Daily Devotions

Posts tagged “faithfulness of God

Hope of Divine Help

KATHY—Judah was upset as their idolatrous and corrupt lifestyle was shattered, but they faced an even greater threat from another direction at the same time. A cunning enemy, an Assyrian Commander who fully intended to take them captive, used their upheaval of norms as the moment to undermine their confidence in their king Hezekiah and more importantly, their God!  He taunted them saying, “You obviously have no hope of divine help!” And they couldn’t argue with that since King Hezekiah had already cleared out their collection of gods, proving all their gods were powerless and disposable (2Kings 18)! Sennacherib reminded them that the Assyrians had taken over country after country and none of their gods had done them any good.  Added to that, any hope they might have had of Jehovah God’s help took a nose dive with the fall of the “SNAKE on a STICK!” Judah was shaking in their boots. Taking advantage of that moment, the crafty Assyrian put them to the question: What justifies your confidence that you can beat us?  

(For future reference, no matter who corners us with such a question, whether friend or foe or self-talk, there is only one answer: Our confidence comes from the faithfulness of God. His faithfulness is greater than anybody’s opinion or experience or track record.)


No Snake on a Stick

KATHY—Like Judah in 2Kings 17, we need an awakening. In the next chapter, 2Kings 18, Hezekiah became king of Judah and Awakening began. Hezekiah was AWARE they needed God and He took action to begin sanctifying the nation.  He destroyed the local shrines, tore down the images of foreign gods, cut down the sacred pole for worshiping the goddess of sex and fertility and he also smashed the bronze snake Moses had made in the wilderness.  Remember when fiery serpents were biting and killing them in the camp?  God told Moses to put a brass serpent on a pole so people could see it and be healed.  That was a one-time obedience that led to the intervention of God for their nation.  Keeping that pole as a testimony from history to teach their children about God was understandable, but sticking that pole among the idols they were worshiping and making sacrifices to dishonored both God and the acts of God in their behalf. That generation had to have cooked the books (unethically change the meaning) of their own history to justify worshiping a SNAKE on a STICK. Our confidence must not be placed upon any past event or monument. Our confidence comes from the faithfulness of God.