Lesson - Good King Hezekiah

VERSES:   2 Kings 18:1-12; 2 Chronicles 29:1-31:21

MEMORY VERSE:   2 Kings 18:5   "He trusted in the LORD God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him."

BOOK TO REMEMBER: Haggai.   Write "Haggai" on small slips of paper and hand out at the end of class.

PRAYER:   May we trust in the LORD like Hezekiah did.

SPECIAL SONG:  Be Careful Little Eyes (see March - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #3 on this blog)

VISUAL AID:   Large Activity (see below).

LESSON POINTS:

• We have already learned that there was not even ONE good king in the Kingdom of Israel. All of the kings of Israel walked in the evil ways of Jeroboam and the people were carried away into Assyrian Captivity because they had not obeyed God as we studied last time.
• However, there were eight good kings of Judah. They were kings who loved God and obeyed Him. They tried to walk in God's ways like David did. Of these eight good kings (Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah, and Josiah), the Bible says that there was not a king of Judah as good as Hezekiah. Good King Hezekiah trusted God and followed God's laws. 
• Hezekiah kept God's commandments in the Law of Moses. He opened the doors of the temple, made repairs and cleaned the temple, brought the priests and Levites back to the temple, offered sacrifices to the LORD, and all the people worshiped God again. We have learned that the people would do what God wanted for a short time, but then after a while they would return to worshiping idols. So, when King Hezekiah was made king at 25 years old, there were idols in the land of Judah, but Hezekiah did the right thing. He did what God wanted him to do. He had the idols broken down and burned. Hezekiah did much good and trusted in God. Hezekiah followed God's plan.
• God has always had a plan for His people and it has always been a good plan. When the people followed God and His plan for the family, or for worship, or for whatever it might be, things always worked out for the best. That is what happened in Hezekiah's case. Hezekiah restored the worship, the temple, the law of the LORD, and things went well. He rebelled against the wicked king of Assyria and did not serve him. Hezekiah fought the Philistines and the Philistines went back to their own land. The Bible says that the Lord was with Hezekiah and that Hezekiah prospered or things got better for him. For a good while, things went well. We will study more about Hezekiah next time.

"Older Student" Tips:

• Do you remember the lesson we have had in the past about Moses and the brass serpent? (See June - Lesson - Fiery Serpents! on this blog). Evidently, the people had been worshiping the brasen serpent that Moses had made, because in 2 Kings 18:4, Hezekiah broke the serpent into pieces because the people were burning incense to it.

ACTIVITY:   The G.K.H. Game (The Good King Hezekiah Game)  This game resembles a game called the Memory Game where two cards match each other.
Materials needed:  two 12" x 18" pieces of the same color construction paper, one 3" x 6" different colored paper, a small rubber band, marker, scissors.

1. Have the students cut the papers into 3" x 6" cards (or 3" x 5" index cards may be purchased from the store). Two papers should be cut into 24 cards for each student.
2. On the different colored paper, write "The Good King Hezekiah Game" and "2 Kings 18" and "2 Chronicles 29."
3. Stack the papers up in a stack and write G.K.H. on the backs of all the cards. This stands for Good King Hezekiah.
4. Two cards should have the same sentence written on them. For example, here are a few sentences:

• G.K.H. was one of the 8 good kings of Judah.
• G.K.H. was the best king of Judah.
• G.K.H. trusted God.
• G.K.H. kept the Law of Moses.
• G.K.H. opened the doors of the temple.
• G.K.H. made repairs to the temple.
• G.K.H.cleaned the temple.
• G.K.H. brought the priests and Levites back to the temple.
• G.K.H. offered sacrifices to God.
• G.K.H. broke down the idols.
• G.K.H. followed God's ways.
• G.K.H. began to rule as king when he was 25 years old.

     5. Before leaving class, wrap all cards with rubber band with different colored card on top.

HOW TO PLAY THIS GAME:

1. After making the game, the cards are shuffled.
2. All the cards are placed on a table or the floor with the G.K.H. showing on top.
3. The first player chooses two random cards by turning them over.
4. The player reads the cards out loud.
5. If the cards match, then the player keeps the cards. If they do not match, the cards are turned back over, so the G.K.H. shows on top.
6. The player with the most cards, wins.
7. All players must be good sports.