5 “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city... Read more

5 Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. 6 He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. 7 And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. -2 Kings 18:5-7 What made King Hezekiah unique? He trusted in the Lord. Unlike many of Israel’s kings, Hezekiah... Read more

40 They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. 41 Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did. -2 Kings 17:40-41 Have you ever found yourself excusing the wrong things you do by saying, “I’m not hurting anyone”? We like to think that our wrongs only hurt us and that this somehow makes them more acceptable. However, the Bible offers... Read more

2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the... Read more

He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done. -2 Kings 15:34 Jotham was not perfect, but was marked by one key trait in Scripture: “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done.” In the end, we will not be evaluated for our wealth or even our wisdom, but rather how we are viewed from God’s perspective. Unfortunately, most people live... Read more

26 The Lord had seen how bitterly everyone in Israel, whether slave or free, was suffering; there was no one to help them. 27 And since the Lord had not said he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash. -2 Kings 14:26-27 God cares. Even in Israel’s darkest hours, the Lord saw their suffering and saved them. There was no reason he should have continued to intervene. The... Read more

4 Then Jehoahaz sought the Lord’s favor, and the Lord listened to him, for he saw how severely the king of Aram was oppressing Israel. 5 The Lord provided a deliverer for Israel, and they escaped from the power of Aram. So the Israelites lived in their own homes as they had before. 6 But they did not turn away from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit; they continued in them. Also, the Asherah pole... Read more

6 But by the twenty-third year of King Joash the priests still had not repaired the temple. 7 Therefore King Joash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and asked them, “Why aren’t you repairing the damage done to the temple? Take no more money from your treasurers, but hand it over for repairing the temple.” 8 The priests agreed that they would not collect any more money from the people and that they would not repair the temple themselves. 9 Jehoiada the... Read more

Jehoiada then made a covenant between the Lord and the king and people that they would be the Lord’s people. He also made a covenant between the king and the people. -2 Kings 11:17 When Jehoida the priest helped restore the rightful king to the people of God, it included a covenant. This covenant, or commitment, included two parts: one part to God, and one part between the king and the people. As Christians, it’s easy to focus on making... Read more