“And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.” (2 Chronicles 29:2 ESV).
King David was not King Hezekiah’s dad, not even close. Though they were related, Hezekiah was over a dozen generations removed from David, hundreds of years separated the men and their reigns over God’s people. But David’s blood flowed in Hezekiah’s veins, and when his father, Ahaz, proved to be a wicked king, Hezekiah distanced himself. When Ahaz died, Hezekiah “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.”
“David His Father…” I Love the Concept
Hezekiah could not repeat what his father Ahaz had done, for he was not a man worth following. So Hezekiah went all the way back to his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather David and imitated his life. So much so that the chronicler teamed up the two kings. Hezekiah, in the writer’s mind, did everything his dad, David, had done. David was, in a sense, Hezekiah’s new father.
Fathers Impact Everyone
Sometimes for good, often for ill, but always an impact. There are times, however, when a person must say, “I am going to connect myself to my Father in heaven. He is the one I will emulate and imitate, for I cannot follow my earthly father in this or that.” Hezekiah was such a man. Ahaz was a terrible man, so Hezekiah hitched his wagon to an ancestor generations removed from his present day. He would imitate his father David.
Hezekiah Became a Man Worth Following
Though his son, Manasseh, did not imitate him, he should have, for he was a good and righteous and just king. When a man (or woman) begins to imitate God as Father, it feels like a new line has started. Children who follow him can look to their father for guidance and leadership. When a man embraces the new way of his Father in heaven today, he jumpstarts a new line. Hope fills the air.
