Tuesday, May 3, 2011

2 Chronicles 32-34

The story of 4 Judean kings in this reading including the final chapter of one Judah's great kings, Hezekiah.  The 32nd chapter tells the tale of Hezekiah's miraculous encounter with the war machine of Assyria and god's miraculous intervention.  This story is also found in 2 Kings.  The chronicler's tale omits the part where Hezekiah offers tribute to Sennacherib, but does tell a new bit of information about how Hezekiah has the exterior water sources shut off to prevent the Assyrian siege army from having access to fresh water.  This tactic was also used during the crusades by the Islamic inhabitants of Jerusalem to fend off the crusaders.  Sennacherib is seeking to conquer Jerusalem and other cities in Judah to force them to pay him tribute and make them vassal cities to his rule.  Hezekiah repents from his reliance of tribute and calls on God to protect them.  I love his encouragement to the people and army of Jerusalem, "Be strong and courageous; do not be dismayed because of the king of Assyria and his vast army, for there is a greater power with us than is with him."  Doing all you can do and trusting in God for the rest is a very Christian tactic and one that would serve all of us well to remember.

Hezekiah's story (remember Hezekiah is a very good king) also reminds us that just because we are good people doing our best to serve God doesn't mean that difficult times and situations will not arise.  Remember "the devil is like a roaring lion, seeking whom he might devour."  We will be tested.  Who will we rely on?

Mannasseh is an interesting story of a very bad king who leads Judah for a long time and who leads them into idol worship and child sacrifices and every despicable evil that you can imagine.  Judah loses God's favor and Mannasseh is taken as a prisoner of war and somewhere in the bowels of an Assyrian prison he has a conversion experience.  He repents of his sin and trusts in the God of his fathers.  He is released from Prison and returns to Jerusalem and begins to try to undo the terrible wrongs of his reign.  It is a story that reminds us to never give up on any sinner, God can change any heart and redemption is available to any sinner who calls on the name of the Lord.  Correcting the damage done on earth is another story.  Amon, Mannasseh's son, is worse than is daddy in his young years.  he tries to outdo him in evil and sinfulness.  He is assassinated by one of his own men and his young son, Josiah comes to the throne.

Josiah is a man after God's own heart.  From an early age he seeks to be obedient.  He begins to restore the temple and to keep God's edicts and commandments.  His story is found in 2 Kings 23.  He destroys the idols, tears down the high places, desecrates the altars to the false gods.  He encourages the people to return to the temple.  In the restoration of the temple, the book of law is discovered and read to Josiah.  He is overcome by remorse at learning how far Judah as strayed from God's way.  He leads the Priests, Levites and people in a period of great religious revival.  The scriptures tell us that as long as he lived, he did not fail to follow the Lord.  The problem for Judah was that despite a 31 year reign as King, he was not able to undo all that had been done.  Remember the curse of sin that to the 3rd and 4th generation, the sins of the father rest upon the children.  There is peace in Josiah's time, but trouble is coming.

We should all read these stories and apply them to our own lives.  They tell us who the real king and power of the universe is.  Human beings can mess with his plan but they cannot keep him from his sovereign will.  God wins!  Just as Joshua challenged Israel as they were entering into the promise land, "choose this day whom you will serve.  As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."  Those who do are guaranteed a peace that passes all understanding and a great retirement plan.

Hope you day is a blessed one.

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