2Kings 15:27 – 2Kings 25:30

Overview

Manassah Sacrifices to Moloch

Today’s reading finishes the book of 2nd Kings.  Several kings come and go and each one of them did evil in the sight of the Lord.  Ahaz was the next king and he was wicked.   We also read that the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria.  All of this happened because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God.  Assyria brought people from other countries to settle in the land that the Israelites had once occupied.  They erected their gods and shrines to worship.  In Judah, Hezekiah began to reign.  He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, removing the high places, smashing sacred stones, cutting down the Ashera poles and the bronze snakes.  Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.  The king of Assyria tells Hezekiah that they are going to invade Judah and conquer them.  Hezekiah prays to the Lord for deliverance and God strikes down 185,000 Assyrian soldiers and they flee and not attack Judah.  The prophet Isaiah tells Hezekiah that he will die soon.  Hezekiah accepts his death and cries out to God to be kind to him and remember him and his faithfulness.  God responds by letting him live another 15 years.  Manasseh was the next king reigning in Jerusalem .  He did evil in the sight of the Lord.  He rebuilt the high places, Ashera poles and alters to Baal.  He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists.  This angered God so much that he said he would bring disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.  After Manasseh died, his son took the throne and did the same thing as his father.  He was assassinated and his son Josiah became king when he was 8 years old.  Josiah did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and followed completely the ways of his father David.  He promoted the repair of the temple. The book of the law was found in the temple and read to Josiah.  His response was obedience to God.  He tore down the idols, polls, high places and even destroyed the bones of the tombs on hillsides burned and destroyed.  The book of 2Kings and our reading for the day concludes with Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon invading Jerusalem and carrying off all of the people of  into exile.  The Temple of the Lord and the palace were burned down.

Scripture – 1Kings 3:8-9

7 All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods 8 and followed the practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. 9 The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city they built themselves high places in all their towns. 10 They set up sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. 11 At every high place they burned incense, as the nations whom the LORD had driven out before them had done. They did wicked things that aroused the LORD’s anger. 12 They worshiped idols, though the LORD had said, “You shall not do this.”13 The LORD warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: “Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.”

Observation

The God of Abraham made a covenant with his people.  God kept his promise and he only condition was to obey his laws.  Time after time the people disobey God and then repent.  Eventually they disobeyed God and didn’t repent.  These people were not followers of God.  Most of these people may have claimed to be “God’s people” but their hearts were fixated on self serving pleasures.  They worshiped worthless false gods and sacrificed their children.  The also defiled God’s place of worship.  Everything the people could do to disobey and anger God occurred.  Even after being confronted by prophets of God and terrible plagues being inflicted, the people did not obey.  God cried out for his people to obey and repent but they did not.  Because of this, God fulfilled his prediction that the nation would be destroyed and the people scattered and placed in exile by foreigners.

Application

Many Christians have a “said faith”.  They claim to know Christ but at the same time the secretly do things against the Lord our God.  He knows our hearts.  We can’t fool God.  The Lord says “Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees”  He is our Heavenly Father who loves us and wants to have fellowship with us.  But we need a relationship with God first before we can enjoy fellowship with him. Unfortunately our sin separates us from God.  Romans 3:23 says “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.   The good new is that God loves us has provided a way to pay for our sins.  Romans 5:8 says “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  All we have to do is humble ourselves before God and confess he is the Lord & King of our lives.  Romans 10:9 says “”that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”   Ask Jesus Christ into your life today so you can have a relationship with God and not be separated from God because of your sin.

Prayer

Lord, thank you that you have provided a way for us to have a relationship with you.  You loved us so much that you gave your Son Jesus Christ to be the final sacrifice for our sins.  You know our hearts Lord.  I pray that we humble ourselves and give our lives over to you today.