The Beginning of the End
Chapter 16
2 Kings 17-19, Isaiah 3, 6, 13-14, 49, 53
Hezekiah
"He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.) Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses. And the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook."
What made Hezekiah special?
In 722 BC the brutal nation of Assyria destroyed the northern kingdom known as Israel. After a 3 year siege they deported most the inhabitants and intermarried with the rest. From this comes the often asked and falsely answered question, "What happened to the 10 lost tribes of Israel?"
In the southern kingdom (Judah) God raised up Hezekiah to lead the nation back to God. It was the faith and actions described in the above passage which invited God's amazing intervention to prevent the same fate for them that had befallen the northern kingdom. They were able to fend off the Sennacherib of Assyria.
Is there really a connection between the worship, behavior, values, and morality of a nation and its vulnerability to decline and even defeat? Of course the biblical authors believe so, and therefore I do also. I also believe this because an objective glance at world history indicates the same thing.
More important than railing against the moral and spiritual decline of America, however, is looking in the mirror and asking the really hard question, "Am I part of the problem?"
Prayer
Lord, with every incidence of moral and spiritual decline that I see in my nation, help me to use what I see not as accusation against others, but as accountability for myself. Lord, I don't want to be among the reasons the "word of the Lord is rare" in these days. Amen.
Even though we can apply this message to our nation, these words were written to God's people. We need to think about that.
ReplyDeleteThe Israelites had become so much a part of the pagan culture around them that for GENERATIONS, we're talking ancestry here, they had turned their back on God and completely failed to teach their children the ways of God. The Ten Commandments from Moses lay forgotten and lost in rubble!
Application to the church:
"How can you say, "We are wise, for we have the law of the Lord," when acurally the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely? Jeremiah 8:8
How often is the word handled falsely?
I had a customer the other day who I had the opportunity to speak with. She was a Christian woman whose desire was to witness to me. Upon finding that I was already a Christian we talked. She came to Jesus out of despair of addiction. She had health issues with her back. But, as she began to describe them to me, she clapped her hand over her mouth and said, "Oh, I can't speak of my pain"
I said, "why not?" She went on to say she heard a preacher that said our words can speak things into being and for her to describe her back issues to me would further her pain!
I spoke truth to her, and she said, "You mean I didn't cause this to happen to me?" She was in tears, relieved. This poor woman was even confused about how to approach Jesus with her needs.
NO, lets take a strong look at what church has become. Why are there so many churches but so few 'followers'?
Why are there so many that can't move beyond milk and onto spiritual maturity?
Are things being talked about over and over, looking for that 'surprise' angle to keep it interesting to the point that the truth becomes an opinion versus God's word?
Faithfulness. The Israelites abandoned it and chose the culture around them.
Is the church trying to reach unbelievers so badly that they have blended in to the point of unrecognition?
Its not about money or giving. Its about worshipping Jesus for who He is, confirming over and over our allegiance to him, our heartfelt love for him and our gratitude for what He has done.
Do this and the rest He requires of us will follow.
Lynda - thank you so much for this reflection. What a blessing...
Deletewe should take everything back to scripture. this is how we test the spirits. but if we are not in scripture how do we then test the spirits?? God said if we love Him we wil obey Him, not just in what we would like to obey Him in but in everything He has commanded us to do. Giving is one of those things, if we want to florish in our lives and as God told us, "test me in this... give your 10% tithe and I will rebuke the devourer... this is the only time God allows us to test Him, with a promise... it is about faith, do we really trust Him?? if we do we will give what we are afraid to give. the word fear not is repeated the most in the bible. the only reason we would not give, is mostly due to fear. and if not fear then pride. please dont argue with me, argue with God for He is the one who wrote it...
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