Squirming attendees crowd into the much-touted all-hands meeting to wait for the roll-out of the organization’s latest vision statement. The leadership team believes that all parties must buy-in to this vision to move the organization forward, yet jaded employees, adept at filtering corporate-speak and over-worked buzz words, yawn and check the time. The meeting concludes, but operations continue as always. What happened? Why was the vision not believed and embraced? Could it be that vision statements too often fail to inspire confidence? Let’s examine the vision of a leader forced into circumstances that might have spelled the end of his organization without his razor-honed guidance. Take a seat and learn from a master as Hezekiah casts his vision.

Where does a vision statement begin?

 A believable vision statement must extend beyond the pithy motto printed on the new t-shirts. That vision must be accompanied by a thorough and honest assessment of what’s working and what’s broken within the organization be it a corporation, a church, or even a Sunday School class within a church. The assessment of the organization’s health must include answers to three pointed questions.

Where are we?

A course adjustment cannot be dialed in without an understanding of the current state of affairs. Why invest time and effort fixing something that is not broken while bypassing crucial areas needing attention? Is the issue high employee turnover? Declining product sales? Sagging product quality? A wide-spread sense of disgruntlement marked by prevailing sour attitudes among the members? Only with this true representation of the landscape can the leadership team propose and manage effective changes.

How did we get here?

This may be the hardest of the three analysis questions as it seeks to identify culpability. What actions were taken that might have contributed to the current state? Did neglect play a part? Has overreach crippled the organization in its attempt to accomplish too many objectives? Are additional training and resources required to bring staff up to the current needs of the business? Perhaps competitors caught the corporate planners off guard? Of course, head-in-the-sand management has beached more than one organization as leaders so often refuse to own up to their shortcomings. Honesty, humility and forthrightness are required to identify the historical path that led the organization to its current challenges.

How can we work together to get where we want to be?

Champion leaders use the vision statement to steer the corporation toward a target. Quantifiable and measurable goals should precipitate from this analysis. Only with a workable and practical plan will the organization reap lasting improvements. Discussion of these goals might include details on why the particular focus is required and what benefits it will reap for the organization and its members. How can this change help each of us today? How will this vision promote the corporation’s health tomorrow and into the future? This is the point where the leadership solicits buy-in from the followers. Without that crucial buy-in the organization continues unchanged.

Hezekiah’s inheritance

The death of Ahaz, Hezekiah’s father, placed the younger man on the throne of Judah at age twenty-five. Dear old dad had done nothing to ease the transition for the newly crowned king. Wickedness is the best word to describe Ahaz’s reign with Scripture stating plainly (2 Chronicles 28:1), “…he did not do right in the sight of the LORD…” A brief list of Ahaz’s accomplishments follows.

  • Promoted Baal worship
  • Participated in child sacrifice
  • Worshipped the gods of Damascus and a host of other gods
  • Destroyed the utensils used for worship in the temple of the Lord
  • Closed the doors of the temple of the Lord
  • Erected altars to false gods in every corner of Jerusalem
  • Promoted the worship of false gods in every city in his kingdom.

The nation of Israel to the north invaded Judah as did Syria. A startling 200,000 women, sons and daughters were carted away along with a great deal of spoil. Invasion by the Edomites and Philistines followed with additional captives taken, and the Philistines settled in the captured territories. The future, created by Ahaz’s leading of Judah away from God, appeared bleak for Judah.

Hezekiah’s Answers to The Three Vision Questions

Let’s take an educated guess at Hezekiah’s answers to the three analysis questions.

Where are we?

Judah suffered military defeat at every turn coupled with the loss of valuable territory. Families wrestled with grief over relatives carried into captivity as well as the loss of those who died in battle. Inner peace evaporated as fearful citizens sought help from feckless leadership. The spiritual foundations crumbled along with needed guidance as priests and Levites left office in droves. The nation entered a full-blown moral breakdown. People’s eyes opened to the unsettling reality that idol worship had not led them to peace and prosperity.

How did we get here?

Sin brought about the dismal conditions in Judah. The “turn away from God to idols” movement promoted under Ahaz’s rule gained wide-spread acceptance. The nation refused to listen to the heartfelt warnings from God’s prophets. Ahaz and his constituents tried God’s patience and pushed Him to take the disciplinary action He had promised in the Law of Moses.

How can we work together to get where we want to be?

Stay tuned as we digest Hezekiah’s vision for the nation.

Hezekiah’s Internal Code

God, in His mercy to the remnant in Judah, had prepared a stellar leader to take the reins after Ahaz dropped them and to lead Judah through the turbulence. What image of Hezekiah does the record paint? What personal code did he follow?

We all have one. That internal code, made up of our beliefs, convictions, and experiences, governs our thoughts and actions. That code makes us who we are. Hezekiah’s code seemed a polar opposite to his father. No doubt Abijah, Hezekiah’s mother, played a huge part in the young king’s development. The record paints Hezekiah’s portrait as follows:

He did right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done.
2 Kings 18:3 NASB

He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. For he clung to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses.
2 Kings 18:5-6 NASB

Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah; and he did what was good, right and true before the LORD his God. Every work which he began in the service of the house of God in law and in commandment, seeking his God, he did with all his heart and prospered.
2 Chronicles 31:20-21 NASB

And don’t miss that word, prospered. Here it is again.

And the LORD was with him; wherever he went he prospered. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.
2 Kings 18:7 NASB

Would Hezekiah be a leader to follow? He certainly seems to have had his ducks in a row.

Hezekiah Casts His Vision compass

Hezekiah Vision Statement – Part 1

Hezekiah rolled up his sleeves and charged in to make a difference. First on his agenda was to refocus the nation on their relationship, personally and corporately, with God. The first part of his vision statement rang with simplicity and clarity, “Return to the Lord!” (See 2 Chronicles 30:6,8,9)

How does one return to the Lord practically?

In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them.
2 Chronicles 29:3 NASB

  • Hezekiah reopened the temple.
  • Commissioned the priests to remove from the temple the filth associated with idol worship and years of neglect.
  • He returned the priests to their appointed roles and reestablished the supply chain that provided for their care.
  • He scheduled the first Passover celebration since the time of Solomon and invited all of Israel to participate.
  • He led the nation to purge idols and centers of idol worship from all the corners of Judah.

How did the people respond? The zeal spread rapidly among Hezekiah’s followers, and unity of purpose marked the various initiatives. A visionary leader sets a direction and involves himself personally in lifting the organization toward that goal.

Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, because the thing came about suddenly.
2 Chronicles 29:36 NASB

The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 30:12 NASB

Hezekiah’s Vision Statement – Part 2

After such a flurry of activity and progress we might expect Hezekiah to take a rest, but circumstances pushed him otherwise. Hezekiah and Judah had become a threat to the mighty Assyrians, a nation who defined the term “hostile takeover.” Assyria viewed the cities of Judah as mere speed bumps on their march to the prize, Jerusalem. The time was ripe for Hezekiah to cast the second part of his vision, a statement of his faith and confidence in Almighty God. We might summarize it as “Trust in the Lord.”

“Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him; for the one with us is greater than the one with him. “With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
2 Chronicles 32:7-8 NASB

If we could review Hezekiah’s Power Point slide package for this vision roll-out we may find these key points.

  • Assyria represents a significant challenge.
  • Assyria’s superior numbers mean nothing.
  • Sennacherib’s (Assyrian king) power is physical only.
  • We have God, the Sovereign One, with us.
  • God will help us.
  • God will fight for us.

Can you picture this young king standing among his subject— fearless, determined, unshaken—pouring forth his faith through these words? Person by person, heart by heart, the people of Judah bought in to the vision.  They relied on his words. That word, relied, means they took hold of Hezekiah’s message, propped themselves up with it, and steadied their quaking hearts in the presence of a young king who modeled total dependence on God.

Hezekiah’s Practical Steps

Hezekiah busied himself and his people with preparation. He surveyed the resources at hand and allocated them to yield the highest return in protection. His steps included:

  • Cutting off easy access to water for the invading troops
  • Securing a water supply for the city
  • Rebuilding and strengthening the city wall
  • Erecting guard towers at strategic locations
  • Building a second wall as an outer defense perimeter
  • Making and deploying weapons and shields in abundance
  • Organizing the people into a defense force and appointing military leaders
  • Investing face-time as he mingled with and encouraged his people

The Result

The siege army of the Assyrians closed ranks around Jerusalem. Hezekiah and his people had done all they might to prepare. The leader turned to the prophet Isaiah to enlist his help in seeking God’s help. Here’s the response from God.

So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. “Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”‘”
2 Kings 19:5-7 NASB

How did the deliverance come about? Miraculously indeed.

Then it happened that night that the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at Nineveh. It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.
2 Kings 19:35-37 NASB

In Summary

Hezekiah inherited a mess but never backed down. He applied stellar leadership techniques, cast his vision, and led the people toward clear goals. The people bought in completely, and God instrumented a stunning outcome for the king and the nation. What was that two-part vision statement?

1. Return to the Lord.

2. Trust in the Lord.

Now that’s a vision statement that inspires confidence.