Latest / Journey Elgin / Journey Through Scripture- 2 Chr 26, 2 Kings 15-16, Isa 7-10
Transcript
- Phillip Thomas: It's good to see you today. My name is Philip Thomas, pastor of Journey here in Elgin, Texas, and this is our Journey Through Scripture podcast. ⁓ We're going to be looking at a couple different places. Remember, we introduced the prophet Isaiah, so we're going to be looking at him and kind of the timeframe of what's going on. Remember, he is speaking to the southern kingdom of Israel. So we're going to be in 2 Chronicles chapter 26. You want to read that? That's going to talk about King Uzziah. which is the king whenever Isaiah was called to be a prophet. Then we're going to be in 2 Kings 15 and 16, and then Isaiah 7 through the first part of Chapter 10. So Isaiah 7, 8, 9, and 10. All right. So first off, starting off in Chronicles, 2 Chronicles. Remember, Chronicles would... had a little bit different focus than kings. And so it focused a lot more on the kings of Judah and wasn't always as critical, but was still very accurate in what it was portraying. It just had a different focus and different purpose. But it talks about King Uzziah and ⁓ King Uzziah ⁓ reigned in Judah. ⁓ chapter 26, we actually talked about this in 2 Kings, and it talks about how Uzziah died from leprosy, but it doesn't really get into exactly why that happened. ⁓ here we have King Uzziah, ⁓ a couple interesting things. Verse 5, he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had an understanding in the visions of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper. So King Uzziah, things were going really well for Judah. And it's because he was being faithful to God, he was seeking God, but he didn't do it completely. We know that he didn't tear down all of the ⁓ places that people would go and worship other gods, but he was focused for the most part during the beginning of his reign, was focused on God. It kind of talks about some of the... Conquest and successes that he had and then you get down to verse 15 It says and he made many devices in Jerusalem invented by skillful men to be on the towers corners to shoot arrows at large stones So he his fame spread far and wide for he was marvelously helped till he became strong Isn't that an interesting phrase? He was helped by God like things were going well until he became strong. Well, what does that mean? Does that mean that it's wrong for us to become strong and powerful? No, that's not what it means. It means that the tendency is whenever we do become strong and powerful that we start relying on our own strength rather than God. And that's what happened to Uzziah. And so it says, when he was strong, this is verse 16, but when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction, for he transgressed against the Lord, his God, by entering the temple. to burn incense on the altar of incense. So Azariah, the priest, went in after him with eighty other priests, and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn the incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed. You shall have no honor from the Lord your God. Denus I became furious. He had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priest, leprosy broke out on his forehead and he had leprosy till the time that he died. He became isolated after that. So what happened here? You may say, well, what's the problem? The king just wanted to go and give ⁓ a sacrifice and burn incense at the altar of incense. Well, it was very clear God had made distinctions on who were to perform those roles, and the priests were the ones that were called to do that, not the king. The king, there was a clear separation, and that was very different than, you if you looked at other cultures of the day, like the Pharaoh of Egypt was also kind of deified, and he was the leader of the religion of the Egyptians. You see that throughout ⁓ most of the other nations or people groups. Whoever was the political leader was also the leader of their religion. And so what's happening is King Uzziah, he has lots of power politically and is doing lots of good things, but that wasn't enough. He needed to be able to take control and take charge of the ⁓ priestly duties as well. And that is where he made a tragic mistake. And this is where the time period when Isaiah begins prophesying, remember Isaiah is prophesying when things are going well, but they're starting to head in a wrong direction. And so Isaiah is preparing the people for that, and of course, they are not listening to him. Chapter 15 of 2 Kings, this is kind of the second half of chapter 15. It switches, it goes back to look at what's going on in Israel. You have... numerous kings, things are just really unraveling now at this time in Israel. So you have Zechariah who reigns ⁓ in Israel for six months, and then he is killed by ⁓ Shalom. And then Shalom, he becomes king ⁓ during the time of Uzziah. He reigned a full month. And then Manahim ⁓ went ⁓ and killed him. So then Manahem becomes, and he reigns actually 10 years, but he does evil in the sight of the Lord. ⁓ He actually is the one who started ⁓ paying ⁓ the Assyrians ⁓ and trying to kind of work some political dealings there. Then you have Pekahiah, ⁓ who becomes a king, and then he is assassinated by Pekah. ⁓ ⁓ Verse 28, and, ⁓ Pekah did evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam. Remember, Jeroboam is kind of where all this started. The Bible just keeps going back to him. And he is the one who made a, ⁓ kind of a pact, ⁓ with, with Syria and then things fell apart. And this is when Assyria, came and basically started wiping out the kingdom. And then that leads to Hoshea, who led a conspiracy to kill Pekka and became ⁓ kind of a puppet king during the time where Assyria had come in to the Northern Kingdom. So now that gets us to... Keep going, 2 Kings, chapter 15 switches back to look at Judah. It talks about Jotham, that is King Uzziah's ⁓ son. He becomes king. He was king for 16 years. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord. However, the high places were not removed. Those were kind of sanctuaries to other gods. So they were not removed. And that would eventually cause problems. then chapter 16 of 2 Kings introduces us to Ahaz. Ahaz is the king where everything starts to fall apart for Judah. ⁓ And it says, he did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord ⁓ as his father David had done, but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. It says, ⁓ Indeed, he made his son pass through the fire according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places on the hills and under every green tree." So Ahaz completely starts to go against the things of God. And so this is where Isaiah has already been talking and preparing the people for when things are going to go bad. now they've gone bad. so you have Ahaz is responding to the Northern Kingdom who has made a pact with Syria, and so he decides he's going to make a pact with us Syria rather than relying on God. So this brings us to Isaiah chapter 7. So Isaiah goes to King Ahaz during this time and encourages in him to put his faith in God, not Assyria. So, ⁓ verse three of chapter seven, says, Then the Lord said to Isaiah, Go out now to meet Ahaz, ⁓ you and your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool on the highway. Take heed and be quiet. Do not fear or be faint-hearted for these two stubs of smoking-fire-brands, for the fierce anger of Resin in Syria and the son of Ramalia." because Ephraim and the son of Ramaliah have plotted evil against you, saying, let us go up against Judah and trouble it, let us make a gap in the wall for ourselves and set a king over them, the son of Tabal. Thus says the Lord God, it shall not stand, nor shall it come to pass." So, King Ahaz is worried that Syria and Israel are going to come and defeat them. Isaiah is specifically saying God is saying that that will not happen. it's going to be okay. God will be with you. What we find out is that Ahaz has already made a deal with Assyria. Now this brings us to chapter 7 verse 10, moreover, the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, Ask for a sign from the Lord. ask it either in the depth or in the heights above. But Ahab says, I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord. So he's being pious, but the reality is that he's already made his decision. He's not going to trust the Lord. So he's trying to make it sound like he's very holy and righteous, but in reality, he's already made his decision. And then it said, here now, O house of David, it is a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a son and shall be called Immanuel." All right, so this, and obviously in Matthew, we have that connected with Jesus. So it's looking forward, but it also is meaning something right here. Immanuel means God with us. So what is Isaiah trying to convey to King Ahaz? That God will be with you, put your trust in God. not in your political allegiance, especially not to Assyria. But that's what Ahaz would do. Ahaz actually made a pact with Assyria. And then chapter 8 talks about how Assyria will eventually take the land, and they eventually will do that. Verse 11 says, the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand, instructed me, that I should not walk in the way of his people saying, not say a conspiracy concerning all that the people call a conspiracy, nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. The Lord of hosts, him you shall hallow. Let him be your fear and let him be your dread. He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. and many among them shall stumble and they shall fall and be broken, be snared and taken." So Isaiah is saying these things that he is going to still say this even though people are saying it's a conspiracy, ⁓ that's not really happening. He's calling out Ahaz, and he's going to get flack for it. But he says, my fear is going to be in God alone, not in the political climate, not in the political leadership. There's lots of application to current times. Sometimes we think that our answer is going to be found in political leadership. And it doesn't matter which side of the political aisle you may be on. Many times we think that that's where the answer is going to lie. But no, we need to rely on God being with us, not on whatever insert name of president that is going to lead the country. What is most important is that we put our trust in a God who is present with us. Then you get into chapter 9 and it's kind of more of this prophesying, talking about that you better put your trust in God. It talks about a new government that will come. Verse 6 says, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." All right, so again, Isaiah's... speaking to a current situation that it has meaning there, but it's also pointing to when God will enter into the world as Jesus. So you have both of those going on, and that Jesus will, in essence, take the role of government, where we give government a lot of power. ⁓ We should be—rather than doing that, we should be relying on God for our protection, for our security, and putting our trust in Him. That doesn't mean we work to abolish government. There's lots of nuance here, but God is above all of that, right? That Jesus came and in a very different way, in a spiritual way, He overcame and overrode government rule as well, and so that everything falls under His authority. even the most powerful governments. Chapter 9 and then the first part of 10 then start going on the punishment of Samaria, that's part of the Northern Kingdom, talking about what they have done and how they have partnered with Syria and how they have turned their back on God and that they will, well, verse 21, for all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. And it says, woe to those who decry unrighteous decrees, who write misfortune which they have prescribed. They rob the needy of justice, and they take what is right from the poor. So just all the things that they are continuing to do, they will receive judgment that God will hold them accountable. All right. So we're going to stop there for today. look at Isaiah chapter 14, 2 Kings 16, and then we will look at the book of Micah as well. So Isaiah 14, and then the book of Micah, and the book of Micah, a little bit of 2 Kings 16. You know, as we're trying to keep everything in a chronological order. But the Book of Micah is the long part that we will go over. All right. Look forward to seeing you there.