In The Word
Read: 2 Kings 20-21
Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery
20 In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Set your house in order, for you are going to die and not live.’” 2 Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, 3 “Please, Lord, just remember how I have walked before You wholeheartedly and in truth, and have done what is good in Your sight!” And Hezekiah wept profusely. 4 And even before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 5 “Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David says: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I am going to heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. 6 And I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will save you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will protect this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”’” 7 Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” And they took it and placed it on the inflamed spot, and he recovered.
8 Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I will go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?” 9 Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will perform the word that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?” 10 So Hezekiah said, “It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but have the shadow turn backward ten steps.” 11 Then Isaiah the prophet called out to the Lord, and He brought the shadow on the stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.
Hezekiah Shows Babylon His Treasures
12 At that time Berodach-baladan, a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, because he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 And Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the balsam oil, the scented oil, the house of his armor, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. 14 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.”15 Isaiah said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them.”
16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: 17 ‘Behold, the days are coming when everything that is in your house, and what your fathers have stored up to this day, will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.18 ‘And some of your sons who will come from you, whom you will father, will be taken away; and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Is it not good, if there will be peace and security in my days?”
20 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he constructed the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 21 So Hezekiah lay down with his fathers, and his son Manasseh became king in his place.
Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah
21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places which his father Hezekiah had destroyed; and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, just as Ahab king of Israel had done, and he worshiped all the heavenly lights and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.” 5 He built altars for all the heavenly lights in the two courtyards of the house of the Lord. 6 And he made his son pass through the fire, interpreted signs, practiced divination, and used mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger. 7 Then he put the carved image of Asherah that he had made in the house of which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. 8 And I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will take care to act in accordance with everything that I have commanded them, and with all the Law that My servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they did not listen, and Manasseh encouraged them to do evil, more than the nations whom the Lord eliminated from the presence of the sons of Israel.
The King’s Idolatries Rebuked
10 Now the Lord spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, 11 “Since Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations, having done more evil than all that the Amorites did who were before him, and has also misled Judah into sin with his idols, 12 therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, I am bringing such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that whoever hears about it, both of his ears will ring. 13 I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem clean just as one wipes a bowl, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 And I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and hand them over to their enemies, and they will become as plunder and spoils to all their enemies, 15 because they have done evil in My sight, and have been provoking Me to anger since the day their fathers came from Egypt, even to this day.’”
16 Furthermore, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin into which he misled Judah, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord. 17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did, and his sin which he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 18 And Manasseh lay down with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza, and his son Amon became king in his place.
Amon Succeeds Manasseh
19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, just as his father Manasseh had done. 21 For he walked entirely in the way that his father had walked, and served the idols that his father had served, and worshiped them.22 So he abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord. 23 And the servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house. 24 Then the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place. 25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 26 He was buried in his grave in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah became king in his place.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
In yesterday’s devotional we learned the right way to pray, and today, we see the power of prayer clearly. God told King Hezekiah that he would soon die, but because Hezekiah wanted to live, he prayed to God to heal him and to extend his life. God not only healed him, He also promised to protect the kingdom from the enemy’s attacks.
By Hezekiah’s example, we learn two important principles about prayer that are also taught in James 5:16 stating, “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” First, the word “effective” comes from the Greek word energeo that means “to work effectively,” and it is where we get the word energy. This shows us that the prayer that moves God is active, full of passion and energy, and will not give up. Jesus teaches us about passionate, persistent prayer in Luke 18 where it says, “To show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.”
Second, the words “righteous man” mean that we show, by our lives, that God’s holy standard is so important to us that we put it in consistent practice in every area our lives, just as Hezekiah did. We are not just to pray to God when we are in desperate need of answered prayer; this shows that He is only important to us in certain situations when we want to get something from him. If you want your prayers to “accomplish much,” than make sure they are full of energy and passion and fueled by a righteous life.