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.
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