In the days of Nebuchadnezzar

 

2 Kings 24:1-7

 

November 26, 2021

 

 

In his days, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.  And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldeans and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servants the prophets.   Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the Lord, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done,  and also for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord would not pardon.   Now the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?   So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.  And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

 

I must deal with one area before we go any further, do you believe the God of the Old Testament is very harsh and non-loving and the God of the New Testament is a more loving and gentle God?  If so, let Scripture pop your bubble.  In Malachi 3:6, “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.“  And in James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

 

We lived in a time of instant gratification and many believe that they and God are a lot the same.  Many have walked an aisle in a church, or been baptized as a baby, or gone through catechism classes and put their faith in that action and yet they continued to be no different in their actions toward God or man.  A little lie or a little cheating on my wife or in business or on taxes was not going to send one to hell, was it?  I’m moral most of the time, I do not like some of those Bible thumpers, who seem to always be against anyone that believes that abortion or the LGBT if the Bible says is wrong.  I’m more open, and Jesus loves everyone and I’m sure He is ok with a little wrong?

 

That guy may be you, most do not give it that much thought but what does the Scripture say Jesus will do to those people when He returns?  2 Thessalonians 1:5–10, give a very clear account; “This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering—since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you,  and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.   They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed because our testimony to you was believed.”

Let me end by telling you who have chosen to put faith in yourself or some doctrine that differs from the Scriptures, Jesus and the Father or One, and they do love you no matter, your color, race, or past sins, and desire for you and everyone to seek them, and agree with them that you have a real need of forgiveness and confession.  The Holy Spirit will hear your prayer of repentance and when you agree, (that confess) your sins and agree you need all that Jesus who died for your sin has to offer, you will be forgiven.  And that is not my thoughts, God’s word has been spoken in Romans 10:9-10, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.   For with the heart, one believes and is justified, and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved.”

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

 

Jehoahaz's Reign and Captivity

                                                                     2 Kings 23:31-37

 

November 23, 2021

 

 

Jehoahaz's Reign and Captivity

Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.   And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.  And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.  And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there.   And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.

Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah

Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.   And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.

Dad’s, what a message to us, Josiah was a King who obeyed the Commandments and laws of God to the best of his knowledge, but he dropped the ball being a dad.  It reminds me of the pastor who always made time for the people of the church but never had time to see one of his kid's ball games or take them on a vacation trip.  And they ended up being the kids that rebelled against both God and man.  I had a Vice President of a very large utility Company whom I had taken to lunch with a few of the people who worked for him that never got invited to lunch.  I did not know him and I now understand this was all the Lord doing, the invite and my asking if we could take some of the young guys that never got invited to lunch to go with us and also the question I ask him before our lunch was brought.  

 

This was the question; Is there anything you would change about your getting to be vice president that would be helpful to these younger men.  Without hesitation he looked at the four young men and said guys; I’ve noticed most of you get to the office long before I do, and leave after me, and all I ask of you is to do your job.  I’m not impressed with the long hours you spend at the office, I did that for years, and it came with a very high cost.  My first marriage ended, and my boys are in their twenties and will not speak to me.  I would give anything to undo that mess.  I am remarried to a younger lady, and we have a four-year-old son, and often I’m just running out of energy by the time I get home, but I play ball or whatever he wants, and I will not lose another son.  

 

He told those young men to go home and spend time with their families when they had got what needs to be done for the day and he said no one and especially me is going to care what time of the day that is.  Dad’s that V.P. drop the ball, but he got a second chance to make the most important investment a man can make, a son who knows his dad loves him, and the next is to bring him to a heavenly Father who has a plan for his life.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

 

Josiah Restores the Passover

 

 

2 Kings 23:21-27

 

November 19, 2021

 

 Josiah Restores the Passover

And the king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”   For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah.   But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.

Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.   Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.

 Still, the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him.   And the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”

 

Have you wondered why the Passover is such an important day?   Well at some point Egypt got a new leader who did not know about all the good that Joseph had done and he saw the Jewish people as a threat to the people of Egypt.  So, they became slaves, most had taken to the little gods much like the people of the USA.   After 400 years God sent Moses to bring His people out of bondage.  And that is recorded in the Book of Exodus and is the reason the Jewish people still celebrate Passover.  It is recorded in Exodus 12:1-20, “The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt,  “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.  Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.   If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat.  The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.   Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.   Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.  That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast.   Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs, and internal organs.   Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it.   This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.

 

“On that same night, I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.   The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

 

“This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.   For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.   On the first day hold a sacred assembly and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat; that is all you may do.

 

“Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.   In the first month, you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day.  For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And anyone, whether foreigner or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel.   Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.”

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Leadership 101

 

 

2 Kings 23: 1-20

 

November 18, 2021

 

 

Josiah's Reforms

Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him.   And the king went up to the house of the Lord and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord.   And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.

And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second-order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.   And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations and all the host of the heavens.   And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people.   And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.   And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from Geba to Beersheba. And he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one's left at the gate of the city.   However, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers.   And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech.   And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts.   And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.   And the altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, he pulled down and broke in pieces^. and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.   And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.   And he broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men.

Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned, reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah.   And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things.   Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.”   And he said, “Let him be; let no man move his bones.” So, they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria.   And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel.   And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

 

Have you wondered what leaders do; they act on their convictions.  The king made sure that both small and great we assembled, and He read the Covenant to them, covenant kings had not kept from Solomon to his granddad and dad.  Josiah’s first act was this;    And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.

 

Then he put in action the plan to remove all the evil images and items in the temple that caused God to be angry with Israel, and he began to set right what those kings had led the people to do.  Now if you want to study leadership, study Josiah's obedience to all that he understood about the will of God and apply that to your life and ministry.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law

  

2 Kings 22:8-20

 

October 16, 2021

 

 

Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law

And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.   And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.”   Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes.   And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying,  “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

 

We need not be reminded that this young man's dad had been killed by his servant because he was an evil king and guess what so was his dad, and they both had no fear of God or a relationship with His promises and commands.  This young boy king, Josiah had never read or had it read to him the words spoken by Moses but read again what took place when he encountered the Word of God.  It had an amazing effect on him, and not only did he humble himself, but he sought direction on how to lead a people who had only had the godliest leadership that had led them to do evil.

Not a new thing, evil men in leadership, and yes as my dad often stated, we learn nothing from history, if we did we would not repeat it.  It is my belief the United States of America has arrived at this place and the difference is we do not have a leader who is fearful of God, in fact, we have only a puppet who most days does not know where are who he is much less leads anything.  He and his family are evil people and most of the people in our congress have no fear of God or respect for anything but power and money.  

 

So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Isaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter), and they talked with her.   And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me,  Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read.   Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.  But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard,  because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord.   Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king.

 

God changes not, He is the same today as He was then, yes we who are in Christ have been given grace and faith, it was all God’s doing, and His Holy Spirit to lead us and admonish and correct us.  But that does not give us the freedom to sin, in fact, it should lead you and me to obedience.  If you look at this boy king, his actions were obedience to as much of God as He understood; should you and me who have the Spirit of God living in us do any less?

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice  

Josiah Reigns in Judah

                                                                   2 Kings 22:1-2 3-7

 

November 14, 2021

 

 

Josiah Reigns in Judah

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.   And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

 

Were you ready to lead a nation of wicked people when you were eight years old, me neither, I was playing up in the Mesquite tree acting like I was fighting off the Indians and yes I won every time or down the street at the big park playing baseball or football with my friends.

This young lad had been groomed to be a king and we know his model was not his evil dad or granddad, can you think of a higher honor that could be said about anyone than what is recorded in that second sentence about him.

Josiah Repairs the Temple

In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the Lord, saying,   “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money that has been brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people.   And let it be given into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord, and let them give it to the workmen who are at the house of the Lord, repairing the house  (that is, to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons), and let them use it for buying timber and quarried stone to repair the house.   But no accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly.”

 

No accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they are honest men, now that trust and the kings must have had a relationship or knowledge of these men to place such trust in them.  In today's world, you have few people you would trust, and that is a real shame, but it is a reality.  President Reagan once said as he entered into a treaty; trust but verified.  That is not trusting, but it is required in today's world where few people's words are of any value.  I have family members that I would trust with anything I have control over, and I have friends that are men and women of integrity that also I would trust with all this worldly stuff.   I’m sure there are many people I do not have that relationship with that are trustworthy, but for the most, I would use President Reagan's approach. 

 

I wrote a paper on my friend Kevin Carrol who showed up at Spring Baptist with long unkempt hair, painter overalls, and no shoes, and our pastor Harlon Caton after a few weeks of Kevin coming to church, ask him to stay at their house and watch it while they were on vacation.  Kevin told me that was the first time any man had trusted him and it had an amazing effect on his life.  Harlon must have seen something in this young man that gave him the peace to trust him with what Kevin said, they had nice stuff.  I believe you and I need to listen to our Father and like King Josiah, we will know whom we can trust with our stuff.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

 

 

 

Who model are you?

  

2 Kings 21:19-26

 

November 13, 2021

 

 

Amon Reigns in Judah

Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.   And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done.   He walked in all the way in which his father walked and served the idols that his father served and worshiped them.   He abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord.   And the servants of Amon conspired against him and put the king to death in his house.   But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.   Now the rest of the acts of Amon that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?   And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his place.

 

If our model is flawed, or if you begin anything with unsound facts you are bound to fail.  Dad’S, if your life is inconsistent, you act one way around certain people, but at home, your life is totally different, your child will also have that model, and it is not in keeping with being a man of God.

 

Amon's only model was  his dad, and his dad did as he pleased with no concern for what God or man had to say.  He was evil, and his sins not only destroyed Judah, but its people also became like their kings and abandoned the law of God and worshipped the little gods of this world.   Do you find that the world's views are appealing, well so did Amon, and he modeled his dad and did evil in the sight of God?

 

He lasted two years and the young kings on servant killed him.  He has a son named Josiah, with a dad who is only 24 years of age, the son has to be very young and yet he has the title of King, and tomorrow we get to see who his models are and how a very young boy can become a king.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

 

Manasseh's Idolatry Denounced

  

2 Kings 21:10-18

 

November 12, 2021

 

 

Manasseh's Idolatry Denounced

And the Lord said by his servants the prophets,  “Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols,  therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.  And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.  And I will forsake the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies,  because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.”

Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did, and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?   And Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza, and Amon his son reigned in his place.

 

Today’s World from “The Back Porch” is driven by fear, of just about anything but the most important one, and that is fear of the most high God of all that there ever will be.  We as people are ignorant of many things such as our history, of government, our God-given rights, but most of all the written word of God.  Why is it important to understand history, so that you do not repeat it again?

 

What can you and I learn from this Bible history of King Manasseh, that bad leaders bring harm and lead people into sin.  It all begins with dads, if he leads his family in a way that honors God, it will be a strong family.  If you allow someone of questionable morals and lacking integrity to be your representative in any office, no matter what color of their skin, you get what you sow.  Today it has become apparent the man holding the office of President is not in charge of anything, he is not even a good puppet.  Many have a person, thanks they know who is but, only a handful know who is pulling the puppets strings.  But most understand it costs us a high price.  And I’m not talking about gas, or food, the cost of most items we the consumer is buying.  No, the price tag is much higher, it has to do with values, both spiritual and moral.  As citizens of a great nation, we have lost our souls, we value things that are temporary and ignore the true values of people, of family, and of worship of the God who has given us life and our skills and talents.  The Church also has allowed poor leadership to bring them to believe things the world values have value over what God has stated in His love letter to us.

 

Hang in there with this uneducated man for a few more lines and I will tell you what I fear.  I fear God turning the United States of America upside down, we may have never been a Christian nation, but for years many of those in leadership owned up to their mistakes did not try to blame others.  As a dad I cannot blame my parents for my sins, I chose to try the world values and it came at a high cost, and I had to come to a point of ownership and to seek often my wife and daughter forgiveness, but most important God’s forgiveness.

Will we the people, will the Church repent and turn to ask a loving and merciful Father and God to forgive us, I’m not sure, but for me and my house, we have and will continue to do so.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Manasseh Reigns in Judah

  

 

2 Kings 21:1-9

 

November 10, 2021

 

 

Manasseh Reigns in Judah

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah.   And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.   For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.   And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.”  And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.  And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.   And the carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever.   And I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander anymore out of the land that I gave to their fathers if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the Law that my servant Moses commanded them.”   But they did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations had done whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.

 

What takes place in a nation that removes the God of Judah and seeks the little gods of this world?  Pain and agony and misery, and this sin always take a people or a nation into a told moral decline and brings about God’s judgment on the people and the nation.  Manasseh brought this about in Judah, and today in the United States, our leadership that is pulling the strings of this president and administration is doing the same.  I can tell that person or persons, you may believe you're getting by with this but on the authority of God’s written Word, He knows your name or names, and your destruction is at hand.

 

Do we have examples of what a wise and good leader should have, and a quick answer is yes Jesus Christ gave us the model, and it works in the home, dads, it works in business, and it works in all forms of leadership.  We find it in Matthew 20:26-28,“It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Let me be clear, I know that is not invoke in 2021, but since you, as a voter have no understanding of what you want until you get what we now have and understand, this is the path to destruction.  A nation cannot tell God to stay out of their affairs and hope to survive.

 

I saw an interesting quote from a man we as followers of Christ admire, C.S. Lewis, “Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point.”

In his 1942 novel, “The Screwtape Letters,” author C.S. Lewis makes an important observation on the nature of courage. He argues that all spiritual virtues — such as love, hope, faith, patience, and mercy — have little meaning if they disappear in the face of danger or persecution. It is easy to be kind, forgiving, or strong when times are good, but retaining those qualities during times of adversity requires great courage.

 

It seems simple to be a follower of Christ, but it is not if it requires one to die to all the desires, and goals they have, and that is our testing point. To be obedient to His authority, for He is our King and authority, and He will give us that courage Lewis is referring too. 

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Hezekiah and the Babylonian Envoys

                                                                        2 Kings 20:12-19

 

November 8, 2021

 

 

Hezekiah and the Babylonian Envoys

At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.   And Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.   Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.”   He said, “What have they seen in your house?” And Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord:   Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord.  And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”  Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not if there will be peace and security in my days?”

 

Remember the question we asked last week: what would Hezekiah do with the 15 years God had given him?  Before going there can you imagine knowing the time and date of your death?  If so, how would you invest that time?  And one must remember Hezekiah was given this extra time on planet earth because he cried out to God about his devotion to obey God and to walk in a way that pleased God.

Something went very wrong with Hezekiah. It seems that the king would fit well into life in 2021 in the USA.  It became all about him, we have a President, and Congress that seems much like Hezekiah in that all he was concerned about was himself.

Have you given thought to what world you will leave behind, yes I understand you're just a mother or dad, not a leader of a nation, but are you leaving an example of how to walk with God, to seek His face, and to obey a love your neighbor as yourself?  If so you have been a very wise investor of what God has given you and you will not do as Hezekiah, no you will leave a legacy that is built upon the Rock.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery

 

November 7, 2021

 

2 Kings 20:1-11

 

Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery

In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’ ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’”   Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying,   “Now, O Lord, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.”  And Hezekiah wept bitterly.  And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him:   “Turn back and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day, you shall go up to the house of the Lord,  and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.”   And Isaiah said, “Bring a cake of figs. And let them take and lay it on the boil, so that he may recover.”

 

And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?”   And Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?”  And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. Rather let the shadow go back ten steps.”   And Isaiah the prophet called to the Lord, and he brought the shadow back ten steps, by which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz.

We live in a time of bad news but can you picture yourself becoming sick, and at the point of death, a person to who you know is God’s spokesman comes with a word from God for you.  How you've been praying, begging to get better, and you just know the person is going to say you're going to get better soon that this sickness is not unto death.  But that is not the message they come with; no, it is “Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.”  

 

Folks, it is a good word for each of us, and especially true for husbands, God has numbered our day before one of them was and in my short life of 79 years, I saw men of all ages be taken out into eternity.  So often what we are putting off till later is foolishness, and the most important is having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  King Hezekiah was a king who had walked before God in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and had done what is good in God’s sight.”  Most of us could not make that claim. Still, my prayer would have to be Lord, I was a real mess before you came to me in a hotel room in Victory, Texas, and Father I have often gone with the worldly ways and not been obedient, Im still a mess, but You have forgiven me because of the blood of Jesus Christ that covers my sins.  Yes many of us have broken fellowship with the Father, but it is impossible to brake our relationship that is sealed, we are in Christ, and Christ is in us, and Christ is in the Father.

 

God allowed Hezekiah to live 15 more years, how did that go, we will find out in the verses next week.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib's Fall

                                                                     2 Kings 19:20-37

 

November 6, 2021

 

 

Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib's Fall

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.  This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:

“She despises you; she scorns you—the virgin daughter of Zion; she wags her head behind you—the daughter of Jerusalem. “Whom have you mocked and reviled?  Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes to the heights?  Against the Holy One of Israel!  By your messengers, you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, ‘With my many chariots I have gone up the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon; I felled its tallest cedars, its choicest cypresses; I entered its farthest lodging place, its most fruitful forest. I dug wells and drank foreign waters, and I dried up with the sole of my foot all the streams of Egypt.’  “Have you not heard that I determined it long ago?  I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass, that you should turn fortified cities into heaps of ruins, while their inhabitants, shorn of strength, are dismayed and confounded, and have become like plants of the field and like tender grass, like grass on the housetops, blighted before it is grown.  “But I know you're sitting down and your going out and coming in, and your raging against me. Because you have raged against me and your complacency has come into my ears,  I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came.

“And this shall be the sign for you: this year eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs of the same. Then in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.  And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.  For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord will do this.

“Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it.   By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord.   For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”

And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.  Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh.  And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

 

Today we are studying 17 verses and that is a lot to cover, but it is not my words or thoughts that encourage, rebuke, or give direction, but God’s.  First God is speaking through Isaiah to Hezekiah about the fall of Sennacherib king of Assyria.  Next, the Lord is showing the foolishness of anyone, you and me or the king of Assyria who believes without Him they can do anything.  Long before he was king God had established that he would be the king of Assyria and that he would conquer strong nations.  It makes one wonder how often do you and I give thanks and have a thankful spirit for the blessing and the things God has done through us?

 

Such a man is President Donald Trump, he did more good for our country than any other President since President Regan, but not once have I heard him give praise to the God that gave him the wealth, or the skills that made him a President, that return oil independence to our nation, who stop the flow of illegals into our country, who stood against China, and all other governments that had taken advantage of us for many years.  We had low unemployment and most of us did not like his tweets, or how he took credit for most things that were good that happen, but do you recall President Obama taking credit for the Navy seals killing the leader of al-Qaeda.  Could that be why we are in the mess we find ourselves in today in the U.S.A.?

 

Folks, it is not money, nor Washington D.C. we need to look to but the God of Creation, the one that makes everything that is, His name is Jesus Christ, and the book of John gives us this account, In John 1:1-3, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.   He was at the beginning with God.   All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” 

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

 

 

Sennacherib Defies the Lord

  

November 5, 2021

 

2 Kings 19:8-19

 

The Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he heard that the king had left Lachish.   Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, “Behold, he has set out to fight against you.” So, he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. ¹ Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered?  Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar?   Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”

 

Have you heard the saying “Pride goes before the fall, Or they are so full of themselves”?  That is where the king of Assyria, finds himself, and you can bet things are not going to go well for him.

Hezekiah's Prayer

Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord.   And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said: “O Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.   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 mock the living God.   Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands 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 were destroyed.   So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone.”

 

I got some bad news this week. My older brother has stage 4 cancer, so I ran to my Father in Heaven, and I laid my prayer before the Lord.  I also sought out people I knew would join me in that prayer.  Hezekiah did likewise and laid out the letter before God.  He acted by faith in the God he knew, and this Hezekiah knew God would not allow anyone to mock Him, so Hezekiah cried out for God to take care of this prideful king and also to save Judah from his hands.

 

Folks, we are living in a time of some of the most ignorant, evil people on earth who have no fear of God, for they have become gods in their own eyes.  Is it not time you and I place our faith in our Lord and Savior, and our Father in heaven and lay out our case before our God who is being mocked.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice