Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it…. Then Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king. (2 Kings 22:8, 10)

2 Kings 22 starts the story of Josiah, one of better kings of Judah. In his time there was a wonderful repentance and revival in Jerusalem and all of Judah. These verses show us that it started when they found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.

It’s sad to think that they ever lost God’s word – that it has to be found. According to Deuteronomy 31:24-27, there was to be a copy of this Book of the Law beside the ark of the covenant, beginning in the days of Moses. The word of God was with Israel, but it was greatly neglected in those days.

It was so neglected that 2 Kings 22:8 has to tell us, he read it: It seems remarkable that this was even worthy of mention – that the high priest found the word of God and a scribe read it. That was news worth writing about!

Better yet, Shaphan read it before the king. We see that the word of God spread. It had been forgotten and regarded as nothing more than an old, dusty book. Now it was found, read, and spread. We should expect some measure of spiritual revival and renewal to follow.

Through the history of God’s people, whenever the word of God is recovered and spread, spiritual revival follows. It can begin as simply as it did in the days of Josiah, with one man finding and reading and believing and spreading the Book.

Another example of this in history is seen in the story of Peter Waldo and his followers, sometimes known as Waldenses. Waldo was a rich merchant living in the 12^th century who gave up his business to radically follow Jesus. He hired two priests to translate the New Testament into the common language and using this, he began to teach others. He taught in the streets or wherever he could find someone to listen.

Many common people came to hear him and started to radically follow Jesus Christ. He taught them the text of the New Testament in the common language and was rebuked by church officials for doing so. He ignored the rebuke and continued to teach, eventually sending his followers out two by two into villages and marketplaces, to teach and explain the scriptures.

The scriptures were memorized by the Waldenses, and it was not unusual for their ministers to memorize the entire New Testament and large sections of the Old Testament. The word of God – when found, read, believed, and spread – has this kind of transforming power. Read it and believe it today!

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Kings 22

 

Special Note: During this season of the Coronavirus, I’m doing a special daily devotional on YouTube. Click here for today’s video devotional.

Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the LORD. (2 Kings 21:16)

Manasseh was one of the worst kings in the Bible, and his evil reign made judgment upon God’s people certain. Here in 2 Kings 21:16 we read of one of his worst sins – he persecuted the godly people of Judah.

The description, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood puts Manasseh in the same spiritual family as Ahab, king of Israel. Under both of these kings the people of God were persecuted by the false religion of state-sponsored idolatry. The extent of it was so great that it could be metaphorically said, he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another with the blood of his victims.

We see the tragic progression in Manasseh’s sin.

First, idolatry is tolerated among God’s people. 2 Kings 21 tells us the people of God didn’t care about Manasseh’s wickedness and they were seduced by him.

Then idolatry is promoted. Manasseh did that by allowing forbidden altars and places of worship to the idol gods of the neighboring people.

Then idolatry is supported and funded. Manasseh paid for those forbidden altars and even honored pagan gods at the Lord’s temple.

Then the worship of the true God is undermined. When the leaders of a culture reject and replace the worship of the true God, most people follow their example. Faithfulness to the Lord becomes unpopular.

Then the worshippers of the true God are persecuted and murdered. Their godliness and faithfulness are offensive to those who have rejected God. Many in the culture find even the presence of godly people to be unbearable.

Finally, the judgment of God soon comes. God answers from heaven, zealously guarding His glory and avenging the blood of His martyred people. All the evil Manasseh did, he did it in the sight of the LORD. God saw it all and He would not forget.

It’s true – Manasseh did much evil in the sight of the LORD. By tradition, one of the evils done by Manasseh was the murder of Isaiah the prophet. Many people think that Hebrews 11:37 (they were sawn in two) is a reference to the martyrdom of Isaiah.

Reading how bad it was in the days of Manasseh makes us think of our persecuted brothers and sisters all around the world who face terrible persecution. It seems that there is not a week that goes by without reading about believers being murdered just because they were Christians. In the western world, we are grateful that we don’t face the same – but we recognize that it could come.

Today, remember to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters all around the world. Remember that whatever evil is done to the people of God is done in the sight of the LORD – it doesn’t escape His view.

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Kings 21

 

Special Note: During this season of the Coronavirus, I’m doing a special daily devotional on YouTube. Click here for today’s video devotional.

So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “Will there not be peace and truth at least in my days?” Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah— all his might, and how he made a pool and a tunnel and brought water into the city— are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? So Hezekiah rested with his fathers. Then Manasseh his son reigned in his place. (2 Kings 20:19-21)

Through the prophet Isaiah, God warned King Hezekiah that judgment was coming upon his descendants. Hezekiah had a strange reaction, saying the word of the LORD which you have spoken is good. This was a sad state of heart in the king of Judah. God announced coming judgment, and all he could respond with was relief that it would not happen in his lifetime.

In this, Hezekiah showed himself to be almost the exact opposite of an “others-centered” person. He was almost totally self-centered. All he cared about was his own personal comfort and success. Hezekiah didn’t care if His sins helped to bring judgment upon his descendants, just so long as it spared him.

Yet, these verses also tell us of something good Hezekiah did. He made a pool and a tunnel and brought water into the city of Jerusalem. This was an amazing engineering feat. Hezekiah directed the building of an aqueduct to bring fresh water inside the city walls even when an army surrounded the city. It was more than 650 yards long (643 meters) through solid rock, begun on each end and meeting in the middle. It can still be seen today, and it empties into the pool of Siloam. If you have never walked through Hezekiah’s tunnel, it’s a lot of fun – just remember you’ll walk through the water that still flows in the tunnel and it’s really dark.

At the end of it all, Hezekiah rested with his fathers. There is no doubt that Hezekiah started out as a godly king, and overall his reign was one of outstanding godliness (2 Kings 18:3-7). Yet his beginning was much better than his end; Hezekiah did not finish well. God gave Hezekiah the gift of 15 more years of life, but the added years did not make him a better or a godlier man.

Time or age doesn’t necessarily make us any better. Consider that time does nothing but pass by, hour by hour and day by day.

We sometimes say, “Time will tell,” “Time will heal,” or “Time will bring out the potential in me.” But time won’t do any of these things. Time will only come and go. It is only how we use time that matters. Hezekiah didn’t make good use of the extra time the Lord gave him. God helping us, in Jesus we can make better choices, and finish strong in our latter years.

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Kings 20

Special Note: During this season of the Coronavirus, I’m doing a special daily devotional on YouTube. Click here for today’s video devotional.

And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What is the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD the third day?” Then Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing which He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees?” And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees; no, but let the shadow go backward ten degrees.” So Isaiah the prophet cried out to the LORD, and He brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz. (2 Kings 20:8-11)

2 Kings 20 begins with Hezekiah, king of Judah, as sick with a serious illness. Then Isaiah the prophet brought him a startling announcement: God told King Hezekiah that he would soon die, and he needed to set his house in order. Hezekiah prayed, begging God to spare his life.

God answered Hezekiah’s prayer, and told him he would have fifteen more years to live. Yet for some reason, the king wanted more than a word from the prophet. He asked for a miraculous sign, and he asked, what is the sign that the LORD will heal me?

God showed even more mercy to Hezekiah. God was under no obligation to give this sign. In fact, God would have been justified in saying, “I said it and you believe it. How dare you not take My word as true?” But in real love, God gave Hezekiah more than he needed or deserved.

God shows the same mercy to us. It should be enough for God to simply say to us, “I love you.” But God did so much to demonstrate His love to us (John 3:16, Romans 5:8).

Curiously, God promised to do something completely miraculous for the confirming sign. He promised to make the shadow on the sundial move backward instead of forward. This sign fit perfectly for Hezekiah.

By having the shadow of the sundial move backward, it gave more time in a day – just as God gave Hezekiah more time. We don’t know how God did this miracle, but He did. Just like a clockmaker can turn back the hands of a clock he makes, so God turned back time – or the appearance of time – for Hezekiah. He had 15 more years.

No matter how the miracle happened, 2 Chronicles 32:25 tells us that Hezekiah did not respond rightly to this gift of healing: But Hezekiah did not repay according to the favor shown him, for his heart was lifted up; therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem.

Has God given you more time? Don’t be proud; be humble and honor God. God has shown us so much favor in Jesus Christ! May we always respond to God’s gifts with humility, and never with a heart lifted up in pride.

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Kings 20

Special Note: During this season of the Coronavirus, I’m doing a special daily devotional on YouTube.
Click here for today’s video devotional.

“Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria:

‘He shall not come into this city,
Nor shoot an arrow there,
Nor come before it with shield,
Nor build a siege mound against it.
By the way that he came,
By the same shall he return;
And he shall not come into this city,’
Says the LORD.
‘For I will defend this city, to save it
For My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’” (2 Kings 19:32-34)

After all the threats from the enemy and prayers to the LORD, God finally brought His answer to King Hezekiah. Through the prophet Isaiah, God assured the king: He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there… for I will defend this city, to save it. With this word, God plainly and clearly drew a line. Although the Assyrian military machine was ready to begin a siege against Jerusalem and ultimately crush them, they would not. The king of Assyria would not come into this city because God promised to defend it.

It is hard for modern people to understand the horror of an ancient siege, when a city was surrounded by a hostile army and trapped into a slow, suffering starvation. King Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem lived under the shadow of this threat, but God’s promise through Isaiah assured them that Sennacherib and the Assyrian army would not only fail to capture the city but would not even shoot an arrow or build a siege mound against Jerusalem. God promised that they wouldn’t even begin a siege.

Why? Why would God defend Jerusalem in such an amazing way? God said He would do it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake. God would defend His own glory. Often, we unnecessarily think that we must defend the glory of the LORD. But that isn’t really the case. God is more than able to defend His own glory.

Yet notice that God also did it for My servant David’s sake. King David had died almost 300 years before this, but God still honored His promise to David (2 Samuel 7:10-17). God defended Jerusalem, not for the city’s sake at all – Jerusalem deserved judgment! But He did it for His own sake and for the David’s sake.

This principle applies to everyone who has put their faith in Jesus Christ. In the same way, God the Father defends and blesses us, not for our own sake – we deserve His judgment – but He does it for His own sake, and for the sake of Jesus. We don’t have to come to God on the basis of what we have earned or what we deserve. Instead, in Jesus Christ, we come to God on the basis of who Jesus is and what He has done.

The Father will save and rescue the believer – for His own sake, and for the sake of Jesus Christ, the Son of David.

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Kings 19