Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi
It has been a minute. We've taken two road trips since the last installment and life has been busy. I had to go back and re-read the last Heart of the Matter post, and I found...I goofed. I said that we would take up the narrative with Joash, who was made king at age 7 after the coup against Athaliah and...I was wrong, There is no reference to heart/ hearts in the narrative about Joash so we skip all the way to the revival under Hezekiah.
Now, I will admit that, as I was perusing around, I discovered that there are some uses of the Hebrew words for heart/ hearts that we have been looking at that were not translated as 'heart/hearts' in the NIV. I had a bit of a struggle with that, but ultimately decided not to go chasing all of those down because...I haven't been doing that so far and it would be rather inconsistent to start now. So I'm sticking with the NIV 84 Exhaustive concordance. Just for the record.
ANYWAY...the next reference we have in the NIV to heart/ Hearts is 2 Chron 29:31:
Then Hezekiah said, "You have now dedicated yourselves to the LORD. Come and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the temple of the LORD." So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all whose hearts were willing brought burnt offerings. ("hearts" - Strong's H 3820, one of the two Hebrew words that we see repeatedly. Interesting to note that the NIV 2011 does not translate this but just says 'those who are willing')
This was the rededication of the Temple after the idolatry of Hezekiah's father, Ahaz.
They also had the Passover festival for the first time in many years, and Hezekiah sent invitations to the tribes in the northern kingdom as well, and the couriers were pretty much scorned there. But, there were some folks who took the message to heart and came to Jerusalem for the festival.
Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "May the LORD, who is good, pardon everyone who sets his heart on seeking God - the LORD, the God of his fathers -- even if he is not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary." And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people. -- 2 Chron. 30:18-20; 'Heart' is the other word we're seeing over and over again, Strong's H 3824., from which our previous word, Strong's H 3820, is derived, both meaning 'inner man, mind, will, understanding'.
I think this is interesting...Hezekiah interceded for the people, requesting that God honor the intention of the heart even though they had not followed the letter of the law...and God answered that prayer and healed the people of...whatever had afflicted them after their transgression. God responded according to the heart of the people who had, likely from ignorance, not fulfilled all the requirements of the Law. And the people responded by keeping the festival for an entire extra week, and then smashing the idols and Asherah poles.
My friends, that's revival. Not just hanging out at church for extended services, but going out and dismantling the things that distracted the people from true worship to God. That's not just loving the service because it made them feel good...that's making a commitment to God and following through.
Because...their hearts were right. Even if their actions weren't perfect. And they didn't just SAY their hearts were right...they demonstrated it by ridding themselves of their idols.
That's worth a selah right there.
But people are people and we can't seem to maintain that dedication. Somewhere along the line, the practice of faith becomes a point of pride, which is laughably ironic. It happened over and over to the kings of Judah, and Hezekiah was no different.
The Assyrians had attacked and defeated the Northern Kingdom of Israel, carting those folks off to who knows where and bringing a polyglot of folks abducted from random other places to occupy the land (folks whose descendants would later become known as 'Samaritans'). But God had intervened and protected Hezekiah and his people from the Assyrians and Judah remained independent. As a result, Hezekiah had a highly favorable reputation among the other nations.
But apparently Hezekiah thought he had something to do with that.
In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. He prayed to the LORD, who answered him and gave him a miraculous sign. But Hezekiah's heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the LORD's wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem. Then Hezekiah repented of the pride of his heart, as did the people of Jerusalem; therefore the LORD's wrath did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah. 2 Chron. 32:24-26
Good for Hezekiah, but he did have a moment of pride that cost him. A delegation of folks from an insignificant kingdom to the north came round for a visit, and Hezekiah showed them ALL his wealth and ALL his military strength and ALL his business. What could it hurt? They came from a long way off, right?
But when envoys were sent by the rulers of Babylon to ask him about the miraculous sign that had occurred in the land, God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart. -- 2 Chron. 32:31; 'Heart' is Strong's H 3824 again.
Hezekiah's desire to impress these folks from the faraway land of Babylon came from a place of pride. And God allowed him to make that choice.
That choice ultimately cost the nation everything. Oh, not then, and not in his son's lifetime or his grandson's lifetime or even his great-grandson's lifetime. But when the nation's idolatry reached the breaking point, the judgement came. I don't think it was coincidence that it was Babylon that executed that judgement.
That small 'What could it hurt?' thing has a way of turning into a pivotal choice. Sobering.
Amen!
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