Wed.’s Devo - Consequences - Good and Bad

Read: 2 Chronicles 32:1-33:13; Romans 15:23-16:9; Psalm 25:16-22; Proverbs 20:16-18 Hezekiah had restored the worship of God the way the law had commanded. This had stirred up Satan who he sent the king of Assyria to fight him. Hezekiah heard he was coming and finished building the walls around Jerusalem and gave orders to stop the flow of the Gihan Springs that ran outside the walls so the Assyrians wouldn’t find water when they came. He also manufactured many weapons and prepared for war. He encouraged the people by telling them that the king of Assyria may have a mighty army but they had the Lord on their side and he was not a mere man. *** The king of Assyria sent messengers to tell the people of Jerusalem he was coming and that they shouldn’t think that their God would be able to defeat them. They had come against many gods of many people and had defeated them so why did they think their God was any different. They shouted these taunts in Hebrew so the people could understand them and it would put fear in their hearts and weaken them. *** Hezekiah and Isaiah cried out to the Lord and he sent one angel who destroyed the whole Assyrian army. King Sennacherib returned home in disgrace and was killed by his own sons. Other nations heard of what happened and gave Hezekiah gifts honoring and fearing him. *** Hezekiah became deathly ill and cried out to the Lord who healed him and gave him 15 more years to live. During those years he became prideful and God had to humble him. He also sired a son named Manasseh who would become the next king. During those years he was visited by the ambassadors of Babylon. He pridefully showed them all the wealth of his kingdom. God sent Isaiah to tell him that one day all he had foolishly showed the Babylonians would be there’s. Hezekiah humbled himself and God said it would not happen in his lifetime. (You can read more about this in 2 Kings 19-20.) *** Manasseh was the one who would bring judgment to Judah. He was an evil king who worshipped Baal and undid all the good his father had done. He brought idol worship back into the Temple of God and practiced child sacrifice and all the perversion that goes along with idol worship. God sent prophets to turn Manasseh around but he ignored them and walked in his own rebellious ways. Finally, the Assyrian army (the ones that God had defeated when Hezekiah asked for help) came and took Manasseh with a hook in his nose and chains on his feet to Babylon. While he was in prison he humbled himself before the Lord and God brought him back to Jerusalem and he was able to rule again knowing that God alone is God. *** Romans is written to the church at Rome. Paul was greatly desiring to visit them but he had go to Spain and stop by Jerusalem to drop off an offering for the poor first. The Gentiles wanted to repay the believers in Jerusalem because they felt they owed them for the knowledge of salvation. Paul asked for their prayers that the people in Judah that opposed his message would not harm him and that the believers there would be willing to accept the gift from the Gentiles. *** Paul then gave a list of people he wanted to honor for their service to the Lord and to him. These were fellow workers who put their life on the line just like Paul to help him in spreading the Good News. *** Lord, it is evident in your word that what we do with our lives matter for generations. We can have a legacy of faith or one of compromise. Help us to stand tall for You and not waver and to remember that greater are You in us than he who is in the world.