Hezekiah: Spiritual Renewal

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INTRODUCTION

Spiritual renewal is often associated with the present concept of "revival." It was in the nineteenth century that Cotton Mather first used the word to describe a great awakening in the early Americas. The word derives from the Latin revivere, "to live again," and was typically used to describe an old play that was brought back to a new generation of theater audiences. The concept is closest to the Old Testament idea of renewal or restoration, found especially in the work of leaders such as Hezekiah and Josiah.

The story of King Josiah is probably the best illustration of revival in the Old Testament (2 Chronicles 34). Judah had fallen away from God, almost exclusively serving the idols of surrounding peoples. When the Pentateuch is suddenly rediscovered, Josiah immediately calls the people back to this covenant, and institutes sweeping reforms throughout every institution in Israel. Revival was possible because the lines were so clear-cut. Judah had a past relationship with God it could return to, with the spiritual and political mechanisms in place to quickly restore this relationship to a central place in Israelite life. They rebuilt what had decayed.

The reign of Hezekiah some 70 years earlier is one example that Josiah was likely aware of. Through Hezekiah's devout commitment to God, a legacy of devotion was passed on.

Jumping forward seven centuries to the empowering of the Church in Acts 2, we see the ultimate spiritual renewal. As a nation, Israel was proven guilty by their treatment of the Messiah, but His death became their atonement for sin - a concept Jews would have readily understood, given their tradition of sacrificing animals. The fact that God raised Jesus from the dead becomes the pivot point from which Jews are called to return to God so that the spirituality seen in Hezekiah's day might be actualized once again.

I. CALL FOR SANCTIFICATION (2 Chron. 28:1-4, 22-27; 29:1-11)

The name Hezekiah in Hebrew means "God has strengthened." This is appropriate, given the story of this uncommon king's life and reign. As we will see, he emerges from the most unlikely background to rule with persistent godliness. The thirteenth king of Judah since the northern and southern lands of Israel have been divided, Hezekiah stands in the Gospel of Matthew's lineage of Jesus Christ (1:9-10 NKJV). A careful study of Hezekiah's life will show us why God graced him with a messianic lineage. His commitment to spiritual renewal in Israel makes him an appropriate predecessor to Christ.