Read: 2 Kings 17:1-18:12; Acts 20:1-38; Psalm 148:1-14; Proverbs 18:6-7
The king of Judah was Ahaz and the new king of Israel was Hoshea which were both evil kings Hoshea decided to stop paying Assyria tribute which caused Assyria to invade them, put him in jail and lay siege to Samaria, their capital. The king of Syria eventually moved Israelites out of Samaria and replaced them with people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim. The real reason all this happened was because Israel had turned away from God. In Deuteronomy 28 we have the conditions of the curse of turning from God. In verse 25 it says that they would be smitten before their enemies and removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. This is exactly what was happening.
The people must have been crying out to the Lord because God sent Judah a godly king in Hezekiah. His grandfather was the priest, Zechariah. He cleaned up the idolatry in Judah. It says that there was not another king like him before or after him that obeyed God like he did. God gave him success in whatever he tried. He refused to honor the king of Assyria.
While Judah was experiencing the blessing of God on a nation who makes God their king, Israel was another story. Under King Hoshea’s reign, the Assyrians marched against Samaria and played siege to it. This is the result of rebelling against God.
In Acts, the Jews are constantly trying to take Paul out. He manages to escape every time because God is not through with his ministry. Paul feels compelled to go to Jerusalem knowing that prison and hardships await him. Paul was not afraid of discomfort. He gave his farewell speech to his disciples in Ephesus and prayed for them.
Ministry is rewarding but sometimes hard and sad. Paul was not afraid of what men could do to him, his goal was to please his heavenly Father.
Lord, help us to be like Paul and know that every trial we go through is worth it.
No comments:
Post a Comment