2 Kings 18:1-8 – Against All Odds – Bible study

2Kings 18:1-8 Against All Odds Does faith work? Is what we preach and teach inside the walls of this building really worth anything once you walk outside of it? The answer is YES. God is real and faith works. We can see that in the life of an Old Testament king named Hezekiah. Lets meet this man. I. A Faith Built A. To understand better Hezekiah’s, let’s look at how he was raised. B. \#2Kings 16:1\ Hezekiahs father was Ahaz. (2Kings 16 and 2Chronicles 28.) 1. To describe Ahaz briefly would be to say that he did not do what was right in the Lords sight. a. King Ahaz made alliances with Assyria, against the direct counsel of Isaiah (Isaiah 7) b. He practiced and introduced many of his people to idolatry. \#2Chron 28:4\ c. Because of his wicked life, God took him at the age of 35. d. He was such a wicked king that the people refused to bury him in the cemetery with his fathers \#2Chron 29:19\. 2. I have to wonder what a man like that was thinking. a. What kind of life did he want to lead? b. What kind of legacy did he hope to leave? 3. More times that not, a man does not make the decision to live this kind of life for himself. He makes it for his family a. Children are mirror reflection of their parents. b. It is proven that a father who abuses his children is more likely to produce children who will abuse their own kids. c. I see fathers whose everyday attitudes are sowed into the fabric of their children all the time. d. Attitudes about school, work, women, pornography, gambling, profanity, tobacco, alcohol, church, God, and salvation are often passed down from generation to generation. 4. To make matters even worse, I have noticed two more things. a. I have noticed that what parents tend to do in moderation, their children tend to do in excess. b. I have noticed that it is easier to lead children the wrong way than it is to lead them the right way. (1) Like going downhill, a little push can get you started but a far greater effort is required to get you stopped. (2) Parents often realize too late the example they are setting for their children. C. But Hezekiah decided to build a life for God. 1. Hezekiah defied the odds and went the opposite direction from his father. 2. Perhaps a. he had a godly mother. b. he had a godly nanny. c. he had a godly teacher. d. he just had a tender and wise heart 3. The Bible gives a detailed description of Hezekiahs relationship with God. a. \#2Kings 18:4\ Hezekiah removed the false worship. (1) Sometimes, to worship God, wicked things must first be removed. (2) wicked lusts, wicked habits, even wicked influences (3) Interestingly, the brazen serpent which Moses used to heal the murmuring Jews of their snake bites (Numbers 21) had also become an idol. (4) It too had to be destroyed. b. \#2Kings 18:5\ He uniquely trusted the Lord. (1) There was no king before or after him who trusted in the Lord so. (2) What a testimony. c. \#2Kings 18:6\ He clave to the Lord. (1) To cleave means that he would not let go. (2) He would not be separated from the Lord not by trails, or problems, or circumstances. d. \#2Kings 18:6\ He kept the Lords commandments. He must have really loved the Lord. John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. D. Hezekiah, perhaps better than any other, illustrates the choice WE have in determining our own walk with God. 1. Too many want to blame others for their decisions and errors. a. "Its my parents fault." b. "Its my environments fault." c. And if they cant find anyone specific to blame, "It the mans fault." 2. Hezekiah had a rotten father, and corrupt environment, and all the power and money in his kingdom to steer him the wrong way; but he may a choice to live for God like no other man had ever done! 3. If Hezekiah could do it, you can too! 4. Whats more, God requires it of you! II. A Faith Enriched A. Hezekiah not only built a faith. He enriched his faith. 1. 2Kings tells us how Hezekiah build his personal faith and how he attempted to build a national faith by removing the false idols. 2. 2Chronicles 29-30 detail how Hezekiah attempted to lead both Judah and Israel in a great revival, the like of which had not been seen since the days of King David. 2Chron 30:1 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel. a. King David lived almost 300 years before Hezekiah. b. During that time, Israel had split into two kingdoms. (1) The northern kingdom, Israel, had not had a single revival in those 300 years. (2) Israel was being carried away captive during Hezekiah’s reign. c. Hezekiah was attempting to so something that had NEVER been done before, that was to bring Judah and the remnant of Israel back together in worship of their God. 3. There was a great revival in Judah, however much of the remnant of Israel refused to participate. B. By serving God, Hezekiahs faith (and life) was enriched. 1. To serve God is not just us working. It is Gods means of enriching our faith. 2. The more you do for God, the more of God presence and power you get. a. \#2Kings 18:7\ Gods presence was with him. b. \#2Kings 18:7\ God prospered him. c. \#2Kings 18:8\ Gods power was upon him. C. The reason many Christians never have much of a relationship WITH God is because they never do anything FOR God. 1. To have a relationship with someone, you must get to know them. 2. For you to get to know a person, he or she must reveal themselves to you. 3. Why should God manifest Himself to someone who isnt going to do anything with it? III. A Faith Tested A. Here is the reality of faith. 1. Just because you choose God, that does not mean you will not have problems. 2. In some ways, you will have more. 3. The promise of faith is not that you will not have problems but that God will be with you in the problems. B. \#2Kings 18:7\ As a result of Hezekiahs faith, he felt he should not serve the King of Assyria. 1. Hezekiah inherited some of the judgments of his father. a. Ahaz, against the Lords commands, made a league with Assyria. b. Because of that sin, God determined to judge Judah with Assyrian. 2. Hezekiah was attempting to set right a wrong his father had committed in making the league so he broke it. a. When Hezekiah did that, Assyria turned on Judah. 2Kings 18:13 Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them. b. The FENCED CITIES are the fortified cities, those with an army and defenses. c. Assyria moved like a flooding river and conquered them all, leaving only the capital, Jerusalem, remaining. 3. Hezekiah was in one of those situations where no matter what you do, you are going to have problems. a. Assyrias victory was pre-determined from the time his father made the league with Assyria. b. Nothing Hezekiah could do would stop it. c. Here Hezekiah was, a righteous king, serving his God like no one before him or after him, and his whole kingdom gets wiped out! d. What do you do in a situation like that? C. Hezekiah cleaved to God! 1. He didnt do anything foolish. a. One of my favorite verses relating to Job. Job 1:22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. b. The reason it is my favorite is because so often, in times of distress, my first reaction was a foolish reaction. (1) Sometimes I expressed doubt. (2) Sometimes I got angry with God. (3) Sometimes I just rebelled against God. 2. He prayed. 2Kings 19:15 And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. 16 LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God. 17 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, 18 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of mens hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. 19 Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only. a. Reading Hezekiahs prayer, you quickly see how ordinary it was. (1) There is no secret "get-your-prayers-answered" word in it. (2) Hezekiah did not pray it while engaged in some religious ritual. (3) Really, as far as prayers goes, this one is nothing special. (4) Yet, Hezekiah got hold of God! b. It wasnt what Hezekiah prayed but who Hezekiah was that got Gods attention. (1) Hezekiah wasnt using gimmicks to get Gods power. (2) Hezekiah was using the faith that he built and enriched. 3. He trusted God. a. Hezekiah did what he could. (1) He prayed and cleaved to God. (2) After that, all he could do was wait and trust. b. Believe it or not, the hard part of faith is not building it, but waiting on God to honor it. (1) Now, if you are still in the building stage, that may not seem possible, but it is true. (2) Dont take my word for it: 1. Ask Abraham who waited around 24 years for a son. 2. Ask Joseph who waited 13 years to get out of prison and 22 before he say his family again. 3. Or ask David who was anointed to be king as a sheepherder, but did not get to the throne until he was thirty years old. D. As a result of Hezekiahs faith, God moved to deliver Israel. 2Kings 19:35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. 1. This defeat defended Jerusalem and saved the nation of Judah. 2. But it also broke Assyrias back. This defeat began a decline in a mighty world power that eventually lead to it complete destruction. 3. God spared one nation, toppled another, and altered the course of world events because of a mans faith! The question we started with was, "Does faith work?" The answer is YES. God is real and faith works. It worked for Hezekiah, and it will work for you. Matthew 17:20 And Jesus said unto themIf ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.