2 Chronicles 32

2 Chronicles 32:1

Hezekiah took steps to strengthen and fortify the city, but his confidence was in God. He encouraged his people to trust in Him.

2 Chronicles 32:7

After this Sennacherib sent representatives to intimidate the people and break down their morale and shake their confidence in God.

2 Chronicles 32:14

Also Sennacherib sent letters to demoralize them.

2 Chronicles 32:17

The record in 2 Kings gives this in more detail. When Hezekiah received the letter, he went up into the house of the Lord, and spread the letter before Him. His wonderful prayer is recorded in 2Ki_19:14-19. Hezekiah was a real man of prayer.

2 Chronicles 32:20

Hezekiah depended upon the Lord for help, and He delivered the city in a miraculous way.

2 Chronicles 32:24

THE ILLNESS OF HEZEKIAHIn 2 Kings 20, the record tells us that Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed and wept before the Lord. I think I understand how he felt. It rocked me when the doctor told me I had cancer. I could not believe it. When I had to accept the fact, I was not given any assurance at all that I would live. When I was taken to the hospital, I had no idea what the outcome of my illness would be. The nurse had to help me get into bed because I was so weak. I was not physically weak, I was frightenedI am a coward! She asked, “Are you sick?” “No,” I said, “I am scared to death!” She was a Christian nurse, and she smiled at that. I asked her to leave me alone for a while, and I turned my face to the wall, just as Hezekiah had done, and I cried out to God. I told Him that I did not want to die. When we are sick, I believe we should go to God in prayer and ask others to pray for us. I believe in faith healing (but not in faith healers); I know God can heal. Well, an acquaintance wrote me a letter in which she said, “I am not going to pray that you get well because I know that you are ready to go and be with the Lord. I am praying that He will take you home.” I got an answer back to her in a hurry. I wrote, “Now look here. You let the Lord handle this. Don’t try and tell Him how I feel. I don’t want to die. I want to live. I want to live as long as I can!” Now Hezekiah was in that same position. Only God could help him. When he turned his face to the wall, he reminded the Lord that he had walked before Him in truth and with a perfect heart and he had done that which was good in His sight. They put a poultice of figs on his “boil"it could have been cancer. Whatever it was, God healed him and gave him fifteen more years.

2 Chronicles 32:25

The kingdom of Judah had become very poor during the reign of Ahaz, but now it has again become wealthy.

2 Chronicles 32:27

When the ambassadors from Babylon had come, he very foolishly showed them the entire wealth of his kingdom (see 2Ki_20:12-19). Now, here is God’s comment on this episode:

2 Chronicles 32:31

This may seem like an awful thing for me to say, but Hezekiah should have died when the time came for him to die. Three things took place after God extended his life that were foolish acts: he showed his treasures to Babylon, which will cause great trouble in the future; he begat a son, Manasseh, who was the most wicked of any king; he revealed an arrogance, almost an impudence in his later years. His heart became filled with pride. 2Ch_32:25 tells us, “But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.” You see, it might have been better if Hezekiah had died at God’s appointed time. That is why I want to be very careful. The Lord has spared me and I do not want to do anything to disgrace Him. My friend, this is a wonderful chapter, We have a wonderful heavenly Father.

2 Chronicles 32:32

DEATH OF HEZEKIAHNow I would like to talk a few moments on the subject of revival. I think it is very important for us to note that God is sovereign in this matter of revival. “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” says our Lord in Joh_3:8. Only God can send a revival. God is sovereign in this through the working of the Holy Spirit. God is not a Western Union boy or a bell-boy. You can’t just push a button and have Him come at your command. I hear some folks in their prayers command the Lord to do something. We cannot give commands to God, my friend. Remember the experience of Elijah on Mount Carmel. The prophets of Baal had screamed themselves hoarse and had yelled like fanatics, but they were not able to bring down fire upon the sacrifice.

Then Elijah laid the stones in order and he put wood on there and put the sacrifice on it and poured water over it. Then he prayed to God. He was a man of like passions as we are. In effect he said to the Lord: “All we can do is just get the stones together and put a little order into them. We can put the wood here and the sacrifice on it, but You will need to send the fire.” Elijah knew the fire must come from God. God responded at that time. As I write this, there is a spiritual movement in our land. At first I thought it was confined to young people, but I find it also includes young married couples. Young couples are seeing their children growing away from them. They are coming to realize that they must have answers to some of the problems. One young father said to me, “I thought I could always solve my problems, but I need God.” Today there is a turning to the Word of God, and I rejoice in it. I see it everywhere. Very candidly, I never saw that in my ministry in the church. This movement is largely outside the church. I’ve seen it in meetings that we have had all over this country. Young people, and older ones too, are coming to the conferences. There seems to be a real interest in the Word of God. There are pastors and some religious leaders who are trying to capitalize on this; so they feed these young people a bunch of garbage. They give them “hard rock” music in place of Bible study. They give them everything but the Word of God. You remember our Lord asked, “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? …” (Luk_11:11). And certainly don’t give him “hard rock!” Give him the Word of God. I find them listening to my Bible teaching program, and I have told them, “I’m old fashioned. I teach the Bible just as it is. Why do you listen to me?” One of them said, “Well, we listen to you because you tell it like it is.” That’s the only way I know how to tell it, and I’ve been telling it that way for years, but nobody listened. Now they are beginning to listen. Are we on the verge of a spiritual awakening? I am praying that the Lord will send it. I want to be very frank with you; if it comes, He will be the One who will send it. I’m just getting my raincoat out in case the showers of blessing come. I have never seen revival in my day, and I would really like to see one. Wouldn’t you? Let me present a challenge to you. Why don’t you make an inventory of your own personal life? If you want God to move in on your life, ask yourself these questions:

1. Am I honest?
2. Am I truthful?
3. Am I faithful? Can I be depended upon?
4. Am I pure? Am I really pure in this dirty day of filthy pictures and filthy language?
5. Am I dedicated? Am I really a dedicated child of God? Dwight L. Moody heard a man say that the world has yet to see what God can do with a man who is fully yielded to Him. Moody’s response was, “By the grace of God, I will be that man.” I think Moody was that man and yet, Moody, on his deathbed said, “The world has yet to see what God can do with a man who is fully yielded to Him.” Oh, my friend, let’s get into the position where God can move through us to give the Water of Life to a thirsty world.