Monday, July 14, 2008

Cover to Cover


Hi here's some thoughts that lingered after this weeks chronological reading of the Bible hosted by Bev.


We started out Monday with Isaiah trying to tell the people of Jerusalem that their problem was because they were not seeking God and heeding to what He was telling them

It really got my attention in Micah 2: that God especially hates premeditated sin. 2:1 "Because it is in the power of their hand" was referring to the fact that it is easy to refrain from sin when we are never around it but that when it is right there before us and we refrain - we especially make God proud.

In Kings 17-19 We learn about how the people feared the Lord but served other gods.
When Hezekiah was 25 he became king. And one of the 1st things he did was to destroy the bronze serpent (Named Nehustan) that Moses had made somewhere around 800 yrs earlier. Then Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and so Hezakiah sent a messenger to Lachish (about 30 miles s of Jerusalem) and saying he would pay whatever to get them to back his off. He did this thinking that if they did what they wanted that it would make them stop. But it doesn't work that way does it. If you give in once they come back for more, which they did. So next the Rabshakeh (Army leader) comes and tries to get Hezekiah and his people in fear, and even talked to the people in their Jewish language, trying to get them to surrender. He was saying what makes you think your God will save you look at all of these places I have over taken. He went on and on.
2 Kings 18:32-35
"Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, 'The LORD will deliver us.' 33 Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? 35 Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?"

Well Hezekiah got pretty fed up with it went to the Lord and prayed to him about it. He wanted God to hear what the Rabshakeh said and take offense to it, and God did.

Isaiah prophesied about it and made it know that the Lord did hear what the Rabshakeh had said and did take offense to it and would take care of them, which He did in a big way.

Because Hezekiah was obedient to pray, God took care of them. How many opportunities to pray have we missed?

There were more things that struck me as I read this week, but the overall point that I was seeing was that God was telling them (us) to seek Him to come to Him. To lay down idols and trust in Him.
But isn't that always what He wants from us? :)

This was a good week of reading.
Have a Blessed Week.
Lynn

3 comments:

Bev Brandon @ The Fray said...

awesome post!
Micah 2:1 - I will remember what you said like forever I hope---for a very long time. I just wrote it down in my Bible. It resonated in deep places in my heart.
thanks for your encouraging comments!

annette said...

I so appreciate your reminder about how they feared God AND they held on to their idols. The house isn't big enough for both, God says over and over. You made me think about the idols I need to tear down in my own life, Lynn. Thanks for your words of encouragement and treasures you share. Love to you, Annette

debrah said...

Amen and Amen! Today (Friday) ..the call, lou engle will be on GodTv - I think it is a prequel to the August event they will have in D.C. calling our nation to prayer...I am not sure of the time. Since I am not real familiar with the Call or Lou Engle what caught my attention was Calling Our Nation to Prayer.
Again thank you for another great post.
In His Love,
Debrah