Our heroes are ordinary people who find supernatural help to overcome challenging circumstances.
Clearly, one of the main characteristics required of these ancient kings was strength. There were only two sources for this—human or divine. Those who looked to the Lord prospered; those who rejected His support were doomed to failure. After the abysmal collapse of the reign of Ahaz, his son Hezekiah came to the throne. As with the others, his mother is listed: “Abijah the daughter of Zechariah” (2 Chron 29:1). By the process of elimination, we know that not only his father, but the advisors to the king, and the leaders of Judah, were all corrupt and would be a negative influence on the child growing up in the palace. Although we’re told nothing of his mother, we do know the name her son was given. Perhaps it was a prayer as she saw her husband self-destruct by leaning on his own strength. She may represent that band of brave women with spiritual longings for their sons but who are married to husbands with little spiritual desire. Thus we are hopeful that the meaning of his name, “Jehovah has made me strong,” is a portend of good things to come. If this was the case, her prayers were certainly answered. “Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem…And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done” (vv 1-2). Sometimes, when good manly examples are hard to find in the present generation, young men can be introduced to their heroes from earlier days. Great role models for young people may be found aplenty in the biblical record, in church history, or in missionary biographies. And as King Hezekiah would demonstrate, if you don’t have any good examples around, you can always be one!