"For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments which the Lord had commanded Moses." 2 Kings 18:6
I have great memories of bringing my children out into the ocean waves for the first time. I guess I saw it as a fatherly type responsibility, sort of like teaching them to ride a bike. I would let them warm up a bit by playing with them in the ankle deep water, and then I would take them in my arms and venture out into the deeper water and the bigger waves. I can still almost feel the octopus suction grip they would have on me as we would get knocked by the waves. There was always fun and laughter as long as my grip was strong on them, and theirs on me.
To me this gives a great picture of one of Judah's best kings, Hezekiah. The word tells us that as Judah's king, "there was none like him", and we are told the main reason why, "he held fast to the Lord". And so we have a great picture of Hezekiah, one of the best and strongest kings, clinging tightly to his God, like a child clinging to his dad in the waves.
Hezekiah became king in a very difficult time. His father was a horrible king, who promoted idolatry and even went so far as to board up the temple. Also during that time, Assyria was a powerful enemy that kept threatening Hezekiah. The young king was indeed venturing out into the bigger waves, yet we see he was bold and strong because he clung to God.
We are living in days of rough and choppy seas. Our tendency might be to remain on shore, or to stay in the safe ankle deep water. But we all know that the Lord would call us to the adventure of greater depths and bigger waves. Its important to remember, His call it not to the waves, but to His arms, and He will never be shaken, nor will He ever fail. What a blessed lesson we learn from good king Hezekiah, who was a good king because in the midst of difficult days, "he held fast to the Lord".
Monday, September 26, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Don't Move The Furniture!
2 Kings 16:10 ".....and saw an altar that was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the design of the altar and its pattern, according to all its workmanship."
King Ahaz had been in Damascus, and while there he took a liking to an altar that he saw in one of the pagan temples. He sent the design of the altar back to a priest in Jerusalem, who built a replica of that altar and put it in the temple in Jerusalem. God had given Moses the exact plans for the tabernacle and altar and all the utensils used for worship and sacrifice. Now, Ahaz in his pride saw an altar that fit his tastes better and figured he could replace that which God had designed.
It is always a danger for us to try and develop a god of our own making, to create in our own imaginations a god that suites our tastes better than the true God. God has revealed Himself to us in His word and through His Son Jesus Christ. There are many things God has revealed of Himself that may not be fashionable in society today. At times it gets difficult, as we who trust in the revelation of God's word, might be called intolerant, closed minded, simple, or foolish. The temptation might be to try and spruce up the gospel, to add something to it, or tone it down a bit, so that it might be more palatable to the world.
Ahaz saw an altar in the world that seemed to fit him better than the altar God had planned. We don't know all of the kings motives, perhaps the Damascus altar was more up to date, or more attractive to the world's eyes, or maybe he fell into the trap of thinking that if its new its better. This much we do know, the king clearly felt the altar of the world was better than the altar designed by God. Ahaz eventually began changing the whole temple around so he might worship the way he wanted, and finally just closed the temple off completely.
I pray that we may all be grounded and steadfast in our faith, for we are under constant pressure from every direction, to "update" our God, or to "modernize" our beliefs. Our God is perfect, we need to resist the temptation to move the furniture so as to make Him fit us better.
King Ahaz had been in Damascus, and while there he took a liking to an altar that he saw in one of the pagan temples. He sent the design of the altar back to a priest in Jerusalem, who built a replica of that altar and put it in the temple in Jerusalem. God had given Moses the exact plans for the tabernacle and altar and all the utensils used for worship and sacrifice. Now, Ahaz in his pride saw an altar that fit his tastes better and figured he could replace that which God had designed.
It is always a danger for us to try and develop a god of our own making, to create in our own imaginations a god that suites our tastes better than the true God. God has revealed Himself to us in His word and through His Son Jesus Christ. There are many things God has revealed of Himself that may not be fashionable in society today. At times it gets difficult, as we who trust in the revelation of God's word, might be called intolerant, closed minded, simple, or foolish. The temptation might be to try and spruce up the gospel, to add something to it, or tone it down a bit, so that it might be more palatable to the world.
Ahaz saw an altar in the world that seemed to fit him better than the altar God had planned. We don't know all of the kings motives, perhaps the Damascus altar was more up to date, or more attractive to the world's eyes, or maybe he fell into the trap of thinking that if its new its better. This much we do know, the king clearly felt the altar of the world was better than the altar designed by God. Ahaz eventually began changing the whole temple around so he might worship the way he wanted, and finally just closed the temple off completely.
I pray that we may all be grounded and steadfast in our faith, for we are under constant pressure from every direction, to "update" our God, or to "modernize" our beliefs. Our God is perfect, we need to resist the temptation to move the furniture so as to make Him fit us better.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)