Christ, Our Only Hope
“The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.”
Psalm 14:2
In the life of King Hezekiah, we can read of a hope for someone whose family does not know of God or the things of God. Remember, King Hezekiah was the son of a terrible king of Judah, King Ahaz. King Ahaz had not only forsaken God, but also worshiped idols – even sacrificing sons to the false god Molech. Still through all of that, Hezekiah knew God and pleased him in all that he did. He removed all of those high places where his father worshiped and even broke down all of those images the people worshiped.
How was Hezekiah able to come to know God, knowing the family into which he was born? Read the following verses. “But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul” (Deuteronomy 4:29). One has to seek God. See also, “The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God” (Psalm 14:2). God knows when someone seeks after Him, for He is watching and waiting!
King Hezekiah took the time to seek God’s Word so he would know what God required to reestablish the relationship that had been severed by the previous bad kings. Understand this by reading the following verses. “22. And if ye have erred, and not observed all these commandments … 23. Even all that the LORD hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the LORD commanded Moses, and henceforward among your generations; 24. Then it shall be, if ought be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour unto the LORD … 25. … and it shall be forgiven them; for it is ignorance: and they shall bring their offering, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD, … for their ignorance: 26. And it shall be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourneth among them; seeing all the people were in ignorance” (Numbers 15:22-26). This was what God required in the Old Testament times (during the time of the kings) when one sinned in ignorance (not knowing what the Law taught). It is always important to know what God requires – and it is recorded in His Word.
As we read the New Testament, Jesus came to set us free from the rigorous duties of the Law. “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect” (Hebrews 10:1). See simply what Jesus did: “8. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; 9. Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 10. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:8-10). Jesus came and became that offering, which “taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.” Jesus offered grace instead of the Old Testament sacrificial system. We are still to obey God’s Word. However, when Jesus became that offering, when he died on the cross, he “sanctified” anyone who would believe. Sanctified means “to make holy, purify or consecrate, to venerate.” Grace is offered to allow all sins forgiven; then one is made clean, but only if that one will believe in Jesus (because of that grace). “But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they” (Acts 15:11).
And about King Hezekiah? “And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered” (2 Chronicles 31:21). Understanding this, anyone who seeks God can know God. However, what does it take to know God? “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). It takes faith. “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26).
Have you sought God by faith, believing that He rewards those who diligently seek Him?