Good in Dark Times

2nd Kings 18

Have you ever seen someone who was just doing great things. Not only were they doing good to people and life was going good but this person was just an awesome Christian leader. They followed after the Lord, they were not afraid of saying that and then all of sudden dark times come around. Hope seems to fade. People are not so sure of this good leader anymore.

In this chapter we see this new king of Judah rising up as another type of David but yet the big giants of the North were about to make his life miserable. 

Hezekiah- Another David

We read that Hezekiah began to reign when he was 25 and he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. This is something we see most of the kings of Judah doing but there is something different about this one. In verse 4 we read that he did remove all the high places. I had to re-read that, he was the one that not only did what was right as a person but made true reform happen for the nation. No more idol worship was his saying and he even crushed the bronze serpent that Moses used to heal the people (Numbers 21:4-9) because the people were worshiping that too. “Enough is enough!” he said. 

This king also did not need to worry about the big giant army of the Assyrians. He broke his ties with them. He trusted in the Lord as his deliverer and not any human. We see that the previous kings would make alliances with other surrounding nations like the Assyrians or Syrians because they needed help from the big guy. 

Assyria and goodbye Israel (The Northern Kingdom)

We get another look at what happened to the Northern kingdom, Israel. The Assyrians besieged Samaria for 3 years and then destroyed it. They took the captive Israelites back to Assyria. This was going to happen because of the life that Israel was living. OUt of all their kings and over 150 years, they never followed after God. It would seem that the split was not against the Judaen king but against God himself because the kings never turned to follow him. Even when God sent two might prophets, Elijah and Elisha, the kings never realized their pride and turned to God. 

We see though in verse 13 something that does not seem right. The Assyrians now are turning to take of Judah. They already have been attacking some fortified cities and all that is left is Jerusalem. When reading you can think, “How can this happen, Hezekiah is a good man who loves God?” How come God is allowing this to happen?  All of a sudden we read that the Assyrian messenger starts to mock the king and God about being delivered. He then shouts for all the people of Jerusalem to hear how the Assyrians will make their lives miserable but if they make peace, life will be good.

God Shows Himself in His Timing  

We do not know yet what is going to happen but we will see in the future what God is going to do. We see though that God wants his children to have faith in him. Sometimes we think of faith as a magical force that will protect us from harm but we know that this is not true when we read the Bible. Joseph had faith in God but he was still sold into slavery and went to prison for being falsely accused. We read in the New Testament about the disciple all being persecuted as the preached Jesus Christ. They were beaten and then killed but they had faith through it all. 

God allows tribulation so our faith can be tested (James 1:2). Jesus even said, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).” It is would seem that God should have just kept the Assyrians from ever coming into Judah’s territory but he wanted to show the people who He is. He wanted to show them that he is capable of taking care of a giant army. He is going to show Jerusalem that you can put your trust in him and not in man. God will show himself in time but there will be a little suffering for growth to take place. Next time those trials come trust the Lord. He will show himself in his timing.