Skip to main content

2 Kings 20:12 It sounded so reasonable at the time - Day 311

Good afternoon friends,

Westminster Shorter Catechism question 39. What is the duty God requires of man? Answer the duty God requires of man is obedience to His revealed will.  God's revealed will is the moral law.  Adam had one law - don't eat from that tree.  He failed.  Moses gave Israel the ten commandments which they generally failed to do.  But these failures were still part of God's sovereign will.  Man can fail to obey the moral law, but he cannot get outside of God's sovereign will.  Glory by to God.

Blessings,

Jeff

Another interesting episode in the life of Hezekiah.  A predecessor of Nebuchadnezzar sends envoys to Hezekiah because his illness had been reported all the way to Babylon.  Hezekiah tries to impress the envoys by showing all his riches.  

Solomon had done much the same when the queen of Sheba came for a visit.  So he had some president for his actions.

David had sent envoys to a neighboring kingdom when their king died.  The son disgraced the envoys.  Again, there is a president for receiving envoys with respect.

So what is different about this occasion?  

Despite some "good" kings including Hezekiah, the downward slide of Judah has continued.  Of course, none of this is a surprise to God.  This is an example of convergence of foolish choice of a man and wise plan of God.  Hezekiah freely tries to impress a pagan nation which is the means by which God's plan to send Judah into exile is clearly announced.  If Hezekiah had not done this, Judah was still going to wind up in exile in Babylon.  However, God is sovereign over the means as well as the ends.  Hezekiah is morally accountable for his actions even though they are what God ordained to happen.

In terms of temptation, Hezekiah was lured and enticed by his desire to look good to the king of Babylon.  Instead of being content with his place, he gives into the temptation.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2 Chronicles 33:7-9 Thoughts on Davidic covenant - Day 362

Good morning faithful readers, The finish line is in sight!!!  One of the themes of scripture is that God is a covenant keeping God.  There are many between God and man. Adam, Noah, David are examples.  Covenants are more than promises.  They are made between a superior and inferior with conditions for each side and blessing and penalties based on keeping the conditions.  These are covenants of works which fallen man was unable to keep.  Thanks be to God that the Father made a covenant of grace with Christ, the second Adam, which he fully kept. Blessings, Jeff The promise in v8 was made to David when he had planned to build the temple and God promised to build him a house forever. (2 Sam 7:10).  Seems like there are only two possibilities about Manasseh's disobedience.  Either he knew of this covenant that God had made with his 13th great grandfather and chose to disregard it, or he didn't know of it and was unaware of the penalty.  Let's con...
Post a Comment
Read more

2 Chronicles 30:16-20 Hearts set to seek the Lord - Day 359

Good morning fellow members of the household of God, After writing the devotional, I am thinking about the Passover as a household event.  In ancient Israel, the physical household of man was covered by the blood of the lamb.  Now, it is the spiritual household of God that is covered by the blood of the Lamb. Blessings, Jeff The account of the greatest celebration of Passover since time of Solomon (v 26).   Observations: One of the things that made this one great is participation of some of the tribes from the northern kingdom.  Israel was a united kingdom and Solomon and now toward the end of the northern kingdom, there is at least a semblance of being united. God allows some exemptions: Who offers the sacrifice:  The original Passover was a family by family sacrifice of a lamb.  However in  Deuteronomy 16:5-6 this changed to a centralized location once they entered the promised land.  (You may not offer the Passover sacrifice within any of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Revelation 22:3-5 Final and eternal restoration - Day 365

Dear saints in the Lord, Congratulations!  You made it.  We have been through much turmoil in the last year ('20-'21).  But God is faithful to His promises.  I trust that you have been blessed in your reading and have drawn closer to God.   Since we didn't get the blog up and running at the beginning of the challenge, I am going to go back and post entries to cover that first month or so.   Blessings, Jeff Nothing accursed in the city of God, the new Jerusalem.  The presence of sin will be gone.  I am working on memorizing Westminster Shorter Catechism and currently on question 82.  Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God? No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God but does daily break them in thought, word and deed. I think our passage today points to the truth of this question.  Do you notice how this answer is not exactly the same as the question. "Any man" bec...
Post a Comment
Read more