2 Ki. 20: Hezekiah Winds it Down

2 Kings 20:10 "It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps," said Hezekiah. "Rather, have it go back ten steps."

King Hezekiah gets old, and he has a boil or something, and he's told by Isaiah to put his house in order. Hmmm...no one likes to hear that. So he prays in tears before God to remember him, and how Hezekiah sought to walk in the ways of God. And God heard Hezekiah, and added 15 years to his life. Which is nice, but...who wants to know the exact moment they will die. I'd host my own funeral. The preservation of Hezekiah was also a preservation of Jerusalem from Assyira, apparently. His son, Manasseh, was next in line, and who knows what would have happened. Lets hope he taught him some good things.

In asking for a sign from the LORD for his healing, Hezekiah doesn't ask for much. He just wants to see the shadow recede up the stairs. In other words, for the earth to rotate the other way for a couple of hours. That's all.

The king of Babylon heard about Hezekiah's illness, and sends him spies...I mean...messengers, a "Get Well Soon" envoy, as it were, with mylar balloons and those little flowers and all that. For some reason, Hezekiah shows the messengers all of the riches in Jerusalem's storehouses. He hides nothing. I don't know why he would do this, and it earns him a rebuke from Isaiah later on. Perhaps Hezekiah just thought the best of Babylon's king and people, figuring these were now going to be his allies. 

Because of this error, Isaiah prophesies that it's all going to be carried off, and some of Hezekiah's own sons will become eunuch's in the Babylonian palace. Nice. There's no offspring in eunucy. Hezekiah still manages to call this good, possibly because he trusts God, but I wonder if it's because he believes he won't be around to see it?

2 Ki. 18: Sennacherib Runs His Mouth

2 Kings 18:22 "And if you say to me, "We are depending on the LORD our God"-isn't he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, "You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem"

While Hoshea flushed Israel down the toilet, Hezekiah took control in Judah. Apparently, he was a good man. He did what I was hoping he would do. (Man, I'm rooting for these Israelites.)  What made him like this? Ahaz was among the worst people ever. He certainly fell far from that fig tree. And it wasn't like Hezekiah engineered a gradual turnaround...he tore up the high places, the Asherah poles and the sacred stones. Remember that bronze serpent Moses made? Hezekiah destroyed that too. People were worshipping it. Of course. I wonder if Moses ever conceived that thing would one day become Nehushtan. 

It's probably no coincidence that Hezekiah followed the LORD, doing what Moses did, and then the LORD gave him success. That was the deal. 

I don't know what happened that Sennacherib was able to lay siege to the cities in Judah. Hezekiah was able to repel the Philistines, but when the Assyrians came, he apparently lost his cool. Or maybe he made a deal. I don't know, I wasn't there. But anyway, he pays tribute to Assyria with the gold from the temple. Its an interesting sort of sad thing that these things that are intended to imbue the temple with majesty and value end up being used to pay extortionists, time and again. Not what was meant to be.

Sennacherib follows by making a blustering propagandized speech to Hezekiah's staff through his field commander. He mocks Judah's military, their strategy, their alliance with Egypt, and like those in modern days, distorts who God is, referencing how Hezekiah destroyed "the LORD's" high places. 

Hezekiah's men, who wanted to spare the nearby Judahites from hearing this speech in Hebrew, requested that Sennacherib's commander speak to them in Aramaic. He refuses, continuing to diminish and ridicule Hezekiah's abilities and the LORD's power, instead promising a better life under Assyrian rule. No god, according to Sennacherib, has been able to deliver his people from the rule of Assyria, even Israel's false gods. Surprise. 

This made Hezekiah's men sad, of course, and they went back to the king mourning...he's going to do something awesome, right? That's how it works, right?

2 Ch. 29: Heze-komeback

2 Chronicles 29:36 "Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly."

Hezekiah, the son 0f Ahaz gets some positive press here. 2 Kings does him a solid for the most part, mainly covering his military exploits. Here in 2 Chronicles, we get a view of how Hezekiah purifies the temple. Another pretty good thing about Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles is that his reign draws comparisons to David. And that is impressive in and of itself. He was a good guy for the most part, with a minor screw up at the end.

He knew in order to turn God's wrath away, and end sieges in Israel's territory, he had to get the temple back in order. And this was like the very first thing he did. He set the tone for his reign early on. I think by doing this, he gave Israel a clear idea of what to expect during his time on the throne. And by extension, he became accountabile to Israel. They could check him. They would know where he was coming from.

So finally, we have an enumeration of what Hezekiah goes through to purify the temple and get it ready for use again, and it's pretty extensive and a very big deal. It has been quite some time since I've read about sacrifices and priestly duties. They've just not been important. 

And then of course, we have the offerings, the feasting, the singing, the celebration and the music. Hezekiah's has it running again. We'll see how long it lasts.

For more reading on Hezekiah: 2 Kings 18-20, 9/23/08 Entry

In loving memory of Natalie Hunt 9/27/12 - 11/29/08.

2 Ch. 30: Passover Renewed

2 Chronicles 30:17 "Since many in the crowd had not consecrated themselves, the Levites had to kill the Passover lambs for all those who were not ceremonially clean and could not consecrate their lambs to the LORD."

I don't know how long it had been since we saw Passover. But I imagine it was a pretty long freakin' time. In fact, the very last time it was even mentioned was in Joshua, before the time of any king. So far removed from the minds and culture of the people of Israel was Passover that it simply was not enough for their king to declare that they would celebrate it. The priests hadn't even kept up on their own consecration and purification rites to celebrate it at the prescribed time. Besides, the people must have thought, who was this guy Hezekiah anyway? He was brand new on the throne. The couriers who brought the invitations to Passover were ridiculed, so far out was this idea of Passover. Also because the invitation got right down to it and didn't mince any words. Didn't much care whether or not anyone was offended.

I am not too sure about this. I can appreciate Hezekiah wanting to re-center the kingdom again on the pivot point of the sacred rituals. Would God? What's the deal here? What I have come to learn is that despite what I think should happen when people do stuff, God does whatever he will.

Verses 17-20 make up an amazing passage and a wonderful view into the heart of God. People came to this Passover, and so many came who didn't consecrate themselves, whether they didn't have time, didn't know how...they just didn't. And there were clearly defined rules for Passover. But wise Hezekiah...he knew God was after the hearts of people, and here His people were, giving their hearts to him by following Passover. They wanted to partake of this ritual that identified themselves as being God's people. Hezekiah prayed that God would forgive them...forgive them...(the sin being trying to reach God their own way)...who seek God, regardless of ceremonial cleanness. I find that pretty incredible that Hezekiah would have the balls to pray like that. 

2 Ch. 35: Josiah's Passover and Death

2 Chronicles 35:7 "Josiah provided for all the lay people who were there a total of thirty thousand sheep and goats for the Passover offerings, and also three thousand cattle—all from the king's own possessions."

Josiah celebrates the Passover. The passage here describes Josiah's Passover as unlike any Passover celebrated before, since Samuel. Hezekiah celebrated Passover though? What's the deal? What was the difference between Hezekiah's Passover and Josiah's Passover? We know that Hezekiah's passover was not exactly done according to the rules laid down for Passover (Ex. 12), so perhaps Josiah's was more in line with those rules.

Another interesting point in Josiah's Passover that gave me pause was how he, the king himself, provided so many sheep, goats, and cattle for the lay people. These people probably did not set aside an animal without blemish, probably were just as unprepared for the Passover as those in Hezekiah's day. The king didn't have to do this, but it is important for a couple reasons. One, because the king set an example to the entire nation that this was an important event to comemmorate the exodus. The second was to show what kind of king Josiah was. He sacrificed of himself so that those who couldn't do it themselves were able to keep the covenant.

The ark is also specifically ordered to stay put in the temple, implying that it went mobile for a while for some reason. Which was not right, because the temple established permanence for God, his people, and essentially the people were not letting God stay put where He needed to be.

Josiah gets all scared when Neco (not Necco) the Pharaoh of Egypt wants to go through Israel to fight someone at Carchemish. Neco's response to Josiah's challenge is very interesting... 

"What quarrel is there between you and me, O king of Judah? It is not you I am attacking at this time, but the house with which I am at war. God has told me to hurry; so stop opposing God, who is with me, or he will destroy you."

God was not only active in Israel, he was orchestrating this war between Egypt and what I guess is Syria. Why? I don't know? Perhaps as judgment on Syria? On behalf of Israel? Not sure, but God apparently had a foreign policy as well. Josiah doesn't consult with God to make sure Neco is telling the truth, doesn't talk to any of his prophets...he just makes assumptions that God could not possibly be working through or using this pagan king.

Josiah's intervention is surprising considering the devotion he had generally in walking in the ways of the LORD. It proves disastrous, and winds up being the death of him. But he interfered in what God was doing.

More on Josiah: 2 Kings 21-23, Entries 

2 Ki. 19: God is Like, Whaaat?

2 Kings 19:27 "But I know where you stay and when you come and go and how you rage against me." 

Hezekiah's staff is understandably distressed by what Sennacherib was saying. Who wouldn't be?Israel had a poor recent history of defending itself. Foreign leaders did whatever they wanted, took what they wanted, and basically pushed everyone around. Why would Sennacherib, "Snatch-Up-A-Rib" as my classmates at Grace Bible College called him, be any different? But Hezekiah at least shows some hope in verse 4 that the LORD could prevent it, where other leaders would have caved instantly.

Isaiah's like, "Don't sweat it, he'll get some bad news, and then get sworded. No big deal."

Sennacherib does what most do who don't rely on the LORD. He depends on his own reputation and past accomplishments, believing they will stand up against God. And of course he believes this, he conquered all these other nations who weren't ruled by God, and frankly, probably did it with God's own power, to set up this showdown.

Hezekiah asks God to show His power and "do his thing" with Assyria, so that the nations would know, realizing that these other gods are not "Gods," but things fashioned by men.

Isaiah relays a message from God concerning Assyria that is pretty vivid. Where Sennacherib assumed he was in control, it is God who will do what he wants. Where Sennacherib exalts himself, God will humiliate him. Where Sennacherib thinks he steps on his own property, it belongs to God ultimately. Where Sennacherib believes he has destroyed morale, God will be their hope.

And perhaps the most damning part of the prophecy is that Assyria won't even have a chance to march on Jerusalem...won't even be able to fire one arrow. And of course, the Angel of God comes in the night, and puts to death 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. Which is just a ridiculous number. And Assyria probably could have conquered Jerusalem with a tenth that number. Numbers are no match for an almighty God. In fact, this tactical blunder probably rendered Assyria powerless, for putting all their baskets in one egg.

And of course, as Isaiah prophesied, Sennacherib was put to death by the sword while worshipping his god Nisroch.

2 Ch. 32: Hezek-ayonara

2 Chronicles 32:31 "But when envoys were sent by the rulers of Babylon to ask him about the miraculous sign that had occurred in the land, God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart."

There's not much I can add to the story of Sennacherib, that I didn't already read about back in 2 Kings 18 and 19. He was the Assyria-hole who came and threatened Judah after the mighty turnaround. Not a good time to come and get rowdy on Israel, after they had just renewed their ties with God. The Bible says that the Angel of God came down and annihilated the Assyrian army, and Sennacherib was kilt off by his sons. Rough end.

What I don't recall reading, however, is this little bit at the end of the chapter about how some Babylonians stopped by to talk to this amazingly wealthy powerful ruler, and because of his pride, Hezekiah was left by the LORD. God tested him, and apparently he did not pass. He did not succeed in this instance, unlike the usual things.

Why tests like this? Wouldn't God's power and influence be diminished by Hezekiah's stammering around and inability to attribute his wealth and power to God?

Further reading on Sennacherib: 09/23/08 Entry

Pr. 25: Solomon's Noteworthy Proverbs

Proverbs 25:11 "A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. "

The men of King Hezekiah felt that the Proverbs of Solomon in this chapter were noteworthy enough to be copied and re-emphasized. Hezekiah, you'll remember, being one of the few good kings in Judah. Perhaps the content of these Proverbs in chapter 25 could shed some light on what he dealt with as king, especially his dealings with Sennacherib.

Remove impurities from your life, and what is valuable remains. What is strong remains, unweakened by junk. (v. 4-5)

It would not be fun to be put in place by someone with higher status than you, in front of other people with higher status than you. Just hold your tongue and don't act like a buffoon. (v. 6-8)

Make sure you have a leg to stand on before you bring someone to court. Another way to not look like a buffoon. (v. 8-10)

Good useful words are like apples of gold. I've heard that song. Remember the pomegranates on the temple and the priestly garb? (v. 11-12)

Don't always hang around at your neighbor's house, they'll get sick of you. (v. 17)

Singing songs to a heavy heart is like pouring vinegar on soda. It doesn't help. The heavy-hearted don't always need cheering up. Sometimes they just need someone to sit there and shut up. See Job. (v. 20)

Your enemy is still a person, and if you treat him like a person, especially when he or she is hungry and thirsty, well, that's just the right thing to do. And they will feel like jerks for being enemies with you. Plus God rewards you! (v. 21-22)

With broken down walls, everything can get in, and everything can leak out. (v. 28)

Is. 1: Israel in Rebellion

Isaiah 1:21 "See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her—but now murderers!"

Isaiah was the prophet in office during the reigns of Judah's Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. 3 out of the four were relatively good men, and wise rulers, Ahaz being the scumbag of the bunch.

Israel has been doing wrong, and Isaiah points it out with very vivid language. I imagine him being very upset, yelling and causing a scene. He compares Israel to Sodom and Gomorrah, the utmost example of depravity and sin. Can you imagine fancying yourself as God almighty's chosen people, His partner in covenant, and then hearing Isaiah say this about you?

God didn't even want anything to do with their supposed acts of righteousness, their sacrifices and their feasts. These events were created with very specific purposes, among those being God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt and from famine. Yet Israel went through the motions, on autopilot, not truly knowing why they were doing what they were doing. God, who was after a person's heart and soul, instead got a burning carcass. And he had plenty of those, and was in need of none (v. 11). Not only was this meaningless to God, it was a giant step further...it was detestable...the worst kind of sin.

God did not want their self-righteous acts, undertaken with the wrong attitude. He wanted true righteousness and devotion from Israel, who prostituted themselves to other gods, violating God's command to serve no other god but Him.

Israel had become that fool described in Proverbs...beaten every time they open their mouth, but they never learn.

Their silver became dross, what was purged from the silver. There was no longer any part of value...they were total rubbish.

So what is Israel to do? Isaiah admonishes them to make themselves clean, to repent and turn whole-heartedly back to the LORD. The deal is that they will be made white as snow. They will be purified from their sins. Where there was crimson, there will be wool.

God makes it pretty clear what will happen either way. If Israel repents, they will be restored to greatness, to righteousness. If not, they will be crushed and beaten. They will burn. Let's see...

2 Ki. 21: Manasseh's 180

2 Kings 21:17 "I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down."

Well, the spiritual prosperity was realtively short-lived. Manasseh, Hezekiah's son, didn't pay attention to how his dad ran the place. But he must have at least seen how his grandfather Ahaz did things. Chapter 21 reads a lot like chapter 16. Manasseh was a reformer as his father was, except for evil. Anything his dad tore down, Manasseh restored. Polytheism, child sacrifice, polytheism, desecrating the temple, shedding innocent blood, Manasseh did it all.

And God, of course, was not pleased. This was Judah. Israel had already failed miserably, and now God threatened to deal with Judah the same way, which is what I think that whole business about the measuring line and the plumb line means. As Samaria was devastated, plundered, and resettled, so will Jerusalem. As Ahab was dealt with, so then will be the leaders of Judah. And wiping out the dish...he wants to remove the contents from it...he will keep the dish. Again, God's commitment to a promised land is emphasized, as is his rebuke of his people who refuse to keep his covenant. Whoever comes in and plunders Judah will be used by God, but will still be an enemy of God.

Manasseh kicks off at 67, and is replaced by his 22-year-old son Amon. Amon is Manasseh part II. He basically walks in the same way as his father. Which is not good. Long-lasting reign? Hardly. Two years after his coronation, he is assassinated by his officials. And this is weird, because the people didn't want him assassinated, apparently, because they in turn murdered Amon's killers. So there was some sense of "an eye for an eye" that remained. Or does that speak to a murderous nature embedded in Judah's culture at the time?

Josiah is installed after Amon.

2 Ch. 33: Manasseh Gets Wreck

2 Chronicles 33:13 "And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God."

The second time through the reign of Manasseh, I wanted to consider what would cause his apple to fall so far away from the tree. Hezekiah may have been a neglectful father, or may have been overstrict, I'm not sure. But a king is a busy guy. Perhaps Manasseh was rebellious, having taken the throne as a youth. He was going to do his own thing, and was going to do it opposite from his dad. 

Manasseh gets a rather interesting description. He essentially replaced God with gods. He went around being as evil as could possibly be. In God's eyes, Manasseh was more evil than those pagan nations Israel was sent to conquer and uproot. And God made efforts to bring Manasseh back, but was ignored. Finally, the Assyrians came and took over, deposing and humiliating Manasseh. On his knees in a dirty dungeon, he humbled himself and repented. And a second 180 is turned. God restored Manasseh to his kingdom, and Manasseh tried to get Israel back with him, but his reputation, and the things he had done made it too late. 

Everything had to be taken away from him in order to get his attention. But in spite of his being more evil than any dude on earth, God managed to get a hold of him and change his life.

Amon was next.

For more on Manasseh, see 2 Kings 21, 9/28/08 Entry.

Ezra 2: Who Returned?

Ezra 2:64 "The whole company numbered 42,360..."

So, chapter 2 is basically a list of people who returned to Israel from exile. And out of however many millions there were, just 42,360 returned? That's quite sad. But this is what happens, this wasting away when the covenant is not carefully followed. They didn't even have their hearts in any kind of a place where God could shed his grace over them as he did during Hezekiah's day.

Israel basically had to completely start over, and they had a very small number to draw from to collect funds and manpower to reconstruct the temple.

The Urim and Thummim makes a reappearance, deciding about eating the sacred food.

I guess I'll get to the point of Ezra later on.

2 Ch. 34: Josiah's Reforms

2 Chronicles 34:19 "When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes."

Josiah, Josiah. The boy king. The eight year old with more sense in him than the legions of men before him. I guess what strikes me most is that in spite of not even having the book of the covenant in his possession, Josiah still manages to do right in the eyes of God. He did a clean sweep of the idolatry and the false religions, and walked in the ways of David...unwaveringly.

How did he do that? Was it just the example left by David? And probably Hezekiah? Was this history and tradition Josiah's "book of the law?" If so, it's a pretty amazing example of being an example. Etc.

For those who say the Bible, especially the OT is too phallocentric, here is Huldah (a pretty name!) the third prophetess since Miriam and Deborah. And that's just who was mentioned by name. I can only assume there were more.

When the book is eventually found during refurbishing the temple, and is read to Josiah, he tears his robes. He is humble. Me? I would probably instantly swell with pride at how well I was doing without said book. Instead, Josiah is heartbroken for the people. And he understands what God will do to those who haven't kept His commands. It's all right there. There's no way around it. Josiah's knowledge of God was deep enough to the point that he knew God would keep His end of the deal. I imagine that Josiah was even more distraught over knowing that the people he loved and served would endure the coming judgments, while Josiah would be buried in peace.

And disaster, as we know, is coming.