Biblical and secular history corroborate the story of King Hezekiah, a man known for his stunning faith and the miracles that occurred in his life as a result. A recent discovery by archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar brings this history-changing leader into the spotlight. She unveiled the seal of King Hezekiah in a video produced by some our graduates from our liberal arts institution, Herbert W. Armstrong College. (Our students have assisted her for over 10 years at her archaeological excavations in Jerusalem.) This is the only bulla of a king of Israel or Judah ever uncovered from an archaeological excavation.

King Hezekiah ruled Judah from around 715 to 686 b.c. The Times of Israel wrote, “During his reign, the kingdom was invaded by the ascendant Assyrian Empire, and the capital, Jerusalem, was besieged by the army of King Sennacherib. The book of 2 Kings 18:5 says of Hezekiah that ‘after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among them that were before him’” (December 2).

The Bible mentions King Hezekiah, but so do the annals of Sennacherib. The mighty king of Assyria—the forerunner of modern Germany—wrote of this fearless Jewish king. So we have the Bible, Sennacherib’s writings, and the bulla all pointing to one truth: Hezekiah lived! This isn’t just another fable of a tribal ruler, as many Bible critics would say.

Hezekiah was one of Judah’s greatest kings ever, and the credit for that belongs to his unusual faith in God. The bulla itself reflects King Hezekiah’s faith; drawn on its face are the sun with down-turned wings that provide shelter. It’s a symbol of Hezekiah trusting in God to save him from the enemy. A human army could not deliver him from the mighty Sennacherib.

Some might read of this bulla and wonder why it’s relevant to our society. “Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written down for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come” (1 Corinthians 10:11; Revised Standard Version). This scripture discusses Old Testament examples and how they were recorded in the Bible so anyone with a copy can learn from them. Ancient history is especially important in the end time!

The King Hezekiah bulla is a monumental proof of the Bible’s veracity and an obvious sign of this leader’s reliance on God. Every human on Earth can learn from Hezekiah’s great example of faith.

Cleansing the Temple

King Hezekiah served and obeyed God most of his life. That’s what made his faith so effective. “Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them” (2 Chronicles 29:1-3).

Solomon’s temple, the most beautiful structure ever built, had fallen into disrepair. Pagans corrupted the worship and filled the building with every sort of vile filth. They set up abominable rituals, erected idols, and desecrated the temple vessels. It got so bad that Judah had to close the temple down.

This was the setting when King Hezekiah ascended to the throne at the young age of 25. How would you or I fare in that situation? He got right to work! “And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street, And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place” (verses 4-5).

The physical temple reflected the spiritual condition of the nation. The Levites were commissioned to carry out the physical duties in the temple, but they had been forced out of work due to the pagan occupation. King Hezekiah rallied the Levites around a noble cause, telling them to sanctify themselves and the temple. “Sanctify” means to set apart for God’s use.

The physical temple is a type of the spiritual temple—God’s chosen people who make up His Church. We have much to learn from Hezekiah’s story. God recorded it in the Bible for our instruction. The ancient nations of Israel and Judah never had access to God’s Holy Spirit. God’s Church today does have access to this unmatched spiritual power. God cares about the spiritual temple most of all!

The Assyrian Invasion

“After these things, and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself. And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem, He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city: and they did help him. So there was gathered much people together, who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?” (2 Chronicles 32:1-4).

Not long after King Hezekiah’s magnificent achievement of restoring the temple, God confronted him with the toughest test of his life. Hezekiah quickly prepared by redirecting water from the Gihon Spring through a 1,700-foot tunnel into the city (2 Kings 20:20). This way, the Assyrians couldn’t cut off Jerusalem’s water supply. The tunnel he dug through solid rock is still there today. You can still walk through it.

There is a beautiful spiritual parallel here: Water is a type of the Holy Spirit, and God wants us to bring that water inside spiritual Jerusalem. We desperately need this water to have the faith of Hezekiah and receive salvation (Isaiah 12:3).

Why Trials

Herbert W. Armstrong wrote about that Assyrian invasion: “The vast armies of Assyria were marching westward and southward to invade Judah. The Jews were greatly outnumbered. They had no army nor power to stand up against such a powerful foe.” The Jews struggled to find hope in the face of national extinction.

King Hezekiah comforted the Jews by his faith. “And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and spake comfortably to them, saying, Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him: With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah” (2 Chronicles 32:6-8).

How would we respond to a hard trial so soon after performing great works for God? Hezekiah didn’t allow the trying circumstances to discourage him. He knew that God was just using the trial to develop his character. That’s the point of all trials. “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience” (James 1:3).

Hezekiah’s response to hard times is full of spiritual symbolism: he cried out to God. We are helpless just as Hezekiah was. We have no power of ourselves. We can’t win spiritual battles without God’s Spirit and faith. God must fight for us, or we will lose every time.

“And the Lord sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword. Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side” (2 Chronicles 32:21-22).

None of us has ever faced the potential massacre of our people. With the help of the Prophet Isaiah, King Hezekiah took this problem to God—and he got results! We must learn to give prayers that get results. God slew the entire Assyrian army overnight, then had Sennacherib killed by his own sons! He will certainly deal with our enemies as well.

Obedience and Reliance

Obey and rely on God. These two actions will change our lives. When a siege of problems barrels your way, trust God. He will show you how to conquer any foe. Hezekiah faced the most terrifying foe imaginable—a foe equivalent to Adolf Hitler as he tried to exterminate the Jews. If God can handle a problem this huge, He can help with your obstacles.

Hezekiah’s bulla symbolizes a universe-shifting faith. What would happen if America, Britain and the Jewish nation in the Middle East had faith in God today? God would save our nations from the worst suffering imaginable! (Daniel 12:1).

Hezekiah’s faith wrecked Assyria. Not long afterward, God turned the shadow of the sun backward 10 degrees as a sign that He would heal Hezekiah in three days. Even the pagans recorded and marveled at this miracle. All kinds of power is available to us if we just believe God!

Remember these words: “For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37). We need this kind of faith.