Be Strong and Take Confidence in Our God! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Chronicles 32:14b,

"How then can your god deliver you from my hand?"

These words were spoken by Sennacherib, the King of Assyria against the God of King Hezekiah of Judah.

When word came to Hezekiah that Sennacherib was invading Judah, he encouraged the people by telling them, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles." Verses 7-8.

Hearing what Hezekiah had told his people, Sennacherib tried to shake the confidence of the people of Judah by reminding them of all of his conquests, and that the God of Judah could not possibly save them from his hand.

Where Sennacherib had conquered pagan nations whose "gods" could not save them, Judah's God was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Here is what happened: "King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this. And the Lord sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the commanders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons, his own flesh and blood, cut him down with the sword." Verses 20-21.

Sennacherib had no idea who he had aligned himself against. In his arrogance of not knowing, he attempted to challenge the confidence of God's people.

While we are not facing the same type of context as Hezekiah and the people of Judah in his day, the very same thing takes place today. People who do not know God attempt to shake the confidence of God's people.

Every vestige of God's presence in our nation is under attack. Copies of the commandments of God are removed from courtrooms. Christmas displays in the pubic square are removed, coaches are fired for daring to pray with their students before games, and on and on. Those who are on the attack have no idea who it is they are opposing. One day they will. 

God's people have no cause for fear, no cause for dismay today. Just as in Hezekiah's day, our God stands by our side.

Take heart and be encouraged!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

What Made Hezekiah Incredibly Successful - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Chronicles 31:3-4,

"The king [Hezekiah] contributed from his own possessions for the morning and evening burnt offerings and for the burnt offerings on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals as written in the Law of the Lord. He ordered the people living in Jerusalem to give the portion due the priests and Levites so they could devote themselves to the Law of the Lord."

I note in both these consecutive verses a reference is made to the "Law of the Lord". Hezekiah was instrumental in bringing what was left of the nation back to the Lord by cleansing and consecrating the temple, reestablishing the temple worship, and re-instituting the Law of the Lord in the land. King Hezekiah stands out as a wonderful leader in the history of the nation of Israel.

"The Law of the Lord" refers to what we have in our Bibles. The first five books, the "Pentateuch", written down by Moses (and, no, not some scissors and paste extravaganza envisioned by unbelievers who hold to the J, E, P, D theory of its origin, the "documentary hypothesis" in a ridiculous attempt to discredit Moses' writings) provides direction in the reforms Hezekiah brought to the nation - reforms to put the nation back on course with what the Lord intended for his people.

King Hezekiah took direction from the Bible. 

As believers today, rather than "rolling-our-own" flavor of what we might imagine our Creator may want from us, we need to use the Scriptures for the purposes God revealed them in the first place. We only need to know what our Bibles have to say and give ourselves to what they have to say.

Of course, this means we need to crack them open and read for ourselves what the Lord has to say. I can't think of a better use of our time.

Hezekiah did.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

This Is Why We Pray! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Chronicles 30:18-20,

"Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, 'May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone who sets their heart on seeking God—the Lord, the God of their ancestors—even if they are not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.' And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people."

This passage is not one to be overlooked!

Just following Assyria's devastation of the northern ten tribes of Israel, Hezekiah became king of Judah. At the start of his reign he turned the people from idolatry to the Lord. He had the temple cleaned of the ritual filth that the previous idolatry had brought, had it consecrated and restored the temple worship. Hezekiah then sent out messengers throughout Judah and to all those remaining in Israel after the Assyrian destruction to invite everyone to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover and worship the Lord.

In our above passage we see that many had not purified themselves first (a ritual cleansing required by the Lord) but celebrated the Passover nonetheless. Where in the past the Lord had brought his judgment on those who ignored the Lord's prescriptions in such issues (such as when King Uzziah entered the temple to burn incense, when only priests were allowed and the Lord subsequently struck him with leprosy, 2 Chronicles 26:16-21), Hezekiah prayed to the Lord to pardon those who had not ceremonially cleansed themselves before eating the Passover.

The Lord answered Hezekiah's prayer and "healed the people"! Here is yet another example of one of the Lord's servants praying to the Lord, and the Lord changing his direction as a result. No other understanding can be gleaned from this passage than that the Lord responds to prayer and will at times take another direction that he might normally have taken.

This is why we pray!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Priorities Acted Upon In Timely Fashion - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Chronicles 29:3-6,

"In the first month of the first year of his reign, he [King Hezekiah] opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired them. He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side and said: 'Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary.'"

King Hezekiah was Judah's thirteenth king following the dividing of Israel into two kingdoms. He was a good king and was recognized for turning Judah back to the Lord after his father's rebellion.

I note that Hezekiah took this action at the beginning of his reign in Judah. "In the first month of the first year of his reign..." Priorities! Some things in life should precede others, and worship of the Lord rises to the top. The people rejoiced when the temple worship was restored so quickly.

Of course, it brings to my mind the priorities I set for myself personally. Where does the worship of my Savior fit into the things that consume my life? Where does my pursuit of him in prayer and in the Scriptures fit into the things that consume my life? Where does my reverence and devotion for the Lord fit into the things that consume my life?

I suspect this question of myself should be a perennial one that helps me order my life in a way that pleases my Lord as I establish my own priorities - priorities that are acted upon in a timely fashion as Hezekiah did.

I'm quite certain Hezekiah would ask, "What is so important? Why wait?"

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

God Responds to Opposition - Ruminating in the Things of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Chronicles 27:5a,

"Therefore the Lord his God delivered him [King Ahaz of Judah] into the hands of the king of Aram. The Arameans defeated him and took many of his people as prisoners and brought them to Damascus."

Ahaz, Judah's twelfth king, earned the Lord's wrath because, "He followed the ways of the kings of Israel..." He practiced pagan idolatry, sacrificed his own children in fiery offerings to non-existent "gods" and a number of other things that brought misery to the entire nation.

God responded.

How is it assumed today that when horrible things happen, God has nothing to do with them? God had his purpose for Judah in Ahaz's day, and when Ahaz took the nation in another direction God responded.

We are told that there is no authority that exists on planet earth that God has not established. "... for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." Romans 13:1. It sounds to me that God is every bit involved in nations today as he has ever been.

If this be true (and it certainly is!) then might we not expect God to interact with various nations, such as ours? When we turn our collective back on God, why would we not expect God to respond?

Today God is building his kingdom. In that effort God created the nations we have just for that purpose, "From one man he [God] made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us." Acts 17:26-27

When a nation veers in a direction that is opposed to the building of God's family, his kingdom, why would we not expect him to respond in the very same manner he has in the past to those who opposed him?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

Seeking the Lord - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Chronicles 26:5b,

"As long as he [King Uzziah] sought the Lord, God gave him success."

Uzziah was Judah's tenth king following Israel's split. He is considered one of Judah's eight good kings, but as some of the other "good kings", not consistent throughout his life.

We are told in verse 8, "The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful." That power led to his eventual fall. We read in verse 16, "But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.

Burning incense in the temple was assigned by God to the priests of Israel, not the king. His pride led to his destruction. As he stood in the temple with a censer ready to light, he was struck with leprosy and eventually died from it.

"When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the Lord had afflicted him. King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house— leprous, and banned from the temple of the Lord. Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land."

The key to the successes Uzziah had was directly due to his seeking the Lord, and the failure of his life was directly due to his ignoring the Lord's desires.

It is my firm belief that we share in the successes of God's people when we seek him. Conversely, when we cease seeking the Lord, those successes slip from our hands. Jesus taught, "seek first his [God's] kingdom and his righteousness".

The writer of Hebrews tells us, "without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6.

Success in this life is directly related to our efforts at seeking the Lord.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.

The Level of Our Passion for the Lord - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Chronicles 25:,

"He [King Amaziah of Judah] did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly."

An example is provided us that manifested King Amaziah's concern for following the Lord. When he executed the officials who had murdered his father, he did not put their children to death in deference to the Law given Moses.

However, he also did some things that displayed a lack of total commitment to the Lord. He hired a hundred thousand fighting men from the rebellious northern ten tribes of Israel, a move that prompted the Lord to send a prophet with a warning. He also seized the idols of Edom and set them up as his own gods, verse 14.

Amaziah was inconsistent in his devotion to the Lord. Jesus observed that the greatest command was, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment." Matthew 22:37-38. Clearly, Amaziah fell far short in his heart for the Lord.

In his letter to the Laodiceans, Jesus said, "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Revelation 3:15-16.

Perhaps we would do well to take stock from time to time and measure our own devotion to the Lord. From our daily schedules to the allocation of our resources, how does our passion for the Lord measure up?

Our reverence, our devotion, our passion for the Lord should be clear to all. Something to think about...

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.