Hezekiah vs. “Nevertheless”

The beginning of 2 Kings 18 starts off with Hezekiah succeeding his father, the most evil king of Judah, Ahaz. Israel was well known for having evil kings who had lead the Northern Kingdom into sin, but rarely in Judah (the Southern Kingdom).

• Ahaz’s father was right in God’s sight, “Nevertheless…”
• Ahaz’s grandfather was also right in God’s sight, “Nevertheless…”

Just As His Ancestor David Has Done

But Ahas was so evil that he not only lived up to their nevertheless’, and not only followed the sins of the evil Israelite kings, but took it even further when he introduced the pagan ritual of human sacrifice by fire!

So then, there’s his son, Hezekiah. The Bible says he did what was right in the Lord’s sight, JUST AS his ancestor David had done. He trusted in the Lord, and (as with Solomon) of all the kings of Judah, there was no one like him, neither before nor after him. “He removed the pagan shrines, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made because the people of Israel had been offering sacrifices to it.”

This Was That Pole

Wow! They had the pole that Moses made! Remember this pole? There was that time in the wilderness when the Israelites were getting bitten by poisonous snakes on the coast (because they kept ticking off God), so the Lord told Moses to make a pole with a serpent on it, and everybody who’s bitten by the snakes, if they look at the serpent on the pole, they will be healed. This was that pole! What an awesome piece of history to have in their presence! Wow! But wasn’t it interesting that they made offerings to it, versus to God who did the healing? They looked at this wonderful artifact from their history, and somehow came to the point of worshipping and exalting it. Terrible, isn’t it?

If we look at today though, what objects can we compare to this in our lives? And I’m not talking about the talk on how what you focus on becomes your treasure and your god. I’m talking about created things that have become sacred in God’s place.

I’m sure many of you are thinking directly of the Catholics and their statues. Yes, they have statues of Mary, which a couple kneels down to when they get married, as well as statues of saints…one Catholic church that I visited once in Chicago on Good Friday, after the Stations of the Cross, they opened up a display in the wall that exposed a life-sized figurine of Jesus, laying in the tomb. People stood in line to touch it and kiss it (there were even fade-spots from all the kisses, yuk!).

How Has the Church (or Church Leaders) Addressed This

But now, the BIG question is, “How has the Church (or Church leaders) addressed this?” Because Catholics aren’t the only ones who do this. For example, when I went on the Walk to Emmaus (interdenominational spiritual retreat), they had us in the sanctuary with a 6-foot wooden cross at the front, which they encouraged us to come u to and say a prayer, blessing, or let go of something that was weighing us down spiritually. I didn’t want to do it. Why? Because that’s not God, it’s a piece of a dead tree shaped like the torture device that killed my Lord. (If Jesus had been killed by a spear, we’d have a spear at the front to talk to). Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book ”Cost of Discipleship”, even called the cross “a big, ugly stick”, and basically repeated what I just mentioned. Yes, Jesus calls us to the cross, but HE is the object to be worshiped, not the cross (I finally went up, but made it a point to mention all this, and that I was talking to Jesus, not the piece of wood in front of me).

Another good example is the Shroud of Turin, which many believe gives off the image of Jesus. I don’t believe it really is Jesus’ shroud for several reasons (such as some gospel accounts of wrapping Jesus in strips of linen, versus a shroud), but what if it was? So what? What would they do with it? Exalt it? Display it for people to worship and give praise to? Something that so many would travel to see and hope to touch?

“Hey, I’m Over Here”

I have to wonder if maybe the reason we don’t have anything that Jesus owned is because He didn’t want this to happen. And just like the Judeans and Pagans when they don’t have God in the flesh, the (we) make things that represent Him instead. But these representations soon take God’s place, because now, it’s these things that are receiving the glory, and God’s like, ‘Hey, I’m over here!’ In fact, if there’s anything that God DID give us to represent Him, it was His Son, Jesus Christ.

But then, we don’t know what Jesus looked like, and He is not here in the flesh (anymore) either. So what do we do? We make images of Him and others who KNEW Him, thus again, going against the commandments, as well as missing the mark. And so when we do, we sin. So what to do?

Can You Imagine Doing That With the Shroud

Hezekiah destroyed them…even the serpent on the pole that Moses himself made and held! Can you imagine doing that with the shroud? “Hey! You can’t destroy that! That was Jesus’, and that was the only real image of Him that we had!” Mm-hm. Now, don’t get me wrong. It’s good to hold onto old items, for such are great treasures and a part of history (or our histories). But if they take the place of worshiping God, then regardless of how old or valuable they may be, they should be destroyed. For example, the Temple in Jerusalem. Since the day it was first built, it has been destroyed over and over and rebuilt equally…until Jesus. Jerusalem fell in 70 A.D., and the temple with it. But this time, God didn’t send people to rebuild it, and allowed a sinful people to take over the area where the Temple once laid, thus preventing the rebuilding of it anymore. Why? Because Jesus is the Temple to which we are to worship and give offerings (of ourselves) to God. The building is obsolete, Jesus is eternal. Yet, many still continue to insist on going to the building.

One could argue that such images promote worship of God, but also notice that every king before Hezekiah who had this opinion was said to have done right in God’s sight, but “But…” or “Nevertheless…” is added immediately afterward, with an explanation of how they failed to destroy them.

Hezekiah

Hezekiah “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done…trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, neither before him nor after him. He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow Him; he kept the commands the LORD had given to Moses, and the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. (And) from watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.” And no “Nevertheless” or “But” is mentioned.

As Jesus Said In Matthew 5:30

Nothing is to represent God except for Jesus Christ (and we Christians are to represent Jesus Christ, yet not be worshiped). Anything else places the risk of taking God’s place, and as Jesus said in Matthew 5:30, “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It’s better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”