Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk.com.
In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done. Pharaoh Necho put him in chains at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, and there he died. Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh Necho the silver and gold he demanded. In order to do so, he taxed the land and exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land according to their assessments.
Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah; she was from Rumah. And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done.
During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. But then he turned against Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled. The Lord sent Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite raiders against him to destroy Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants the prophets. Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lord’s command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done, including the shedding of innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to forgive.
As for the other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? Jehoiakim rested with his ancestors. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king.
The king of Egypt did not march out from his own country again, because the king of Babylon had taken all his territory, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Euphrates River.
2 Kings 23:31-37, 24:1-7
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In the 23rd Chapter of 2nd Kings, we read of the hard work invested by King Josiah to try and get Judah right with God. You’ll recall he went about destroying all places and items used to worship false gods. But despite his best interests, the Lord was still committed to correcting Judah by sending its people into exile with the Babylonians (2 Kings 23:26-27)
We read of Josiah’s passing in Chapter 23 and his place on the throne was assumed by his son Jehoahaz who proceeded to not follow in his father’s footsteps. No, we read where Jehoahaz “did evil in the eyes of the Lord” and this earned him a very short reign. For scriptures tell us that he fell into the hands of the Egyptians as “Pharaoh Necho put him in chains at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he might not reign in Jerusalem”. The Egyptian pharaoh then “imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold” and “made Eliakim…king…and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim”. Judah’s newest appointed leader complied with the pharaoh’s desires and “taxed the land”, exacting the “silver and gold from the people of the land according to their assessments”. In other words, Jehoiakim was nothing more than a puppet king for the Egyptians.
Of no surprise, we read where “Jehoiakim…did evil in the eyes of the Lord” over his 11 year reign, “just as his predecessors had done”. One of those predecessors, Manasseh, had already sealed Judah’s fate through the evil he promoted which included “the shedding of innocent blood”. His defiant attitude against the Lord and His commands brought on the Lord’s consternation which included sending “Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite raiders…to destroy Judah”. Indeed Judah’s days were numbered.
Of interest in our passage today are these words from Chapter 24, verse 4:
“…and the Lord was not willing to forgive.”
These words do and should strike us to the core. Is there any place worse to be than in a place where the Lord is unwilling to forgive us? I can’t think of any.
Now, you might say, “I don’t believe this passage because we serve a God who forgives everything…right? Our God is merciful and loving. Certainly, He would never turn from us, would He?
The answer is yes.
In fact, we need only go to the Gospel of Matthew and these words of Jesus:
“And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” Matthew 12:31
So what exactly is blasphemy of the Spirit? We probably should know if it will result in God not forgiving us.
Are you prepared for the definition?
Blasphemy on its own is defined as defiant irreverence or blatantly disrespecting or disregarding. When we commit blasphemy against the Spirit, we are defiantly disregarding the lead of the Spirit in our lives. This includes willingly sinning when we’re being convicted otherwise. This is what got Judah in trouble…and puts us in a position of trouble as well.
So how can we get out of this mess? How can we atone for the many times we have blatantly disregarded the Spirit through our behavior that followed sinful desires?
There’s only one remedy and His name is Jesus.
We can’t save ourselves and this is why we need and have a Savior. Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for our sinfulness…to mediate the problem between us and God. He is the only One who can because He is the only One through which we can come to the Father (John 14:6). Jesus, the Way and the Truth and the Life, intercedes for us and prepares us for life eternal by washing us clean of our sins with the blood He shed on Calvary.
Do you stand forgiven today?
If you know Jesus as your personal Savior, then you are forgiven. You have an eternal hope already sealed through His life, death and resurrection.
If you don’t know Him, I plead for you to make that commitment right now. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Don’t wait to claim your heavenly inheritance. Set your eyes, your heart, your mind, your soul on Jesus. He’s waiting to set you right with God this very minute.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
GETTING RIGHT WITH GOD
Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.
The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. He did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts. He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people. He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the temple of the Lord, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah.
Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the gateway at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which was on the left of the city gate. Although the priests of the high places did not serve at the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.
He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice their son or daughter in the fire to Molek. He removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.
He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley. The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the people of Ammon. Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.
Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.
The king asked, “What is that tombstone I see?”
The people of the city said, “It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it.”
“Leave it alone,” he said. “Don’t let anyone disturb his bones.” So they spared his bones and those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.
Just as he had done at Bethel, Josiah removed all the shrines at the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria and that had aroused the Lord’s anger. Josiah slaughtered all the priests of those high places on the altars and burned human bones on them. Then he went back to Jerusalem.
The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” Neither in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah had any such Passover been observed. But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.
Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the Lord. Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.
Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to arouse his anger. So the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also from my presence as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, ‘My Name shall be there.’”
As for the other events of Josiah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?
While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Necho faced him and killed him at Megiddo. Josiah’s servants brought his body in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.
2 Kings 23:1-30
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In Chapter 22, we read where the Book of the Law was found while repairs were being made to the Temple. Amazingly, God’s word was stashed away somewhere and not actively being studied or taught. No wonder the people of Judah had become so distant from the Lord and His will!
Too often, we do the same thing. We allow God’s word to sit out of sight and go day-to-day without opening it and seeking to know what God’s will is for us. Instead, we follow our own desires and wants. It’s all about our will not God’s.
Well, as we have seen through God’s word to the Southern Kingdom of Judah, God doesn’t look favorably on those who decide to ignore His way and His commands. The Northern Kingdom of Israel had been attacked and taken over by Assyria. The Southern Kingdom would soon fall to Babylon. Sometimes, God has to take drastic measures to capture our attention and correct us, ever seeking to show us how we can get right with Him.
How can we get right with Him before He has to resort to discipline? Our scriptures today from Chapter 23 of 2nd Kings offer us the answers.
First, we need to get back into God’s word.
The first thing that happened after the Book of the Law was found was that it was read. Our scriptures tell us that Josiah went to the “temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets” and when he had them all gathered, he “read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord”. The only way the people of Judah were going to get right with God was to get right with His word…the word that instructs and comforts and convicts.
So what do we do after we get back into the word of God?
We need to renew our covenant relationship with Him.
After reading the Book of the Law to all his people, Josiah “stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord”, vowing to “follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul”. And after he had done this, his people did likewise.
Once we begin to once again read God’s word and expose ourselves to His commands, statutes and decrees, we need to recommit ourselves to obediently follow God’s expectations and principles…not with just a part of us…but rather with all our heart and all our soul.
When we do this, something awesome happens. We want to change the way we’re living because the Holy Spirit, invited back in during the covenant renewal process, leads us that way. We’re prompted to right our wrongs…to replace sin with righteous living.
Consider what happened in Judah after the Book of Law was read and the covenant with God renewed:
1. Josiah ordered Hilkiah, the priests and the doorkeepers to “remove from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts”, burning them “outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley”.
2. Josiah “did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts”.
3. Josiah “took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there”, grounding it to powder and scattering the “dust over the graves of the common people”.
4. Josiah “tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the temple of the Lord, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah”.
5. Josiah “brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense”.
6. Josiah “broke down the gateway at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which was on the left of the city gate”.
7. Josiah “desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice their son or daughter in the fire to Molek”.
8. Josiah removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun”…then “burned the chariots dedicated to the sun”.
9. Josiah “pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the Lord”, smashing them to pieces and throwing the rubble into the Kidron Valley.
10. Josiah “desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the people of Ammon”.
11. Josiah “smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones”.
12. Josiah demolished “the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam…who had caused Israel to sin”.
13. Josiah “saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it”.
14. Josiah “removed all the shrines at the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria and that had aroused the Lord’s anger”.
15. Josiah “slaughtered all the priests of those high places on the altars and burned human bones on them”.
16. Josiah ordered “all the people” to “celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant”, something that hadn’t been observed “in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah”.
17. Josiah “got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem”.
Indeed, Josiah worked hard to get things right with God and he is honored through God’s word for his efforts. For the scriptures say that “neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses”.
So how are we doing in this regard? Have we made the necessary changes required to get right with God? Or have we read the word, vowed to return to the person God wants us to be, but then decide that surrendering all we desire in exchange for what God desires was more than we were willing to do. We either just completely refuse to change or decide to just change in part and expect that it will be good enough.
It isn’t.
For ask yourself where we would be today if God had chosen to not give us His all? What if He decided to sacrifice some for us but set the bar at His only Son Jesus…unwilling to sacrifice Him for anything?
We wouldn’t have the comfort, peace and assurance of eternal life…that’s for sure.
Friends, the Lord showed us the standard when He surrendered Jesus for us so we could be liberated from our past sins. Through His actions, He confirmed the prophecy of His holy word, renewed His covenant with us, and directed us to change and become new creations. The least we could do is surrender back to him fully all that we are…body, mind, and soul.
It’s the only way we can ever begin to get right with God. And it’s the only way we’ll continue to remain right with Him.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.
The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. He did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts. He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people. He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the temple of the Lord, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah.
Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the gateway at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which was on the left of the city gate. Although the priests of the high places did not serve at the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.
He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice their son or daughter in the fire to Molek. He removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.
He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley. The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the people of Ammon. Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.
Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.
The king asked, “What is that tombstone I see?”
The people of the city said, “It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it.”
“Leave it alone,” he said. “Don’t let anyone disturb his bones.” So they spared his bones and those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.
Just as he had done at Bethel, Josiah removed all the shrines at the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria and that had aroused the Lord’s anger. Josiah slaughtered all the priests of those high places on the altars and burned human bones on them. Then he went back to Jerusalem.
The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” Neither in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah had any such Passover been observed. But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.
Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the Lord. Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.
Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to arouse his anger. So the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also from my presence as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, ‘My Name shall be there.’”
As for the other events of Josiah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?
While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Necho faced him and killed him at Megiddo. Josiah’s servants brought his body in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.
2 Kings 23:1-30
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In Chapter 22, we read where the Book of the Law was found while repairs were being made to the Temple. Amazingly, God’s word was stashed away somewhere and not actively being studied or taught. No wonder the people of Judah had become so distant from the Lord and His will!
Too often, we do the same thing. We allow God’s word to sit out of sight and go day-to-day without opening it and seeking to know what God’s will is for us. Instead, we follow our own desires and wants. It’s all about our will not God’s.
Well, as we have seen through God’s word to the Southern Kingdom of Judah, God doesn’t look favorably on those who decide to ignore His way and His commands. The Northern Kingdom of Israel had been attacked and taken over by Assyria. The Southern Kingdom would soon fall to Babylon. Sometimes, God has to take drastic measures to capture our attention and correct us, ever seeking to show us how we can get right with Him.
How can we get right with Him before He has to resort to discipline? Our scriptures today from Chapter 23 of 2nd Kings offer us the answers.
First, we need to get back into God’s word.
The first thing that happened after the Book of the Law was found was that it was read. Our scriptures tell us that Josiah went to the “temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets” and when he had them all gathered, he “read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord”. The only way the people of Judah were going to get right with God was to get right with His word…the word that instructs and comforts and convicts.
So what do we do after we get back into the word of God?
We need to renew our covenant relationship with Him.
After reading the Book of the Law to all his people, Josiah “stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord”, vowing to “follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul”. And after he had done this, his people did likewise.
Once we begin to once again read God’s word and expose ourselves to His commands, statutes and decrees, we need to recommit ourselves to obediently follow God’s expectations and principles…not with just a part of us…but rather with all our heart and all our soul.
When we do this, something awesome happens. We want to change the way we’re living because the Holy Spirit, invited back in during the covenant renewal process, leads us that way. We’re prompted to right our wrongs…to replace sin with righteous living.
Consider what happened in Judah after the Book of Law was read and the covenant with God renewed:
1. Josiah ordered Hilkiah, the priests and the doorkeepers to “remove from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts”, burning them “outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley”.
2. Josiah “did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts”.
3. Josiah “took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there”, grounding it to powder and scattering the “dust over the graves of the common people”.
4. Josiah “tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the temple of the Lord, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah”.
5. Josiah “brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense”.
6. Josiah “broke down the gateway at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which was on the left of the city gate”.
7. Josiah “desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice their son or daughter in the fire to Molek”.
8. Josiah removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun”…then “burned the chariots dedicated to the sun”.
9. Josiah “pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the Lord”, smashing them to pieces and throwing the rubble into the Kidron Valley.
10. Josiah “desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the people of Ammon”.
11. Josiah “smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones”.
12. Josiah demolished “the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam…who had caused Israel to sin”.
13. Josiah “saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it”.
14. Josiah “removed all the shrines at the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria and that had aroused the Lord’s anger”.
15. Josiah “slaughtered all the priests of those high places on the altars and burned human bones on them”.
16. Josiah ordered “all the people” to “celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant”, something that hadn’t been observed “in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah”.
17. Josiah “got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem”.
Indeed, Josiah worked hard to get things right with God and he is honored through God’s word for his efforts. For the scriptures say that “neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses”.
So how are we doing in this regard? Have we made the necessary changes required to get right with God? Or have we read the word, vowed to return to the person God wants us to be, but then decide that surrendering all we desire in exchange for what God desires was more than we were willing to do. We either just completely refuse to change or decide to just change in part and expect that it will be good enough.
It isn’t.
For ask yourself where we would be today if God had chosen to not give us His all? What if He decided to sacrifice some for us but set the bar at His only Son Jesus…unwilling to sacrifice Him for anything?
We wouldn’t have the comfort, peace and assurance of eternal life…that’s for sure.
Friends, the Lord showed us the standard when He surrendered Jesus for us so we could be liberated from our past sins. Through His actions, He confirmed the prophecy of His holy word, renewed His covenant with us, and directed us to change and become new creations. The least we could do is surrender back to him fully all that we are…body, mind, and soul.
It’s the only way we can ever begin to get right with God. And it’s the only way we’ll continue to remain right with Him.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
Friday, February 18, 2011
CONVICTION THROUGH THE WORD
Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.
In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the secretary, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple of the Lord. He said: “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people. Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair the temple of the Lord— the carpenters, the builders and the masons. Also have them purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple. But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are honest in their dealings.”
Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: “Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.” Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.
When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Akbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”
Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Akbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to speak to the prophet Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the New Quarter.
She said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people, according to everything written in the book the king of Judah has read. Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all the idols their hands have made, my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.’ Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people—that they would become a curse and be laid waste—and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. Therefore I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place.’”
So they took her answer back to the king.
2 Kings 22
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
At the end of Hezekiah’s reign, we’re made aware that trouble awaits the Southern Kingdom of Judah. They would pay the price for their disobedient attitude toward God’s expectations as set forth through His commands.
But how did the people of Israel get to such a place where they were so far astray?
Today’s scripture offers the answer.
For as Chapter 22 of 2 Kings opens, we read about Judah’s newest king, Josiah. Beginning his 31 year reign at the age of eight, Josiah “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left”.
Scripture tells us that in his 18th year of his reign, Josiah ordered his secretary Shaphan to go to “the temple of the Lord” with guidance for “Hilkiah the high priest:. He was to tell Hilkiah to “get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people” and entrust that money to “the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple”. Those building supervisors were to “pay the workers who repair the temple of the Lord— the carpenters, the builders and the masons” as well as “purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple”. And so Shaphan set out to carry out Josiah’s desires.
When Shaphan met with Hilkiah, he received something unexpected. For Hilkiah told him, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” We read that he gave it to Shaphan who read it before returning to Josiah to file a report.
Upon going to Josiah, Shaphan made the following report:
“Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.”
And then he followed his report with saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book” before reading from it to the king.
When Josiah heard the words from the Book of the Law, he became extremely distressed and “tore his robes” Why? Because the words in the Book of the Law served as condemnation for the blatant sinfulness of the people of Israel. Josiah knew they were in trouble.
And so he sent Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Shaphan, Akbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah to “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”
Did you hear those words? “Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”
The Book of Law containing everything that God expected in the way of righteous behavior was hidden away in the temple and discovered. Why was God’s word just put in storage? What good was God’s word when it wasn’t being used?
The same holds true today. People are openly sinning against God while God’s word sits in storage. The Bible is the world’s all time best selling book but sadly too many people have one but let it sit on the shelf or the coffee table to collect dust. Like Israel, they don’t place a priority on the word and so they have no idea what way they are supposed to live. Instead of living according to God’s devices, they live under their own…or Satan’s…or both.
The good news for us is that we can do what Judah was about to do. Return to the word of God and allow it to convict us toward being the kid of men and women that God wants us to be.
Josiah sure was convicted…and his attitude showed it. In return, the Lord blessed him and delayed the coming attack and exile until after Josiah passed.
Friends, the Lord is waiting to do the same thing for us…all we need to do is open our bibles and study from God’s word. It will instruct us, guide us, inspire us, comfort us, and ultimately sanctify us when we respond in obedience to the conviction it brings…just as Josiah did.
So where do you stand in your relationship with the word of God? Do you read your bibles daily? Weekly? Monthly? Annually? Never? The only answer that works for God is that you read His word every day. Then and only then, can we be assured we’ll be walking in the His will and way, trading in darkness for light. Choosing to do otherwise leads us to the wrath of God who doesn’t take lightly to anyone who rejects His word and way.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.
In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the secretary, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple of the Lord. He said: “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people. Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair the temple of the Lord— the carpenters, the builders and the masons. Also have them purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple. But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are honest in their dealings.”
Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: “Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.” Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.
When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Akbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”
Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Akbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to speak to the prophet Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the New Quarter.
She said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people, according to everything written in the book the king of Judah has read. Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all the idols their hands have made, my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.’ Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people—that they would become a curse and be laid waste—and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. Therefore I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place.’”
So they took her answer back to the king.
2 Kings 22
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
At the end of Hezekiah’s reign, we’re made aware that trouble awaits the Southern Kingdom of Judah. They would pay the price for their disobedient attitude toward God’s expectations as set forth through His commands.
But how did the people of Israel get to such a place where they were so far astray?
Today’s scripture offers the answer.
For as Chapter 22 of 2 Kings opens, we read about Judah’s newest king, Josiah. Beginning his 31 year reign at the age of eight, Josiah “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left”.
Scripture tells us that in his 18th year of his reign, Josiah ordered his secretary Shaphan to go to “the temple of the Lord” with guidance for “Hilkiah the high priest:. He was to tell Hilkiah to “get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people” and entrust that money to “the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple”. Those building supervisors were to “pay the workers who repair the temple of the Lord— the carpenters, the builders and the masons” as well as “purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple”. And so Shaphan set out to carry out Josiah’s desires.
When Shaphan met with Hilkiah, he received something unexpected. For Hilkiah told him, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” We read that he gave it to Shaphan who read it before returning to Josiah to file a report.
Upon going to Josiah, Shaphan made the following report:
“Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.”
And then he followed his report with saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book” before reading from it to the king.
When Josiah heard the words from the Book of the Law, he became extremely distressed and “tore his robes” Why? Because the words in the Book of the Law served as condemnation for the blatant sinfulness of the people of Israel. Josiah knew they were in trouble.
And so he sent Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Shaphan, Akbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah to “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”
Did you hear those words? “Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”
The Book of Law containing everything that God expected in the way of righteous behavior was hidden away in the temple and discovered. Why was God’s word just put in storage? What good was God’s word when it wasn’t being used?
The same holds true today. People are openly sinning against God while God’s word sits in storage. The Bible is the world’s all time best selling book but sadly too many people have one but let it sit on the shelf or the coffee table to collect dust. Like Israel, they don’t place a priority on the word and so they have no idea what way they are supposed to live. Instead of living according to God’s devices, they live under their own…or Satan’s…or both.
The good news for us is that we can do what Judah was about to do. Return to the word of God and allow it to convict us toward being the kid of men and women that God wants us to be.
Josiah sure was convicted…and his attitude showed it. In return, the Lord blessed him and delayed the coming attack and exile until after Josiah passed.
Friends, the Lord is waiting to do the same thing for us…all we need to do is open our bibles and study from God’s word. It will instruct us, guide us, inspire us, comfort us, and ultimately sanctify us when we respond in obedience to the conviction it brings…just as Josiah did.
So where do you stand in your relationship with the word of God? Do you read your bibles daily? Weekly? Monthly? Annually? Never? The only answer that works for God is that you read His word every day. Then and only then, can we be assured we’ll be walking in the His will and way, trading in darkness for light. Choosing to do otherwise leads us to the wrath of God who doesn’t take lightly to anyone who rejects His word and way.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
CHOOSE OBEDIENCE
Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put my Name.” In the two courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.
He took the carved Asherah pole he had made and put it in the temple, of which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever. I will not again make the feet of the Israelites wander from the land I gave their ancestors, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them and will keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them.” But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.
The Lord said through his servants the prophets: “Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil than the Amorites who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols. Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and give them into the hands of enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their enemies; they have done evil in my eyes and have aroused my anger from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until this day.”
Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end—besides the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, so that they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
As for the other events of Manasseh’s reign, and all he did, including the sin he committed, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? Manasseh rested with his ancestors and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzza. And Amon his son succeeded him as king.
Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz; she was from Jotbah. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. He followed completely the ways of his father, worshiping the idols his father had worshiped, and bowing down to them. He forsook the Lord, the God of his ancestors, and did not walk in obedience to him.
Amon’s officials conspired against him and assassinated the king in his palace. Then the people of the land killed all who had plotted against King Amon, and they made Josiah his son king in his place.
As for the other events of Amon’s reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza. And Josiah his son succeeded him as king.
2 Kings 21
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Hezekiah’s passing put an end to years of Judah returning to living in ways that were good in the sight of the Lord, breaking the evil ways of his predecessor, his father Ahaz. Unfortunately, his righteous and good works would not continue.
This is because his son Manasseh, who assumed the throne for fifty five years, “did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites”. Like those who had erred before him, he “rebuilt the high places…erected altars to Baal…made an Asherah pole…bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them…built altars in the temple of the Lord…sacrificed his own son in the fire…practiced divination…sought omens…consulted mediums and spiritists”…and “shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end”.
Yes, Manasseh chose to do “much evil in the eyes of the Lord” and brought the Lord’s anger.
God had been patient with the apostate people He chose to allow to inhabit His Promised Land. He understood they were sinners and prone to failure. But when the Israelites had chosen time and time and time again to turn from Him and worship false gods and idols, directly breaking His commandment to “have no other gods before Him”, He had enough. First the Northern Kingdom of Israel felt His wrath…now it was the Southern Kingdom of Judah’s turn.
Friends, how often have we broken the Lord’s commands in our own lives? Have we not behaved in a way similar to the people of Israel, repeating sins over and over and over, never seeming to choose to correct our wrongs and pursue God’s desires over our own?
We would be well served to pay close attention to what happened when the people of Israel chose to not obey…because judgment can and will come on us as well.
So how did God respond to the actions of the people of Judah under Manasseh’s leadership?
He sent the following message “through His servants the prophets”:
“Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil than the Amorites who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols. Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and give them into the hands of enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their enemies; they have done evil in my eyes and have aroused my anger from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until this day.”
There’s little doubt that God was fed up and was going to resort to extreme measures to try and teach the people of Israel to live obediently in accordance with His will and word. Judah was soon going to be routed by Babylon who would take the kingdom’s riches as well as its people away for 70 years into exile.
The sad part is that it could have been so different if the people of Israel and Judah had just decided to choose obedience over defiance…compliance over non-conformity.
So what are we to do with this passage?
Hopefully, we’re led to carefully reflect our life attitudes and how we are responding to God’s commands. This honest assessment should be done with the knowledge that the Lord expects us to turn from our sinful desires and toward His will. Choosing to do otherwise will open the door for the Lord to administer consequences to correct our inability to correct ourselves.
Life isn’t meant to be hard unless we want to make it that way. Deciding to live in disobedience will result in hardship. You can bank on it.
Conversely, when we choose to live obediently and allow the Lord to guide us through anything that might come our way, we experience a life filled with peace and hope and joy, reveling in the goodness and greatness of our Lord.
What way will you choose?
The Lord is waiting and watching.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put my Name.” In the two courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.
He took the carved Asherah pole he had made and put it in the temple, of which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever. I will not again make the feet of the Israelites wander from the land I gave their ancestors, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them and will keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them.” But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.
The Lord said through his servants the prophets: “Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil than the Amorites who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols. Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and give them into the hands of enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their enemies; they have done evil in my eyes and have aroused my anger from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until this day.”
Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end—besides the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, so that they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
As for the other events of Manasseh’s reign, and all he did, including the sin he committed, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? Manasseh rested with his ancestors and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzza. And Amon his son succeeded him as king.
Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz; she was from Jotbah. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. He followed completely the ways of his father, worshiping the idols his father had worshiped, and bowing down to them. He forsook the Lord, the God of his ancestors, and did not walk in obedience to him.
Amon’s officials conspired against him and assassinated the king in his palace. Then the people of the land killed all who had plotted against King Amon, and they made Josiah his son king in his place.
As for the other events of Amon’s reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza. And Josiah his son succeeded him as king.
2 Kings 21
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Hezekiah’s passing put an end to years of Judah returning to living in ways that were good in the sight of the Lord, breaking the evil ways of his predecessor, his father Ahaz. Unfortunately, his righteous and good works would not continue.
This is because his son Manasseh, who assumed the throne for fifty five years, “did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites”. Like those who had erred before him, he “rebuilt the high places…erected altars to Baal…made an Asherah pole…bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them…built altars in the temple of the Lord…sacrificed his own son in the fire…practiced divination…sought omens…consulted mediums and spiritists”…and “shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end”.
Yes, Manasseh chose to do “much evil in the eyes of the Lord” and brought the Lord’s anger.
God had been patient with the apostate people He chose to allow to inhabit His Promised Land. He understood they were sinners and prone to failure. But when the Israelites had chosen time and time and time again to turn from Him and worship false gods and idols, directly breaking His commandment to “have no other gods before Him”, He had enough. First the Northern Kingdom of Israel felt His wrath…now it was the Southern Kingdom of Judah’s turn.
Friends, how often have we broken the Lord’s commands in our own lives? Have we not behaved in a way similar to the people of Israel, repeating sins over and over and over, never seeming to choose to correct our wrongs and pursue God’s desires over our own?
We would be well served to pay close attention to what happened when the people of Israel chose to not obey…because judgment can and will come on us as well.
So how did God respond to the actions of the people of Judah under Manasseh’s leadership?
He sent the following message “through His servants the prophets”:
“Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil than the Amorites who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols. Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and give them into the hands of enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their enemies; they have done evil in my eyes and have aroused my anger from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until this day.”
There’s little doubt that God was fed up and was going to resort to extreme measures to try and teach the people of Israel to live obediently in accordance with His will and word. Judah was soon going to be routed by Babylon who would take the kingdom’s riches as well as its people away for 70 years into exile.
The sad part is that it could have been so different if the people of Israel and Judah had just decided to choose obedience over defiance…compliance over non-conformity.
So what are we to do with this passage?
Hopefully, we’re led to carefully reflect our life attitudes and how we are responding to God’s commands. This honest assessment should be done with the knowledge that the Lord expects us to turn from our sinful desires and toward His will. Choosing to do otherwise will open the door for the Lord to administer consequences to correct our inability to correct ourselves.
Life isn’t meant to be hard unless we want to make it that way. Deciding to live in disobedience will result in hardship. You can bank on it.
Conversely, when we choose to live obediently and allow the Lord to guide us through anything that might come our way, we experience a life filled with peace and hope and joy, reveling in the goodness and greatness of our Lord.
What way will you choose?
The Lord is waiting and watching.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
SEEING THE GLASS HALF FULL
Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of Hezekiah’s illness. Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine olive oil—his armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.
Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?”
“From a distant land,” Hezekiah replied. “They came from Babylon.”
The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”
“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
“The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?”
As for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? Hezekiah rested with his ancestors. And Manasseh his son succeeded him as king.
2 Kings 20:12-21
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Have you ever faced a difficult situation and found yourself wondering how you should feel about it?
Today, I received a phone call and was told I was being tasked with an important responsibility that would take me from my place of work and my family for six weeks. In a moment’s notice, all my plans were disrupted…my future professional and personal schedule placed in total disarray.
My immediate reaction was not positive as I wasn’t asked whether I would like to do this task or not. Rather, I was hand-selected to do it…expected to just accept the assignment without argument. My thoughts were centered on the following:
“Why me?”
“Isn’t there someone else who is less busy than I am available?”
“They picked me only because they know I am a person who doesn’t complain and just gets the job done when asked.”
Note that none of these musings were positive. No…my attitude was definitely misaligned.
I was looking at the glass half-empty.
It’s easy to do if we’re not careful. Difficulty and sudden change is hard to deal with. We don’t handle being jarred from our comfort zone very well I’m afraid.
The southern kingdom of Judah was soon to be jarred from their comfort zone, taken into exile by the Babylonians for 70 years with all the riches in Jerusalem. Little did Hezekiah know this as he received “letters and a gift” from “Marduk-Baladan…king of Babylon” by way of special envoys sent to Jerusalem. Hezekiah, grateful for the caring gesture in the aftermath of his illness, proceeded to give the envoys a tour, showing them “all that was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine olive oil—his armory and everything found among his treasures”. In fact, scripture tells us that “there was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them”.
The Babylonian envoys had to be impressed as they left Jerusalem to return home and make reports to their king.
After they departed, we read where the prophet Isaiah came to Hezekiah with some questions asking:
“What did those men say, and where did they come from?”
“What did they see in your palace?”
Hezekiah went on to tell Isaiah that the representatives from Babylon had seen “everything in (the) palace”. Indeed, he had shown them everything.
Upon hearing this, Isaiah broke the bad news from God to Judah’s king:
“Hear the word of the Lord: The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left…and some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
Wow! Can you imagine hearing this? All of Judah’s riches and its people were going to be captured and taken away to a distant land. Nothing was going to be left in Jerusalem. It’s enough to make anyone think the worst and start to complain about the difficulties to come. It may even tempt a person to question God and His coming actions.
But look at what Hezekiah says, for his words are incredible.
“The word of the Lord you have spoken is good”…For he thought, “Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?”
At first blush, we could read this as Hezekiah being selfish.
“Why should Isaiah’s words upset me?”…he could have been thinking. “I’ll have peace and security as long as I will be alive. The Babylonians can come and do what they wish after that.”
After looking at this a little closer, I’m not sure this is what Hezekiah was thinking. It didn’t fit his character.
No, I think that Hezekiah’s words reflected a positive outlook on a difficult situation. In stead of adopting a negative, glass half empty attitude, Judah’s king instead chose to focus on the positive. He saw the glass half full. Yes, hard times were coming but until then there would be peace and security in Judah…and that was a good word spoken by the Lord.
Hezekiah could have counted curses but instead chose to count blessings.
Friends, we have a lot to learn from this. We can easily sit around and begrudge our circumstances and do it to the hilt. But is this really constructive and productive?
It isn’t.
For when we adopt this attitude, we only find ourselves wallowing in the midst of our own self pity. And that’s not where God wants us to be.
Instead, the Lord would want us to try and find the good in whatever challenge He brings. Maybe just maybe, He is ready to bless you through a trial, drawing you closer to Him and teaching you an important life lesson. Maybe just maybe, He is going to use you in the midst of hardship to be a blessing to someone else. And maybe just maybe, He’s seeking to draw you ever closer into your relationship with Him. For when things are going well, we have a tendency to forget God…forgetting that He is always richly blessing us in equal measure whether in good times or bad.
In closing, what is your life outlook?
Do you see the glass half empty or half full?
My hope is that if you always see the negative in your life’s circumstances, this word from 2nd Kings will be a timely one for you.
Stay encouraged always…in good times and bad…and commit yourself to adopting a glass half full attitude. It’s the one the Lord expects.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of Hezekiah’s illness. Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine olive oil—his armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.
Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?”
“From a distant land,” Hezekiah replied. “They came from Babylon.”
The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”
“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
“The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?”
As for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? Hezekiah rested with his ancestors. And Manasseh his son succeeded him as king.
2 Kings 20:12-21
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Have you ever faced a difficult situation and found yourself wondering how you should feel about it?
Today, I received a phone call and was told I was being tasked with an important responsibility that would take me from my place of work and my family for six weeks. In a moment’s notice, all my plans were disrupted…my future professional and personal schedule placed in total disarray.
My immediate reaction was not positive as I wasn’t asked whether I would like to do this task or not. Rather, I was hand-selected to do it…expected to just accept the assignment without argument. My thoughts were centered on the following:
“Why me?”
“Isn’t there someone else who is less busy than I am available?”
“They picked me only because they know I am a person who doesn’t complain and just gets the job done when asked.”
Note that none of these musings were positive. No…my attitude was definitely misaligned.
I was looking at the glass half-empty.
It’s easy to do if we’re not careful. Difficulty and sudden change is hard to deal with. We don’t handle being jarred from our comfort zone very well I’m afraid.
The southern kingdom of Judah was soon to be jarred from their comfort zone, taken into exile by the Babylonians for 70 years with all the riches in Jerusalem. Little did Hezekiah know this as he received “letters and a gift” from “Marduk-Baladan…king of Babylon” by way of special envoys sent to Jerusalem. Hezekiah, grateful for the caring gesture in the aftermath of his illness, proceeded to give the envoys a tour, showing them “all that was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine olive oil—his armory and everything found among his treasures”. In fact, scripture tells us that “there was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them”.
The Babylonian envoys had to be impressed as they left Jerusalem to return home and make reports to their king.
After they departed, we read where the prophet Isaiah came to Hezekiah with some questions asking:
“What did those men say, and where did they come from?”
“What did they see in your palace?”
Hezekiah went on to tell Isaiah that the representatives from Babylon had seen “everything in (the) palace”. Indeed, he had shown them everything.
Upon hearing this, Isaiah broke the bad news from God to Judah’s king:
“Hear the word of the Lord: The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left…and some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
Wow! Can you imagine hearing this? All of Judah’s riches and its people were going to be captured and taken away to a distant land. Nothing was going to be left in Jerusalem. It’s enough to make anyone think the worst and start to complain about the difficulties to come. It may even tempt a person to question God and His coming actions.
But look at what Hezekiah says, for his words are incredible.
“The word of the Lord you have spoken is good”…For he thought, “Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?”
At first blush, we could read this as Hezekiah being selfish.
“Why should Isaiah’s words upset me?”…he could have been thinking. “I’ll have peace and security as long as I will be alive. The Babylonians can come and do what they wish after that.”
After looking at this a little closer, I’m not sure this is what Hezekiah was thinking. It didn’t fit his character.
No, I think that Hezekiah’s words reflected a positive outlook on a difficult situation. In stead of adopting a negative, glass half empty attitude, Judah’s king instead chose to focus on the positive. He saw the glass half full. Yes, hard times were coming but until then there would be peace and security in Judah…and that was a good word spoken by the Lord.
Hezekiah could have counted curses but instead chose to count blessings.
Friends, we have a lot to learn from this. We can easily sit around and begrudge our circumstances and do it to the hilt. But is this really constructive and productive?
It isn’t.
For when we adopt this attitude, we only find ourselves wallowing in the midst of our own self pity. And that’s not where God wants us to be.
Instead, the Lord would want us to try and find the good in whatever challenge He brings. Maybe just maybe, He is ready to bless you through a trial, drawing you closer to Him and teaching you an important life lesson. Maybe just maybe, He is going to use you in the midst of hardship to be a blessing to someone else. And maybe just maybe, He’s seeking to draw you ever closer into your relationship with Him. For when things are going well, we have a tendency to forget God…forgetting that He is always richly blessing us in equal measure whether in good times or bad.
In closing, what is your life outlook?
Do you see the glass half empty or half full?
My hope is that if you always see the negative in your life’s circumstances, this word from 2nd Kings will be a timely one for you.
Stay encouraged always…in good times and bad…and commit yourself to adopting a glass half full attitude. It’s the one the Lord expects.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com
Monday, February 14, 2011
THE LORD’S VALENTINES TO YOU
Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:12-12
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:9-13
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Today is a special day…Valentine’s Day…a day to celebrate love.
Typically, the day is seen as a day for couples to revel in their love for one another but what about those who are single, divorced, or widowed. Do they not have anything to revel in?
The world might say “no” but the Lord would disagree with that outlook. This is because there is never a time when anyone is unloved when it comes to the One who is the very essence of love. And so not only on Valentine’s Day but every day, the Lord sends His love to us…He sends valentines as found in His word. Today, I’ll touch on three special ones.
First, one of His most famous love messages:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Valentine’s Day is often punctuated by special love gifts carefully selected for the one loved. In the case of all of us, God gave us the greatest gift ever given in His only Son Jesus because he loved us deeply. And this awesome gift of love spawned an even greater gift…the gift of hope found in the promise of eternal life granted to those who believe and trust in Jesus as Savior…as the perfect, unblemished Lamb of God who was sacrificed on Calvary’s cross and paid the price for our sins.
And this leads to message number 2:
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:12-12
Yes…God so loved us that He sent His Son Jesus as an atoning sacrifice for our sins…and in doing so, He wrote the definition for love. And so since we have love’s definition…or in other words, we know what love means…then we are to apply it to the way we live our lives and love one another. We need not seek to figure out what love is. We only need to look to Jesus and we will know. And if we ask for Jesus to send His love to us, we will find ourselves loving in a way that is self-sacrificial.
And this leads to message number 3:
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:9-13
What is the greatest form of love? The kind that finds one willing to lay down their life for another. And when we choose to love as Jesus loved, then we’re committing ourselves to love this way for it’s the way He loved. And the good news is that we will remain in His love as long as we remain in Him by learning and obeying His commands…commands given to us out of love from the One who wishes for us to live lives filled with righteousness and holiness…lives that will find our joy complete.
The Lord’s message is clear all through the scriptures. He loves us…and loves us dearly.
Can you hear the Lord today? He is saying to you and me, “Happy Valentines Day! I love you more than you know.”
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:12-12
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:9-13
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Today is a special day…Valentine’s Day…a day to celebrate love.
Typically, the day is seen as a day for couples to revel in their love for one another but what about those who are single, divorced, or widowed. Do they not have anything to revel in?
The world might say “no” but the Lord would disagree with that outlook. This is because there is never a time when anyone is unloved when it comes to the One who is the very essence of love. And so not only on Valentine’s Day but every day, the Lord sends His love to us…He sends valentines as found in His word. Today, I’ll touch on three special ones.
First, one of His most famous love messages:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Valentine’s Day is often punctuated by special love gifts carefully selected for the one loved. In the case of all of us, God gave us the greatest gift ever given in His only Son Jesus because he loved us deeply. And this awesome gift of love spawned an even greater gift…the gift of hope found in the promise of eternal life granted to those who believe and trust in Jesus as Savior…as the perfect, unblemished Lamb of God who was sacrificed on Calvary’s cross and paid the price for our sins.
And this leads to message number 2:
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:12-12
Yes…God so loved us that He sent His Son Jesus as an atoning sacrifice for our sins…and in doing so, He wrote the definition for love. And so since we have love’s definition…or in other words, we know what love means…then we are to apply it to the way we live our lives and love one another. We need not seek to figure out what love is. We only need to look to Jesus and we will know. And if we ask for Jesus to send His love to us, we will find ourselves loving in a way that is self-sacrificial.
And this leads to message number 3:
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:9-13
What is the greatest form of love? The kind that finds one willing to lay down their life for another. And when we choose to love as Jesus loved, then we’re committing ourselves to love this way for it’s the way He loved. And the good news is that we will remain in His love as long as we remain in Him by learning and obeying His commands…commands given to us out of love from the One who wishes for us to live lives filled with righteousness and holiness…lives that will find our joy complete.
The Lord’s message is clear all through the scriptures. He loves us…and loves us dearly.
Can you hear the Lord today? He is saying to you and me, “Happy Valentines Day! I love you more than you know.”
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com
Sunday, February 13, 2011
IT'S OVER WHEN THE LORD SAYS IT'S OVER
Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”
Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’”
Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a poultice of figs.” They did so and applied it to the boil, and he recovered.
Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord on the third day from now?”
Isaiah answered, “This is the Lord’s sign to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?”
“It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps,” said Hezekiah. “Rather, have it go back ten steps.”
Then the prophet Isaiah called on the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.
2 Kings 20:1-11
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As the 19th chapter of 2nd Kings drew to an end, we saw Assyria’s King Sennacherib pay the price for his blasphemous treatment of God as he tried to get Hezekiah and Judah to surrender to him. You’ll recall that the Lord foretold Sennacherib’s death by the sword before his sons killed him, showing us clearly that the Lord has the say when life will end. He made us. He placed us in His creation. And He will make the call when our life will end.
If you don’t believe that we are His and under His control, then look at our scripture passage from the 20th chapter of 2nd Kings. As the chapter opens, we find Hezekiah ill and “at the point of death”. And even if Hezekiah felt like he was dying, he couldn’t be sure…at least until the Lord entered in. For we read where “Isaiah…went to him and said, ‘This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.’”
How would you feel if you received a word such as this?
It happens every day, although it might not always come from the Lord. Doctors are always making predictions on life, informing their patients on how long they can expect to survive before their afflictions or injuries cause them to die. I’m sure the responses and reactions to this kind of news vary across a wide range of emotions from anguish to anger. As we look at Hezekiah, we find him deep in despair from the news.
So what does Hezekiah do in the midst of learning he will die?
Our scripture tells us he wept bitterly, “turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord” saying, “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” Hezekiah could have questioned the Lord. He could have cursed at the Lord. But he didn’t. Instead, he went before Him with the hope the Lord would remember the good things he had done. Hezekiah knew deep down inside he was a sinner but hoped that his faithfulness toward God would be the thing remembered most.
It was.
For we read where the Lord sent another message to Isaiah to give to Hezekiah. He said, “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’”
Wow! What a reversal of fortune! One moment, death was imminent. The next, fifteen more years of life were granted. Not only that but Judah would be saved from the hand of the Assyrians, gaining new life just like Hezekiah.
Indeed, it isn’t over unless the Lord says it’s over.
Well, Isaiah had a “poultice of figs” prepared which was applied to Hezekiah’s boil and just as God had promised, he recovered. The Lord even sent a sign confirming that Hezekiah was going to live causing a shadow to regress by 10 steps in Hezekiah’s sight.
And with that, Hezekiah, not by any act of his own but rather by the mercy, grace and love of God.
Friends, each and every day, we experience the saving grace of Jesus through God’s mercy on us…that although we are sinners, we are saved through the atoning blood of the Savior. And it’s that assurance that buoys us up in hope, peace and joy because when the Lord does decide to say our life is over, he’s only referring to our worldly life. For an eternal life, far better than the one we live on earth, awaits us…a life when we will live in the midst of the One who is the way and the truth and the life. (John 14:6)
Why should we worry about and fear death?
For the One who holds our very worldly future in His hands is also the One who holds our eternal future. And for those who place their faith and belief in Christ Jesus, that eternal future is already set. Alleluia!
Yes…the Lord says when it is over but He also says that it restarts for all eternity. Do you have your eternal future secured? If not, give your life to Jesus today and don’t delay. There’s no guarantee that there will be tomorrow if you don’t have a Savior. You can’t save yourself.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”
Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’”
Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a poultice of figs.” They did so and applied it to the boil, and he recovered.
Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord on the third day from now?”
Isaiah answered, “This is the Lord’s sign to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?”
“It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps,” said Hezekiah. “Rather, have it go back ten steps.”
Then the prophet Isaiah called on the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.
2 Kings 20:1-11
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As the 19th chapter of 2nd Kings drew to an end, we saw Assyria’s King Sennacherib pay the price for his blasphemous treatment of God as he tried to get Hezekiah and Judah to surrender to him. You’ll recall that the Lord foretold Sennacherib’s death by the sword before his sons killed him, showing us clearly that the Lord has the say when life will end. He made us. He placed us in His creation. And He will make the call when our life will end.
If you don’t believe that we are His and under His control, then look at our scripture passage from the 20th chapter of 2nd Kings. As the chapter opens, we find Hezekiah ill and “at the point of death”. And even if Hezekiah felt like he was dying, he couldn’t be sure…at least until the Lord entered in. For we read where “Isaiah…went to him and said, ‘This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.’”
How would you feel if you received a word such as this?
It happens every day, although it might not always come from the Lord. Doctors are always making predictions on life, informing their patients on how long they can expect to survive before their afflictions or injuries cause them to die. I’m sure the responses and reactions to this kind of news vary across a wide range of emotions from anguish to anger. As we look at Hezekiah, we find him deep in despair from the news.
So what does Hezekiah do in the midst of learning he will die?
Our scripture tells us he wept bitterly, “turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord” saying, “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” Hezekiah could have questioned the Lord. He could have cursed at the Lord. But he didn’t. Instead, he went before Him with the hope the Lord would remember the good things he had done. Hezekiah knew deep down inside he was a sinner but hoped that his faithfulness toward God would be the thing remembered most.
It was.
For we read where the Lord sent another message to Isaiah to give to Hezekiah. He said, “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’”
Wow! What a reversal of fortune! One moment, death was imminent. The next, fifteen more years of life were granted. Not only that but Judah would be saved from the hand of the Assyrians, gaining new life just like Hezekiah.
Indeed, it isn’t over unless the Lord says it’s over.
Well, Isaiah had a “poultice of figs” prepared which was applied to Hezekiah’s boil and just as God had promised, he recovered. The Lord even sent a sign confirming that Hezekiah was going to live causing a shadow to regress by 10 steps in Hezekiah’s sight.
And with that, Hezekiah, not by any act of his own but rather by the mercy, grace and love of God.
Friends, each and every day, we experience the saving grace of Jesus through God’s mercy on us…that although we are sinners, we are saved through the atoning blood of the Savior. And it’s that assurance that buoys us up in hope, peace and joy because when the Lord does decide to say our life is over, he’s only referring to our worldly life. For an eternal life, far better than the one we live on earth, awaits us…a life when we will live in the midst of the One who is the way and the truth and the life. (John 14:6)
Why should we worry about and fear death?
For the One who holds our very worldly future in His hands is also the One who holds our eternal future. And for those who place their faith and belief in Christ Jesus, that eternal future is already set. Alleluia!
Yes…the Lord says when it is over but He also says that it restarts for all eternity. Do you have your eternal future secured? If not, give your life to Jesus today and don’t delay. There’s no guarantee that there will be tomorrow if you don’t have a Savior. You can’t save yourself.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com
TAKE IT TO THE LORD
Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush, was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”
Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.
“It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”
Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:
“‘Virgin Daughter Zion despises you and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee.
Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
By your messengers you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said, “With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest parts, the finest of its forests.
I have dug wells in foreign lands and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
“‘Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone.
Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched before it grows up.
“‘But I know where you are and when you come and go and how you rage against me.
Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.’
“This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah:
“This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above.
For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
“The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
“Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria:
“‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it.
By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the Lord.
I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’”
That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.
2 Kings 19:8-37
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In the early verses of 2 Kings, Chapter 19, the Lord sends a simple message to Judah’s King Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah.
“Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.”
As Chapter 19 continues, we see in our scriptures that the Lord’s promise comes to fruition.
Our passage starts out with more of the same rhetoric from Asyria’s King Sennacherib. Continuing to try and sway Hezekiah and the people of Judah to surrender to him, Sennacherib sent the following message:
“Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”
If only Sennacherib had known of what the Lord had in store as stated through Isaiah.
So what did Hezekiah do when he received Sennacherib’s message?
He turned to the Lord…an action that reflected Hezekiah learning from a prior mistake. You’ll recall that earlier Hezekiah had received a warning from Assyria’s king and sought to pay him off. There was no consulting God then and as we know, Sennacherib only came after Hezekiah and Judah with more fervor after receiving the riches from Hezekiah.
This time around, Hezekiah went straight to the Lord as he should have the first time.
How many times have you made this mistake? You’re up against difficulty and rely on your own decision and will to address the problem, never considering that you should consult God. And in those times, you learn that things didn’t work out when you tried to be in control. I’m convinced God allows us to try to go it alone so we can understand just how much we can’t do it without Him. I know I’ve had to learn this important lesson…just as Hezekiah did.
Back to the scriptures where we find Hezekiah in the “temple of the Lord” where he spread out the message from Sennacherib before the Lord. Then Hezekiah prayed saying:
“Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”
Note the important aspects of this prayer for they show us the proper ways we should come before the Lord when we call on Him:
1. Hezekiah acknowledged God’s sovereignty.
“…you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.”
Indeed we serve a God who has promised that nothing is impossible through Him. This is because He is omnipotent and reigns over everything. He made it so He is the Master of it. We can never forget this in life…that God is the Master over everything in it.
2. Hezekiah asked for the Lord to enter into relationship with him and the problem at hand.
“Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.”
What an awesome assurance and peace we can gain from knowing the all powerful Creator God who is over all the kingdoms of the earth loves and cares about us enough to listen to our pleas. He’s only a prayer away.
3. Hezekiah knew that the Lord could and would deliver him from his problem, doing so to reveal His glory.
“Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”
Knowing that we have an Almighty God who cares for us so dearly leads to a faith and hope that He will care for us in times of need, every ready to display His power and show His glory. What a peace we have when we fully understand this…the peace that Hezekiah surely gained in his time of trouble.
So how did God respond to Hezekiah’s plea? He sent the following message via His prophet Isaiah:
“I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:
“‘Virgin Daughter Zion despises you and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee.
Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
By your messengers you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said, “With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest parts, the finest of its forests.
I have dug wells in foreign lands and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
“‘Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone.
Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched before it grows up.
“‘But I know where you are and when you come and go and how you rage against me.
Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.’
“This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah:
“This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above.
For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
“The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
“Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria:
“‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it.
By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the Lord.
I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’”
Sennacherib made a fatal mistake in mocking God. The king who thought he was greater than all was about to experience the power of the One who was and is truly greater than all.
For we read that during the night, “the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp”…a startling wake up call for the survivors who woke up amidst dead bodies the next morning. This led to Sennacherib leaving the camp and returning to Nineveh…a town you’ll recall from the account of Jonah’s life. It was here that the Lord made good on His promise…and Sennacherib lost his life at the hands of his two sons while worshiping in the temple to a false god. The king of Assyria who had mocked the God who gave him life now fell at the hands of that same God’s judgment.
Hezekiah’s prayers were answered…all because he chose to take it to the Lord. And the good news is that the same can happen for us. Thanks be to God for that certitude.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush, was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”
Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.
“It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”
Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:
“‘Virgin Daughter Zion despises you and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee.
Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
By your messengers you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said, “With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest parts, the finest of its forests.
I have dug wells in foreign lands and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
“‘Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone.
Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched before it grows up.
“‘But I know where you are and when you come and go and how you rage against me.
Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.’
“This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah:
“This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above.
For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
“The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
“Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria:
“‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it.
By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the Lord.
I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’”
That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.
2 Kings 19:8-37
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In the early verses of 2 Kings, Chapter 19, the Lord sends a simple message to Judah’s King Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah.
“Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.”
As Chapter 19 continues, we see in our scriptures that the Lord’s promise comes to fruition.
Our passage starts out with more of the same rhetoric from Asyria’s King Sennacherib. Continuing to try and sway Hezekiah and the people of Judah to surrender to him, Sennacherib sent the following message:
“Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”
If only Sennacherib had known of what the Lord had in store as stated through Isaiah.
So what did Hezekiah do when he received Sennacherib’s message?
He turned to the Lord…an action that reflected Hezekiah learning from a prior mistake. You’ll recall that earlier Hezekiah had received a warning from Assyria’s king and sought to pay him off. There was no consulting God then and as we know, Sennacherib only came after Hezekiah and Judah with more fervor after receiving the riches from Hezekiah.
This time around, Hezekiah went straight to the Lord as he should have the first time.
How many times have you made this mistake? You’re up against difficulty and rely on your own decision and will to address the problem, never considering that you should consult God. And in those times, you learn that things didn’t work out when you tried to be in control. I’m convinced God allows us to try to go it alone so we can understand just how much we can’t do it without Him. I know I’ve had to learn this important lesson…just as Hezekiah did.
Back to the scriptures where we find Hezekiah in the “temple of the Lord” where he spread out the message from Sennacherib before the Lord. Then Hezekiah prayed saying:
“Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”
Note the important aspects of this prayer for they show us the proper ways we should come before the Lord when we call on Him:
1. Hezekiah acknowledged God’s sovereignty.
“…you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.”
Indeed we serve a God who has promised that nothing is impossible through Him. This is because He is omnipotent and reigns over everything. He made it so He is the Master of it. We can never forget this in life…that God is the Master over everything in it.
2. Hezekiah asked for the Lord to enter into relationship with him and the problem at hand.
“Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.”
What an awesome assurance and peace we can gain from knowing the all powerful Creator God who is over all the kingdoms of the earth loves and cares about us enough to listen to our pleas. He’s only a prayer away.
3. Hezekiah knew that the Lord could and would deliver him from his problem, doing so to reveal His glory.
“Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”
Knowing that we have an Almighty God who cares for us so dearly leads to a faith and hope that He will care for us in times of need, every ready to display His power and show His glory. What a peace we have when we fully understand this…the peace that Hezekiah surely gained in his time of trouble.
So how did God respond to Hezekiah’s plea? He sent the following message via His prophet Isaiah:
“I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:
“‘Virgin Daughter Zion despises you and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee.
Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
By your messengers you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said, “With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest parts, the finest of its forests.
I have dug wells in foreign lands and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
“‘Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone.
Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched before it grows up.
“‘But I know where you are and when you come and go and how you rage against me.
Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.’
“This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah:
“This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above.
For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
“The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
“Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria:
“‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it.
By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the Lord.
I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’”
Sennacherib made a fatal mistake in mocking God. The king who thought he was greater than all was about to experience the power of the One who was and is truly greater than all.
For we read that during the night, “the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp”…a startling wake up call for the survivors who woke up amidst dead bodies the next morning. This led to Sennacherib leaving the camp and returning to Nineveh…a town you’ll recall from the account of Jonah’s life. It was here that the Lord made good on His promise…and Sennacherib lost his life at the hands of his two sons while worshiping in the temple to a false god. The king of Assyria who had mocked the God who gave him life now fell at the hands of that same God’s judgment.
Hezekiah’s prayers were answered…all because he chose to take it to the Lord. And the good news is that the same can happen for us. Thanks be to God for that certitude.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com
Saturday, February 12, 2011
STRENGTH TO CARRY ON
Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”
When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’”
2 Kings 19:1-7
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Have you ever been in distress?
I think we all have.
There are just those times in life when things are in turmoil and disruption. Normal seems to be a thing of the past never to return. Hope gives way to despair. Confidence to fear.
So what do we do when we find ourselves in this situation…in need of strength to carry on?
The opening of verses in 2nd Kings, Chapter 19, offer an answer.
You’ll recall in Chapter 18 that Assyria’s King Sennacherib had defeated the northern kingdom of Israel, moving the Israelites to Assyria. He then began attacking the fortified cities of Judah, setting his sights on Jerusalem.
Sennacherib sent one of his field commanders to meet with Judah’s King Hezekiah but instead got three of Hezekiah’s servants (Eliakim, Shebna and Joah). Sennacherib’s representative proceeded to try and tempt Judah to give up, questioning the trustworthiness of Hezekiah and even God. The hope was that Judah would just surrender to Assyria without a fight.
Well, the three servants returned to Hezekiah and reported everything the field commander had said. Their words caused Hezekiah so much distress that he “tore his clothes…put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord”. He also sent “Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests…to the prophet Isaiah” for guidance and counsel. Dressed in sackcloth, the servants told Isaiah:
“This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”
Did you see the keys to handling times when you don’t feel strong enough to handle life’s challenges…like children being at the moment of birth without enough strength to deliver them?
Here’s key 1: You have to first acknowledge that you don’t possess the strength to make it on your own.
We too often seem to want to be in control of things. Rather than turn to God and seek His help, we think we can handle our problems without Him. Essentially, we fail to trust God because we place our trust in ourselves.
So how does that work out?
Well, God allows us to make decisions like this and will let us try and trust in ourselves so He can show us that we’ll fail every time when we do. And we’ll stubbornly try and try and try to do it solo until we wear out when we can’t go it alone anymore. This is when we seek help and more often than not, we seek it from the Lord, finally acknowledging that we can’t get through our circumstances without His power and might.
This leads to key 2: Once you see God as your strength and the sole source of deliverance, then you place your full trust in Him to manage things.
After he went into the temple, Hezekiah addressed God by saying:
“It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”
Hezekiah wasn’t turning from God and trusting in his own ability to defeat Sennacherib. No, he was showing his faith that God heard the mocking words of Sennacherib’s field commander and would take action.
Two important keys with an equally important result when we exercise them right.
For when we understand our lack of strength to make it through difficulty and trust in God’s ability to do all things, we find ourselves in a place where God will reward.
In the case of King Hezekiah, we read where his servants had went to Isaiah and received the following report…a report that underscores the comfort we can gain when we fully trust God and His ability to do all things…even rescue us from distress:
Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’”
There was no need to fear the Assyrians. For God doesn’t take kindly to being disrespected and was ready to take action against the Assyrians for the way they blasphemed God.
God will also attack our problems in life to show us that there is nothing beyond the work of His almighty hands. We need only follow Hezekiah’s lead and bring our distress to Him. For when we trust Him in this way, we truly come to understand that He and He alone grants us the strength to carry on.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”
When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’”
2 Kings 19:1-7
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Have you ever been in distress?
I think we all have.
There are just those times in life when things are in turmoil and disruption. Normal seems to be a thing of the past never to return. Hope gives way to despair. Confidence to fear.
So what do we do when we find ourselves in this situation…in need of strength to carry on?
The opening of verses in 2nd Kings, Chapter 19, offer an answer.
You’ll recall in Chapter 18 that Assyria’s King Sennacherib had defeated the northern kingdom of Israel, moving the Israelites to Assyria. He then began attacking the fortified cities of Judah, setting his sights on Jerusalem.
Sennacherib sent one of his field commanders to meet with Judah’s King Hezekiah but instead got three of Hezekiah’s servants (Eliakim, Shebna and Joah). Sennacherib’s representative proceeded to try and tempt Judah to give up, questioning the trustworthiness of Hezekiah and even God. The hope was that Judah would just surrender to Assyria without a fight.
Well, the three servants returned to Hezekiah and reported everything the field commander had said. Their words caused Hezekiah so much distress that he “tore his clothes…put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord”. He also sent “Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests…to the prophet Isaiah” for guidance and counsel. Dressed in sackcloth, the servants told Isaiah:
“This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”
Did you see the keys to handling times when you don’t feel strong enough to handle life’s challenges…like children being at the moment of birth without enough strength to deliver them?
Here’s key 1: You have to first acknowledge that you don’t possess the strength to make it on your own.
We too often seem to want to be in control of things. Rather than turn to God and seek His help, we think we can handle our problems without Him. Essentially, we fail to trust God because we place our trust in ourselves.
So how does that work out?
Well, God allows us to make decisions like this and will let us try and trust in ourselves so He can show us that we’ll fail every time when we do. And we’ll stubbornly try and try and try to do it solo until we wear out when we can’t go it alone anymore. This is when we seek help and more often than not, we seek it from the Lord, finally acknowledging that we can’t get through our circumstances without His power and might.
This leads to key 2: Once you see God as your strength and the sole source of deliverance, then you place your full trust in Him to manage things.
After he went into the temple, Hezekiah addressed God by saying:
“It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”
Hezekiah wasn’t turning from God and trusting in his own ability to defeat Sennacherib. No, he was showing his faith that God heard the mocking words of Sennacherib’s field commander and would take action.
Two important keys with an equally important result when we exercise them right.
For when we understand our lack of strength to make it through difficulty and trust in God’s ability to do all things, we find ourselves in a place where God will reward.
In the case of King Hezekiah, we read where his servants had went to Isaiah and received the following report…a report that underscores the comfort we can gain when we fully trust God and His ability to do all things…even rescue us from distress:
Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’”
There was no need to fear the Assyrians. For God doesn’t take kindly to being disrespected and was ready to take action against the Assyrians for the way they blasphemed God.
God will also attack our problems in life to show us that there is nothing beyond the work of His almighty hands. We need only follow Hezekiah’s lead and bring our distress to Him. For when we trust Him in this way, we truly come to understand that He and He alone grants us the strength to carry on.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com
Thursday, February 10, 2011
BE ON THE LOOKOUT
Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace.
At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors and doorposts of the temple of the Lord, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander, his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They came up to Jerusalem and stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman’s Field. They called for the king; and Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to them.
The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah: “‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? You say you have the counsel and the might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? Look, I know you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. But if you say to me, “We are depending on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem”?
“‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! How can you repulse one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this place without word from the Lord? The Lord himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.’”
Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”
But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”
Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you from my hand. Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’
“Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern, until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life and not death!
“Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”
But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”
Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn, and told him what the field commander had said.
2 Kings 18:13-37
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Jesus, talking to those who were trying to kill Him had this to say to His adversaries:
“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44
Indeed, Satan surely is a deceiver and delights in nothing less than tempting God’s people to turn toward his desires. He is relentless in this and is a master at exploiting our weaknesses as well as using others to be instruments of his dirty work. We simply must always be on guard and prepared to ward off the work of the devil when he tries to have his way in and around us.
Today’s scripture is a classic example of how Satan can get enter into our life circumstances and turn us upside down if we’re not careful. And this just doesn’t happen to those who are new in their faith. It happens just as much to the experienced, mature believer as even the most righteous and prized in God’s eyes can come under assault.
Point in case is Hezekiah. We were introduced to him at the beginning of 2nd Kings, chapter 18, as a king who did what was right in the sight of God. In return, God was with him and led him to great success.
But things began to shift as Chapter 18 continues. In our scripture passage, we read where “Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them” in the “fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign”. This placed a lot of pressure on Hezekiah who knew what had happened to Israel and thought his kingdom was next to fall.
So what did Judah’s king do?
The proper thing to do would have been to draw near to God and consult Him on what should be done. But when we’re pressurized, we often don’t think straight and tend to make rash and improper decisions. Satan is a master at whipping our lives into a frenzy and leaving us disoriented…our bearing on the Lord temporarily lost. This is when he starts to have his way with us.
In the case of Hezekiah, he decided the way to thwart Sennacherib’s advances was to pay him off. He admitted he had erred in not paying before this, thus buying Sennacherib’s mercy on Judah but now sought to make restitution. Hezekiah offered to pay whatever the Assyrian king demanded as long as the he withdrew and ceased the attack. What was the price? Scripture tells us that the “king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah…three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold”. To pay, Hezekiah “gave him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace” and also “stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors and doorposts of the temple of the Lord”. All this was given to Sennacherib.
So that was it…right? Hezekiah had paid what Sennacherib had asked for. The king surely would keep his end of the deal and return to Assyria…right?
It didn’t quite happen that way.
For instead of returning to Assyria, Sennacherib “sent his supreme commander, his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah”. They called for Hezekiah but instead got “Eliakim…the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah…the recorder” who went out to them.
Isn’t this just how Satan is? He attacks us and convinces us to do something we think might get us out of the trouble he enticed us into. And then when we do that something, we only find that we have spiraled further down and away from the Lord. The further the devil gets away from God the more he can have his way with us.
So Sennacherib had no intentions of giving up and used his field commander to do his work. What was that work? To try and break the will of the people of Judah so they would surrender to him and turn Judah over. Note the ways that Satan works through the field commander to try and get Israel to give in and then ask yourself if these same ploys aren’t applied toward us in life:
First, criticism. Judah is mocked as being weak, without allies, and unable to stand on their own against Assyria. No one could possibly help them…not Egypt and not God. The temptation here was to be drawn into an attitude of hopelessness and then surrender.
Does this not happen to us as well when we find ourselves up against trouble? Satan can creep in and make us feel like we’re alone and without help…isolated and hopeless. With this, we are led we have just one option: give up.
Second, temptation. The field commander encourages Judah to “make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria”. What was the proposed deal? Two thousand horses.
Again, does Satan try and offer us options to help us get out of trouble? He does but his suggestions are sin-ridden and, if followed, only drag us further into trouble than before.
Third, lies. The field commander tries to spin the attacks of Assyria as being instituted by the Lord. If he could get Judah to believe this, then they would see their fate as part of God’s plan.
How often does Satan feed us lies to get us to sin, ever seeking us to believe that the Lord would delight in us being content so we should pursue sinful desires that make us feel good.
Fourth, character assassination. The field commander tried to attack the people’s faith in their leader, denigrating Hezekiah before the people. The people are told that Hezekiah could not deliver them and so they may as well just turn themselves over to Assyria.
How good is Satan at getting us to believe we’re worthless and unable to do anything right or good? He is constantly seeking to attack our character and wishes to shackle us with guilt and shame…inadequacy and embarrassment.
Fifth, false promises. The field commander tells the people of Judah that if they would make peace with the Assyrians then they would get to “eat fruit from (their) own vine and fig tree and drink water from (their) own cistern” before being taken away to “a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey”.
After reading these words from the Assyrian field commander, I couldn’t help but remember this passage:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:1-5
And the rest was history. Adam and Eve ate on the advice of the serpent and sin entered the world. All because of a false promise.
Satan is very good at this ploy and we better be ever aware of it. He could say any of the following:
“Take this drug and it will take away all your problems.”
“A little affair won’t hurt. You deserve a little pleasure and no one will ever find out about it.”
“You work hard for your money. If you want to gamble, then so be it.”
Unfortunately, a lot of people are falling for his temptations.
So what are we to do with this passage?
My hope is that we are reminded how Satan never ceases to pursue us and try to turn us from God’s will and way. We need to always be on the lookout…but even more so, we need to keep a grip on the Lord and hold on so tight that we can’t be led astray. God will always shed light on Satan’s darkest schemes if we seek His counsel and guidance.
And that assurance is what offers us hope for success when it comes to avoiding sin and living in the righteousness God expects.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace.
At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors and doorposts of the temple of the Lord, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander, his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They came up to Jerusalem and stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman’s Field. They called for the king; and Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to them.
The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah: “‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? You say you have the counsel and the might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? Look, I know you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. But if you say to me, “We are depending on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem”?
“‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! How can you repulse one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this place without word from the Lord? The Lord himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.’”
Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”
But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”
Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you from my hand. Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’
“Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern, until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life and not death!
“Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”
But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”
Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn, and told him what the field commander had said.
2 Kings 18:13-37
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Jesus, talking to those who were trying to kill Him had this to say to His adversaries:
“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44
Indeed, Satan surely is a deceiver and delights in nothing less than tempting God’s people to turn toward his desires. He is relentless in this and is a master at exploiting our weaknesses as well as using others to be instruments of his dirty work. We simply must always be on guard and prepared to ward off the work of the devil when he tries to have his way in and around us.
Today’s scripture is a classic example of how Satan can get enter into our life circumstances and turn us upside down if we’re not careful. And this just doesn’t happen to those who are new in their faith. It happens just as much to the experienced, mature believer as even the most righteous and prized in God’s eyes can come under assault.
Point in case is Hezekiah. We were introduced to him at the beginning of 2nd Kings, chapter 18, as a king who did what was right in the sight of God. In return, God was with him and led him to great success.
But things began to shift as Chapter 18 continues. In our scripture passage, we read where “Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them” in the “fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign”. This placed a lot of pressure on Hezekiah who knew what had happened to Israel and thought his kingdom was next to fall.
So what did Judah’s king do?
The proper thing to do would have been to draw near to God and consult Him on what should be done. But when we’re pressurized, we often don’t think straight and tend to make rash and improper decisions. Satan is a master at whipping our lives into a frenzy and leaving us disoriented…our bearing on the Lord temporarily lost. This is when he starts to have his way with us.
In the case of Hezekiah, he decided the way to thwart Sennacherib’s advances was to pay him off. He admitted he had erred in not paying before this, thus buying Sennacherib’s mercy on Judah but now sought to make restitution. Hezekiah offered to pay whatever the Assyrian king demanded as long as the he withdrew and ceased the attack. What was the price? Scripture tells us that the “king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah…three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold”. To pay, Hezekiah “gave him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace” and also “stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors and doorposts of the temple of the Lord”. All this was given to Sennacherib.
So that was it…right? Hezekiah had paid what Sennacherib had asked for. The king surely would keep his end of the deal and return to Assyria…right?
It didn’t quite happen that way.
For instead of returning to Assyria, Sennacherib “sent his supreme commander, his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah”. They called for Hezekiah but instead got “Eliakim…the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah…the recorder” who went out to them.
Isn’t this just how Satan is? He attacks us and convinces us to do something we think might get us out of the trouble he enticed us into. And then when we do that something, we only find that we have spiraled further down and away from the Lord. The further the devil gets away from God the more he can have his way with us.
So Sennacherib had no intentions of giving up and used his field commander to do his work. What was that work? To try and break the will of the people of Judah so they would surrender to him and turn Judah over. Note the ways that Satan works through the field commander to try and get Israel to give in and then ask yourself if these same ploys aren’t applied toward us in life:
First, criticism. Judah is mocked as being weak, without allies, and unable to stand on their own against Assyria. No one could possibly help them…not Egypt and not God. The temptation here was to be drawn into an attitude of hopelessness and then surrender.
Does this not happen to us as well when we find ourselves up against trouble? Satan can creep in and make us feel like we’re alone and without help…isolated and hopeless. With this, we are led we have just one option: give up.
Second, temptation. The field commander encourages Judah to “make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria”. What was the proposed deal? Two thousand horses.
Again, does Satan try and offer us options to help us get out of trouble? He does but his suggestions are sin-ridden and, if followed, only drag us further into trouble than before.
Third, lies. The field commander tries to spin the attacks of Assyria as being instituted by the Lord. If he could get Judah to believe this, then they would see their fate as part of God’s plan.
How often does Satan feed us lies to get us to sin, ever seeking us to believe that the Lord would delight in us being content so we should pursue sinful desires that make us feel good.
Fourth, character assassination. The field commander tried to attack the people’s faith in their leader, denigrating Hezekiah before the people. The people are told that Hezekiah could not deliver them and so they may as well just turn themselves over to Assyria.
How good is Satan at getting us to believe we’re worthless and unable to do anything right or good? He is constantly seeking to attack our character and wishes to shackle us with guilt and shame…inadequacy and embarrassment.
Fifth, false promises. The field commander tells the people of Judah that if they would make peace with the Assyrians then they would get to “eat fruit from (their) own vine and fig tree and drink water from (their) own cistern” before being taken away to “a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey”.
After reading these words from the Assyrian field commander, I couldn’t help but remember this passage:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:1-5
And the rest was history. Adam and Eve ate on the advice of the serpent and sin entered the world. All because of a false promise.
Satan is very good at this ploy and we better be ever aware of it. He could say any of the following:
“Take this drug and it will take away all your problems.”
“A little affair won’t hurt. You deserve a little pleasure and no one will ever find out about it.”
“You work hard for your money. If you want to gamble, then so be it.”
Unfortunately, a lot of people are falling for his temptations.
So what are we to do with this passage?
My hope is that we are reminded how Satan never ceases to pursue us and try to turn us from God’s will and way. We need to always be on the lookout…but even more so, we need to keep a grip on the Lord and hold on so tight that we can’t be led astray. God will always shed light on Satan’s darkest schemes if we seek His counsel and guidance.
And that assurance is what offers us hope for success when it comes to avoiding sin and living in the righteousness God expects.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
THE KEYS TO SPIRITUAL SUCCESS
Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan)
Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.
In King Hezekiah’s fourth year, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it. At the end of three years the Assyrians took it. So Samaria was captured in Hezekiah’s sixth year, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel. The king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes. This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant—all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened to the commands nor carried them out.
2 Kings 18:1-12
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As I enter into each day and pray for the Lord to use me as an instrument of His will, I often find myself ministering to those He brings my way. Often, those seeking to find spiritual bearing will ask questions that have a common theme: What’s the key to spiritual success?
Answers to that question as well as an example to reference can be found in our passage from 2nd Kings, chapter 18.
There we are introduced to Judah’s newest king, Hezekiah.
Now we learn right away that Hezekiah was the son of Ahaz, who was described as one who “did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God” as he “followed the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire”. He also “offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree”. Taken in sum, his actions were like “the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites”. (2 Kings 16:2-4)
So what could we expect from the son of this wicked king? More of the same?
Thank goodness the answer is “no”.
For we read that Hezekiah was quite different. Assuming the throne when he was twenty-five years old and reigning in Jerusalem 29 years, he “did was right in the eyes of the Lord”, removing the high places, smashing the sacred stones, and cutting down the Asherah poles. He also “broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it while calling it Nehushtan”.
What kind of reputation did these actions give Hezekiah?
Scripture tells us that “there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him”.
Wouldn’t you like to be known that way in your life? As someone who was seen as upright and true, serving the Lord so fervently and loyally that there was no one like you among all the people who had come before?
We can learn a lot by looking at Hezekiah and how he lived. For he showed us important keys to spiritual success.
What were the keys?
1st…”Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel”.
We can’t hope to stand out and be set apart by the Lord if we don’t first place our trust in Him. When we do this, we rely on Him for everything and don’t see anything in life that is not possible in and through Him. We discover like Paul, that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13) when we fully place our faith, hope and trust in Him.
2nd…Hezekiah “held fast to the Lord”.
This world we live in, where Satan seeks to destroy those who step out without the full armor of God, ever seeks to get us to conform to its ways and desires. We’re constantly tempted and enticed to turn from the ways of righteousness toward sin. How do we stave off these attacks? We hold fast to the One who will always bring us through any attack victorious. Once we place our trust in the Lord, we need to hold onto Him and hold on tight. When we do, He’ll never let go of us. Only we can break the bond by losing our grip. Spiritual success results when we don’t allow that to happen.
3rd…Hezekiah “did not stop following” the Lord and “kept the commands” He had given.
Once we place our trust in the Lord and hold on fast to Him, we need to consistently follow His way and keep His commands, ever striving to meet His expectations. When we do this, we ever seek to do what He wants us to do and His will literally becomes our own. And when His will is fully ours, we act, talk and think like the Lord because our actions are ordained by Him.
What was the result of Hezekiah’s commitment to holiness?
Scripture tells us that “the Lord was with him” and as a result, Hezekiah “was successful in whatever he undertook”. Spiritual success translated over to success in everything that Hezekiah did.
Contrast this with the people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. They “had not obeyed the Lord…but had violated his covenant”…neither listening to His commands nor carrying them out.
And what did they earn for their unfaithful, sinful behavior?
Destruction.
For we read where “Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it” and after “three years”, the Assyrians captured it, deporting the people of Israel to Assyria, never to return.
How well are you doing spiritually? Are you a success?
If not, the good news is that you can find your way there. Just follow the way of Hezekiah. Trust in the Lord, keep hold of Him with all your might, and make His will your own, following His commands and expectations. Then and only then, can you assure yourself that God is with you and will make you a success in whatever you do.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan)
Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.
In King Hezekiah’s fourth year, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it. At the end of three years the Assyrians took it. So Samaria was captured in Hezekiah’s sixth year, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel. The king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes. This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant—all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened to the commands nor carried them out.
2 Kings 18:1-12
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As I enter into each day and pray for the Lord to use me as an instrument of His will, I often find myself ministering to those He brings my way. Often, those seeking to find spiritual bearing will ask questions that have a common theme: What’s the key to spiritual success?
Answers to that question as well as an example to reference can be found in our passage from 2nd Kings, chapter 18.
There we are introduced to Judah’s newest king, Hezekiah.
Now we learn right away that Hezekiah was the son of Ahaz, who was described as one who “did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God” as he “followed the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire”. He also “offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree”. Taken in sum, his actions were like “the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites”. (2 Kings 16:2-4)
So what could we expect from the son of this wicked king? More of the same?
Thank goodness the answer is “no”.
For we read that Hezekiah was quite different. Assuming the throne when he was twenty-five years old and reigning in Jerusalem 29 years, he “did was right in the eyes of the Lord”, removing the high places, smashing the sacred stones, and cutting down the Asherah poles. He also “broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it while calling it Nehushtan”.
What kind of reputation did these actions give Hezekiah?
Scripture tells us that “there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him”.
Wouldn’t you like to be known that way in your life? As someone who was seen as upright and true, serving the Lord so fervently and loyally that there was no one like you among all the people who had come before?
We can learn a lot by looking at Hezekiah and how he lived. For he showed us important keys to spiritual success.
What were the keys?
1st…”Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel”.
We can’t hope to stand out and be set apart by the Lord if we don’t first place our trust in Him. When we do this, we rely on Him for everything and don’t see anything in life that is not possible in and through Him. We discover like Paul, that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13) when we fully place our faith, hope and trust in Him.
2nd…Hezekiah “held fast to the Lord”.
This world we live in, where Satan seeks to destroy those who step out without the full armor of God, ever seeks to get us to conform to its ways and desires. We’re constantly tempted and enticed to turn from the ways of righteousness toward sin. How do we stave off these attacks? We hold fast to the One who will always bring us through any attack victorious. Once we place our trust in the Lord, we need to hold onto Him and hold on tight. When we do, He’ll never let go of us. Only we can break the bond by losing our grip. Spiritual success results when we don’t allow that to happen.
3rd…Hezekiah “did not stop following” the Lord and “kept the commands” He had given.
Once we place our trust in the Lord and hold on fast to Him, we need to consistently follow His way and keep His commands, ever striving to meet His expectations. When we do this, we ever seek to do what He wants us to do and His will literally becomes our own. And when His will is fully ours, we act, talk and think like the Lord because our actions are ordained by Him.
What was the result of Hezekiah’s commitment to holiness?
Scripture tells us that “the Lord was with him” and as a result, Hezekiah “was successful in whatever he undertook”. Spiritual success translated over to success in everything that Hezekiah did.
Contrast this with the people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. They “had not obeyed the Lord…but had violated his covenant”…neither listening to His commands nor carrying them out.
And what did they earn for their unfaithful, sinful behavior?
Destruction.
For we read where “Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it” and after “three years”, the Assyrians captured it, deporting the people of Israel to Assyria, never to return.
How well are you doing spiritually? Are you a success?
If not, the good news is that you can find your way there. Just follow the way of Hezekiah. Trust in the Lord, keep hold of Him with all your might, and make His will your own, following His commands and expectations. Then and only then, can you assure yourself that God is with you and will make you a success in whatever you do.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
WE CAN’T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS
Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its towns. When they first lived there, they did not worship the Lord; so he sent lions among them and they killed some of the people. It was reported to the king of Assyria: “The people you deported and resettled in the towns of Samaria do not know what the god of that country requires. He has sent lions among them, which are killing them off, because the people do not know what he requires.”
Then the king of Assyria gave this order: “Have one of the priests you took captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god of the land requires.” So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the Lord.
Nevertheless, each national group made its own gods in the several towns where they settled, and set them up in the shrines the people of Samaria had made at the high places. The people from Babylon made Sukkoth Benoth, those from Kuthah made Nergal, and those from Hamath made Ashima; the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire as sacrifices to Adrammelek and Anammelek, the gods of Sepharvaim. They worshiped the Lord, but they also appointed all sorts of their own people to officiate for them as priests in the shrines at the high places. They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.
To this day they persist in their former practices. They neither worship the Lord nor adhere to the decrees and regulations, the laws and commands that the Lord gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel. When the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites, he commanded them: “Do not worship any other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them. But the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt with mighty power and outstretched arm, is the one you must worship. To him you shall bow down and to him offer sacrifices. You must always be careful to keep the decrees and regulations, the laws and commands he wrote for you. Do not worship other gods. Do not forget the covenant I have made with you, and do not worship other gods. Rather, worship the Lord your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.”
They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did.
2 Kings 17:24-41
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In my last devotional, we read the following words from the scriptures:
“…they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who did not trust in the LORD their God. They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless.” 2 Kings 17:14-15
From this, I posed the question, “Are we worthless?” with the answer depending on what we worship in life. If we worship anything outside of God, then we worship the worthless and in turn, as the scriptures assert, become worthless ourselves. Conversely, when we worship the one true God…our Maker and Creator…then we become rich in Him and all He is.
So what is the second worse thing to not worshipping God at all and instead choosing something else to place our faith, trust and hope in?
It’s when we choose to pick and choose when we worship God and when we don’t.
Reference the people of Israel in today’s scripture.
As we saw in the scripture from earlier in chapter 17 of 2nd Kings, the Northern Kingdom of Israel had angered God so badly as a result of their idolatry that the Lord gave them over to the Assyrians. Shalmaneser, Assyria’s king, “brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites.” We read that the new inhabitants of the Northern Kingdom “did not worship the Lord” and so God “sent lions among them” which “killed some of the people”. The news of this was “reported to the king of Assyria” who gave the order for one of the captured Samarian priests to “go back to live” in Samaria to “teach the people what the god of the land requires”.
And that’s what happened.
So did the relocated Assyrian people abide by the priest’s teaching?
Not exactly.
For our passage tells us that “each national group made its own gods in the several towns where they settled, and set them up in the shrines the people of Samaria had made at the high places. The people from Babylon made Sukkoth Benoth, those from Kuthah made Nergal, and those from Hamath made Ashima; the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire as sacrifices to Adrammelek and Anammelek, the gods of Sepharvaim. They worshiped the Lord, but they also appointed all sorts of their own people to officiate for them as priests in the shrines at the high places. They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.” And we further learn that “they persist in their former practices” to this day as “their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did”.
So what about us today? Do we act just like the Assyrians…worshipping the Lord while at the same time serving others gods, like money or lust or pride or celebrity or any other number of things that could draw our devotion away from the only One who is worthy of it? Or maybe, just maybe, we decide to not adhere to God’s commands and expectations or pick and choose when we do and don’t want to comply?
This scripture passage does far more than show us what first led the people of Israel and then the people of Assyria who moved into Samaria to go wrong and incur God’s wrath. It also calls us to be introspective in looking at our own lives and how we’re living in the sight of the Lord.
For way too often, we, like the people of the Old Testament, decide that we want it both ways. We want to worship and follow God’s will but we also want the ways of the world and its enticements that lure us to turn from God to them.
Friends we can’t have it both ways. We have to choose.
God gave up everything for us when He allowed His only Son to be crucified on Calvary’s cross.
How willing are we to give up everything for Him, surrendering our own desires to pursue His desire for us?
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its towns. When they first lived there, they did not worship the Lord; so he sent lions among them and they killed some of the people. It was reported to the king of Assyria: “The people you deported and resettled in the towns of Samaria do not know what the god of that country requires. He has sent lions among them, which are killing them off, because the people do not know what he requires.”
Then the king of Assyria gave this order: “Have one of the priests you took captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god of the land requires.” So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the Lord.
Nevertheless, each national group made its own gods in the several towns where they settled, and set them up in the shrines the people of Samaria had made at the high places. The people from Babylon made Sukkoth Benoth, those from Kuthah made Nergal, and those from Hamath made Ashima; the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire as sacrifices to Adrammelek and Anammelek, the gods of Sepharvaim. They worshiped the Lord, but they also appointed all sorts of their own people to officiate for them as priests in the shrines at the high places. They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.
To this day they persist in their former practices. They neither worship the Lord nor adhere to the decrees and regulations, the laws and commands that the Lord gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel. When the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites, he commanded them: “Do not worship any other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them. But the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt with mighty power and outstretched arm, is the one you must worship. To him you shall bow down and to him offer sacrifices. You must always be careful to keep the decrees and regulations, the laws and commands he wrote for you. Do not worship other gods. Do not forget the covenant I have made with you, and do not worship other gods. Rather, worship the Lord your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.”
They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did.
2 Kings 17:24-41
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In my last devotional, we read the following words from the scriptures:
“…they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who did not trust in the LORD their God. They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless.” 2 Kings 17:14-15
From this, I posed the question, “Are we worthless?” with the answer depending on what we worship in life. If we worship anything outside of God, then we worship the worthless and in turn, as the scriptures assert, become worthless ourselves. Conversely, when we worship the one true God…our Maker and Creator…then we become rich in Him and all He is.
So what is the second worse thing to not worshipping God at all and instead choosing something else to place our faith, trust and hope in?
It’s when we choose to pick and choose when we worship God and when we don’t.
Reference the people of Israel in today’s scripture.
As we saw in the scripture from earlier in chapter 17 of 2nd Kings, the Northern Kingdom of Israel had angered God so badly as a result of their idolatry that the Lord gave them over to the Assyrians. Shalmaneser, Assyria’s king, “brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites.” We read that the new inhabitants of the Northern Kingdom “did not worship the Lord” and so God “sent lions among them” which “killed some of the people”. The news of this was “reported to the king of Assyria” who gave the order for one of the captured Samarian priests to “go back to live” in Samaria to “teach the people what the god of the land requires”.
And that’s what happened.
So did the relocated Assyrian people abide by the priest’s teaching?
Not exactly.
For our passage tells us that “each national group made its own gods in the several towns where they settled, and set them up in the shrines the people of Samaria had made at the high places. The people from Babylon made Sukkoth Benoth, those from Kuthah made Nergal, and those from Hamath made Ashima; the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire as sacrifices to Adrammelek and Anammelek, the gods of Sepharvaim. They worshiped the Lord, but they also appointed all sorts of their own people to officiate for them as priests in the shrines at the high places. They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.” And we further learn that “they persist in their former practices” to this day as “their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did”.
So what about us today? Do we act just like the Assyrians…worshipping the Lord while at the same time serving others gods, like money or lust or pride or celebrity or any other number of things that could draw our devotion away from the only One who is worthy of it? Or maybe, just maybe, we decide to not adhere to God’s commands and expectations or pick and choose when we do and don’t want to comply?
This scripture passage does far more than show us what first led the people of Israel and then the people of Assyria who moved into Samaria to go wrong and incur God’s wrath. It also calls us to be introspective in looking at our own lives and how we’re living in the sight of the Lord.
For way too often, we, like the people of the Old Testament, decide that we want it both ways. We want to worship and follow God’s will but we also want the ways of the world and its enticements that lure us to turn from God to them.
Friends we can’t have it both ways. We have to choose.
God gave up everything for us when He allowed His only Son to be crucified on Calvary’s cross.
How willing are we to give up everything for Him, surrendering our own desires to pursue His desire for us?
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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