Hezekiah has made a huge mistake. It was the same mistake that caused Assyria to carry Israel into exile. He had aligned himself with Egypt. Sennacherib, King of Assyria, brings his vast military might to bear against Israel and finally comes to Jerusalem and begins a siege of the capital city, the city of David.
Hezekiah rues his political and spiritual blunder and he mourns his stupidity. Having recognized his error he does some things right. 1. he does not deny his error, he puts on sackcloth to announce to the world...."I was wrong". this is a sign of humility......God desires that we would be a humble people. 2. Hezekiah goes to the temple to beg God's forgiveness for failing to trust in him. 3. He consults with folks who walk with God and in the days of Hezekiah, Isaiah was at work. Isaiah is among the greatest of the Old Testament Prophets.
Isaiah prophecies that God will protect Israel from the impudent Sennacherib who is claiming his great military prowess on his own ability. God reminds Hezekiah and us that he is more than able to shape the events of the world using both the righteous and the unsaved. Assyria has been allowed by the immutable God of Creation to accomplish its victories and now all the world will know that the God of Judah is indeed God.
Hezekiah prays to the Lord of Hosts and in the night God sends the Angel of death to visit the Assyrian troops. 185,000 die during the night (shades of the passover and the death of the first born). Sennacherib withdraws from Jerusalem and Judah is saved, not by the power of man but by the power of our sovereign God.
Hezekiah grows sick unto death. (Sara Howard used this scripture Sunday in her presentation) Isaiah tells Hezekiah that he will die. Hezekiah weeps and mourns and pleads with God to spare him from death. God hears his prayer and gives Hezekiah 15 more years. What do we learn from this? Pray, brothers and sisters, pray, pray, pray. We have several examples including this one in which God seems to change his mind (that is a poor choice of words), but God hears our prayers and miracles occur...pray, pray, Pray!
Manasseh is the son of Hezekiah and he comes to the throne following Hezekiah's death. Hezekiah was a good king.....Manasseh is awful! Hezekiah tore down the high places, removed the Asherah's, restored temple worship, led the people in Godly practices. Manasseh does not follow in his father's footsteps.....he is much more like one of the evil kings of Israel.....he leads the people in evil, he does evil in the sight of God. A short list of his reprehensible behavior includes: rebuilding the high places and altars to false gods, putting up Asherah poles (Asherah poles honor the false fertility goddess), Baal worship is reinstated, worship of Molech returns (Manasseh sacrifices his own son to this horrendous idol), he builds altars to false idols in the temple, he even puts and Asherah pole in the temple. This guy sounds a lot like Hoshea, the last king of Israel. The prophet Isaiah prophesies the end of Judah because of the sins of the nation and the evil done by Manasseh.
A Godly king, Josiah, will forestall the end of Judah, but exile comes and God's hand is removed from this blessed land, but he promises to protect a remnant and so he does. That remnant will include those who will parent and protect the one who will save us all from our sins.
It is a great day out there. Hope you get to catch a few rays, pick a few dandelions, go fishing, find some mushrooms or something that helps you to revel in God's goodness.
No comments:
Post a Comment