Thurs.’s Devo - The Last Kings

Read: 2 Kings 17:1-18:12; Acts 20:1-38; Psalm 148:1-14; Proverbs 18:6-7 The end of the kings was the end of God’s patience with the people who refused to honor him. Hoshea of Elah became king of Israel. His name and where he came from means “to save by a goddess” which just about summed up his worship. He did evil in the Lord’s eyes though not as bad as the kings before him. He was attacked by King Shalmaneser of Assyria and forced to pay high taxes. He got tired of paying them and hired King So of Egypt to help him shake free of Assyria’s power. The king of Assyria found out his plan and put him in jail. Then he invaded the land of Israel and took Samaira and settled the people in colonies in Halah. (Sounds like today’s FEMA camps.) Halah means “painful: fresh anguish”. All this happened to Israel because they had chosen to worship other gods than God Almighty. God sent prophets and teacher but they killed them and listened to false prophets instead. They rejected all the commands of the Lord and followed Satan’s worship. God swept them away and the people were replaced by Assyrians who didn’t know how to worship God in his land. God sent lions to kill and terrorize them. When they complained to the king, he sent priests from exile to teach them how to worship the Lord. They added the worship of God to their own pagan worship. Meanwhile in Judah, Hezekiah became the king after Ahaz. He was a good king who rid the land of pagan shrines, Asherah poles and the bronze serpent. Hezekiah trusted in the Lord and was faithful to the Lord like David was. He revolted against the king of Assyria and refused to pay him tribute and he conquered the Philistines. He was in his fourth year of reigning in Judah when Israel was attacked by King Shalmaneser of Assyria and Samaria fell. In Acts, Paul began a journey back to Jerusalem. While in Troas, he was preaching late into the night when a young man fell from the third story. He was dead until Paul embraced him. He came back to life and had no injuries. This was an omen of Paul’s future. He was on his last neck of his life but he would die and be resurrected and that was his joy. Paul’s goal was to reach Jerusalem in time to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. His traveling days were over and he reflected back over his journey. He had preached the truth, suffered for the truth and finished his course. He knew that suffering and death lay in before him yet he was not afraid. He knew that great infiltration and hard times were ahead for the Body of Christ. His hope was to prepare them and strengthen them for the tests they had coming. God is preparing us for these last days where there will be many trials yet great outpourings of his Spirit. Our best days are ahead of us. Lord, we face the future with anticipation and joy.