Speaker 1: 0:04

Welcome, friends, to Preach it Girl Podcast, where we aren't just sitting around waiting for Jesus to return or Skinny Pop to make us skinny. I mean, those things are bound to happen. But while we wait, join me, auntie Lala, for a jump through the scriptures so lively you'll think they were written just yesterday, not thousands of years ago. And today we are jumping into second Kings with a king, hezekiah. He was a Judean king, after Israel and Judah had split and Israel had already been taken into exile because they had disobeyed the Lord and had turned from their God, who gave them the land in the first place, and started worshiping these other gods that, these other nations who had been displaced by the Israelites. They started worshiping their gods. They were worshiping the gods of the heavens, like you know the moon, the stars. They were doing all kinds of crazy hanky stuff. And the Lord he told them of crazy hanky stuff. And the Lord he told them if you continue to worship the one true God, the God who delivered you from slavery, then I will bless everything that you do, I will protect you from your enemies, I will keep you well, I'll bless the land that you're in so that it will provide you food and financial gain and whatever you need. I am here to help you. I want to be in relationship with you. I love you and I'm going to take care of you. But if you decide to walk away, you have free will and I'll let you. But I love you so much I'm going to warn you in advance that when you're prosperous, don't forget who brought you here, who delivered you from slavery into the promised land dripping with milk and honey and you know what. Oh my God, we're forgetful, y'all so forgetful. And so things had not gone well. But here comes King Hezekiah, and when we look back through all the kings, I mean it's just crazy to go from king to king and this one served the Lord, but this one didn't. I tried to find like a pattern what if the father served the Lord? Would the son serve the Lord too? And it was never a guarantee.

Speaker 1: 2:15

So Hezekiah comes in and it says he pleased the Lord, he honored the Lord, he opened the temple back up, which had been closed, and he had the priests, the Levites, to get everything back together so that they could actually worship the Lord in his temple. He reestablished the festivals. They did a Passover after not having done a Passover. For years and years, hezekiah sent out invitations to not just Judah but all of Israel and invited them come on, come celebrate the Lord and what he has done for us. I mean, hezekiah did it up. They said they partied so hard for the Lord at this Passover for seven days that it was just so much fun. They did it another seven days and Hezekiah, in his generosity, was providing all these animals for sacrifices to the Lord and thanksgiving sacrifices and sin offerings for the Lord, so that the people could be purified and rededicate their hearts to the one true God, the God who actually does things for people, who intervenes in our everyday life. Meanwhile, these other gods that they would worship and sacrifice their children to were impotent. They had no power. It was just crazy stuff.

Speaker 1: 3:31

Here we come into Hezekiah's life. He is this great king. He has brought the people back to faith, because whenever the king worshiped the Lord, the people would follow, and that's why the Lord held the king responsible for leading people to him or leading people away from him. So we got Hezekiah. I like to call him Hezi. He was doing such a good job and anyone that came to attack him, the Lord would deliver them. And so as Hezekiah continued to reign in his kingdom I mean, he was receiving gifts for the Lord, but he was also receiving his own gifts.

Speaker 1: 4:09

And you know what happens when we get kind of rich and well off and things are going great and we're successful, Lord, here it comes we get a little forgetful, we forget how good God is and we actually start attributing our success to us. And I'm not saying you're not out here working to make a paycheck, right, but the Lord enables you to work, gave you gifts when he created you. He created you with a purpose, with an identity, with giftings and maybe it's art or with your hands, or in math and science or whatever it is that kind of tickles your fancy. God put that there and he's equipped you to do amazing things for others through your work. But you know, once we're doing really well, it's easy to forget. And let's just talk about what Hezekiah did. It says he was just doing so well and getting so rich and so powerful that other kings were sending him gifts and tributes. And you know what it says that he got a little prideful, so he did get sick and the prophet Isaiah came to him and said Hezekiah, you need to get your things in order because you're going to die.

Speaker 1: 5:31

Hezekiah knew the power of prayer and the power of God. He broke down and wept bitterly. Isaiah had delivered the message and it says before Isaiah even got out of the courtyard of the palace, god sent him back with a new word. This is what the Lord says I've heard your prayer and seen your tears. You know what. God hears our prayers and he sees every tear. The Lord hears Whenever we turn to him. He is ready and willing to help us. And so that's what Isaiah is telling me. The Lord says I've heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you In three days. You'll be well and you'll live another 15 years. Can God give me a sign that I will know that I'm going to be healed in three days? Isaiah says the Lord could, and you get to pick whether the shadow on the sundial will move forward 10 spaces or move backwards. And Hezekiah was like well, gosh, the shadow always moves forward. Have it move back, because then you know it's the Lord and nothing else gonna do that. And sure enough, the sundial's shadow went back 10 spaces. And not only that.

Speaker 1: 6:40

It says an angel army destroyed 185,000 of the soldiers of the Assyrian army. And when the other soldiers who survived woke up, they were surrounded by corpses Y'all. Can you imagine that? 185,000 corpses. Can you imagine the fear that would have instilled in those other soldiers? You know they got the heck out of Dodge y'all. We's out, because we're not fighting against, we don't even. We didn't even see what happened, but they was just all dead. Wow, I'm going to read a little passage here.

Speaker 1: 7:17

Soon after this, a king of Babylon, soon after all the success of the Assyrian army was defeated, hezekiah got well, and so the Bible says that soon after that, the king of Babylon sent Hezekiah his best wishes and some gifts, for he had heard that, hmm, royal treasuries. There was nothing in his palace or kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them. But Hezekiah did not respond appropriately to the kindness shown him by the Lord and he became proud. He was wealthy and highly honored. He built treasury buildings for his silver, gold, precious stones and spices and for the shields and other valuable items. He also contracted many storehouses for his grain and wine and olive oil and made stalls for his cattle and for his flocks of sheep and goats. In the beginning we see Hezekiah giving all these things away. He was giving precious items to have the temple restored. He was giving his flocks and cattle to the Lord for sacrifices for the people. And now, later in his life, he kept building bigger storehouses so he could store it all up.

Speaker 1: 8:50

And you know what came to my mind when I read that was Jesus, when he was telling the story of the rich fool. Let's get back in there. Let's get back. That's in Luke. So Jesus told them a story. A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops and he said to himself what should I do? I don't have enough room for all my crops in my storehouses. Like, I mean, I guess it never occurred to him to give some away. But he said you know what, I know what I'll do. I'm going to build some bigger ones, some bigger storehouses, and then I'll have more than enough wheat and all these other goods. And I'll sit back and say to myself friend, you have more than enough stored away for years and years. Now, take it easy, eat, drink and be merry is the New Living Translation. But God said to him you fool, you will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for? Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich friendship with God.

Speaker 1: 10:00

So how did this King Hezekiah start off with this fervor and zeal for the Lord that he turned the entire nation back to God and celebrated all that God had done for them and did such a great job for many years Towards the end of his life? He became so successful, so full of pride. Maybe he was giving himself credit instead of giving the Lord credit for how wealthy he was and how well things had gone. I kind of imagine him showing off. I have a feeling he wasn't going. Let me tell you about the time the Lord did this for me. Let me tell you about how this storehouse got full because of all God did for us. Because of his great mercy and kindness, god restored our fortunes. I don't think Hezekiah was saying that. I think he was saying look what I did, and then trying to impress them. And oh, here comes Isaiah with another message from the Lord. Hezekiah, you've done it now.

Speaker 1: 11:05

Then Isaiah, the prophet, went to King Hezekiah and asked him what do those men want? Where were they from? Hezekiah replied they came from the distant land of Babylon. What did they see in your palace? Isaiah asked. It's like the Lord Jesus often asked a question he already knew the answer to. They saw everything. Hezekiah replied I showed them everything. I own all my royal treasuries.

Speaker 1: 11:31

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah listen to this message from the Lord the time is coming when everything in your palace, all the treasures stored up by your ancestors until now, will be carried off to Babylon. Some of your very own sons will be taken away into exile. They will become eunuchs who will serve in the palace of the Babylonian king. That is heartbreaking. And remember how Hezekiah prayed and wept bitterly when he heard that he was sick and might die. You know what he said this time. He said the message from the Lord is good. Why, the Bible says because he was thinking at least there will be peace and security during my lifetime. Y'all, that's a chilling change of heart from where he started, wow.

Speaker 1: 12:22

But King Hezekiah's heart had gotten cold towards the Lord. He wanted to be comfortable. And my, hadn't he been comfortable? And I have to remind myself y'all, and I am sure we all do, it's easy to get comfortable in this country that we live in, that's full of good things. God has been gracious to me in our home and now, you know you go out to dinner and if something's not quite up to par, it's tempting to hmm, this isn't good enough or, excuse me, this wasn't cooked quite right, and we can all fall into this trap. This is a little wake-up call. Don't forget that zeal you had for the Lord when you came to Jesus. Don't forget what pit you were in before you came to Jesus, the times that you've cried out to God, save me. And he did.

Speaker 1: 13:14

Sometimes, if it's a few years ago or a couple of decades ago, we forget and we look around and think, oh, I put all this together. Oh, I'm so talented. You know, I'm making all this money. I'm not y'all, I'm an artist. But all that to say. The Lord is good and he will come to you when you cry out to him. But just don't forget to cry out to him. Don't forget to thank him. Keep that thankfulness fresh. Can you imagine if you didn't have your eyes? Suddenly they didn't work. We take for granted our sight. We take for granted that we're going to wake up the next morning. But we need to thank God for the little things and the big things and remember the ways he has been good to us and that will help us. Let's sum it all up.

Speaker 1: 14:02

So Jesus said a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God. You guys, let's think about that. How can we enliven our relationship with God? Are we rich in a relationship with God, with Jesus? Is there a place where we are taking the credit that belongs to God? Ooh, I don't want to do that. So let's think about that this week.

Speaker 1: 14:26

If God were to test what's really in our heart, what would he find? Because God knows our motivations and our inner thoughts, which is good, because that means he knows you inside and out. There's nothing you can hide from God. So he already knows. So come to him, confess, say I have taken you for granted. Lord, please forgive me. And he does. He promises he will. I mean we just have to turn back. That's what repentance is. It's a lie that I am doing all this on my own. The truth is, god has enabled me and as long as he does, I want to praise him and thank him. So remember that. Another little thought to keep in mind that you know, not everyone that brings you a gift is a giver. They might be coming for something else, like that Babylonian king. They were currying favor with this gift, but they were checking out all he had and one day they were going to take it. So that's something to think about you guys. I love you so much and I can't wait to see you again next time on Preach it Girl.