Have you ever had such a monumental task in front of you that you simply didn’t know where to begin? Maybe it was a mess so big and cluttered that you simply didn’t know where to even start. When I was in Maui serving, the church had an onsite storage room built onto the back of a 2-car garage. Over the years it had become a catch all of decorations, yard equipment, musical paraphernalia and I’m sure in the very back may have even been rare relics, lost to time. One of my first duties was to clean out this room so we could use it for much needed church storage space. I’ll never forget locating the key, unlocking that door and gazing in at the seemingly endless tangle of random items, cobwebs, dust and debris piled from floor to ceiling. Where in the world would I even start?
Recently as we were getting ready to deploy to Central America, I experienced the same thing. Sell two cars, sell all our furniture, empty the house out completely, find a place to live, find a car to borrow, pack everything else up for knows how long, and do it all while taking seminary classes and writing the 5MC. When life gives you complicated, multi-step problems to solve, where do you start?
Finally. Today in 2 Kings chapter 18 we finally encounter another good king. It has been a long dry spell but here he is. Hezekiah. And sure enough the pattern fits for a good king, not just one of his parents are listed, but both. If you missed this fascinating study of 2 Kings chapter 15 that discusses the parents of the kings, you can easily find it at The5MC.com under the 2 Kings tab. In fact, if you were unaware, every single chapter the 5MC has ever covered are all archived at The5MC.com. I hope you can use it to help you further your study of the 38 books I have previously covered.
Hezekiah is not just a good king but we are told he is the best king since David. His father, Ahaz, was uber evil but yet here sits Hezekiah as a righteous, just king in the eyes of the Lord. His mother, Abi, must have been quite the Godly woman. As Hezekiah took the reins of the southern tribes of Judah, he had quite the mess on his hands. The northern tribes of Israel had just been conquered and drug off into slavery. The result of over 219 years of disobeying, doubting and defying God. Hezekiah’s own kingdom was little better. The result of years of bad kings and the idolatry they fostered had left the kingdom in shards, broken and scattered. He realized that if something was not done quickly the wrath of God would soon fall upon this last remaining bastion of Israelites. Something had to be done and done quickly, but where to start? Where do you start to do the work of God in a society that is firmly entrenched in idolatry, child sacrifice, false worship, sexual debauchery, violence, and the prideful self-worshipping idea that you should be allowed to do whatever you want? He starts with the first step.
“He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan)” 2 Kings 18:4
Hezekiah started with removing all the false gods and the temples built to worship them. He removed all the temptation to worship any other false god besides the one true Almighty God. He removed the high places to Baal and tore down the poles that worshiped Asherah. He destroyed the ability to serve any other idol except Almighty God. And in a strange twist we see that he “broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses made.” Do you remember all the way back to Numbers 21:1-9? The people were doubting and even complaining about God’s provision as Moses led them in the desert so God judged the people with fiery serpents that could kill with one bite. As people are falling dead in their disobedience, the remining people repent and cry out to Moses to save them. Moses in turn cries out to God and receives instructions to mount a fiery bronze serpent upon a pole. Those that look up to the serpent will live. A beautiful prophetic image of the eternal life that Jesus will give to those that look up to Him and proclaim His work upon the Cross. But what is not beautiful is that somehow that very metal snake had been preserved for more than 800 years and now it joined the ranks as an idol that the people worshiped. What was once a symbol that pointed to God the Father know pointed to a false god and a false religion. So, Hezekiah broke it into pieces along with the others.
Friends, our first step today should be no different than Hezekiah’s first step over 2700 years ago. Break down the false altars, tear down the idols, and break into pieces the items in our lives that are being improperly worshiped. As we read through these Old Testament passages, we incorrectly assume that idols need to be golden calves, metal snakes or bronze altars. That if our idols don’t look like these, then they can’t be idols. But folks, satan in his wily ways, can make an idol in your life out of anything.
My favorite definition of an idol is anything that creates distance between you and God. And friends, anything means anything. Your personal comfort and convenience can become an idol in your life. The fact that you refuse to further your service to God if it means altering or sacrificing your comfort in the least. People can become idols. Millions of people today are worshiping the latest greatest TV preacher, thinking that he somehow has cornered the market on understanding God. You can worship your spouse, your kids, politicians, and yes even yourself. Idols can of course easily become material things. I’ve seen guys worship cars, woman worship jewelry and handbags, and teens worship video games. You can idolize power, sex, drugs, alcohol, money, material possessions, success, or your work. And yes, just as the serpent of Moses, you can wrongly idolize religious items. You can focus your worship on Mary, on the image of the Cross, you can even wrongly worship God’s Word by misinterpreting what it says. When it comes to idols, simply pick your poison, just about everything on this planet can be used as an idol.
Tear them down. You know perfectly well today what is on the fulcrum as an idol in your life. Those things that tempt you to spend time on them instead of on God. They call for you to serve them instead of serving God. They beckon for you to invest in them instead of the ministries of God. They whisper for you to invest in them instead of other people’s lives. You know what they are, and the fist step is to tear them down. Toss them out. Get rid of them. Remove them absolutely and completely. And as you do, allow God to take the proper place in your life. The place He desires and the place He deserves. As the one true living God that provides all the love, guidance, grace and mercy you will ever need. God will be your all if you simply allow Him.
“If you are not willing to serve him, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your ancestors worshiped in Mesopotamia or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15
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