A Good Death and a Bad Son Text: 2 Chronicles 32:32-33
Introduction: The Final Report Card
Our modern world has a desperate and confused relationship with death. On the one hand, we try to ignore it, hide it away in sterile hospitals, and speak of it only in hushed, therapeutic tones. On the other hand, we are obsessed with legacy, with being remembered, with making a mark. We want our lives to have meant something, but we have rejected the only One who can give them meaning. We want a good report card, but we have thrown out the Teacher's grading key. The result is a frantic pursuit of self-justification that must inevitably end in the grave, with no assurance of what comes next.
The Scriptures, as is their custom, stride into this confusion with glorious clarity. The Bible does not flinch from death. It looks it squarely in the eye. And it teaches us that there is such a thing as a good death, an honorable end to a life lived in faithfulness to God. A good death is not the absence of suffering, but the presence of honor. It is the final Amen to a life of covenant obedience.
This is what we find in our text today. We have reached the end of the life of Hezekiah, one of Judah's great reforming kings. He was a flawed man, to be sure. His pride in showing off his treasures to the Babylonian envoys brought a word of judgment from Isaiah. And yet, when the Chronicler sums up his life, the verdict is overwhelmingly positive. Hezekiah finished well.
But this passage is not just a eulogy. It is a hinge. It closes the door on a great and godly reign, and in the very last clause, it opens the door to the reign of Manasseh, the most wicked and apostate king in Judah's long and sordid history. Here we have the juxtaposition of a godly legacy and a godless succession. This text, therefore, gives us two crucial lessons. First, it shows us what it means to live a life that God honors. Second, it gives us a stark warning that grace is not hereditary. A godly heritage is a great blessing, but it is not a guarantee. Each man, and each generation, must answer to God for himself.
The Text
Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his deeds of lovingkindness, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the upper section of the tombs of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him at his death. And Manasseh his son became king in his place.
(2 Chronicles 32:32-33 LSB)
A Life Worth Writing Down (v. 32)
The summary of Hezekiah's life begins with an appeal to the public record.
"Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his deeds of lovingkindness, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel." (2 Chronicles 32:32)
Notice what is highlighted. Not just his "acts," his royal accomplishments, his military victories, his building projects. The Chronicler makes a point to mention his "deeds of lovingkindness." The Hebrew word here is hesed. This is not a word for sentimental niceness or random acts of kindness. Hesed is a covenant word. It means loyalty, faithfulness, steadfast love. Hezekiah's legacy was one of covenant faithfulness to Yahweh. He cleansed the temple, he reinstituted the Passover, he smashed the idols. His life was defined by his loyalty to the God of Israel.
And where is this record found? It is written down. God is a God of the book. He does not leave the story of His redemptive work to the shifting sands of oral tradition or the subjective whims of human memory. He commands that it be written. This points to the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. History is not just a collection of events; it is an interpreted narrative. And God provides the interpretation. Here we see the interplay of prophetic revelation, "the vision of Isaiah," and historical record, "the Book of the Kings." The prophet explains what the king does. The Word of God gives the meaning to the events of the world. This is why we must read all of history, and our own lives, through the lens of Scripture. God has told us what the story is about.
Hezekiah lived a life that was worthy of being recorded in God's book. His faithfulness was a matter of public record. This is the goal for every Christian. We are to live lives of such manifest hesed, such covenant loyalty to King Jesus, that our story becomes a chapter in the great history of the faithfulness of God's people, a testimony to the grace of God at work in a fallen world.
The Rest of the Righteous (v. 33a)
Having pointed to the written record of Hezekiah's life, the Chronicler now turns to the manner of his death.
"So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the upper section of the tombs of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him at his death." (2 Chronicles 32:33a)
The phrase "slept with his fathers" is a beautiful and profoundly theological euphemism for the death of a covenant keeper. This is not annihilation. This is not the end. It is rest. It is a peaceful end to a life of service, a laying down of the sword after the battle is won. It signifies joining the great assembly of the saints who have gone before, awaiting the final resurrection. For the believer, death has lost its sting. It is but a sleep, from which we will be awakened by the trumpet call of our Lord.
His burial was a matter of great public honor. They buried him "in the upper section of the tombs of the sons of David." This was prime real estate, a place of highest honor reserved for the most revered kings of David's line. This was the nation's final verdict on his reign. The people, from the leaders in Judah to the common man in Jerusalem, came together to honor him. This stands in stark contrast to the dishonorable burials of wicked kings. Of Jehoiakim, Jeremiah prophesied that he would be buried with "the burial of a donkey, dragged and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem" (Jer. 22:19). A man's death and burial were a public testimony to the life he had lived.
Hezekiah's life was not perfect, but his heart was loyal to God, and God honored him through His people at the end. This is a picture of finishing well. It is a reminder that our lives are lived before God and before our communities. We should live in such a way that our passing is a cause for giving thanks to God for a life well-spent, a testimony to the power of His grace.
The Sobering Succession (v. 33b)
The chapter could have ended on that high and honorable note. But it doesn't. The final clause lands like a stone.
"And Manasseh his son became king in his place." (2 Chronicles 32:33b)
For any student of Israel's history, this is one of the most jarring transitions in all of Scripture. After this great, reforming, faithful king comes the absolute worst king in the history of Judah. Manasseh would reinstitute pagan worship, set up idols in the very temple his father had cleansed, practice child sacrifice, and fill Jerusalem with innocent blood. Hezekiah tore down the high places; Manasseh rebuilt them. Hezekiah led the people in covenant renewal; Manasseh led them into an apostasy so deep that it sealed the nation's fate for exile.
What are we to make of this? The first thing we must not do is engage in simplistic psychologizing. It is easy to say Hezekiah must have been a terrible father. But the Bible places the responsibility for sin squarely on the sinner. Manasseh was not a victim of his upbringing; he was a rebel against the God of his father. This is a stark and terrifying reminder that grace is not passed down through the bloodline. A godly heritage is a profound gift and a weighty responsibility, but it does not guarantee a godly child. Every individual must bend the knee to Christ for himself.
This is a warning to us against presumption. We can build a great church, reform our city, and see revival in our time, but if we do not diligently teach the next generation to do the same, it can all be undone in a moment. Faithfulness is a generational relay race. The baton must be passed with prayer, with diligence, and with a desperate reliance on the grace of God. Hezekiah's story ends with honor, but it is immediately followed by a story that demonstrates the persistent, destructive power of sin in the human heart.
Conclusion: The Greater Son of David
So we are left with this tension. A good king, an honorable death, and a wicked son who threatens to undo it all. Hezekiah's life shows us the pattern of faithfulness. His death shows us the hope of a peaceful rest. And his son's succession shows us the fragility of human goodness and the desperate need for a better king.
Hezekiah was a son of David, but he was a flawed son. He points us forward to the one, true, and perfect Son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus also had His acts and His hesed written down for us in the books of the prophets and the Gospels. His entire life was an act of perfect covenant loyalty to His Father.
But His death was not like Hezekiah's. He was not honored by the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He was despised, rejected, and crucified outside the city gate. He did not receive an honorable burial, but was laid in a borrowed tomb. Why? Because He was taking upon Himself the dishonorable death that we deserved for our covenant-breaking. He endured the burial of a donkey so that we could be granted the honorable rest of the sons of God.
And unlike Hezekiah, whose godly legacy was immediately threatened by a wicked son, Jesus rose from the grave and secured a legacy that can never be threatened. He is the King who has many sons, whom He brings to glory. His kingdom cannot be undone. His reign will never be followed by apostasy.
Therefore, let us learn from Hezekiah. Let us live lives of covenant faithfulness, of hesed, knowing that our labor in the Lord is not in vain. Let us run in such a way that we may finish well, looking forward to that day when we will "sleep" in Jesus. And let us heed the warning of Manasseh, and never presume upon God's grace, but diligently teach our children the ways of the Lord. But above all, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the greater Hezekiah, the perfect King, whose honorable life and dishonorable death have secured for us an eternal kingdom that cannot be shaken.