Read: 2 Chronicles 32:1-33:13; Romans 13:23-16:7; Psalm 25:16-22; Proverbs 20:16-18
Even in Hezekiah’s great faithfulness to the Lord, he was still attacked. We will always be attacked by the enemy whether we are obeying the Lord or weak in our faith. The devil is relentless and is no respecter of people. The way we handle the attack shows the depth of our faith. Hezekiah had great depth of faith. He encouraged his people that God was their defender and that He was able to deliver them. He wisely stopped all water sources outside his city so the Assyrians wouldn’t be able to water their cattle or themselves.
The king of Assyria used intimidation and boasting to weaken the spirits of the men of Judah. Hezekiah and Isaiah both cried out to the Lord and God responded. God’s army fought the Assyrians and won. All their big talk about none of the other gods of other nations being able to stand up against them all crumbled when they faced the true God. The king of Assyria went home humiliated, to be killed by the members of his own family.
God continued to bless Hezekiah and when it was his time to die, he cried out to the Lord and pled his case. God extended his life for 15 years and during that time Hezekiah had his son, Manasseh, who would be his heir and Hezekiah fell into pride and forgot the Lord. Sadly, he didn’t raise Manasseh to love the Lord.
When Manasseh became king he turned the nation away from the Lord and led them to worship all kinds of idols and evil. God sent prophets to turn him back to the Lord, but he refused until he was taken in shackles and led with a hook in his nose to Babylon. There he finally prayed and repented so God brought him back to his kingdom.
Yesterday, Paul talked about unity between the Jews and the Gentiles and today he commended the Gentiles for giving to the aide of the poor Jews in Jerusalem. He reminded the Gentiles that they owed a debt of love to the Jews because their salvation came through them.
Paul asked them for prayer for his own safety with the unbelievers in Judea and that his testimony would be received in Jerusalem where he had faced so much opposition in the past. Paul gives a list of the people he wanted to honor for their service to him and the Church. Paul was an example of a man who stayed faithful till the end.
Lord, may we serve you faithfully to the end of our days.
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