Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20040523.htm

1 AND 2 KINGS: ENJOYING GOD'S BLESSING IN AN APOSTATE ERA
Part LV: Blessing By Learning From God's Discipline Of Others
(2 Kings 18:1-8 with 2 Chronicles 29:1-31:21)
  1. Introduction
    1. When God disciplines us, we know it, for as Hebrews 12:28-29 reveals, our God is a "consuming fire," a God Who can judge with astounding results as is thus to be deeply revered!
    2. However, when we see God discipline others, we can learn from that event to respect and heed God OURSELVES, a truth Galatians 6:1 calls us to apply.
    3. Judah's king Hezekiah exampled how we may thus benefit from God's discipline of others as follows:
  2. Blessing By Learning From God's Discipline Of Others, 2 Kings 18:1-8; 2 Chron. 29:1-31:21.
    1. When Hezekiah came to power, he saw from Israel's recent fall to Assyria that he needed to revere so as fully to follow God HIMSELF, a move that resulted in the purging of both Judah and Israel of idols:
      1. King Hezekiah did what was right before God as David his ancestor had done, 2 Kings 18:1-3.
      2. 2 Kings 18:4a relates he removed the various kinds of pagan idols from the land of Judah.
      3. Well, 2 Chronicles 29:1-31:21 informs us this cleansing was caused by Hezekiah's respecting God from observing Israel's terrible fall to Assyria in divine judgment:
        1. Hezekiah first directed the priests out of fear of God learned from Israel's fall to Assyria to purge the temple of pagan idols to avoid God's wrath on Judah as it had fallen on Israel, 2 Chron. 29:3-11.
        2. Accordingly, he, the land's elders and the priests with the people ended up rejoicing in their worship of God that had come about suddenly by Hezekiah's call for repentance, 2 Chronicles 29:36.
        3. Out of apparent concern for fellow Hebrews who were left in Israel, Hezekiah invited them to come down from Israel and join him in celebrating the Lord's Passover in Judah, 2 Chronicles 30:1-2.
        4. This resulted in a huge gathering of Hebrews from both lands who joyfully celebrated not only for the Biblically required seven day period, but for an additional seven days, 2 Chronicles 30:21-23!
        5. There was never any celebration of God's Passover like it before nor since that time, 30:24-26, 27.
      4. Following this realignment of the hearts of God's people, they spontaneously removed all the pagan idols not only from Hezekiah' Judah, but also from Israel over which he did not reign, 2 Chron. 31:1!
    2. Accordingly, the author of 2 Kings notes Hezekiah trusted and cleaved to the Lord like no other king before nor after him, and he kept God's commands through the man, Moses, 2 Kings 18:5-6.
    3. Then, due to his respect for God, beyond opposing the obvious pagan idols, Hezekiah also destroyed an object GOD HIMSELF had COMMANDED the godly MOSES to make for Israel's welfare in its relationship with God, and that because the people had come to misuse it as an IDOL, 2 Kings 18:4b:
      1. Hezekiah broke in pieces the bronze serpent Moses had made centuries before because the people were making offerings to it as though it were a god, 2 Kings 18:4b.
      2. In light of history, this was a bold move: that object had come to exist by God's command to Moses so the people could look to it in faith and live though having been bitten by fiery serpents, Num. 21:8-9.
      3. However, though the object came to exist by God's command to MOSES, and though the godly Moses had made it for ministry to Israel in her relationship to God, since the object had become an IDOL opposite God's WORD in Exodus 20:3-5, Hezekiah treated it as but a "Nehushtin," or "a mere piece of bronze" to be destroyed as a false, man-made idol in his era, Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to 2 Kings 18:4.
    4. Accordingly, God richly began to bless Hezekiah in his reign as king in Judah, 2 Kings 18:7-8: he began to gain victory over domination by and troubles with pagan nations about him, cf. Deuteronomy 28:1, 10.
Lesson: Hezekiah learned from Israel's fall to Assyria to respect God so fully so as to heed His Word so well, he not only led God's people to worship Him fully and to rid the land of obvious pagan idols, he even rid the land of an IDOLATROUS USE of what had ONCE been an object in GOD'S SERVICE!

Application: (1) May we learn from God's discipline even of OTHERS to respect so as to HEED His Word to the FULL. (2) May we so closely heed God that we rid ourselves of even "sacred cows" of ANYTHING that we use for our security or trust that replaces the unseen God of Scripture Himself! These things could be items that ONCE were GOOD but which we have come to MISUSE as IDOLS!