safe. The snow is most beautiful only when you see it through the window. Anyway, today is beautiful and we have come to church to worship our great God.
Hezekiah in a Nutshell
So, today’s hero is Hezekiah who is the thirteenth king of Southern kingdom of Judah. We talked about Solomon last Sunday. His beginning was good but he turned evil. And consequently God tore the kingdom into two. Among the twelve tribes, God gave the descendants of David two tribes, and other ten tribes became another kingdom. Davidic line ruled the southern kingdom, and the name was Judah. The northern kingdom was named Israel. And Hezekiah, being a descendant of David, ruled the southern kingdom of Judah. Among the twenty kings in Judah, some were good and some were evil. And Hezekiah was one of the most prominent and good kings. His name in Hebrew is חִזְקִיָּ֫הוּ (Chi-z-qi-ya-hu) and the meaning is YHWH strengthens or YHWH fortifies. Just as his name, Hezekiah strengthened his nation and fortified many cities including Jerusalem. When you go to Jerusalem, there are lots of cool places to visit. And one of them is the City of David, which is an archaeological site, still digging. One of the things you can see there is the royal potty, the toilet bowl where only the kings were pooping. There I highly recommend to walk through the Hezekiah’s tunnel. It is a secret passage to get water into the city of Jerusalem from Gihon spring which is outside of the city wall. King Hezekiah was preparing the siege by the Assyrians. It is a dark underground man-made tunnel which can serve both a water way and escape route. The tunnel is very narrow like a fat-man squeeze in the Rock city, TN. The water is freezing even when the outside temperature is 100F. But one thing that I really like about this king Hezekiah was that he prayed. Not like other kings who prayed rhetorically and ritually, Hezekiah prayed with his whole and true heart. And his prayer made him a good king whom God loved.
 |
| The Royal Potty |
 |
| Inside of Hezekiah's Tunnel |
Prayer Saves you
Today’s scripture shows the situation that the king Hezekiah became very sick, and his illness was so bad and deadly. And he got a hospital chaplain’s visit, or a pastor’s visit. Actually it was much better because it was a prophet’s visit—not just any prophet but the famous Isaiah. One time when I was a hospital chaplain, I visited a guy who broke his leg badly. After knocking, I walked into the room and introduced myself as a chaplain. Then he got confused, and asked me if he was dying. To make it worse, I happened to have bunch of ‘Health Care Power of Attorney’ form in my hand. I had hard time explaining to that guy the differences between pastors and grim reaper. We are not the same. After that I told him the word of God from the Bible that God loves him.
Like I did, prophet Isaiah also brought a word of God to his patient, king Hezekiah. But not like my case, prophet Isaiah acted as a grim reaper because the word of God was like ‘Hey, you are going to die. Deal with that. And just plan and prepare your own funeral.’ Wow. This is the difference between pastoral care and prophetic care. Good news is that you have a pastor, not a prophet in this church. Hallelujah!
After Hezekiah heard this, he prayed to God, cried, wept bitterly, and broke down. It was like Hannah in the Bible. She cried, wept bitterly and prayed in the church, and the priest came and said to her, “Are you seriously drunk in the church?” And then he tried to drive her out. Hezekiah was a king and all his servants and attendants were watching him. He had a face to save, but he did not care. He prayed to God personally. Jesus said in Matthew 6 to pray in a closed room by yourself. That means, do not care about other people but focus on God and pray like Hezekiah. In English we say to dance like nobody’s watching. Jesus is telling us to pray like nobody’s watching.
And what happened when Hezekiah prayed to God like nobody’s watching with his whole and true heart? God changed His plan and allowed Hezekiah fifteen more years to live. When you pray to God with your true heart, God saves you. God said to Hezekiah, “I will heal you, and three days from now you will get out of bed and go to the Temple of the Lord. I will add fifteen years to your life.” When you are sick, God will hear your prayer and heal you. And then, God asks you to come to church and worship God just like God told Hezekiah to come to the temple. When God said, ‘you will come to temple,’ that is not predicting but commanding. Simple future often times works as a command rather than just future. I probably told you before that in English the parents say ‘you WILL eat veggies.’ And that is not stating or foretelling the future, but commanding and forcing children to eat veggies. So, God is requesting and ordering us to come to church when we taste God’s goodness.
Prayer Saves Others
 |
| On top of the Tel Lachish |
King Hezekiah always worried about the invasion of Assyrians and that actually happened. Wherever the Assyrians passed through, the cities collapsed, the kingdoms fell, and the citizens were slaughtered. The destiny of Judah was like a tea-light in front of a powerful winter storm. The Assyrians arrived from the south. There was horrible battle at the city of Lachish. The city was conquered. Many citizens were slaughtered. Some were taken away as slaves. I was in the archaeological excavation team at Lachish by the Hebrew University. We found Assyrian arrow heads, human skulls and skeletons. Those mighty Assyrian army marched up to north and the city of Jerusalem was under siege. It was Jerusalem’s turn to be conquered and to be slaughtered. The fall of the Davidic kingdom of Judah was imminent. There was no hope for the city and for Hezekiah. Hopeless, hopeless, and hopeless. But suddenly the Assyrians left. Jerusalem was saved and the kingdom was preserved just as God promised king Hezekiah. And that was because of his truthful prayer.
When we pray, God will not only take care of us and save us, but also protect and save our whole family. And this is why we need to pray—it is not only about ourselves but it is about our family and children as well. God helps and saves us not for some other reasons but for His own honour, for His name’s sake. That is one of the big themes of Psalm 23: The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness FOR HIS NAME’S SAKE.Assyrian Arrowhead found at Tel Lachish
Prayer is Insurance
I don’t consider myself a wretched driver, but I had a few accidents. One time I totalled Hannah’s car. The car she loved very much, a beautiful red Lexus SUV. It was a deer hit. Does anyone have a similar experience, totalling your car with a deer hit? I don’t say that I hit a deer. I was driving peacefully in a countryside within legal speed limit, then suddenly a deer came out of a corn field and hit me. A deer hit me. So if you have ever a deer and totalled your car, you got to thank God, that it was not a moose. When you hit a deer, you total your car. But when you hit a moose, you die. Seriously. Thankfully none of my friends hit a moose, but I knew a few people who did in Canada. All those people that I knew died but one. It was called a miracle. But the miracle means being paralysed from neck down. So whenever you hit a deer, say Hallelujah and praise God that you are living in Indiana where there is no moose.
I learned the commercial driving in Canada. And one of the instructors said that there are three major road hazards that we must be aware of: pot-holes, sink-holes, and the most dangerous ones are a-holes. My other accident is involved with the last kind. I was at Vancouver, Canada. I had a red signal light and stopped. Then a car hit me from behind and drove away. I followed the car like ten minutes, and finally caught her. That Indian lady said that she just tried to stop at a safe place. I cannot agree more with the Canadian driving instructor—the three holes will always be on the road but the worst is the last. But my point is that there are some accidents that you cannot avoid no matter how defensively you drive. Sometimes there is no way you can run away from it. Accidents are beyond our control or power.
We all have insurances such as health insurance and car insurance. The word insurance came from ‘to insure’ which has same root as ‘to ensure.’ Before modern day’s insurance developed, to insure was to protect and to guarantee. But as you know, health insurance does not guarantee you will stay healthy. Health Insurance comes with a thick book of Terms and Conditions full of fine prints, which basically says that they will cover you unless you are sick. Car insurance does not protect you from the accidents. I have Geico insurance but it did not keep the deer away. House insurance does not guarantee that there will be no fire, flood, or tornado on your property.
God is the only true insurance in this world. Nothing else guarantees but God only does. And because it is an insurance, we need to pay the premium. And that premium is our prayer. If it is difficult to pay the monthly premium, then you can pay it daily. Come to God everyday with your true heart and pray just a few minutes. You can spare a few minutes. If you think that is still too much, how about every time you eat, you say grace vigorously. But you all know higher premium means better coverage. So, it’s up to you.
Prayer Needs Back-up Support
One thing we need to know is that prayer is not just mumbling of our lips. It must be true and logical as well. It is sometimes similar to the court case where the prosecutors and lawyers are logically arguing. We need to win the case logically when we pray. That was what Hezekiah did. He prayed to God and pleaded, ‘God, You know I’ve been so good. You can help me this time!’ That is how prayer works. We cannot pray to God like, ‘God, I bullied people, abused my children, harassed women. I am on the naughty list. Now I want you to help me because I am in trouble.’ God will definitely not respond to such prayers. We must be able to pray God like, ‘God, even though I made some mistakes, but I’ve been good mostly. I loved people. I’ve been singing Your praises. So please help me now.’
And prayer is also sometimes like a teamwork. Like the soccer players and football players all work together as a team. Often times a police officer needs a back-up support from his partner. Our prayer also needs a back-up support. In this church, we are all team players and prayer partners.
Conclusion
Friends, we need to pray for ourselves as well as for our family and others. Hezekiah walked upright in front of God, and he prayed sincerely. And his prayer was finally paid back that not only Hezekiah prolonged his life, but also the entire kingdom was spared and saved from the hands of the Assyrians. Let us learn from Hezekiah and pray like he did. Then God will hear our prayers. Let us pray for ourselves and others. Let us encourage one another in prayers. Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment