the work of reformation.

We may note, first, his prompt action. Joash had to whip up the
reluctant priests with his 'See that ye hasten the matter!' Hezekiah
lets no grass grow under his feet, but begins his reforms with his
reign. 'The first month' (ver. 3) possibly, indeed, means the first
month of the calendar, not of Hezekiah, who may have come to the
throne in the later part of the Jewish year; but, in any case, no time
was lost. The statement in verse 3 may be taken as a general
_resume_ of what follows in detail, but this vigorous speech to
the priests was clearly among the new king's first acts. No doubt his
purpose had slowly grown while his father was affronting Heaven with
his mania for idols. Such decisive, swift action does not come without
protracted, previous brooding. The hidden fires gather slowly in the
silent crater, however rapidly they burst out at last.

We can never begin good things too early, and when we come into new
positions, it is always prudence as well as bravery to show our
colours unmistakably from the first. Many a young man, launched among
fresh associations, has been ruined because of beginning with
temporising timidity. It is easier to take the right standing at first
than to shift to it afterwards. Hezekiah might have been excused if he
had thought that the wretched state of political affairs left by Ahaz
needed his first attention. Edomites on the east, Philistines on the
west and south, Syrians and Assyrians on the north, 'compassed him
about like bees,' and worldly prudence would have said, 'Look after
these enemies today, and the Temple tomorrow.' He was wiser than that,
knowing that these were effects of the religious corruption, and so he
went at that first. It is useless trying to mend a nation's fortunes
unless you mend its morals and religion.