Spiritual Tactical Advice

October 22, 2015 Year B

2 Kings 20:12-19

The king Hezekiah made a serious mistake by allowing the king’s son of Babylon to see everything in the temple of Jerusalem. This was a tactical mistake. Hezekiah essentially allowed top secret information to be passed into the hands of the enemy (2 Kings 20:12-15).

There are tactical consequences to this foolish decision. But Isaiah revealed that there were spiritually top secret decisions as well which were disobeyed. The temple was not just a place for worship, it was a spiritual war room. The people were called for service to be on duty and alert. They were to listen to God and obey His commands.

Instead, the king stopped listening to his Spiritual Battle Commander. He allowed the enemy into the camp. This would lead to God’s people being shipped away to a foreign land in exile (2 Kings 20:16-18). King Hezekiah mistook God’s prophetic word  as one that would lead to peace and security for himself (2 Kings 20:19).

The king miscalculated. He thought that what he was doing was not a problem. He trusted in his own judgment without consulting Isaiah first. Instead of getting spiritual tactical advice about whom he should share information, he left it to himself to decide.

We make this same mistake. Sometimes we make spiritually tactical mistakes. We don’t consult God. We think everything that we do can be safe. We need to take this event as a warning. We need to be careful about how we make decisions without consulting advice. We need to ask for spiritual tactical advice from God.

Prayer: God, please never let me forget to ask You for help when I make decisions.