November 6, 2010

2 Kings 19

When I am up against a horrendous struggle, and it looks like I will be defeated, what do I do? Do I fret in prayer by sending a barrage of requests before the throne? Or do learn to quiet myself before God by resting in the knowledge of who He is? It never ceases to instruct me when I consider the recorded prayers of the people in the Bible. Whether they are in good times or difficult times, usually at least 50% of their prayers focus on nature and acts of God, and another large percentage focuses on how this situation will affect His glory. This certainly the type of prayer that Hezekiah gives:

O Lord God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16“Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. 17“Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18“and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. 19“Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone.

The actual request is only the first half of verse 19. It is as though he is reciting before Him His glory. Does God need us to recite His glory to Him before He will answer our prayers? Absolutely not! Then why does God encourage that type of prayer? There are many answers to that question. One is that we are created to reflect His glory. To ask requests without reflecting his glory is to sidestep the purpose of our very existence. A second answer is that as we reflect upon His glory, we receive what we need to live victoriously in the midst of challenging circumstances.

Look at what he says. “The One who dwells between the cherubim,” what does that mean? The cherubim are placed in the Garden of Eden to defend the way to the Tree of Life. The cherubim are carved into images and placed on the mercy seat in the holy of holies. Ezekiel describes the cherubim as serving the purpose of magnifying the holiness and power of God, one of their main responsibilities throughout the Bible.[1] What is important about that? By declaring this Hezekiah is choosing to stand in the midst of the holiness and power of God. He is reminding himself of how great God is. He is reminding himself that as important as this struggle is in the history of Israel, it is nothing in comparison to the holiness and power of God. He then moves on to the fact that God is God of all kingdoms, even Assyria, even if they refuse to acknowledge it. He rests in the great power of God that He alone created the heaven and earth. He alone is God! What else can Hezekiah do but rest in what God will decide to do? Will I do that? Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor john


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[1]Youngblood, Ronald F.: Bruce, F.F. (Hrsg.): Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary : An Authoritative One-Volume Reference Work on the Bible With Full Color Illustrations. electronic edition of the revised edition of Nelson's illustrated Bible dictionary. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1995



Hebrews 3

We are told to consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus. What is an Apostle? He was one who was sent on behalf of an Emperor and carried all the authority of the Emperor. What was a High Priest. A priest is one who is a mediator between God and man. The High Priest was the chief one in charge. Jesus is the One who was sent on behalf of God the Father with all His authority in order to mediate between us & God. He was completely faithful in fulfilling His duty. What was His duty? It was to build us into a temple to be inhabited by God. Jesus was faithful to take rebellious sinful people like us, remove our sin, give us His righteousness, reconcile us to God, join us together so that we become a house that invites God’s presence. The presence of God can now dwell in us individually and corporately.

Moses was faithful in building his house. The problem was that his house was only successful at revealing the sin of the people. He was unable to bring them into the rest of victory over temptation and sin. That is how Jesus contrasts with him. Jesus not only reveals our sin. He removes it. He gives us ability to be victorious over sin. What Moses accomplished was glorious but Jesus far outshines Moses. Jesus is indeed faithful in making me/us victorious over sin. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John