Hezekiah's Heart Lifted Up
24 In those days Hezekiah was terminally ill, and he prayed to Yahweh; and he spoke to him, and gave him a sign. 25 But Hezekiah didn’t reciprocate appropriate to the benefit done for him, because his heart was lifted up. Therefore there was wrath on him, Judah, and Jerusalem. 26 However, Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that Yahweh’s wrath didn’t come on them in the days of Hezekiah. 27 Hezekiah had exceedingly great riches and honor. He provided himself with treasuries for silver, for gold, for precious stones, for spices, for shields, and for all kinds of valuable vessels; 28 also storehouses for the increase of grain, new wine, and oil; and stalls for all kinds of animals, and flocks in folds. 29 Moreover he provided for himself cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance; for God had given him abundant possessions. 30 This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper spring of the waters of Gihon, and brought them straight down on the west side of David’s city. Hezekiah prospered in all his works. 31 However, concerning the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him to test him, that he might know all that was in his heart. 32 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 33 Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the ascent to the tombs of the sons of David. All Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him at his death. Manasseh his son reigned in his place.
The best king since Solomon fails at the point of being rescued, and the fault is not returning what the benefit deserved.
The illness, the prayer, the answer and the sign are given in a single verse 2 Chronicles 32:24. What this book wants space for is what happened next.
But Hezekiah didn’t reciprocate appropriate to the benefit done for him, because his heart was lifted up. Therefore there was wrath on him, Judah, and Jerusalem.
The phrase for the failure is one of ingratitude rather than of transgression. He did not return what the kindness called for. No act is named, and the diagnosis given is the same three words that destroyed Uzziah 2 Chronicles 26:16 — the heart lifted up, arriving here not after long success but immediately after a rescue.
That is the more dangerous moment, and the chapter has already shown why. He had survived Sennacherib and then survived a terminal illness, and many brought gifts... so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations 2 Chronicles 32:23. Deliverance made him famous, and fame is what the lifted heart fed on.
What follows is the formula of the whole book, applied to its most sympathetic subject. However, Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that Yahweh's wrath didn't come on them in the days of Hezekiah 2 Chronicles 32:26.
The humbling is real and its effect is real, and the last clause is exact about the limit. The wrath did not come in the days of Hezekiah. It was not revoked; it was deferred past his lifetime. Repentance secured the reprieve he was promised and did not undo what the failure had set in motion.
The wealth then listed — treasuries, storehouses, stalls, cities, the water channel driven into the city from the spring 2 Chronicles 32:27–30 — is credited in the middle of the list to God, for God had given him abundant possessions.
And the chapter ends with a sentence that explains the whole reign in retrospect. Concerning the ambassadors from Babylon who came to ask about the wonder, God left him to test him, that he might know all that was in his heart 2 Chronicles 32:31.
What the visit involved is not described here. What is described is the mechanism: God withdrew, deliberately, and let a man act unsupported in order to show what was in him. The knowing is not for God's information — this book has said twice that he already searches all hearts 1 Chronicles 28:9 2 Chronicles 6:30. A test makes visible what was there, and the man tested is the one who learns the result.
He dies honored, buried on the ascent to the royal tombs, mourned by the whole city 2 Chronicles 32:33. His son is Manasseh.
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