Who is King Hezekiah?

Hezekiah - one who "did what was right in the Sight of the Lord..."

• II Kings 18:3 •

Hezekiah, was one of the few good kings of Judah. He broke down sacred pillars & altars of false gods, yet despite all his good doing, he might be better recognised as the king who's life was extended by 15 years.

Isaiah was sent to king Hezekiah to inform him that he would soon die. After crying out to the Lord. God then asked Isaiah to please return to Hezekiah in order to inform him that God has granted him an additional 15 years on earth.

Image source: Logos Bible App

In past years kings used molten wax, impressed with a stamp, to seal important documents or as a 'stamp' of authority. Prior to Hezekiah, these wax seals typically displayed the kings' initials or name, but it is said that king Hezekiah was the one to introduce graphic symbols into seals, his graphic symbol being a winged scarab. I find this interesting for a number of reasons, one being that the 'winged-scarab' is typically an Egyptian or pagan symbol, thus having a winged scarab represent king Hezekiah who was known for living and doing right in the Sight of God seems somewhat contrasting...

A further profound contribution by king Hezekiah was "Siloam" - a pool & connecting tunnel that he installed in order to direct water to the city.

Another wildly interesting fact that really stood out to me was that Hezekiah (who lived long after David, and therefore, VERY very long after Moses) broke the bronze serpent into pieces, the very same bronze serpent that Moses fashioned in the Wilderness. - and this was a good thing, because the Israelites had actually been worshipping the bronze serpent, after all these years they were still carrying the serpent with them...