Thur.’s Devo - Change Does Not Come Peacefully

Read: 2 Kings 20:1-22:2; Acts 21:18-36; Psalm 150:1-6; Proverbs 18:9-10 Hezekiah got a fatal womb and was dying when Isaiah came to him and told him to put his affairs in order because he was going to die. Hezekiah presented his case before the Lord and received mercy. God sent Isaiah back to tell him that he would recover. God would add 15 years to his life and rescue Jerusalem from the king of Assyria. When Hezekiah asked for a sign, Isaiah told him to pick which way the he wanted the sun dial to go because he was going to change it 10 steps. He decided he wanted it to go back. I found an article about NASA’s quest to find a missing day in history. They found it in the stories of Joshua 10:12-13 and Hezekiah. They found that in Joshua’s day 23 hours and 20 minutes were added and in Hezekiah, 40 minutes were added making a day which explained their missing day in the universe. The king of Babylon sent messenger to Hezekiah with his wishes of recovery. Hezekiah proudly showed them every bit of his wealth and his kingdom. When they had gone, Isaiah came to visit. When Hezekiah told Isaiah all he had shown Babylon’s men, Isaiah rebuked Hezekiah and told him they would come and take it all. Some of Hezekiah’s own posterity would be made eunuchs in Babylon’s palace. This would happen after Hezekiah died and he was glad of that. I don’t know if Hezekiah had sons or not but the one that became the king was born in his 15 added on years. He was only 12 when Hezekiah died and his name was Manasseh which means “causing to forget”. He did cause the people to forget all the ways of his father. He brought back in all the idolatry his father had been so diligent to destroy. He out-sinned the kings before him and did wicked detestable things shedding much innocent blood. He was king for 55 long years. His son, Amon followed in his footsteps. He was assassinated by his own men and his son, Josiah was made king. Josiah was only eight but reigned 31 years doing what was pleasing to the Lord like David. In Acts, Paul was accused of teaching Jews to ignore the laws of Moses. Paul was innocent and tried to prove it but there was a conspiracy against him. A riot followed and Paul was dragged out of the Temple and the doors shut. The Roman soldiers intervened and took Paul and asked the crowd what was going on. The crowd grew so angry that the soldiers had to put Paul on their shoulders to keep him from being killed. The crowd was yelling, “Kill him, kill him.” This reminds me of what they did to Jesus. It is always the religious system that hates the new wine. Lord, prepare us for the days ahead. May we be ready to give an answer for the God that we serve.