One Year Bible, Saturday July 2nd
Hezekiah’s Sickness and Recovery
Isaiah the prophet came and gave King Hezekiah that bad news that he would not recover from his illness but in fact would die from it. Hezekiah broke down and wept before the Lord. He reminded the Lord that he had done his best to serve him faithfully. The Lord sent Isaiah another message saying that He had heard Hezekiah's plea and granted him 15 additional years of life.
It is not often that God changes his mind on a word he has already given. But Hezekiah's heartfelt prayer to the Lord changed his mind and not only did he recover but gave him 15 more years.
But then Hezekiah asks for a sign that he will be able to worship in the temple for 3 days. The Lord had the shadow on the sun dial move back 10 days.
Not only did the Lord hear Hezekiah's prayer but even confirmed it with a supernatural sign. We often see the God of the Old Testament being "judgmental", but in this passage we see the grace of God. God attributes never change, He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. But how he chooses to reveal these qualities in a certain space and time are up to him.
Envoys from Babylon
Finally, Hezekiah entertained envoys from Babylon and showed him the riches in the palace. Isaiah then shared the prophecy that all of these things would be taken by the Babylonians in time, though not in Hezekiah's lifetime. Hezekiah died and his son Manasseh took over for him.
Manasseh was only 12 years when he took over the kingship. He reigned for 55 years but unfortunately he did evil in the Lord's sight like his King Ahab did in Israel. He was especially evil in that he sacrificed his own son in the fire. The ultimate idolatry was this,
Manasseh even made a carved image of Asherah and set it up in the Temple, the very place where the Lord had told David and his son Solomon: “My name will be honored forever in this Temple and in Jerusalem—the city I have chosen from among all the tribes of Israel. 8 If the Israelites will be careful to obey my commands—all the laws my servant Moses gave them—I will not send them into exile from this land that I gave their ancestors.” 9 But the people refused to listen, and Manasseh led them to do even more evil than the pagan nations that the Lord had destroyed when the people of Israel entered the land. Guzik
Wow! It doesn't get any worse than this. Manasseh led them to do more evil than even the pagan nations that God commanded the Israelites to destroy due to their sinfulness. We see this sometimes today when Christians act the same as non-Christians and even some times worse. Since our ultimate goal in our life as believers is to gloriify God with not just our lips but our lives, than this can never be.
This was the final linchpin for God to promise the same vengeance on Judah as he gave Israel. Though Judah lasted longer than Israel, they will soon be judged by a foreign country as well.
Amon Rules in Judah
Amon reigned as king only for a short time, two years., as he only. He did evil in the Lord's sight and was assassinated by his own officials. However, the people of Judah retaliated and killed the men that killed the king. Josiah his son became the next king.
Josiah Rules in Judah
Finally, we get to a good king again. Josiah did what was right in the Lord's eyes. It says he followed the ways completely as his father, David, and did not turn to his right or to his left.
When we keep our eyes on Jesus, we are less likely to take detours. When we walk in His path we have abundant life.
Paul was still struggling with the Jewish believers and leaders in Jerusalem, who thought he had strayed too far from the laws of Moses. He was teaching the Jewish families who had become believers that they didn't need to be circumcise their children. There were four men who were just about to complete their purification vows. The leaders asked Paul to join them as a sign of his solidarity with the Jewish Christians.
In a Spirit of reconciilation and for the sake of the Gospel, Paul joined the men in the ceremony. But others from Asia and stirred the people again claiming Paul was teaching against the Mosaic Law. The whole city came out and Paul was dragged out of the temple.
Once again he was saved by the Roman Authorities. Literally the lynch mob wanted to kill him. He was dragged out of city and carried to the barracks.
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