Hezekiah: Turning a Nation Back to God

[0:00] Going through the kings here of Israel and looking at the different kings. We've hopefully been following along and your sheet should start looking war by now! Because we've been on this for a few weeks now.

[0:11] So if your sheet's looking a little war or if you need another one, you can let me know and get some new ones out. But we're down to Hezekiah. Hezekiah, we saw his, we talked about his father Ahaz a few weeks ago had really left the kingdom of Judah in a terrible condition.

[0:32] You know, a very terrible situation politically, economically, but most important spiritually in a terrible position. And we see here he was responsible, if you remember, for the closing of the temple.

[0:45] You know, leading the people to worship the gods of the land and provoking the Lord to anger against Judah. You know, we saw how the Edomites and the Philistines captured the cities and had taken captives along with Assyria.

[1:02] And Pekah, king of Israel, had come down during his father's reign, Ahaz there, and oppressed Judah and taken captives and other things.

[1:14] But in seeking relief, if you remember, his father had sent tribute to the Assyrian king, resulting in just a different oppressor that was there.

[1:24] And, you know, we read about that in 2 Kings chapter 16, where, if you remember, he took the silver and gold that was in the house of the Lord and the treasure of the king's house and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.

[1:38] And what we see here, as you read on down through there, that we find that he didn't come and help him, but instead he became a distressor to him, the Bible tells us.

[1:50] And so Ahaz, we saw, also sought the gods of the land for relief and shut up the house of God. And the Bible tells us in 2 Chronicles chapter 28 that he provoked the Lord God to anger.

[2:03] And we see that dynamic taking place. And we know that things were not much better in the northern kingdom at that time, as we talked about Hosea that had come and been set up as king and was taken into captivity.

[2:23] But that was right there. We're going to be looking at Hezekiah comes in before that takes place, but Hezekiah makes a dramatic change in the kingdom. And the kingdom's going to be totally different than it was under His Father.

[2:37] There's like a break of just a severity here of direction, of one that was moving away from God to one who wanted to desire to move towards God.

[2:48] And so as we've seen that here tonight, let's take a look here, 2 Kings chapter 18. And if you follow along here, in verse 1 it says, Now it came to pass in the third year of Hosea, a son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.

[3:07] Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name also was Abai, the daughter of Zechariah.

[3:20] And he did that which is right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we take a few moments here tonight, as we look into the life of Hezekiah, and Lord, even the things that we can take and to learn and to understand the importance, and even to apply into our own lives and the priorities that he had, Lord, that you were above all things in his life.

[3:49] And Lord, we pray that you would help us to see and to learn and to grow from this example of Hezekiah, Lord, and we just ask it all in your precious name. Amen.

[4:00] You know, we see here that the transition of the kingdom was pretty abrupt, as we're going to be seeing here tonight, because at 25 years old, his father dies. He takes over the kingdom, and remember, Ahaz had done what?

[4:13] He had turned totally against God. He had wanted people to worship. He'd shut down the temple. He had taken the things out from the temple. He had taken them apart.

[4:24] You know, he had dismantled them, and so they couldn't be used. He had destroyed things within the temple and had dismissed all the priests and the Levites. They had gone back away from the temple and the house of God.

[4:39] And what we're going to see here tonight, the priorities between him and his father are just total opposites. Total opposite direction.

[4:50] The priorities were totally different. Because it's interesting, because as you look at Ahaz and you look at Hezekiah, the one thing you'll learn is they're both very religious.

[5:03] Remember when we talked about Ahaz, he was religious about everything except for the things of God. But we're going to see tonight, Hezekiah is totally opposite. He said he wants nothing to do with any other God but the God of heaven and earth, the God that created.

[5:19] That's his sole focus in his life. And we're going to see this stark contrast that stands between in the transition of the kingdom, because even today people think, well, if I'm just religious, I'm okay.

[5:33] You know what? The reality is you can be religious and go to hell. You can be religious and stand against God. Because religion condemns people.

[5:45] You know, when we get caught up in wanting to worship our own things in our own way, and we saw that in Ahaz, his father. He wanted to worship a God of his choosing, a God the way he wanted to do it, a God that he had created in his own mind.

[6:00] You know, oftentimes today people create a God in their mind that they want to worship. You know, they create the one that they want instead of the one that the Bible declares to us, that is.

[6:12] And we see here that Hezekiah, as we look through here, makes a statement here that very few in the scripture get, because we find that he did and is compared to David in a positive way.

[6:24] You know, there's only three kings kings compared to David directly in a positive way. You know, one of them is Asa. You find over there in 1 Kings chapter 15, where it says that Asa did that which is right in the eyes of the Lord as David his father did.

[6:42] Or you have later coming up in 2 Kings chapter 22, you have Josiah that is spoken of that he did that which is right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the ways of David his father and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.

[6:59] You know, and Hezekiah here, as we read here in the text, notice what it tells us in verse 3 of 2 Kings chapter 18. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord according to all that David his father did.

[7:14] Now, the parallel passage here, if you want to turn over to 2 Chronicles chapter 29, you'll find here that he tells us the same thing because 2 Chronicles, the parallel that we have here, it tells us when he began to reign.

[7:29] It says in verse 2, he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord according to all that David his father had done. And we're going to see how did that play out and what had happened there along the way.

[7:42] And we see that these individuals that are mentioned here were the good kings of Israel. But there's many kings who were either mediocre at best.

[7:53] There were some that kind of just, you might say, held their own. They really weren't dynamic for one direction or another. You know? Then there were some that was wicked individuals.

[8:04] We know in the northern kingdom up at Samaria, there was never a king that was not wicked. The only difference was is how wicked were they? You know? Because that's the reality that we see.

[8:17] And surprisingly, we see something here because the first thing that Hezekiah does is in stark contrast to his father. His father shuts down the house of God.

[8:30] Look here in 2 Chronicles 29. Look at verse 3. He, in the first year of his reign, in the first month, did what? Opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them.

[8:43] In other words, when you're the first year in the first month, you know what that tells us? It's a high-priority item. You know? He already had a plan set when he came in to power that he was going to open the house of the Lord.

[9:01] He had set that at a priority in his life. And, you know, we don't know why or how he made these choices. The Bible doesn't tell us except for the fact that he did.

[9:12] You know, in spite of the way his father was, despite in what was going on in the kingdom, we find that Hezekiah, surprisingly, you might say, in the midst of all this wickedness, made a commitment to the Lord and was contrary to the influence of his wicked father.

[9:32] In other words, he says, I don't care what direction Dad is going concerning God, but I know what direction I'm going. He said, I'm going to trust the God that has declared who He is to us, the one who brought us out of Egypt, the one who my forefathers have served, the one that set up David in the kingdom and Solomon and saw all those things.

[9:58] You know, this ought to be a good encouragement to us because, you know, sometimes today we have a philosophy among us that says you're trapped in what you began as.

[10:08] You know, I want you to understand Hezekiah was trapped in an evil family. He was trapped with a father who did evil things. But you know what the good news is?

[10:19] When you turn to the Lord, things can go a new direction. Things can change. You're not with God. You're not trapped in the evil influences around you. You know, you can make a difference in your life and in others by choosing to serve the Lord.

[10:36] And we notice here that he didn't let the evil influence around him dictate what he was going to do. You know, when you do it the first, when it's the first thing out of the gate that he does as a king, you know he had set that in his mind.

[10:50] This is what's going to happen when I get authority. I'm going to set forth, I'm going to promote the things of God. I'm going to establish those things that God told us ought to be happening.

[11:02] And you know, we don't know the details about how he came to know about these things of the Lord, but we know that he was very particular about them. As we're going to look here a little later, you're going to see that he knew exactly what he needed to have happen.

[11:17] He had already studied it out. Matter of fact, we find here as you read this text, it's interesting that he gathers the priests and the Levites together and instructs them on what they ought to be doing.

[11:29] He says, hey, according to the law Moses, this is what you ought to be doing. He says, hey, this is what's going to be happening here, guys. This is what's going to take place. And he sets forth those things.

[11:42] And we don't know where, but we do know because the Bible here mentions his mother and his grandfather. Now, it's interesting here because I think this is possibly the place that he got that influence because his grandfather was a man by the name of Zechariah.

[12:03] Now, in the course of his life, you'll find Zechariah mentioned a couple of times because Zechariah, you'll find there's a man by the name of Zechariah that advised King Uzziah in 2 Chronicles chapter 26 and also served as a witness for Isaiah the prophet.

[12:20] Now, I want you to understand Isaiah the prophet is going to interact with Hezekiah here coming up. In other words, they're contemporaries and so if we have very likely his grandfather was an influence upon him from his mother's side.

[12:38] You know, we don't know, the Bible doesn't give us direct connection, but usually you'll find that somebody had to have influence. Somebody gave him and directed him in the truth and we see here that he knew what was needed as king and Hezekiah left no doubt at the direction that his reign was going to take because what we're going to begin looking at here tonight is the trajectory of his reign.

[13:06] You know, the transition is stark but the trajectory is a good trajectory in his life because it began with him and it impacted others. You know, when we understand what's happening here, notice here in verse 3 of 2 Chronicles chapter 29, it says, He in the first year of his reign in the first month opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them in verse 4 and he brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered them together in the east street and said unto them, hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves and sanctify the house of the Lord of your fathers and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.

[13:48] You know, I want you to see here what was his first priority? He says, I want to get the temple, I want to get the house of God back open and it needs to be opened up properly because I want you to understand once we read through this, Hezekiah understood that you just don't get to worship God on your own terms, that you don't get to choose what you want to do or how you want to do it.

[14:10] We're going to see what's very particular of saying we need to open it up and we need to clean it out. We need to get rid of the junk that's inside so it makes room for what is supposed to be there.

[14:21] He understood the priority of this and notice what he says in verse 6, For our fathers have trespassed and done that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God and have forsaken him and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord and turned their backs.

[14:39] Also they have shut up the doors of the porch and put out the lamps and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel. Now notice verse 8, notice how he correlates this.

[14:54] He says this, Wherefore the wrath of the Lord is upon Judah and Jerusalem and he hath delivered them to trouble to astonishment and to hissing as ye see with your eyes.

[15:07] I want you to understand what was Hezekiah's dynamic? He says, Hey, I saw what happened under my father how he trusted in men and he trusted in his false gods.

[15:18] He even kept changing gods trying to find one that was going to work. If you remember he went up to Damascus and found an altar and brought it back and said, This is my new God I'm going to worship.

[15:30] And the priest had built him the altar. You know, one of those things the priest should have said, No, we're not going to build you an altar to a false god. But they did anyways. These are the individuals that Hezekiah is dealing with and he lines them up and he says, Hey guys, we're in this position because of the choices that have been made.

[15:50] You know, today we get in positions because of the choices that are made. We can learn very simply here that the choices you make in life will impact what happens. It'll impact your relationship with God.

[16:03] It'll impact the relationship of God with others. And we see here that he immediately has this redirection and he says, I want to open and repair the doors of the temple and then he wants it cleansed.

[16:18] And notice what he does here. He tells them something very clearly. He says, in verse 9, he says, For lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword and our sons and our daughters and our wives are captives for this.

[16:30] 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. My sons, be not now negligent for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before him to serve him that ye should minister unto him and burn incense.

[16:49] You know, who's he speaking to? He's speaking to the priests and the Levites saying, Hey guys, you are negligent in your duty. You are negligent in what you're supposed to do not only for yourselves but for others.

[17:03] He calls them out very clearly and he encourages the priests as we read through you'll find he encourages the priests to sanctify and to set themselves apart to the Lord and to rededication of their lives to him.

[17:20] You know, it's a great picture that we see here because what was his first command? Get rid of the rubbish. You know, the reality is this in our life if we're going to serve the Lord the first thing you need to do is get rid of the rubbish in your life. Think about this application from the New Testament.

[17:32] Turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 3 because consider what is told the church at Corinth the believers at Corinth that were having issues with problems and filth in their life and a rejection of the things of God and notice what he reminds them of here.

[17:50] Notice what he says look down in verse 16. He tells them this know ye not that you're what? The temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you.

[18:02] If any man defile the temple of God him shall God destroy for the temple of God is holy which temple ye are. What's he telling them?

[18:13] He says don't defile God's house. As a believer if the Holy Spirit dwells within you you are the temple of the Holy Ghost.

[18:24] We have to make sure it's cleaned up. Look a little later turn over to chapter 6 in 1 Corinthians. He makes the application here very clear. Notice what it says it says flee fornication every sin that a man doeth is without the body but he that committeth fornication sinneth and get his own body.

[18:40] What know ye not your body is what the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which you have of God and ye are not your own for you are bought with a price therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's.

[18:55] You know in the Old Testament they had the house of God that they went to in the New Testament every believer is a spiritual house that houses the Holy Spirit.

[19:07] You become the dwelling place of God because the Holy Spirit dwells within every believer and he says you ought to be cleaned up you know one of the things we need to do what's Paul tell the church at Corinth hey clean it up and get rid of what's in there.

[19:24] Clean up the things that need to be taken care of the things you know you ought to do. You know as you read through here we'll find that he commits them to this and notice what he tells them in verse 13 back in 2nd Chronicles chapter 29 he says the sons of the sons of Ispah and Shemar and Jael and the sons of Asp and Zechariah and Mattiah and the sons of Heman and Jael and Shimei and all the sons of Jedeth and Shemaiah and Uziel and they gathered their brethren and sanctified themselves and came according to the commandment of the king by the word of the Lord to cleanse the house of the Lord and the priest went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord and the Levites took it and carried it abroad into the brook Kidron now they began the first day of the first month to sanctify now that gives us a little more information because earlier it told us what

[20:27] Hezekiah did what in his first year in the first month but these guys now are saying they started on what day the first day you talk about a priority did Hezekiah have a priority set when he came into authority said day one you know this is what's going to happen this is how things are going to go now notice in the first day of the first month to sanctify and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the Lord so they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end and they went in to Hezekiah the king and said we have cleansed all the house of the Lord and the altar burnt offering and all the vessels thereof and the showbread table and all the vessels thereof moreover all the vessels which King Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression have we prepared and sanctified and behold they are before the altar of the Lord and Hezekiah the king rose early and gathered the rulers of the city and went up to the house of the Lord and they brought seven bullocks and seven rams and seven lambs and seven he goats for a sin offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah and He commanded the priests and the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the Lord you know

[21:51] I want you to see here He reinstitutes the things of the temple He says guys we need to get back to the things that God has commanded us to do He said this is what we need to do and He commands them to sanctify the temple to sanctify themselves and we're going to see a little later here as we look through over in chapter 30 we don't have time to read all this and I encourage you to go home and spend some time reading through this because I want you to see what took place because what's He do?

[22:26] He reinstitutes the Passover they hadn't been keeping the Passover in years what's He do? He brings in He wants the Passover to be remembered and to be taken apart for them to take part in and we find that He has a genuine concern in this He has a concern for the things of God and it's interesting as we read through this you'll find something else interesting that when you had a concern for the things of God He had a concern for people that needed to know God because you'll find that He reached out to the entire nation Israel had not wanted to come to Jerusalem since the days of Jeroboam you'll read in chapter 30 that He sent messengers!

[23:12] into Israel and He said all those that were not taken captive come to Jerusalem to celebrate with us come to Jerusalem sanctify yourself and come from the northern kingdom all those who had not been taken away He says come join in the celebration of the Passover rejoice in our God He calls them back He launches what you might say is a genuine revival for the nation He wasn't just concerned about Judah but He was concerned about those in Samaria He was concerned about those that had been carried away into captivity He was concerned about those that were left behind He wanted and He wanted them all to be able to come back and worship the Lord His priority was on people He had a genuine zeal for the Lord and His commands Now let's look back to 2 Kings for a moment because 2 Kings summarizes some of what's going on here If you read through you'll find that 29, 30 and 31 all cover the dynamics of things there and we find here that look at verse 5 here of chapter 18 of 2 Kings so it tells us this it says this that he trusted in the

[24:28] Lord God of Israel so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah nor any that were before him for he claimed to the Lord and departed not from following him but kept his commandments which the Lord commanded Moses and the Lord was with him and he prospered whithersoever he went forth and he rebelled against the king of Assyria and served him not now I want you to see here he was not he was willing to serve the Lord he said I'm going to trust God even if it goes against the grain even if it's going to stir things up you know I want you to understand that we see here that it hadn't been since the days of David and Solomon that you had a king that stepped out by faith and taking action to bring the people back to the Lord you know he was intentional on what he was doing you know look a little earlier look up at verse 4 because we find here notice what he did it says he removed the high places he removed the high places he break the images he cut down the groves and he break in pieces the brazen serpent that

[25:40] Moses had made now I want you to see here he knew this was not going to be politically popular why had the other kings not taken out some of the high places because it was going to stir a problem with the people Hezekiah was more concerned about what God thought than what people thought he was willing to say I'm going to do what God has told me to do and I'm not concerned with what other people think about it if God has given an instruction we're going to do it he says we're going to trust the Lord through it now I want you to understand I don't believe he was you might say mean about it but he just said this is what's going to happen he's the king it's the authority that he had and he said we're going to serve the Lord this is the direction this is the trajectory we're going we're no longer going to serve the gods of the land and the gods that have been brought in we're going to serve the Lord he said that's going to be the priority that's going to be the focus of what we do and he knew it wasn't going to be popular to do those things and he did it anyways and you might say why did he do this why is this important because that's a good question to ask why did he know that if the people were going to turn to God the high places and the groves and the images had to be taken away because that's an important question in our life too because we see this principle even move into the

[27:09] New Testament because you know what happens sometimes we don't have time or room for God because it's cluttered up with everything else other things we want to give priority to over the things of God we see this important principle because he knew there was a problem if you remember back in chapter 29 in verse 8 he says hey you guys did all these things and it brought the wrath of the Lord upon us and he says if you want to get rid of God's wrath you better understand what it takes to please him to do what God wants you to do take a look in the New Testament Colossians chapter 3 and we'll see this principle put in New Testament statement because remember we're the temple of the Holy Ghost as a believer the Holy Spirit dwells within you notice here in Colossians chapter 3 look at verse 8 notice what the word of God says now but now ye also do what all these to put them off you know that's the same principle of putting them out he's using the illustration like clothes you put on here but

[28:17] I want you to understand it's the same principle because we need to put off the things that are contrary to the things of God to put them off he says this now put off all these anger wrath malice blasphemy filthy communication out of your mouth lie not one to another seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds and notice this and have put on what the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him what Hezekiah telling him to do he says guys we need to clean up all these things we need to put off all the gods you've been worshipping and put on the truth of what God has instructed us to do to honor the Lord in what we're doing he's telling them that same picture to put off those things look over to Ephesians chapter 4 for a moment Ephesians chapter 4 tells us this same principle

[29:18] Paul tells the church at Ephesus this he tells them this that you put off concerning the former conversation of the old man which is corrupt according to deceitful lust and be renewed in the spirit of your mind that you put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness now I want you to see an important principle here because remember he had to clean out the temple he had to tear down the groves he had to get rid of the idols he had to clean all that up because he had to get rid of the old to make place for the new one of the principles you'll find in your life if you're going to put something off that's wrong or that's against God you better find what God wants you to put in its place because you know what gets people in trouble they put things off and it creates a vacuum and all it does is get filled with the wrong things again if you're put something off you need to be determined what you're going to put on you know what Hezekiah said we know we need to put off these things that we've been worshiping so we can put on the things that

[30:21] God has commanded us he said just get rid of getting rid of these you now we find here in the days of Hezekiah something comes up that is rather interesting because we find a relic from the past an interesting relic that must have just been hanging out I don't know if they found it it doesn't really make it clear whether they had been worshiping this or whether when they found it they decided to do something with it we don't know when they found it when they took all the stuff out of the temple under

[31:35] Ahaz here's something else we can worship we're not given all the details but we know what they were doing look back here in chapter 18 in verse 4 he says in breaking pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it and he called it!

[32:01] out sometime or we might do another lesson on it but we'll cover it lightly tonight okay because there's a lot here that you need to understand John's smiling because when he called it Nehushtan it makes a statement it might seem little but it's really a big statement because the children of Israel took a relic and we find that in Numbers chapter 21 Numbers chapter 21 the children of Israel were getting weary because God had made them to go around the land of Edom because the Edomite king refused to let them pass through peaceably and God says you're not going to do anything with Edom right now so you're going to go around them if they're not going to let you go through in the midst of that the children of Israel now I know none of you ever complain especially when you get tired you know

[33:06] I know every time you get tired you get more joyful right so I want you to understand the picture of what's happening the children of Israel are tired they're weary they've had a wonderful diet of manna you know God blessed them with bread from heaven and they were complaining about it but you know what that's began to grumble and murmur not only against Moses but against God matter of fact they started complaining directly about what God had given them you know that's a dangerous thing to complain about God's blessing and God's provision God allowed serpents to come up fiery serpents they called and actually when they bit the people these were poisonous serpents that people were dying and they come to Moses and they plead for forgiveness what does God tell Moses to do he says take a serpent put it on a pole and set it up if you look you will live those that looked lived now

[34:17] I want you to understand there's a picture spiritually in this also that God was giving to the children of Israel this bronze serpent that Moses made wasn't a bad thing of itself I want you to understand that but you know what people can take things that are God gives us and use them wrongly and turn them into things that God never told us to do but when those were afflicted to look upon it and they were going to be rescued they were going to be saved at the same time we find that we can take something that's good that people out of it you know by nature we do that because sometimes good things become idols therefore they need to be removed you know if you have any doubt watch people today you know one of the things they have going is the shroud of Turin you know it's a burial cloth of

[35:18] Christ that they think they found and it's like I can tell you already that it's not if you do a little research on it you'll find it's a relic that they found that can't possibly be connected but you know what people do to things like that they take it and begin to worship it I think there's certain things God doesn't allow us to have because people would worship it they would worship the object instead of the God they would worship the things God's given are a tool that God gave them to use we find that people love idols or relics they love to worship them instead of worshiping God we see that today people worship relics you have little buildings all over the world filled full of relics that people worship because by nature we take things and twist them because we want to do things our way and we can take something that's good because it's indisputable that the serpent which

[36:24] Moses made was a good thing God commanded him to do it we find in the New Testament it's a picture of Jesus Christ when Christ is lifted up even as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness John chapter 3 it's a picture that we see here but you know there's things that God uses sometimes and we make idols out of them now today we might not have a brazen serpent but you know what oftentimes today people worship people throughout the course of my life I've seen men that God uses and suddenly they're worshiping the man instead of worshiping God where the man can do no wrong no only God can do no wrong a preacher a preacher a preacher is always fallible but you know what people set them up on a pedestal people can worship education well they're more educated they begin to put that as a priority God gives us leaders God wants us educated you know one thing about it God doesn't want dumb believers he wants educated believers he's not scared about people being able to read and write and understand and comprehend!

[37:32] God designed us to reason he says use your noggin God says I gave it to you for a reason there's nothing wrong with education until we usurp the actual the fact we have a bunch of information rolling around up there more important than who God is where we worship a degree or things or customs!

[38:02] some of these things are not bad of themselves but they can become bad when they become the object of the worship instead of God let me give you a good example service times there's some good godly people get caught up in service times if you don't have a service at this time and this time and this time you're ungodly it's like God I think God uses cultures and sets time but there's nothing spiritual about a time you go to third world countries you'll find that our church schedule totally irrelevant to them matter of fact you probably have a problem with their church schedule if you had to get up in the morning prepare a meal walk five or ten miles then they'll sing for an hour or so then they'll preach for a couple hours then they'll have some food that they brought with them and they'll preach again for another couple hours and then they'll walk five to ten miles back home before it gets dark I'd say we're pretty spoiled you know most of us it's cold out tonight we're going to go out here we're going to hop in a vehicle and drive to some place warm inside a warm vehicle

[39:04] I want you to understand that sometimes we can to it they began to treat it the object like it was supreme over God now it's interesting here that Hezekiah calls it Nehushtan now this is a very simple statement it's really in a sense he's making fun of them Nehushtan is a term that means it's simply a piece of brass in other words he takes out the serpent that they've been worshiping and he says guys I'm going to crush this because that means nothing it is a piece of metal Hezekiah takes care of something that's a problem sometimes in our lives because we get attached to things we shouldn't be attached to you know we look at this brazen serpent that God used that if they were to look by faith they could be rescued!

[40:12] from the serpent rescued from what was happening when they would turn to the Lord in faith you know I imagine in the days Moses made the serpent there was probably some that said yeah the snake bit me but I'm not going to believe I'm going to turn the other direction you say preacher how do you know that because they were people there's people that foolish you say preacher what do you mean you think about you can present the look over there in John chapter 3 for a moment because this is what it pictured the serpent that Moses made was a picture because he had to turn and look by faith to what was lifted up you know oftentimes when we go through the Bible you'll find the Bible answers its own questions John chapter 3 look at verse 14 it says the serpent in the wilderness you had to look by faith trusting

[41:35] God and God was going to deliver he was going to give them life Jesus Christ when we see Jesus was lifted up for us we see and understand by faith that he is the one that gives life the object was used of God at his direction but it was not the object that held the power it was the Lord that used it to picture the faith in the one that took our sin for us and Hezekiah was focused enough on the Lord to say the priorities people hold on to because we're going to clean up the house of God and we're going to do what we ought to do to honor him and so we can learn some great things from Hezekiah and we'll continue looking because there's a lot more lessons we're going to learn here from Hezekiah because God says that he was a man that desired to seek!