6/7/2011 6:41:46 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Hezekiah the negotiator
Bible Reading
& Meditation Reference: 2Kings 18:7-16
Message of the verses: “7 And
the LORD was with him; wherever he went he prospered. And he rebelled against
the king of Assyria and did not serve him. 8
He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from
watchtower to fortified city.
“ 9 ¶ Now in the fourth year of
King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel,
Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. 10 At the end of three years they captured it;
in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of
Israel, Samaria was captured. 11 Then
the king of Assyria carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and put them in
Halah and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12 because they did not obey the voice of the
LORD their God, but transgressed His covenant, even all that Moses the servant
of the LORD commanded; they would neither listen nor do it. 13 Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah,
Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah
and seized them. 14 Then Hezekiah king
of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, "I have done
wrong. Withdraw from me; whatever you impose on me I will bear." So the
king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of
silver and thirty talents of gold. 15
Hezekiah gave him all the silver which was found in the house of the
LORD, and in the treasuries of the king’s house. 16 At that time Hezekiah cut off the gold from
the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the doorposts which Hezekiah king
of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.”
I
would suppose that living with his father Ahaz that Hezekiah could not help but
pick up some of his bad habits, and it seems that this section of Scripture may
have shown one of the bad habits that he picked up, that of lacking faith in
the Lord to accomplish what the Lord desired for him to accomplish. In this section, of which part of it has
already been looked at, the destruction of the Northern kingdom of Israel is
seen by the Assyrian empire. Now the
enemy is right next door, and the kingdom of Judah is in great trouble, and it
is at this time that Hezekiah needs to have his faith increased, but that does
not happen. Ahaz had struck a deal with the
Assyrians to pay them money so that they would not attack Judah and the deal
was struck with the former leader of Assyria.
The new leader of Assyria seemed to be having trouble in other parts of
his kingdom so Hezekiah decides not to continue to pay tribute to them and so
they attack Judah in 715 B.C. and was headed towards Jerusalem. Because of his weak faith Hezekiah paid the
Assyrians ten tons of silver and one ton of gold taken from the house of the
Lord. This is something that David would
have never done, but at this time Hezekiah’s faith was very weak. There are some scholars that believe that the
Assyrian’s attacked Judah two times, once in 715 and then again in 701, and it
is in this second attack that the Bible has much more to say about. So by paying the money to Assyria it stopped
this attack but they would return later on to attack again, and at this time
Hezekiah’s faith would be stronger.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Hezekiah showed a lot of faith in the Lord as
he began to reinstate the correct worship in Judah, but at this time in his
life his faith faltered, which caused trouble in not only his life but the
kingdom of Judah. I am at this time
seeking the Lord to see if it is in His plans for me and my wife to remain here
in Kauai and work at the KMC in some form or another. I have a great desire to know if this is what
the Lord has for us at this stage of our life.
I believe that the Lord has trained me through the reading and studying
of His Word to do this type of thing for His glory. I have also been trained in the area of
leading people to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, something I have
a great desire to do, and at one point through some health issues the Lord has
trained me to take this step of faith and see if this is in the Lord’s plan for
our lives.
My Steps of
Faith for Today:
1.
Seek the Lord to seek if He will open the doors for
this ministry at KMC.
2.
Give myself to the Lord for worship and for service
this day.
3.
Continue to seek the Holy Spirit to search my heart
for unconfessed sin in my life that I may confess it.
4.
Remember that the enemy is fierce and therefore I
need the Spiritual Armor in place.
5.
Through all of these things I want to continue to
learn contentment.
6/7/2011 7:20:32 AM
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