The Strength of His Hand (41 page)
“Your Majesty, I beg you. Let me stand in the Court of the Gentiles today. Please.”
“Do you believe in Yahweh, Shebna?”
“I cannot deny this miracle …”
“If you’re coming to seek God, I know you’ll find Him. But don’t come to the Temple for any other reason.”
Shebna looked into Hezekiah’s eyes. “Will you help me, Your Majesty? Will you help me believe?”
Hezekiah squeezed his shoulder and nodded. “Come on.”
As they passed the Women’s Court, Hezekiah saw Hephzibah kneeling in worship. He was so overwhelmed with gratitude and praise he could no longer stop his tears. He knelt on the royal platform and closed his eyes, praying silently.
O Lord, let me praise you with
my life. Let me live in faith and obedience to you
. Then he fell on his face before God as the praises of the Levites rang from the Temple hill in triumphant song:
In Judah God is known;
his name is great in Israel.
His tent is in Salem,
his dwelling place in Zion.
There he broke the flashing arrows,
the shields and the swords, the weapons of war.
You are resplendent with light,
more majestic than mountains rich with game.
Valiant men lie plundered,
they sleep their last sleep;
not one of the warriors
can lift his hands.
At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
both horse and chariot lie still.
You alone are to be feared.
Who can stand before you when you are angry?
From heaven you pronounced judgment,
and the land feared and was quiet—
when you, O God, rose up to judge,
to save all the afflicted of the land.
Surely your wrath against men brings you praise,
and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.
Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them;
let all the neighboring lands bring gifts to the One to be feared.
He breaks the spirit of rulers;
he is feared by the kings of the earth
.
Acrid smoke from the funeral pyres drifted up to Hezekiah, carried by the wind. The scent of idolatry reminded him once again of Yahweh’s promise, spoken by Isaiah years ago:
“When you pass through
the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will
not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy
One of Israel, your Savior.”
Yahweh had brought him through the flood to prove His strength and faithfulness. He had taken Hezekiah through the fire to finally purge all the idolatry from his heart. As Isaiah had prophesied, a remnant from the house of Judah would “take root below and bear fruit above.” Hezekiah could start anew, his sins and his foolish pride forgiven. Hezekiah knew that someday, from his own seed, Yahweh would send the Messiah, and this great day of salvation from Assyria would be only a shadow of the eternal salvation the Messiah would bring.
With a heart too full to speak, Hezekiah lifted his hands toward heaven in praise to his holy God.
“M
AY
I
SEE
H
EPHZIBAH NOW
?” Hezekiah asked the midwife.
“Yes, and congratulations, Your Majesty,” she said, bowing to him.
Hezekiah still couldn’t comprehend the amazing news. He had a son. Yahweh had given him an heir.
Hephzibah looked weary and flushed after her long ordeal. She lay propped against her pillow holding a tiny mound of blankets in her arms. Hezekiah sat down on the bed beside her and kissed her.
“How are you?”
“Tired. But I never dreamed I could be so happy. Look at him.” Hephzibah shifted the bundle in her arms, and Hezekiah stared at his son’s pinched, ruddy face in alarm.
“Is he all right?”
“Yes,” she laughed. “He’s strong and healthy. And he shouts like a king when he’s hungry.”
“But he looks so …” Hezekiah didn’t want to say it, but the baby looked too scrawny to survive the night.
“Hezekiah, haven’t you ever seen a newborn baby before?”
“No, I guess I haven’t.”
“He’s a strong, healthy boy who will grow to be as tall and handsome as his father one day.”
“Have you thought of a name?”
“I would like to call him Manasseh, because Yahweh has helped me forget all my sorrow.”
“Then that’s his name—Manasseh.” Outside the window, shofars began to sound from the Temple wall. “Do you hear that?” he asked. “The priests are announcing to the nation that an heir has been born at last. The throne of David will continue through all the generations, just as Yahweh promised.”
“Would you like to hold him?”
“Hold him? Is it all right?” He was so tiny, Hezekiah was afraid he would crush him.
“You’ll do fine,” she smiled. “He won’t break.” She lifted Manasseh into Hezekiah’s arms before he could reply. The bundle felt soft and warm. This sweet-smelling, vulnerable little child was his son! Hezekiah’s heart filled with love for him, but it amazed him to think that what he felt was only a shadow of the overwhelming love Yahweh felt toward His children.
Manasseh opened his eyes and looked up at his father, blinking in the light. “Listen carefully, son,” Hezekiah said. “I’m going to teach you your very first lesson. And you must never forget it, because it’s also the most important lesson you’ll ever learn: ‘Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God—Yahweh alone!’ And you must love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others. He took care of them on every side. Many brought offerings to Jerusalem for the Lord and valuable gifts for Hezekiah king of Judah. From then on he was highly regarded by all the nations.
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2 C
HRONICLES
3 2 : 2 2 – 2 3
Hezekiah trusted in the Lord,the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah,either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook.
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2 K
INGS
1 8 : 5 – 7
Hezekiah rested with his fathers and was buried on the hill where the tombs of David’s descendants are. All Judah and the people of Jerusalem honored him when he died. And Manasseh his son succeeded him as king.
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2 C
HRONICLES
3 2 : 3 3
C
HRONICLES OF THE
K
INGS
—Book 4
My Father ’s God
From their earliest years, King Manasseh (son of King Hezekiah) and his friend Joshua (son of Hezekiah’s palace administrator, Eliakim) are raised together and nurtured in the faith of their godly fathers. But in
My
Father’s God
anger toward God begins to smolder in Manasseh’s heart after his father’s unexpected death, and the young king begins to fear that he will never live up to Hezekiah’s powerful legacy. Manasseh’s insecurity makes him easy prey for the false prophet, Zerah, who promises that sorcery and divination can chart the course of Manasseh’s future.
As Manasseh and Joshua take sides, the battle lines are drawn. Joshua narrowly escapes Manasseh’s soldiers, leaving behind his life of privilege. He helps his family flee from Jerusalem but not before Manasseh kidnaps his sister who is forced to become the king’s concubine. Unable to understand why his boyhood friend has turned against him, why God allowed his father to be murdered, and why he must stand alone in the face of such opposition, Joshua comes perilously close to losing his faith.
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