A little rebellion goes a long way...

When I sat down to read some scripture tonight I opened my Bible to the book of 2 Kings.  For many years in my Christian life, I didn't read the Old Testament.   I realize now how much I was missing out!  After all that God has taught me through the Old Testament scriptures I am now a lover of the Old Testament.  In fact, I would say that I've studied it more than the New in the past few years.  The truths I've learned about God and His character have transformed my life.

Now, back to 2 Kings.  Tonight I read the story of King Hezekiah.   Hezekiah ruled the Southern Kingdom of Judah for 29 years.   It was during Hezekiah's reign that the Northern Kingdom of Israel was taken captive by the Assyrians and deported.   Assyria then set its sights on the Southern Kingdom of Judah, and its king.

As I began to read how scripture characterized Hezekiah, here are the attributes that struck me:

2 Kings 18:5  "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.  He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow Him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses.  And the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook.  He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him."

Lets look at these verses in more detail.  First of all, it is no accident that the first thing listed about Hezekiah is his faith.
       HEZEKIAH TRUSTED IN THE LORD THE GOD OF ISRAEL.

Not only do we see this statement of commendation, but we also see the FRUIT of Hezekiah's faith:

1)  He held fast to the LORD
The Hebrew here literally means "to cling to, to be united, to cleave, to be stuck together."  Hezekiah hung to the LORD for all he had.  Think about what Hezekiah's heart attitude had to have been like in order to desire God in such a way that he clung to Him for dear life.  He was stuck on God.

2)  He did not cease to follow Him
If you think about it, this to is an amazing fruit of the faith Hezekiah had in God.  He followed God wholeheartedly and consistently.  As I ponder my own life and choices, I can't honestly say that I've always followed God.  I definitely detoured from the path for a period of my life.  My detour wasn't what you'd think.  I didn't decide to try all of the pleasures the world can offer.  Instead, I just began to act as though following Him and clinging to Him wasn't all that important.  Doing things my way seemed more comfortable.

3) He kept the commands the LORD had given to Moses
The word here for "kept" really means:  "to keep, to observe for oneself, to cling to, be secured"
Did you know that the NEW Testament is full of commands for the believer in Christ?  Yes, Christ has set us free from the law, but Jesus Christ gave some pretty clear commands.  The first and foremost is found in Mark 12:30-31:  "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength...and love your neighbor as yourself."   Have I kept that command?  Paul's epistles are full of commands for the Christian i.e.  Follower of Christ.    In different letters, God, through Paul, Peter, James and John, tells us that we should:  be humble, be patient, be doers of good, live in the light, avoid sexual impurity, be slow to speak and slow to anger, pray continually, be thankful in all circumstances, give to the poor, forgive one another, be gentle, don't use foul language, come together in fellowship regularly, be doers of the word and not hearers only....
Of course, all of these should not be followed with a legalistic attitude.  Jesus Christ rebuked the Pharisees for such behavior, because they weren't following the law for the right reasons.  LOVE compels us to keep His commands.  Love that is fueled by Faith.  Faith is the key to keeping God's commands.

4)  He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.
It is very clear that Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, did not serve God.  In fact, he despised God and openly rebukes God to the Hebrew people.  So, if he didn't serve God, then who did he serve?  Okay everybody, now is the time for a Sunday School answer.  Everybody, all together now---Satan.  The Bible makes it clear that we cannot serve two masters.  We either serve God by trusting and obeying Him, or we serve Satan by doubting God and walking in our own path.  As I read the rest of Chapters 18-19 in 2 Kings, I became so aware that ultimately this was a spiritual battle.  The King of Assyria was out to put doubt in the minds of the Hebrew people.  Over and over again he taunts them and says that their God cannot deliver them from the armies of Assyria and the king's power.  Hezekiah refuses to listen.

Did you know that we actually get the green light to rebel against someone?  Alright all you teenagers out there, put your rebelling to good use!  We can REBEL against Satan and REFUSE to serve him. 

If you look back in the chapter toward the beginning, you see that Hezekiah tore down ALL of the idols and "high places" where idol worship took place.  Many kings before Hezekiah obeyed God and did good, but they never tore down or destroyed these places of idol worship.  If you look at the preceding kings, those who "did right in the eyes of the LORD" did not cleanse their kingdom but instead: "The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there."  Not Hezekiah.  He rebelled against Satan and would not serve him.

Wow!  If that isn't faith in action I don't know what is!

So, these are the questions that come to my mind as I consider these verses and have prayed to God about what he taught me:

1)  Would I describe myself as a person who clings to God and never ceases to follow Him?  What actions or false beliefs are hindering me from being described this way?
    For example, if I am believing the lie that God really doesn't love me, my actions will reflect what I believe.  I will choose other ways to "earn" love from others and I won't follow Christ.

2)  Am I keeping Christ's commands?  Do I want to keep His commands??  If I am keeping them, what is my motivation for following them?  Is it love or legalism? 

(As I ponder the actions that come from legalism, I think that many of us have to be very careful that the sin of pride doesn't rear its ugly head.  If you keep reading Hezekiah's story, you will see that pride is his downfall.  It is not only his downfall, but ultimately the downfall of the entire southern kingdom.   If we are haughty and holier-than-thou, we are not rebelling against Satan.  Instead, we are cooperating with him.  Be on guard for a prideful, legalistic attitude.)

3)  Is there an area of my life where I am believing the lies and doubts that the enemy is shouting out at me daily?  (Read 2 Kings 18:17-36 for more insight.)  One of the verses I absolutely love from this passage is 2 Kings 19:14.  Sennacherib sends a second message to Hezekiah saying: "Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, 'Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.'  Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all countries, destroying them completely.  And will you be delivered?"  Can you believe such insolence toward our God??  (Actually, it happens everyday on our television!)  When Hezekiah receives this message this is what he does: "Hezekiah received the letter..and read it.  Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.  And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD."

I love the description that Hezekiah spread out the lies and insults of the enemy before the LORD.  How many of us go before God and just spread it all out before him and hold no secret back!  How many of us tell him about our struggles with areas of sin and oppression from our enemy (Satan)?
We need to follow Hezekiah's example here.  God knows about all of our stuff anyway, we might as well confess it to Him out loud and ask for help!

Hezekiah ends his prayer with these words, "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands.  They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, FOR THEY WERE NOT GODS but only wood and stone, fashioned by mens' hands.  Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God."

There you have it.  A fine example of a prayer of faith.  Does God answer his prayer of faith?  If you want to know the end to this story, just read the rest of chapter 19!

4)  Is there sin in my own life and in the lives of others that I condone?  In what areas have I let society and the reasoning mind of humans dictate what I should believe?  Lets all think about that one long and hard.   Think about what it truly means to follow Christ and cling to Him.   Jesus made it clear that we are not of the world, and the world will hate us, because it hates God.  The Hebrew people in this story did not cave in and believe the insults and lies Sennacherib was throwing out at them about Hezekiah and their God.  Hezekiah refused to believe his lies.

Fellow Christian.  You have an enemy.  He is real.  His purpose is not only to make you doubt God.  He seeks to "kill, steal, and destroy."  He wants to destroy your effectiveness for God.  He wants to destroy your reputation, your family, your godly friendships, your walk with God.  If he can get you to doubt anything about God (his character, his provision, his love, his holiness), then you are cooperating with him instead of rebelling against him.  I know, I've been there.


If you are reading this and haven't accepted Christ:  you have an enemy.  He is real.  His purpose is to keep you from coming to know Christ through faith.  He will put every doubt possible in your mind so that you don't come to Christ.  Faith is the key to salvation.  Satan does not want you saved.  Doubt is his primary tool.
My prayer is that we will stop believing the lies, stop doubting God and begin to trust in the LORD the God of Israel.  Like Hezekiah, let our faith in God be our most defining attribute.  I REALLY want it to be said of me:  "KRISTIN TRUSTED IN THE LORD THE GOD OF ISRAEL.  She held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow Him.  She kept all the commands the LORD has given.  She rebelled against Satan and did not serve him."


It all boils down to faith.