In Hebrews 3:16-19, the author of Hebrews says something rather surprising. He is in the midst of talking about a rest that remains for the people of God, when he begins talking about the Israelites and that generation that did not enter the promised land but died in the desert. In 3:16 he describes them as a people who rebelled. In 3:17 he describes them as those who provoked the Lord and sinned. In 3:18, he notes that they were disobedient. Thus, in the span of three verses, they are said to have rebelled, provoked the Lord, sinned, and were disobedient. Then, in verse 19, he states, therefore, why they were unable to enter the promised land. And you would expect at this point for him to say, “So they were unable to enter because of their stubbornness or rebellious attitude, etc.” That is, you would expect the author of Hebrews to diagnose the problem along the lines of selfishness or pride or the like. Yet, here’s what he says in 3:19 – “So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.”
Do you see? The reason they rebelled, sinned, provoked the Lord with their words and actions, and disobeyed God was because of their unbelief. The fundamental root of their actions was not pride or selfishness or stubbornness but unbelief. And their unbelief in the Lord’s Word and promises led them to act and say things that were sinful and brought the Lord’s judgment.
There are two reasons this insight from Hebrews 3:19 is important for us to consider this morning. First, throughout these final chapters of 2 Kings, we find obedience followed by disobedience, followed by obedience, followed by disobedience, and so on. Therefore, if we’re going to try to think through what it is that underlies obedience and disobedience, we should anticipate it being faith or trust in the Lord or lack thereof. That is, based on Hebrews 3:19, already we should be alert and ready to see hints of trust or belief in the Lord underlying obedience and unbelief underlying disobedience as we read through this text. Second, this insight (that unbelief was the foundation for Israel’s rebellion which was written down for us so that we might not fall as they did) is helpful for us is because some of you may have really been confronted by the text last week concerning your sin. Perhaps you left last week thinking, “That’s it. I have to deal with my sin. I cannot allow this to have a hold over my life any longer. I have to turn from it.” And, yet, you feel in your mind a bit of fear because you think, “I don’t know if my will is that strong” or “I don’t know how to keep up the fight.” Therefore, this morning I want to continue to hold up before you the disgusting nature of sin and the reality of God’s judgment while also pointing you to how it is that we can fight against sin in our lives and fight for holiness.
Our text this morning, 2 Kings 18-25, records for us the downfall of the southern kingdom of Judah. About a century and a half after the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered by Assyria, the southern kingdom of Judah was conquered and its inhabitants taken by the Babylonians. This event is recorded in chapters 24-25. But these last eight chapters as a whole lead us there. They cover the reigns of the last eight kings of Judah before their fall to Babylon and the exile that followed. And as we walk look at these last eight chapters, I want to note a few things concerning the nature of obedience, sin, repentance, and judgment. And the first thing I want to note from Hezekiah’s reign, recorded in 2 Kings 18-20, is that obedience stems from faith and trust in the Lord.
After the reign of Ahaz in Judah, Hezekiah, his son began to reign. And the two of them could not be more different. We read of Hezekiah in 18:3, “And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.” So, where other kings had done what was right and yet left the high places untouched so that the people continued to go to them, we read of Hezekiah in 18:4, “He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).” Thus, with Hezekiah, you have one who not only wants to obey the Lord but one who actually destroys those things which would lead to sin. This is a picture of what repentance looks like.
But these three chapters (18-20) which cover Hezekiah’s reign are not just stories about Hezekiah’s acts of obedience. Actually, the stories of Hezekiah’s reign over Judah are recorded here, in Isaiah, in Chronicles. So, what then does the writer of 2 Kings want us to see particularly here in his recording of these events? No doubt there are many answers to this question, but I think one thing we need to see in these three chapters is that obedience stems from faith and trust in the Lord.
Notice that right after the summary of Hezekiah’s reign in 18:3-6, we read in verses 5-6, “He trusted in the LORD the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses.” So, you see his life of obedience to the Lord stems from the fact that he trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel.
And this is the way it is throughout his life. Later in chapter 18, we read that Sennacherib, king of Assyria comes up against Judah, and Hezekiah’s trust in the Lord’s deliverance wavers. So, instead of trusting in the Lord, he trusts in his ability to buy off the king. So, we read in 18:14-16, “And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, ‘I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you imposed on me I will bear.’ And the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house. At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD and from the doorposts that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria.”
So, he tries to buy the king off, and remember that Hezekiah had said, “Withdraw from me” and he’d do whatever the king demanded. Then, he met the king’s demands, but did the king of Assyria withdraw? No. Instead, he actually sent a messenger to demand Judah’s surrender. Trust in the king of Assyria led to a sinful compromise which proved empty.
When the messenger, the Rabshakeh comes on behalf of the king of Assyria, he begins mocking Judah. But one of the helpful things the Rabshakeh does is that he focuses Hezekiah, the people, and us on what the main issue is here – and the main issue is, where is your trust. Listen to what is written in 18:19-21, “And the Rabshakeh said to them, \"Say to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.”
He mocks trusting in words. He mocks trusting in Egypt, telling him that Egypt will turn on him. He even tries to undermine trust in the Lord by trying to make the people think that the high places Hezekiah tore down were for the Lord and then sarcastically telling the people that the Lord himself is the one who sent him to mock Judah. Finally, he explicitly challenges their trust in the Lord, saying in verses 29-30, “Thus says the king: 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand. Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.'” Then another message comes from the Rabshakeh in 19:10, saying, “Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”
So, Hezekiah, takes the message, spreads it out before, and asks the Lord to deliver him. He’s not trusting in bribes or fleeting alliances. Here, Hezekiah is trusting in the Lord, and it leads to his obedient act of prayer. And what happens? In one night an angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 Assyrians so that the next morning, those who were alive woke up and scampered back home.
So, you would think then that Hezekiah would learn that he doesn’t have to rest on alliances with other nations, but simply trust in the Lord. But, in chapter 20 we read that Hezekiah is about to die when he asks the Lord to extend his time. The Lord hears his request and says that he will give him fifteen more years. Then, the Babylonians get word that Hezekiah has gotten well and sends some messengers to him, and Hezekiah ends up showing them all the riches he had in Judah. Now, why would he do that? Dale Ralph Davis suggests that it was not simply to give them a tour but to show the Babylonians “the sort of punch he could bring to the table in an alliance against Assyria.”1
You see, in an instant, Hezekiah was most likely overcome with a high estimation of himself. This is Babylon, coming to see him. Wow. He’s really made a name for himself now, hasn’t he? And, he wanted them to know that their high regard for him was by no means misplaced. He could do much for them. But the prophet Isaiah is not impressed with Hezekiah’s actions, and he tells him in 20:17, “Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD.”
Again, it was his lack of faith and trust in the Lord and thought that his trust could lie elsewhere that led to sin. Therefore, on the whole, Hezekiah trusted the Lord. That’s what 18:5 says of him, and that’s what led to a life characterized by obedience. But we see a few episodes in his life that remind us of the danger of unbelief, of a lack of trust in the Lord, for just as all obedience stems from faith, so all sin stems from unbelief in the Lord and his promises.
And it’s not just the case in Hezekiah’s life that the fight is a fight of faith. Faith is the crucial factor in our fight against sin as well. When you sin, it’s because you’re refusing to believe that the Lord’s Word and his promises are true. And when you obey, it’s because you are believing that. Therefore, when you grab hold of legalism, thinking that in order to be right before God you must do enough good, you’re refusing to believe the gospel. When you lust, it’s because you refuse to believe that there’s greater pleasure in obedience. When you long to control life and manipulate people around you, it’s because you do not trust that merely walking in faithful obedience to God and trusting him is sufficient. That is, anxiety is not the only sin that stems from a lack of trust in God, his Word, and his promises. All sin stems from that. And on the other side, all obedience stems from faith and trust in God, his Word, and his promises. That’s why Hebrews 11 reminds us that all these acts of obedience from our fathers and mothers in the faith were done by faith in the Lord.
Therefore, I want us to see that the fight against sin is a fight for faith. You will not prove to be successful in your fight against sin if you focus on other things than strengthening and grounding your faith in the Lord. This is why meditating on the Scripture and praying are crucial in fighting covetousness. Meditating on the Scripture doesn’t provide you a nice car so that you won’t covet your neighbor’s, but it reminds your heart that the Lord will provide for your needs, even as he feeds the birds and clothes the flowers of the field. Reading the Bible doesn’t put money in your bank account, but it reminds you that you can hold to your possessions freely in this life so that you might store up treasure in heaven. There’s a reason why if a wife is saying, “Help me to submit to my husband” you can point her to a the command a few verses prior to the command for wives to submit to their husbands in Colossians, and remind her to let the Word of Christ dwell richly in her heart. It’s because our main fight is a fight of faith. Our fight against sin is a fight of faith, and as your faith in God, his Word, and his promises grows, the lure of sin is weakened. Therefore, hide his Word in your heart, cry out to God for greater faith, and trust in him so that you might not walk in sin.
But let me show you the other side of this as well, as we look at chapter 21 and see that a lack of faith in the Lord leads to sin, which leads to judgment.
That is, having encouraged you to believe, let me give you a warning as well. This is just the flip-side of saying, “Believe and you’ll be blessed in obedience.” It’s a reminder that if you don’t believe, you’ll walk in sin and one day know the Lord’s judgment.
After Hezekiah died, his son, Manasseh became king, and he was a wicked king. In fact, whereas most kings have the record of their reigns end with something like, “The rest of the acts of … are recorded in …” Manasseh is specifically noted for his sin. We read in 21:17, “Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did, and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?” Now, when you’re in a group with a bunch of other sinners and are called out as being a sinner, that means you were really bad. In fact, 21:2-9 gives us a long list of Manasseh’s sins, basically telling us that he did the worst of what any king had done before him and more. In fact, his actions aren’t even weighed against other evil kings. Rather, we’re told in 21:11 that Manasseh did worse things than the pagan nations that had been driven out of the land before Israel inhabited it. Again, Dale Ralph Davis is helpful in noting for us that all of Manesseh’s sins expressed his desire for control. He writes, “In fertility worship I use my practice of sex to manipulate or encourage the heavenly powers to act in the same way and grant fertility. In astral worship I seek out omens that are indicators of future events; likewise in spiritism I want the secret knowledge that will enlighten me on how to act or react in view of what is coming. By sacrificing my child I show how dead earnest I am, to ‘purchase’ the favor I desire. Paganism is the way I manage my life over against the various ‘powers’ that may determine it.”2
Do you see? Distrust in the Lord leads to sin. And sin leads to judgment. We read in verses 11 and following that the Lord said that in response to Manasseh’s sin, he was going to bring judgment. Judah had passed the point of no return. Judgment was now certain.
Now, if you read the record of Manasseh’s reign in 2 Chronicles, you’ll read about him ultimately being humbled before God and repenting. You read of none of that here, however. Why? I think it’s because the author wants to focus us on the seriousness of sin. If you do not trust in the Lord, you will sin, and you will be judged. Therefore, in putting our first two points together, I want to encourage you to trust in the Lord, and I want to warn you that if you don’t, you will know judgment because of your sin. What do we then do if we realize our sin? We’re reminded in 22:1-23:25 that he right action is always to repent and believe.
After a word had come that Judah’s judgment was certain, what would the next king do? The answer is found in the life of Josiah, who carried out one of the greatest acts of reform in Israel’s history. Josiah was a good king, and he obeyed the Lord. And at one point in his reign, they found the law in the temple. It was perhaps the book of Deuteronomy. We don’t know. But it was brought to the king and read before him. And as soon as he heard it, he repented of sin against God’s Word and believed what God said. Chapter 23 records his many reforms, even restoring the observance of Passover. Therefore, we read in 23:25, “Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, not did any like him arise after him.”
So, what’s the result? Well, after hearing the word, repenting, and believing what he heard, we read in 22:11 and 13, “When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes [a sign of repentance]. . . [and he commanded those around him] ‘Go inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.’” And they got word from a prophetess named Huldah, who said that Judah would still be punished. However, she said in 22:18-20, “But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, because your hearts was penitent and you humbled yourself befor the LORD, when you heard how I spoke against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD. Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grace in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king.”
You see, the Lord always responds to one who humbles himself because he believes the Lord’s Word and repents of his sin. We’ve seen it throughout this book, and we see it throughout the Bible. If there was ever a time when you’d think repentance was worthless, it’d be now. The Lord had already said they’d reached the point where judgment was inevitable. However, the Lord says, “Judgment will be delayed” because of Josiah’s faith and repentance.
So, let me encourage you to deal with your sin today by believing God’s Word and repenting of your sin before him. If you do, he will hear you. And he will respond in mercy and grace.
But let me give you one more word of warning again. God’s judgment will not be delayed forever.
From 23:26-25:26, we read of God’s intention to judge Judah and him eventually carrying that out. We read in 25:8-11, “In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. And he burned the house of the Lord and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile.” God’s judgment on Judah came, just as he said it would. There may have been a long delay, but it came.
And right now, it feels that there has been a long delay. It’s been 2,000 years since Christ came lived, died, and was buried. Does the delay mean God has decided not to judge? No. God’s judgment is inevitable. He said he would judge Israel, and he did. He said he would judge Judah, and he did. He said he would judge the world, and he will.
Then why the delay? Why is the Lord seemingly quite slow to fulfill his promise of judgment? Well, Peter answers in 2 Peter 3:9, saying, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” That is, the Lord is delaying his judgment so that we might repent. Therefore, today, let me urge you to address your sin by repenting of it.
Thus, in 2 Kings 18-25 we have an encouragement to trust in the Lord, a warning against unbelief, and encouragement to repent, and a warning should you not repent. But, let me end by reminding us again why the Lord responds to our repentance and even justifies the wicked when they believe in Christ. The answer to why God is able to do that is hinted at in this text. In the last four verses of 1-2 Kings, we have a situation where Judah is in exile. There is no true king reigning over Judah. However, in the midst of the darkness we read that Jehoiachin is all of the sudden released from prison, and the king of Judah (which he’s called twice – v. 27) is treated as a king. And that’s how 2 Kings ends.
Why does the book end that way? I don’t know. Perhaps, though, it’s to remind us that some years later in a dark day in Israel’s history the Lord was going to raise up another of David’s sons to reign over all the earth – Jesus of Nazareth. That is, God sent his Son to earth, and he took on flesh, lived among us, died on the cross, and was raised from the dead to reign over all the earth. And anyone who repents of sin and believes in him will be justified before God and will reign with his Son, Jesus, the God-man as our king. That’s why God responds to repentance by granting us forgiveness. It’s because of the work of his Son, Jesus, the Christ. May we now proclaim his death as our hope for eternal life as we come to the table. Amen.