29:7 - Talk about heartbreaking...the chosen people of God who had been set apart as a holy priest nation to show God to the world have completely forgotten about Him. They have barred the doors to the temple and do not even have practicing priests. Reminds me of times in my life when things have gone so smoothly that I start to forget about my desperate need of God's presence.
29:10 - I'm glad Hezekiah wants to renew the covenant with God, but come on...why does God keep getting into a covenant relationship with these people? For the same reason He keeps forgiving me. God is our gracious creator/father and He wants to b in community with His children.
29:36 - I thought this was cool because it tells us that God was providing for the people, even when they had turned their backs on Him. Do you see what it says - "Even though the sacrifices all came about very suddenly, God has provided greatly for the people." God poured out blessings on his people in the midst of their sin because of the future worship it would bring.
30:5 - The people of God had forgotten who they were - Hezekiah brings back the Passover so that they will remember their great heritage and return to God with all their hearts. It is always important to remember your story with God...to think on what the Lord has done for you.
32:7 - Great line! This could be right out of some great ancient war movie. Imagine it in the gravely voice of Leonidas from "300" - "With Sennacherib is merely and arm of flesh and blood, but the Lord our God fights with us!" This applies to basically every spectrum of life. What is there to fear or worry about when you understand that you walk with the Lord.
32:19 - They treated God as if He were some sort of false, man-made idol...this was utter blasphemy...it is offensive to think that the creator of the universe is some human created construct. Even Christians should be very careful to treat the name of God with great reverence...we shouldn't use His name as an exclamation or curse - we would not exist without Him.
32:25 - The full story of the illness is told in 2 Kings 20:1-10. The king gets sick and begs for more life to get his house in order (probably because he knows his son is evil, but that is next chapter), and God gives him another 15 years. Unfortunately, the king celebrates by walking the Babylonians around and bragging about all the wealth he has. He repents of his pride which saves Hezekiah from destruction, but sets the kingdom up to fall after he is gone. Leaders have got to finish strong.
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