2 Chronicles 32:30
It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Spring of Gihon and channeled it down to the west side of the City of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all that he did.
Sermons
The Trial of RestorationW. Clarkson 2 Chronicles 32:24-26, 31
The Greatness of HezekiahT. Whitelaw 2 Chronicles 32:27-30
Hezekiah's HappinessW. Clarkson 2 Chronicles 32:27-30, 32, 33














1. There can be no question at all as to Hezekiah's greatness. He was one of the greatest of the kings of Judah; not more than two, or three at the most, can be named as being greater than he.

2. Or as to the excellency of his estate (see text, vers. 27-29). He had all that his heart could wish, so far as temporal possessions were concerned.

3. Or as to the regard in which he was held by his subjects. They evidently "delighted to honour" him, as they showed by their action when he died (ver. 33). When the restraints of a great man's presence are taken away, we see what his fellows really think, and how they feel about him. But was he a happy man, an enviable man, one with whose condition - "state for state with all attendants" - we should like to exchange our own? That may well be doubted. Consider -

I. THE DEEPENING SHADOW THAT LAY ALONG HIS PATH, He knew that, from the time of his sickness, he had fifteen years to live (2 Kings 20:6). Now, with such a sensitive and thoughtful spirit as his was (Isaiah 38:2, 3), we may be sure that he counted the years as they went by, and that he realized with painful force the diminution of those that remained to him. How much more happy are we who are in ignorance of the number of the years before us! To know positively that only so many more remain must cast an ever-darkening shadow on the path of life.

II. THE LACK OF THE LIGHT BEYOND THE SHADOW. Hezekiah does not seem to have cherished any hope, to have entertained any expectation that could be truly called a hope, concerning the future (see Isaiah 38:9-20). And to be drawing nearer and nearer, day by day, by a distinctly measurable distance, the hour when the light of life would go out into the thick darkness, - what a saddened life must that have been to a thoughtful and imaginative spirit!

III. THE FEAR HE MUST HAVE FELT CONCERNING HIS COUNTRY'S FUTURE, Manasseh, his son, may have been too young to have given any very decided intimation of his probable future. But, looking behind him, remembering the imperfections or the reactions and apostasies of Solomon, of Jehoram, of Ahaz, he must have been seriously concerned lest his son should undo what he himself had so laboriously done. What security was there that the evil and idolatrous practices he had so fearlessly and so faithfully suppressed would not be revived? that the religion of Jehovah he had so carefully re-established would not be set aside, and thus his life-labour lost? Such reflections - especially if he had any insight into, and therefore any foresight of, Manasseh's character and course - must have tinged his thought with a melancholy hue. Yet was there one compensating and reassuring thought, which may have balanced all others, and have brightened his latter days. That was -

IV. THE REVIEW OF HIS OWN LIFE, and of the work he had wrought since he had occupied the throne. It was not the recollection of his prosperities (ver. 30) which would gladden his heart in the after-years; they become of continually smaller consequence as we leave them behind us. It was the remembrance of his kindnesses (ver. 32, marginal reading) and of his faithfulness as the chief servant of Jehovah, that would give gladness to his heart, as they gave lustre to his reign. Let us remember that physical enjoyments, mental excitements, earthly honours, human congratulations or landations, - all these melt away into nothingness as time comes between them and our spirit. Soon the one vital and only serious question will be - What have we done of all that God gave us to do? what have we achieved with the faculties and the facilities he placed in our charge? Prosperities and enjoyments do for the passing hour, but kindnesses and fidelities attend us to the dying pillow, and they cross the last stream and await us as we land on the other side. - C.

Notwithstanding, Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart.
Skeletons of Sermon.
I. SHOW THE NATURE AND GROUNDS OF HEZEKIAH'S HUMILIATION. His sin does not seem great in human estimation; but it was exceeding sinful in God's sight.

1. He sought his own glory. He wished to show what a great man he was, in order that his alliance might be courted and his power feared.

2. He sought his own glory in preference to God's honour. He had now a happy opportunity of magnifying the God of Israel. He might have

(1)recounted God's past dealings with His people;

(2)commended Jehovah as an answerer of prayer.

3. He sought his own glory before the good of his friends. He should have recompensed the great kindness of the ambassadors by instructing them in the knowledge of the God of Israel.

II. ENQUIRE WHETHER WE ALSO HAVE NOT SIMILAR GROUNDS FOR HUMILIATION.

1. Pride is deeply rooted in the heart of fallen man. We are vain

(1)of any natural endowments of body or mind.

(2)Of any acquired distinctions.

(3)Even the gifts of grace become occasions of pride.

2. We indulge this disposition to the neglect of God's honour and of the eternal welfare of those around us.

(1)We have many opportunities of speaking for God.

(2)But how rarely is our intercourse with each other made subservient to His glory.

III. INFERENCES.

1. What dreadful evils arise from small beginnings. Hezekiah at first probably intended only to show civility to his friends.

2. How great is the efficacy of fervent prayer and intercession. God deferred the evil threatened till the next generation.

(Skeletons of Sermon.)

People
Amoz, David, Hezekiah, Isaiah, Manasseh, Sennacherib
Places
Assyria, Babylon, Gihon, Jerusalem, Lachish, Millo
Topics
Beneath, Blocked, Channeled, Closed, David, Directed, Directeth, Gihon, Hezekiah, Hezeki'ah, Higher, Outlet, Prospered, Prospereth, Source, Spring, Stopped, Straight, Succeeded, Town, Undertook, Upper, Watercourse, Waters, West, Works
Outline
1. Sennacherib invading Judah, Hezekiah fortifies himself, and encourages his people
9. Hezekiah and Isaiah pray against the blasphemies of Sennarchib
21. An angel destroys the host of the Assyrians
24. Hezekiah praying in his sickness, God gives him a sign of recovery
25. His proud heart is humbled by God
27. His wealth and works
31. His error in the ambassage of Babylon
32. He dying, Manasseh succeeds him

Dictionary of Bible Themes
2 Chronicles 32:29

     8780   materialism, and sin

2 Chronicles 32:27-29

     5399   luxury
     5601   village

Library
A Strange Reward for Faithfulness
After these things, and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came.'--2 CHRON. XXXII. 1. The Revised Version gives a much more accurate and significant rendering of a part of these words. It reads: 'After these things and this faithfulness, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came.' What are 'these things' and 'this faithfulness'? The former are the whole of the events connected with the religious reformation in Judah, which King Hezekiah inaugurated and carried through so brilliantly
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Some Buildings in Acra. Bezeiha. Millo.
Mount Sion did not thrust itself so far eastward as mount Acra: and hence it is, that mount Moriah is said, by Josephus, to be "situate over-against Acra," rather than over-against the Upper City: for, describing Acra thus, which we produced before, "There is another hill, called Acra, which bears the Lower City upon it, steep on both sides": in the next words he subjoins this, "Over-against this was a third hill," speaking of Moriah. The same author thus describes the burning of the Lower City:
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

The Power of Assyria at Its Zenith; Esarhaddon and Assur-Bani-Pal
The Medes and Cimmerians: Lydia--The conquest of Egypt, of Arabia, and of Elam. As we have already seen, Sennacherib reigned for eight years after his triumph; eight years of tranquillity at home, and of peace with all his neighbours abroad. If we examine the contemporary monuments or the documents of a later period, and attempt to glean from them some details concerning the close of his career, we find that there is a complete absence of any record of national movement on the part of either Elam,
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 8

Temporal Advantages.
"We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content."--1 Tim. vi. 7, 8. Every age has its own special sins and temptations. Impatience with their lot, murmuring, grudging, unthankfulness, discontent, are sins common to men at all times, but I suppose one of those sins which belongs to our age more than to another, is desire of a greater portion of worldly goods than God has given us,--ambition and covetousness
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

Gihon, the Same with the Fountain of Siloam.
I. In 1 Kings 1:33,38, that which is, in the Hebrew, "Bring ye Solomon to Gihon: and they brought him to Gihon"; is rendered by the Chaldee, "Bring ye him to Siloam: and they brought him to Siloam." Where Kimchi thus; "Gihon is Siloam, and it is called by a double name. And David commanded, that they should anoint Solomon at Gihon for a good omen, to wit, that, as the waters of the fountain are everlasting, so might his kingdom be." So also the Jerusalem writers; "They do not anoint the king, but
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

The Girdle of the City. Nehemiah 3
The beginning of the circumference was from 'the sheep-gate.' That, we suppose, was seated on the south part, yet but little removed from that corner, which looks south-east. Within was the pool of Bethesda, famous for healings. Going forward, on the south part, was the tower Meah: and beyond that, "the tower of Hananeel": in the Chaldee paraphrast it is, 'The tower Piccus,' Zechariah 14:10; Piccus, Jeremiah 31:38.--I should suspect that to be, the Hippic tower, were not that placed on the north
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

Chronicles
The comparative indifference with which Chronicles is regarded in modern times by all but professional scholars seems to have been shared by the ancient Jewish church. Though written by the same hand as wrote Ezra-Nehemiah, and forming, together with these books, a continuous history of Judah, it is placed after them in the Hebrew Bible, of which it forms the concluding book; and this no doubt points to the fact that it attained canonical distinction later than they. Nor is this unnatural. The book
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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