WRITTEN BY GUEST BLOGGER BILL VALINE

The 1972 Summer Olympic Games are memorable for a number of reasons: Mark Spitz winning seven gold medals and setting seven world records; Olga Korbut dazzling the crowds; Frank Shorter becoming the first American to win the Marathon in over sixty years; and the Munich massacre - to name just a few. But one of the most memorable events of those Games was the final of the 800m race. Dave Wottle of the United States was in last place for the first 600m, but by the time he crossed the finish line he had passed every other runner to win the race and the gold medal.

Finishing strong, whether in a race or in life, does not come automatically. When an athlete is preparing for a race, he mentally and physically trains for a “negative split,” in order to run the latter part of the race at a faster pace than the beginning. The athlete’s thoughts are always focused on the finish line - on finishing strong. Dave Wottle gave us a clear example of how to finish strong. In contrast, the life of King Hezekiah shows us a clear example of how not to finish strong.

Dave Wottle finished strong by running the beginning of the race many meters behind the rest of the runners1. He did not let his immediate negative circumstances cause him to deviate from his strategy of running at a steady pace, and at the end he used his strong kick to propel him into the lead to finish strong. On the other hand, Hezekiah allowed his positive circumstances to divert his mind from his ultimate goal.

Historical Background 

When Israel was divided into two kingdoms under Rehoboam and Jeroboam (c. 920 B.C.), a protracted power struggle began between Syria (the Aramean kingdom; capital: Damascus), Israel (also called Samaria after its capital city), and Judah. Occasional incursions by Egypt and Assyria were also part of the picture. This struggle was changed forever when Tiglath Pileser II siezed the throne of Assyria in 745 B.C.

Early in his reign, Tiglath Pileser received tribute from both King Rezin of Damascus and King Menahem of Israel, but when he was distracted by a campaign in Armenia in the years 737 - 735 B.C., Syria and Samaria joined forces to invade Judah and lay siege to Jerusalem. It was then that King Jehoahaz, Hezekiah’s father, sent tribute to Tiglath Pileser and requested that he intervene to save Jerusalem from the invaders. As we see in 2 Chronicles 28:20-21, things did not work out as well as Jehoahaz had hoped; his request set in motion the rise of Assyrian power in Palestine and the destruction of both Syria and Samaria.

In 734 B.C., Tiglath Pileser laid siege to Damascus. When Damascus fell in 732 B.C., the nation of Syria ceased to exist. In the years that followed, the lands of Palestine from Israel to Edom were forced to pay tribute to Assyria. In 724 B.C., the armies of Assyria under Shalmaneser V besieged the city of Samaria in response to its king, Hoshea, plotting against Assyria with So of Egypt. In 721 B.C., Samaria fell to the Assyrians and the Northern Kingdom of Israel met its end. Assyria then dominated the Middle East for the next hundred years until Nineveh, its capital city, was destroyed by the combined forces of the Babylonians, Medes, and Scythians in 612 B.C.

In the midst of this military and political climate, Hezekiah inherited the throne of Judah from his father Jehoahaz (or simply, Ahaz) in 715 B.C.

Hezekiah Started Strong

 Hezekiah started his kingship about as well as anyone could. So much so that it was said of him, “He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him” (2 Kings 18:5). Hezekiah “did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God. And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he prospered.” (2 Chronicles 31:20-21). He did so well, in fact, that God granted Hezekiah fifteen more years of life (2 Kings 20:1-6).

Hezekiah Stamped Out Idolatry

One of the first things that Hezekiah did was “he removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the brazen serpent Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it” (2 Kings 18:4).

Hezekiah Cleansed the Temple and Restored the Worship of God

Hezekiah reopened the Temple (2 Chronicles 29:3). He ordered the Levites and the priests to cleanse and sanctify it (2 Chronicles 29:15-19). He restored the Temple sacrifices (2 Chronicles 29:20-24). He restored the divisions of the priests and Levites (2 Chronicles 31:2). He celebrated the Passover as it had not been celebrated since the time of Solomon (2 Chronicles 30:21, 26). He restored the singing of Psalms in the worship of God (2 Chronicles 29:30) and edited the Book of Proverbs (Proverbs 25:1).

Hezekiah was Concerned for the People

When Hezekiah called the people to celebrate the Passover, he not only called the Jews in Judah, but he thought of those Jews who were left in Israel and he called them, too (2 Chronicles 30:5-9). He went out of his way to encourage the Levites (2 Chronicles 29:5-11) and the people in general (2 Chronicles 32:6-8). He prayed for the people (2 Chronicles 30:18-20). He encouraged the Levites who taught the knowledge of God (2 Chronicles 30:22).

Hezekiah Trusted God and was Concerned for God’s Reputation

When the Assyrian army approached Jerusalem with an irresistible force in 700 or 701 B.C., Sennacherib King of Assyria sent a message to the people boasting that Jerusalem and her God were powerless against him (2 Kings 18:17-35). But Hezekiah trusted that God would deliver the city. He cried out to God: “O Lord God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, you are God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the Lord God, you alone” (2 Kings 19:15,16,18,19). God answered his prayer and sent an angel to destroy the Assyrian army, causing Sennacherib to return to Assyria (2 Kings 19:35-36). 

Hezekiah Did Not Finish Strong

Even though Hezekiah started as well as he did, there were danger signs: “In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death, and he prayed to the Lord; and He spoke to him and gave him a sign. But Hezekiah did not repay according to the favor shown him, for his heart was lifted up; therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem” (2 Chronicles 32:24-25). In the fifteen extra years that God gave him, Hezekiah backed off in three areas of his life.

Hezekiah did not trust God as he once did

The way the story of the miraculous destruction of the Assyrian army is presented, one might think that Sennacherib was assassinated by his sons as soon as he got back to Assyria. Actually, his sons killed him some twenty years later (in 681 B.C.). It is obvious, then, that he and the Assyrians were a threat to Judah for the rest of Hezekiah’s life, and for many years beyond. But instead of relying on the power of God as he once did, Hezekiah relied upon dubious diplomacy with the Babylonians. As the nation that turned back the Assyrians (although we read in 2 Kings 18:13-16 that Hezekiah did have to pay tribute to Sennacherib), it would have been only natural for Judah to lead any confederation that intended to oppose Assyria (2 Chronicles 32:22-23); yet by displaying all his treasures to the Babylonian ambassadors, not only was Hezekiah not trusting in God, he was essentially making Judah subservient to Babylon. This fact is reinforced by God’s rebuke sent to Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah. (2 Kings 20:12-17). 

Hezekiah was no longer concerned about the people 

Hezekiah’s prosperity had turned his heart away from both God and the people and toward his own comfort. When Isaiah pronounced doom on Judah, saying “they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon,” Hezekiah only thought of himself. “The word of the Lord is good. . . Will there not be peace and truth at least in my days?” (2 Kings 18-19). Hezekiah failed God’s test (2 Chronicles 32:31)!

A further consequence of Hezekiah’s self-indulgence was that he left the nation adrift, as evidenced by the fact that he failed to prepare his son to be a godly king. Manasseh was only twelve years old when he became king (2 Kings 21:1), which means he grew up during the fifteen years that God had added to Hezekiah’s life. Yet Manasseh was a wicked man, and during his reign he and the people re-embraced the idolatry that his father stamped out earlier (2 Kings 21:1-16).

Hezekiah was not as diligent in combating idolatry

One reason that the people so readily fell back into idolatry is that Hezekiah stopped being an example to them. Hezekiah never finished eradicating the high places. To his great-grandson Josiah was left the task of destroying the high places that Solomon had built on the mountain east of Jerusalem (2 Kings 23:13).

In 1 Corinthians 9:34, the Apostle Paul compares the Christian life to a race: “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.” As Paul points out, we should run this race with our minds set on the finish line. (Philippians 3:13). 

Dave Wottle finished strong because he stayed true to himself. He knew his own body and its most efficient pace. He did not try to catch the pack by running at a pace he knew he could not sustain, no matter what his eyes and mind might be telling him. Hezekiah forgot who he was: a man desperately dependent on God. He let his blessings divert his attention from God. We will finish strong if we never forget who we are: sinners saved by the grace of God (Ephesians 2:8, 9).

By increasing his effort at the end of the race and by using his strong kick, Dave Wottle finished strong. Hezekiah made the mistake of thinking that he did not have to keep striving after God in his latter days nor be concerned for the welfare of others. He thought that since God had blessed him, he could just relax at the end. We will finish strong if we will increase our dedication to God as the years go by. We will finish strong if we will use God’s blessing to increase our efforts to help others. We will finish strong if we will pray for others more fervently as we get nearer to the finish line.

Dave Wottle finished strong because he ran through the finish line. Hezekiah stopped running fifteen years too early. We will finish strong if we never give up; if we keep our eyes on the finish line; if we fix our eyes on Jesus, always longing to hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 23:25).

Footnotes

1) To watch the race, see the YouTube video “1972 Olympic 800m Final (Hi Quality)”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LHid-nC45k

2) The references to the historical background of Hezekiah’s reign are taken from 

Archaeology and the Old Testament, Merril F. Unger, 1954, ISBN 0-310-33391-1