2 Kings 17:24-41
24 And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. 25 And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the Lord. Therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.” 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the Lord.
29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived. 30 The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 They also feared the Lord and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. 33 So they feared the Lord but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.
34 To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the Lord, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel. 35 The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, “You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, 36 but you shall fear the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. 37 And the statutes and the rules and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to do. You shall not fear other gods, 38 and you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not fear other gods, 39 but you shall fear the Lord your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” 40 However, they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner.
41 So these nations feared the Lord and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children's children—as their fathers did, so they do to this day.
Israel and Judah are in chaos. And really only have peace when they trust God to make sense of their environment. We could even say the Kingdom is in Middle Age and leaning towards Glory.
I noticed as I worked in my twenties and looked at various businesses in Dallas, employers tend to really take care of the workers with them from their youth and as they hit middle age, they begin to see their employees as replaceable cogs. God is upset with these times, for good reason Chapter 17 starts out with In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, and Ahaz has built a foreign altar to decide his fate and has sacrificed his son to a god of prosperity.
When my mother visits she esquires about all the people she has met in her decades here, mostly the news is bumpy about the people we know. Leading to my mom remembering what we routinely put up with in today - is the horror of her youth. People starting families without marriage. People passing on. The times, events of life will swirl you.
We can draw from these experiences. Come to the Word of God and draw deeply. We have times in our lives we feel pressed down. Other people not living the dream. And c'mon when we say living the dream, these days we mostly smile in understanding, rather than the V victory sign.
Out of these times... out of this pressing down... the bad parental advice...the politics...the monetary situation ... the hopelessness... the next King of Judah... will be the most prosperous and aligned with God - ... Hezekiah. Hezekiah has endured. Ahaz, evidently, did not sacrifice Hezekiah to his god. Hezekiah, with the help God has given him in Isaiah, Isaiah's Third King, - is going to form such a working relationship with God that even archaeology today has riches to see and to be in joy this occurs.
Psalm 57
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.
2 I cry out to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
3 He will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
Psalm 57
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.
2 I cry out to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
3 He will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
We all get a choice, go with the flow, or rise up in expectation that God Reigns. These times have so much to yearn for old days, and have glories in true Worship - we just did not see.
You shall not fear other gods, but you shall fear the Lord your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.
2 Kings 18
In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.
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