Obedience Under Pressure {2 Kings 18:1-21:26}
11:00 PM
"He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it." 2 Kings 18:4
It is tremendously sad how most of the things, the things which have been created for a good purpose end up being used for evil. It's sad how most of the times the creation gets the praise and the worship rather than the Creator.
Here is a very clear example of this.
The bronze snake on vs.4 had been made to cure the Israelites of the bite of venomous snakes (Numbers 21:4-9). It was a symbol of God's presence and power and it had proved His mercy and forgiveness. But now, sadly, had become an object of worship rather than a reminder of whom to worship.
As soon as Hezekiah became king, he got rid of the things that kept his people from walking in obedience to God.
This should make us reflect on the things that keep us from obeying God. It may be something that seems very important to us, but we must remember it's far more important obeying God.
Today I pray that our eyes be open to recognize anything that is hindering our obedience to Him. One thing we can rest assured, is that God will reward our obedience just as He did with Hezekiah.
A little more to learn from Hezekiah:
"Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses (2 Kings 18:5,6)
- Had a personal, growing relationship with God.
- Developed a powerful prayer life
- Noted as the patron of several chapters in the book of Proverbs (Proverbs 25:1)
Fixer Upper
2 Kings 18:13-15 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “ I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me .” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the temple of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace.
So the King of Assyria attacked the cities of Judah and captured them. Only Jerusalem remained free from his hand. In the passage above we read of Hezekiah’s first response when he found himself under pressure… as most of us would do, he freaked out!
There is no doubt that he was a godly man, but what we see in his initial response is something very common to all of us. That is, when faced with trouble we immediately try and work out how we can get ourselves out of it through our own initiative! And as we see here, it usually doesn’t even involve God. It is a natural, fallen creation response; not that of someone spiritual. Hezekiah thought he could buy himself out of this pickle and was even willing give the gold and silver from the Lord’s temple to do it! It didn’t work… it never does.
Laying it all before His Throne
2 Kings 19:14-19 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD . And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: “O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. “It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men’s hands. Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God .”
Hezekiah took the enemies letter and spread it out before the Lord in the temple… It’s a simple act of faith that shows that Hezekiah’s problems soon became God’s problems! And his prayer became so very simple. In fact, the note in my Ryrie Study Bible calls it a ‘childlike prayer’.
- Hezekiah doesn’t ask for deliverance for his, or even Israel’s sake. He doesn’t claim that he has been insulted or wronged.
- He doesn’t remind God of any righteousness of his own.
- He simply places the entire situation firmly in God’s lap!
This prayer comes from a man who truly knew God. It is the living God that is being insulted Hezekiah says, and if there is to be any deliverance it is so that God may again be glorified. It is so that the nations may see that the God of Israel is the true God.
And God was pleased to answer such a prayer. How could He not? If you read further in 2 Kings 19 you will see that the Lord sent word through Isaiah His prophet that He would deliver them, and deliver them He did!
As the iWorship Bible reads (pg.511)
"We all face threads of many kinds. Desperate situations, people offering deals and compromises problems that redefine the word hopeless. What do we do first? Seek Human counsel? Construct a chart of pros and cons? Read the latest self-help book? Instead, spread it out before the Lord. With complete honesty, a bow-before-the-Almighty, pleading prayer must be our first response.
As you encounter difficulties or trials during the day, remember Hezekiah, and 'spread it out before the Lord'"
Have a lovely Easter Weekend!
Angie
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