Manasseh Forgets

Synopsis     2Kings 20:20-21:8     10/11/2019 

In time, King Hezekiah died. After his death, his son Manasseh became king. And Manasseh ruled for fifty-five years.  

However, Manasseh was a very evil king. He openly practiced idolatry and divination and encouraged others to do the same. He also set up altars throughout the land of Judah. He even set up altars to false gods in the temple of the Lord.   

Manasseh and Relapse 

Manasseh was not born at the time of the Assyrian siege. And, he became king at the young age of twelve. So, it does not seem that he was ever really aware of the unique relationship that God covenanted with Israel. 

For his part, Manasseh did not seem intent of eliminating the worship of God. But his worship was foreign. His way wasn’t prescribed by Moses. And, it had the unfortunate effect of equating worship of the one, true God with worshiping false gods and idols.  

So, under Manasseh’s leadership, the Israelites from the tribe of Judah largely forgot about God. As a result, the valid worship of the one true God was eclipsed by the more convenient practices of worshiping idols.  

Remembering Takes Effort 

It takes effort to accurately remember. Another way of saying that, it is surprisingly easy to forget.  

This tendency is especially true of the good things we encounter in life. The memory of pain always seems to linger a little longer. But even then, without effort, memories tend to fade. We move on. The feelings of pain, or of joy, wane. And then, we forget. 

I was saved.

I don’t think I anymore remember the day when this really registered in my mind. Momentous as I’m sure it was, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge. The exhilaration that pervaded my early walk is sometimes hard to remember. And yet, it seems joyfully sophomoric when I see it in others. 

So what I find is that the battle to remember is first and foremost a spiritual battle. The truth is that it takes effort.  

He said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” I remain cyclic. He remains steadfast. I find Him again and again in the Eucharist. 

He just said do it. And I’m the better for it when I do. I’m the better for it when I remember.  

“No, I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.” 1Cor 9:27 

Hezekiah the Great

Synopsis     2Kings 20:10-19     10/10/2019

After King Hezekiah had recovered from his illness, he received letters and gifts from the King of Babylon. At that time, the king of Babylon was Berodach-baladan. And this king sent his greetings and gifts through envoys.

King Hezekiah received these envoys. And then, he showed them the wealth of the nation.

After the Babylonian envoys departed, Isaiah came to visit the king. He inquired about the envoys. Specifically, he asked what Hezekiah had shown them. The king told Hezekiah that he had shown them everything in the treasury.

So, Isaiah told the king he had shown too much. As a result, Isaiah prophesied that one day the Babylonians would come and take all the wealth of Jerusalem back to Babylon. Isaiah further prophesied that even many of Hezekiah’s own family would one day be taken off in exile.

Hezekiah the Great

Hezekiah was the King of Judah. He ruled from Jerusalem. And Jerusalem was the first city to ever successfully resist an Assyrian siege. Sennacherib, the king of Assyrian, was forced to return to the capital city of Nineveh, where he was assassinated by his own sons.

Babylon was a city three-hundred miles to the south of Nineveh. The Babylonians and Assyrians contended for control over the region. Eventually the Babylonians would themselves resist Assyrian control. After this, Babylon was destined to establish its own empire.

In the meantime, the Babylonians were attracted the Hezekiah’s fame. Because, at this time, Babylon and Judah had Assyria for a common enemy, they were on friendly terms.

But Isaiah warned Hezekiah about indiscretion. He had, according to Isaiah, shown too much.

Showing Too Much

A part of my purpose in life is to bear witness to the goodness of God. And so, it may be that a part of the experience of my life is to be blessed with material benefits. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with material blessings.

But there is a danger in thinking that material blessings are an indication of special favor. My stuff doesn’t make me special. God makes me special. And God has made each one special – each of us are entirely unique expressions of His goodness and wisdom.

Still, it is a temptation to interpret my worth in the context of my stuff. Money and materials, power and fame, all these can be used to make me seem distinct. They can be used to make me seem “more special”. And this invariably provokes envy in those who interpret their own circumstances as “less special”.

It follows that the more I insist on giving flamboyant evidence of my “more special” status, the more I provoke others to self-critical dissatisfaction. So, learn from the prophet Isaiah, practice discretion.

“It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles that person; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one.” Matt 15:11

Sickness and Signs

Synopsis     19:36-20:10     10/9/2019

King Sennacherib withdrew all the Assyrian forces from the siege of Jerusalem. After he departed, he returned to the Assyrian capital Nineveh. Not long after his return, he was assassinated by two of his sons.

For his part, although God had saved Jerusalem from the Assyrians, King Hezekiah became mortally ill. And so, in the misery of his illness, the prophet Isaiah came to visit. Isaiah’s purpose in coming was to tell Hezekiah that he would not survive. He wanted the king to know so that he could tend to his last business and “put his house in order” before he died.

The king took the news hard. And he cried out to God asking for more time to live. Although Isaiah had already departed from the king’s chambers, he received word from God that God intended to give Hezekiah more time. In fact, the prophet told Hezekiah that he would be given fifteen more years to live. Additionally, Isaiah told the king that he would be healed in three days.

Isaiah directed the king’s medical treatment. Afterward, in response to Isaiah’s prophecy, Hezekiah asked for a sign in order to know for sure that Isaiah’s word was God’s intention. And so, Isaiah gave the sign of the retreating shadow on the king’s steps.

Sickness and Signs

King Hezekiah asked for a sign from Isaiah. This moment in scripture is peculiar for numerous reasons. Perhaps the greatest of these is because of something that happened between Isaiah and King Ahaz – Hezekiah’s father. 

Isaish’s father, King Ahaz is remembered as an especially evil king. He was the first king since the time of Moses to substantially change the way Israelites worshipped at the temple. But, it was his motive that was considered evil. He made changes to the Israelite manner of worship in order to appease the Assyrians.

Once, when Ahaz was distressed about an impending battle, Isaiah came to reassure him that God would preserve the kingdom of Judah from its enemies. And, Isaiah offered to give Ahaz a sign of God’s commitment. But Ahaz refused to ask for a sign. And this provoked both God and Isaiah. (Isaiah 7:10)

So, having received a prophecy from Isaiah, Hezekiah did just the opposite. He asked Isaiah for a sign. For Hezekiah, asking for the sign wasn’t “testing God”. Instead, it was a way of letting Isaiah know that Hezekiah believed in both Isaiah’s ministry as a prophet and in the faithfulness of God.

Fear of Asking

Saint James once wrote, “You do not possess because you do not ask”.

Many people say they don’t like to ask for the things they need. Perhaps this comes from the pride of being self-determining. Or maybe it comes from fear. Probably there is some of both.

But this tendency doesn’t end with human relations. Many people describe a reluctance to ask God for help. But why should this be?

God gave you the desires of your heart. And He wants you to fulfill these desires. He wants you to pray for their fulfillment in your life. So, like Hezekiah, fearlessly ask for what you will. And then, be open to the prayer as it is answered.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” Matt 7:7

Hezekiah and the Cosmos

Synopsis     2Kings 19:24-35     10/8/2019

In the midst of the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem, Isaiah gave a prophecy against Assyria. God spoke through the prophet. And the prophecy was largely a reminder of God’s faithfulness in past times.

But in the prophecy, God also described how He would lead the Assyrian forces back to the land where they came from. And God said that He was doing these things for His own sake, and also for the sake of King David.

Later, in the night after the envoys had come to Hezekiah, the angel of the Lord descended upon the Assyrian forces. A large number of the army was killed. And so, when the soldiers woke in the morning, they discovered a huge multitude of dead bodies in the camp.

Hezekiah and the Cosmos

God’s word came through the prophet Isaiah. And the words that the prophet said connected King Hezekiah’s greatest moment of adversity with some of the greatest moments of triumph in the history of Israel. By remaining faithful under extraordinary stress, the great king became a witness to the greatness and faithfulness of God.

Referencing the Cosmic Story

I confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Perhaps you have as well.

And in so doing, we join ourselves to the Great God of all Creation. And to the greatest cause in the history of man. And to the greatest story ever told.

“Because of it the ancients were well attested. By faith we understand that the universe was ordered by the word of God, so that what is visible came into being through the invisible.” Heb 11:2-3

God-Crushing Assyrians

Synopsis     2Kings 19:13-23     10/7/2019

King Hezekiah led Jerusalem in the midst of the Assyrian siege against the city. The Assyrians pressed Hezekiah with terms that meant the death of Israelite culture and worship. In so doing, they blasphemed the God of Israel.

And this signaled Hezekiah to pray to the one, true God of all Creation for relief against the Assyrian forces. The prophet Isaiah supported Hezekiah and encouraged him to continue in the resistance against the Assyrians.

God-Crushing Assyrians

God used King Sennacherib and the forces of Assyria to show the difference between idol worship and faith in the true God of all Creation. In their conversation with Hezekiah’s officials, the Assyrian envoys rightly said that no “god” had ever saved a nation from the power of Assyria. Because no mere idol could ever save anyone from anything.

But the God of Israel was the God of all Creation. And just as Hezekiah made clear in his prayer, this is the way that God can make a distinction between the powerlessness of mere idols and the omnipotence of the true God.

Idol-Crushing Life

I am not young – at least not as young as I once was. And I’ve spent much of my life apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ.

While I was away, I searched for meaning and fulfillment in all the ordinary places. I cultivated relationships. And I developed expertise. I sought money. And occasionally I even sought power. I treated each of these in their order as gods. Each of them was an idol that I hoped would somehow transform my life.

But like the Assyrian army of old, life has a way of destroying idols. At least this was my experience. The more I idolized my network of relationships, or my personal renown, or my personal wealth, the less satisfied I became. And with each pursuit, the transformation I had hoped for never really materialized.

So, God is a giver of gifts. And, perhaps the chief among these is liberty. But, this is ironic. I can choose. Which means I can choose to devote myself to things other than the God-Creator who gave me the ability to choose.

However, even as I do I systematically discover the emptiness of any pursuit other than relationship with God. And strange as it seems, this is how God seems to work through the ordinary circumstances of life. Somehow, it is in this way that He brings me to an awareness of what is real, and what is really valuable.

So, no more lament for my past failures. As I pass through the guilt and shame of my own personal history, I discover that God uses even these to demonstrate light in darkness, beauty from ashes.

“to place on those who mourn in Zion a diadem instead of ashes, To give them oil of gladness instead of mourning, a glorious mantle instead of a faint spirit.” Isaiah 61:3

Hezekiah’s Escape

Synopsis     2Kings 19:2-12     10/4/2019 

The Assyrian army had invaded the kingdom of Judah. Lachish, the second most important city in the kingdom, had fallen. And after this, King Hezekiah received an ultimatum from Sennacherib, the King of Assyria. If he gave up, then Jerusalem would be spared and the people relocated. If he resisted, then Jerusalem would be destroyed and the people decimated.  

Hezekiah was overwhelmed. But he noticed that in delivering the ultimatum, Sennacherib’s envoys had mocked God. And so, he instructed his officials to visit the prophet Isaiah. He wanted Isaiah’s council on what to do.  

Isaiah responded by encouraging the king to remain steadfast in his resistance. And so, Hezekiah refused the Assyrian demands. Not long thereafter, problems emerged in other parts of the vast Assyrian empire. At the same time, a crisis emerged in the ranks of the army outside Jerusalem. As a result, Sennacherib was forced to withdraw from his siege of Jerusalem to address these problems. 

Hezekiah’s Escape 

Hezekiah withstood the Assyrian siege. The Assyrians departed and never returned. Hezekiah and all the Israelites in Jerusalem celebrated their escape from the power of the Assyrians. Even though much of the land had been decimated, God had saved the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the irresistible force of the Assyrian army.  

Salvation: The Disaster of My Own Sin 

I find myself caught between two systems of wisdom. And neither of them are my own making.  

There is the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of God. The wisdom of this world leads to short-term gratification. The wisdom of God leads to eternal fulfillment.  

But because none of this is my doing, I don’t often feel the weight of my own moral failure. My sins don’t matter that much to me. In fact, my tendency is to think none of this matters very much because I’m not the one who created it. As such, I have no control. Therefore, I feel justified in thinking that I bear no responsibility. 

So, I say to myself: “Jesus is Savior. But I’m saved from what?”  

I don’t fear hell because I didn’t create this mess. How could God justly judge me? 

And, of course, it’s true that I did not personally bring sin into the world. I inherited a condition into which I was born. 

But my problem is greater than the competition of two wisdoms. It is greater than the competition between two world-views.  

The competition is between two persons. The fight is between the person of God and the person of evil. They are both very real. And each person has had a community of adherents form around them.

Yes, each community espouses a world-view. But more importantly, each affiliates with the person central to their respective community. As the saint once wrote, “I am loyal to the one I actually serve.” 

And because it isn’t simply a matter of personal philosophy, I am accountable in a different way. I choose my affiliation. I choose my community. I reject God. Or I reject Satan. I embrace God. Or I embrace Satan. The two wisdoms are irreconcilable.  

And the truth in this light is that I’ve embraced Satan. No, I never bowed down. And no, I never went to a black mass. 

But I bullied. And I mocked. And I manipulated. And I seduced. And I used to foolish intoxication. And I used the people I claimed to love. Not a long time ago – I did all this just yesterday.  

And so, I find that I am wretched. I’m stuck in a community of death. With this, I slowly wake to the fact that I am not only bound for hell, but living in a hell for which I am entirely responsible. And in an early morning reflection, I suddenly discover that I really do need to be saved. I cannot embrace the wisdom of God without embracing the person of God. 

And so, I take this moment to thank God for redemption and the opportunity of a new day.  

“You are my shelter; you guard me from distress; with joyful shouts of deliverance you surround me.” Psalm 32:7 

Hezekiah’s Wake Up

Synopsis     2Kings 18:23-19:1     10/3/2019

Assyrian envoys had come from Lachish to persuade Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem to stop resisting the king of Assyria.

Their offer was simple. Give up the city. And, of course, Hezekiah would no longer be king. The people would be relocated to other parts of the Assyrian kingdom. And people from other parts of the kingdom would then be brought into the land of Judah and Jerusalem, to repopulate the land.

In other words, the envoys were offering the complete destruction of the Israelite nation. If they surrendered, the people would survive with only their lives.

As a counterpoint, the Assyrians assured the people that should they choose to resist, they had no hope of surviving. They pointed out that Judah had no army. And no allied nation, they claimed, could save Jerusalem – not even Egypt.

Finally, they specifically warned the people not to trust in God. They argued that no god had ever helped a nation resist the Assyrian king and his army.

And so, once the envoys had finished talking, Hezekiah’s high officials returned to him. Then, they reported all they had heard to the king.

Hezekiah’s Wake Up

The Assyrian plan had the advantage of survival. As a God-fearing king, Hezekiah was aware of his responsibility to his people. He was not indifferent to their survival or their sufferings.

So, the thought of surrendering in order to preserve the lives of the people must have had some appeal.

But then the envoys went too far. They blasphemed the name of God by casting doubt on His ability to save the people. And this served as a wake-up call to Hezekiah. Hearing this, he suddenly realized the Assyrians had gone too far.  In an instant, it became clear to Hezekiah that the Israelites were being lured to their ultimate destruction through talk of personal survival.

If they capitulated, they would lose their culture and their ability to relate to God as the children of Israel. And to not have the ability to relate to God was a fate worse than death. 

The Brink of Seduction

Seduction is the effort to convince a person to do something that is not good for them, by suggesting it really is good for them. Usually, a seducer uses the attractiveness of pleasure as the lure to persuade.

Of course, the power of seduction is that the suggestion seems plausible. The seducer speaks. And what he says seems like it might, just possibly, bring a desirable outcome.

But, like it was for Adam and Eve, there is always something about an attempt to seduce that fails to ring true. So, when I’m tempted in this way, something in my deepest crevice of my spirit screams. I know the seducer’s plan really isn’t good. But I am, after all, a slave to pleasure. My soul can outshout my spirit.

So what I find is that my only real hope is to keep my eyes on Jesus. Focused attention. It’s all I have.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, on your own intelligence do not rely; In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths.” Prov 3:5

Assyrians Inciting Division

Synopsis     2Kings 18:17-26     10/2/2019

Assyria had defeated the northern kingdom and repopulated the land. Now, they had invaded the southern kingdom of Judah. What’s more, the Assyrian forces captured all the cities of the southern kingdom, including the second most important city of Lachish. From there, the Assyrian king sent envoys to Jerusalem.

For his part, King Hezekiah sent high officials to meet with the Assyrian envoys. Still, the envoys spoke from outside the city wall to the high officials who stood on the wall that served as the final remaining defense of the city.

Against the wishes of Hezekiah’s high officials, the envoys spoke in Hebrew to the officials and to all the people within earshot. Accordingly, they warned the Hezekiah and the people of the city not to resist Assyria any further. With their forces located behind them, the envoys declared their intention to besiege the city until it fell unless the Israelites gave up.

Once defeated, the envoys assured the high officials that the ordinary people would be allowed to live. But, they explained, all the Israelite people would be relocated to another part of the Assyrian kingdom, so the they could no longer incite rebellion.

Assyrians Inciting Division

The Assyrian envoys attempted to position themselves as saviors for the people. They claimed to be the ones who really could be trusted and who really cared for their well-being. They claimed to want to preserve the people, but crush the rebellion.

However, their more deliberate effort was to foment a rebellion against King Hezekiah. They wanted the people to depose the king. In this way, the could win the battle without having to fight in order to take the city.

Just as Jesus would one-day remind his followers; the Assyrians knew that a nation divided against itself “cannot stand”.  The envoys hope was to create division between the people of Judah and Hezekiah, their king.

Family Division

I live by this belief: Anyone who wants to know the truth will eventually find God.

And I really believe that. So, even if I encounter someone who is very far away from confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior… I don’t worry too much. An honest heart that is bent on discovering the truth will eventually find what they seek.

It is the person who is working to persuade everyone else of his opinion that bears concern. For this person, persuasion is the goal. And so, self-righteousness is understood to be more important the creating value.

It is the same spirit at work when disunity comes. It doesn’t matter if the venue is my family, or my office, or my village. When division comes, it comes because there is someone more interested in being right than in being successful.

“I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create dissensions and obstacles, in opposition to the teaching that you learned; avoid them. For such people do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites, and by fair and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the innocent.” Rom 16:17-18

Hezekiah Out of Options

Synopsis     2Kings 18:7-16     10/1/2019

Hezekiah succeeded his father Ahaz as King of Judah. However, unlike his father, he did not embrace Assyrian culture and authority. In fact, quite the opposite, he openly rebelled against the authority and influence of Assyrian.

As a result, after King Hezekiah ruled over Judah for fourteen years, the King of Assyria attacked. He invaded the land. And this time, Hezekiah had no obvious choice but to relent. So, he paid a large ransom to the Assyrian king.

Hezekiah Out of Options

Hezekiah gave everything he had in order to appease the Assyrian king. He even gave components from the temple including the nave doors that were overlaid with gold. As a result, it was obvious to the Assyrian king that Hezekiah was practically destitute. 

The capital of Judah was Jerusalem. And Jerusalem was out of resources. The last bastion of Israelite culture and worship was entirely vulnerable. This was the Assyrian king’s opportunity to destroy Israelite influence once and for all.

When I’m Out of Options

For my part, I avoid the situation where I don’t have any options. And perhaps we all do.

For every “Plan A”, I want to have a “Plan B” and “Plan C” whenever possible. Of course, this is because I want to keep control over my circumstances. And there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with that. When it’s possible to anticipate future circumstances, it is prudent and appropriate for me to do so.

But there is something strangely magical about the moment when I’m out of options. When I’ve done everything that I can and all my “Plan B”’s are exhausted. When I’m exhausted.

When I have nothing left.

And in that moment, I cry out to the Lord…And He rescues me.

Maybe not in the way I hoped or imagined. And maybe not without feeling some real pain – some real suffering.

“In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1Peter 1:6-7

Hezekiah’s Faithfulness

Synopsis     2Kings 17:36-18:6     9/30/2019 

The Assyrians had captured the northern kingdom. They also sacked Samaria, the capital city of the north. And, eventually they even captured Hoshea, the king of Israel, and imprisoned him. After this, he was never heard from again. 

About five years before the fall of the northern kingdom, Hezekiah became king over Judah. He was twenty-five years old at his coronation. And he served as king for twenty-nine years.  

During his reign, Hezekiah did everything he could to restore the authentic worship of God. He worked hard to eliminate the habit of worshiping God apart from the temple. And he diligently removed the idols that the people had erected on hilltops and in other locations around the kingdom. 

Reputation For God 

Hezekiah’s epithet was faithfulness. He did his best to do God’s will. And his legacy followed him as a testimony. For all time and eternity, his life’s story reveals God’s faithfulness. 

Faithfulness and Relationship 

Jesus once said, “The one who has been forgiven of much, loves much.” So, I certainly don’t mean to minimize the affective power of forgiveness and repentance in communicating the idea of God’s faithfulness.  

But when I think about the experience of faithfulness, I think about the experience of a couple who have lovingly remained faithful to one another throughout a fifty-year marriage. In that case, their mutual faithfulness is a constant that serves as a lens through which every aspect of life is interpreted and understood. It transcends the rush of newness.   

So I find that I only really discover the deepest experience of the faithfulness of God in constancy. Faithless as I tend to be , it is to the extent that I have also remained faithful to Him.  

“Many say, “My loyal friend,” but who can find someone worthy of trust?” Prov 20:6