Times of Transition, Day 38 Purpose. Read 2 Kings chapter 18. This chapter begins with a fascinating story of King Hezekiah and his encounter with the Assyrians. But before those details start, we read about how King Hezekiah essentially cleaned house through the country of Judah. I found this verse really interesting because what was a memorial to an amazing act of God actually had been turned into an idol. The story of the bronze snake that Moses created is a reminder of how God delivered the people. They had been disobedient and God allowed judgment in the form of deadly snakes. When they repented to God, he saved them.…

Times of Transition, Day 37 “They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless.” Read 2 Kings chapter 17. The fall of Israel. As we read this chapter we see the last remaining bit of the country of Israel before it was taken over by the Assyrians. Israel had not had a single king who had followed the Lord. They had persisted in following all of the practices of the evil, idolatrous people of the land. They trusted in their idols to save them and that trust was misplaced. This statement really sums up exactly what happened, “They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless.” We will become what we follow.…

Times of Transition, Day 36 Another new king, another way to do things. Read 2 Kings. Judah had a new king and unlike the previous king, the new king did not obey God. As a result, we see transition happening again. Now, instead of worship happening to the one true God in the temple that he had built, we see worship to many gods happening pretty much anywhere and everywhere throughout the land. There was no regard for anything being holy and no regard for God being truly over everything else. When we make everything in our lives of equal importance, then nothing is truly important. Everything becomes commonplace. We…

Times of Transition, Day 35 Contrary to what we assume. Read 2 Kings chapter 15. As we read through the long list of kings found in second Kings chapter 15, we find so many people who did not follow God’s design and desire for their life. We see how they disobeyed and followed other gods and were ultimately assassinated or captured. Yet we do read of the kings of Judah and this King in particular who did follow God. Knowing that, it seems unusual to me to see that he also had leprosy. Often leprosy was thought of as a punishment for disobedience and yet that was not the case…

Times of Transition, Day 35 Arrogance. Read 2 Kings chapter 14. My Mom used to call it being too big for your britches. It can be easy to overestimate our abilities and come off as arrogant. The King of Judah had done just that. He had won a minor victory and started to think of himself as bigger and better than he was. He challenged the King of Israel, who tried to get him to stop, however he would not be swayed and went to battle anyway. Judah was defeated mightily. We need to understand that God is the one who gives us our strength and our arrogance can only…

Times of Transition, Day 34 Ray of light. Read 2 Kings chapter 13. So many evil kings as we read this chapter. We see the kings of Israel and that their legacy is a result of their lack of obedience toward God. Yet through this entire chapter there is a small ray of light. Even though king Jehoahaz is described as evil and not obeying commands of the Lord, there is a moment where he turns to the Lord and asks him for help and God answers him. Such a wonderful reminder that no matter our situation or circumstance, no matter what our past sins have been, if we will…

Times of Transition, Day 34 Wages for repair. Read 2 Kings chapter 12. With all of the changes in leadership and those kings who followed God and those who didn’t, it’s no wonder that the temple fell into disrepair. Even after trying to get thing repaired, nothing had been happening. So, King Joash took matters into his hands and set up a place for contributions. However, the money wasn’t to pay for supplies, it was to pay the workers. God knows and understands the wages that are due for those who do his work. While that might not always mean that is money, God will never shortchange those who are…

Times of Transition, Day 33 Hidden. Read 2 Kings chapter 11. It’s hard to imagine growing up being hidden from your family because they want to kill you, yet that is exactly the life that Joash knew. From a very small child, he was hidden away because his grandmother wanted to be Queen and killed all of the rest of the family so that she could. When we think about what we have gone through and the circumstances of our life, many of us have been through difficult things. But God brought purpose about for Joash, just as he did for us. The training and the teaching that Joash would…

Times of Transition, Day 32 A good start. Read 2 Kings chapter 10. Jehu made a good start to his time as King of Israel. He brought about the judgment on the house of Ahab that God had foretold. While he did follow the Lord to an extent, he didn’t finish his reign that way. He continued to allow a lot of idol worship throughout the land and his following of God was not wholehearted. Do we fully commit to God? We may start off strong, but it is important to continue strong and to finish strong. Our following of God is to be complete. We must continue to move…

Times of Transition, Day 31 Chain reaction. Read 2 Kings chapter 9. As we read this chapter, it really is a chain reaction of the events of these first few verses. God gives a message to Elisha and Elisha gives that message to one of the profits to deliver. This sets in motion many things that God had already prophesied were coming about, people just didn’t know when. With this one announcement, God moves forward with so many of his plans to be able to address the judgment of the people of Israel. We must continue to be obedient one step at a time. We never know which one action…