Taking Notes from King Hezekiah... AGAIN
This time from 2 Chronicles
Earlier this month I recorded a Radiant Living podcast for my paid subscribers with some insights on King Hezekiah that I found while reading through the book of Kings.
Recently I finished reading 1 & 2 Chronicles and once again this King’s story came alive for me, and I decided it was important to encourage you with the verses that stood out once again.
For those of you that haven’t noticed, these two books of the OT are similar but also differ in many ways.
Chronicles and Kings offer complementary perspectives on the history of Israel and Judah, highlighting different aspects of the reigns of the kings and the spiritual lessons to be learned from their experiences.
While Chronicles focuses on the faithfulness of the kings of Judah and the blessings that come from obedience to God, Kings provides a broader view of the political, military, and religious challenges faced by the kings of both kingdoms.
Together, these two books provide a rich and complex portrait of the history of ancient Israel and the enduring importance of faith and obedience in the life of God's people.
Back to King Hezekiah... for today’s ‘Minutes’ message, allow me to highlight parts of the story that will benefit our lives even today!
20 Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God. 21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart.
So he prospered.
I appreciate this so much and can gain encouragement that we can follow and learn from King Hez. That in every work we begin, we can also SEEK God with all our heart, and we will prosper in all we do!
Remember, the word prosper doesn’t necessarily JUST mean financially. I believe we can also prosper in health, vitality, relationships, creativeness, and yes, financially too!
Now, if you’ve not read this story for yourself yet, or tuned in as a PAID subscriber to the podcast I did on King Hezekiah, then you may not know that the people of Jerusalem were being surrounded by the king of Assyria, Sennacherib, in order to attack (make war on) the city of Jerusalem.
As we read how King Hez directed his people in response to the threat, listen to how he encouraged them.
6 Then he set military captains over the people, gathered them together to him in the open square of the city gate, and gave them encouragement, saying,
7 “Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him.
8 With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
Notice how he directs his people with authority and calms them with these words. “… but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles”.
These words could only come with knowing God and what He says He will do for the people that love Him and truly follow Him.
The short story goes on where King Sen starts to work fear into the hearts of the people of Jerusalem by defamation of the Lord God and lying about King Hez and his ability to keep them safe and not be destroyed.
One of the ways he tried to spark fear was by claiming the following…
1 Does not Hezekiah persuade you to give yourselves over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, “The Lord our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria”?
12 Has not the same Hezekiah taken away His high places and His altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, “You shall worship before one altar and burn incense on it”?
13 Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of other lands?
Were the gods of the nations of those lands in any way able to deliver their lands out of my hand?
(King Sen is speaking of pagan little ‘g’ gods.. and trying to compare them to our one true and living God!)
14 Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed that could deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand?
15 Now therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or persuade you like this, and do not believe him; for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?’ ”
Imagine how some of the people of Jerusalem must have felt- confused, scared, and intimidated. They had to put their trust in the King that they were subject to, King Hez.
They had to reflect on his ways and words as he reigned in order to draw trust and be able to comply to his guidance.
16 Furthermore, his servants spoke against the Lord God and against His servant Hezekiah.
17 He also wrote letters to revile the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, “As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand.”
18 Then they called out with a loud voice in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten them and trouble them, that they might take the city.
19 And they spoke against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth—the work of men’s hands.
And now we see exactly how King Hez moved to defeat his enemy, King Sen…
20 Now because of this (all the above) King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed and cried out to heaven.
21 Then the Lord sent an angel who cut down every mighty man of valor, leader, and captain in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned shamefaced to his own land.
And when he (King Sen.) had gone into the temple of his god, some of his own offspring struck him down with the sword there.
22 Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side.
23 And many brought gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations thereafter.
I find this to be an incredible encouragement of how we can move in our actions towards God when we feel that there is an army around us, moving in to take us captive and we need to be set free.
Remember this was the beginning of the story...
King Hez. did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God. 21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart
This proves that even when we are doing these things ‘what is good and right and true before the Lord our God and seeking Him with all our heart’, challenges, chaos and situations will arise to test our faith and to work to bring us down, defeated and disheartened.
We can learn from King Hez that when these times come, (and they will if we love the Lord and are seeking Him- Jesus never said being a Christ follower will be the simple, life of luxury), that we stand firm in KNOWING that greater is He that is IN us, than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4) and we can pray against the attack and cry out to Heaven for salvation and redemption. It even encourages us to ask someone you know follows Christ with all their heart, to pray and cry out with you for deliverance. If you don’t have a friend or family member that you can pray with, ask God to bring someone into your life and maybe that means finding a church that you can attend to meet other like spirited/minded people.
We can be assured that God will rescue us and will redeem us as we follow this ‘formula’ for life!
And here is the formula... rinse and repeat- daily.
- Do what is good, right and true before the Lord our God
- Seek our God with all our heart
- Pray
- Cry out to heaven
May this Minutes Message strengthen you and your walk with our loving Father!
Thanks for joining me here on Substack…
Live Radiantly… Today!
Monica
