The righteous king, Hezekiah

 

The righteous king, Hezekiah, was in trouble.  He was "sick and near death" (2 Kings 20:1).  Isaiah tells him to "set" his "house in order" because he was going to die.  What could Hezekiah say?  What would you have said?
Hezekiah appealed to his home in 2 Kings 20:3.  He mentions three qualities of it.  In his house, Hezekiah walked before the Lord in truth.  That suggests that he allowed God's word to be the standard in his home, whatever the issue.  In his house, Hezekiah had a loyal heart.  Nothing more specific is said in this regard, so this could mean loyalty in any of his relationships.  Certainly, in context, it seems that Hezekiah included in that loyalty to God.  In his house, Hezekiah did what was good in God's sight.  His morality, judgment, and leadership were aligned with Heavenly sight.  
You may remember that, upon hearing this, God grants Hezekiah fifteen more years (2 Kings 20:6).  Unfortunately, he seems to have made mistakes that negatively impacted his home in that intervening period of time.  He allowed the king of Babylon to see the treasures of his house (2 Kings 20:12ff).  He also was too short-sighted to care that this decision would greatly harm his descendents (2 Kings 20:17-18), but all he got from that was superficial comfort in knowing there would be "peace and truth at least in" his days (2 Kings 20:19). 
What a reminder that we can never ease up in our homes.  Those in our homes need us doing our part to keep the home like Hezekiah kept his up until the sickness that brought Isaiah to his door.  This is an ideal home.  Someone wrote,

An ideal home cannot be built with compass, rule or square
An ideal home cannot exist without our Jesus there.
An ideal home, where Jesus reigns and all on Him depend,
Alone can save our nation, doomed, from her untimely end.

Neal Pollard

 

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