Bible Reading Challenge Week 21 Day 3

Our reading challenge for the day is 2 Kings 16-20. I’ll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant? 2 Kings 16 - See how Ahaz often does evil by taking what God has ordained and trying to improve upon it. How often do we wish to be innovative? 2 Kings 17 - There is a very strong condemnation of Israel. They were destroyed because of their sin. Destruction because of sin is a serious matter. Yet I fear we are too quick to jump to a conclusion that all evil happens to people because of their own sin individually. Here notice that the judgment falls upon the entire nation, though there were doubtless various righteous people, as there were many true prophets in the time of Ahab. God brings judgment on the entire group of people here. May the Lord have mercy. 2 Kings 18-19 - The commanders of Assyria come against righteous king Hezekiah in Judah and threaten him. Moreover they assert that God is not able to deliver Judah out of their hand. This unnerves Hezekiah. Yet God defends his own name, defeating Sennacherib and he troops of Assyria. We pray that God’s name may be hallowed. Do we realize that he is able to protect his interests? Let us never lift ourselves up against his will. 2 Kings 20 - In his illness Hezekiah seems to have given up on protecting Judah against her enemies. God promises him another fifteen years of life but Hezekiah sets the stage for the fall of Judah to Babylon. May we have grace to walk carefully, never giving away the future because of the present.