So You Think Having the Good Life is the Ultimate Plan

The legacy Hezekiah leaves behind for his children is one of riches, fame, healing, and deliverance from his enemies. But his heart was proud and he never gave God the honor He deserves toward the end of his life. 

The result of Hezekiah's life is extrapolated in the testimony of his son, Manasseh. But first I remind you of Hezekiah's wealth and privilege provided him by the gracious hand of the Lord. His nation was under the threat of Assyria and the Lord sent his angel to destroy 185,000 troops in the night to secure him peace. He was intended to die by illness but his earnest prayer to God yielded a miraculous recovery. On top of these things, he increased in wealth substantially. At the visit of the Babylonian emissary it says this:

2 Kings 20:13 (ESV) Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses.

You could say Hezekiah lived the good life to the utmost degree. He had what we Americans love to chase. And God gave him a son who would inherit all of this. This son would become king at age 12. Hezekiah literally did what most American parents feel it is their most important obligation, to set their children up as quickly as possible for a better life than their own. 

But what was the result?

2 Kings 21:2 (ESV) And he (Manasseh) did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.

Manasseh looks like the typical spoilt teenager. Living off mom and dad's legacy he looks around to the other nations and seeks to be like them. He even rebels like a teenager against the very thing Hezekiah did.

2 Kings 21:3–5 (ESV) For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.

And it gets worse:

2 Kings 21:6 (ESV) And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.

Now if you go to the 2 Chronicles account of Manasseh you find out he would be taken captive by the king of Assyria and repent. God's grace is abundant and He saved Manasseh. But the damage of his legacy was done and the writer of 2 Kings makes that clear:

2 Kings 21:10–12 (ESV) And the LORD said by his servants the prophets, 11 “Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols, 12 therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.

God would not let his chosen nation replicate the evils of the nations before them. Here in the time of Manasseh they grew worse than those former nations of Canaan and God would eventually discipline them with exile.

The story of Manasseh is a warning to parents who feel the good life is the guarantee that you've done well by the standards of this world. Hezekiah improperly believed it was most important that he maintain peace and security for himself and his family. The result was a rebellious, godless son who took those blessings for granted and forsook the Lord. 

Instead, parents should put God first, discipline their children, and teach them to fear the Lord (See Ephesians 6:4). Instead of making the American dream your ambition, make the glory of God your family's goal. Instead of securing your own life, secure the truth of God's peace over your family through prayer. The lie of the American dream has been exposed in many ways today. What a perfect time to acquaint yourself with the truth that eternal and blessed in Christ!