King Hezekiah Essay

The surrounding nations had an influence on the people of Israel and this was not pleasing to God. They wanted a king. They wanted to be like other nations and have a leaded. A king they could see.

When King Solomon’s heart was turned away from the living God to idol, and the Lord vowed to take away the kingdom of Israel away from him only living the tribe of Judah to Solomon’s offspring because of his father David (1 Kings 11:4-13). When Solomon died, the united kingdom of Israel was divided into two kingdoms under king Rehoboam’s reign, Solomon’s son. The tribe of Judah and Benjamin became the kingdom of Judah, while the other ten tribes of Israel, became the northern kingdom, and was governed by Jeroboam the son of Nebat who reigned over the ten tribes known as the house of Israel (1 kings 12:1-25).

God calls his people to obedient. In return for obedience, God promises to provide. During the time of Solomon the people of Israel lacked obedience. God as king was no longer good enough. Israel’s lack of obedience caused them to anoint a king that also lacked faith in the Lord. Man is broken and even great leaders have flaws. Israel’s demand for a king ultimately resulted in the division of the kingdom.

Critical investigations into the Bible have revealed nuances and subversions which go beyond the mere didactic nature the text displays in a preliminary surface reading. The book of Exodus, the second book of the Torah and the Old Testament, begins with a depiction of Israel's servitude in Egypt and God choosing Moses to move Israel out of that servitude. The Pharaoh resists the purposes of God, and God responds by sending plagues on Egypt that culminate with the death of the firstborn and deliverance at the sea. Israel saves itself from this through the Passover and then journeys to Sinai. At Sinai, Israel receives the Ten Commandments and the covenant relationship is established. While Moses is receiving instructions from God on Sinai with respect to the designs for the tabernacle, Israel rebels by building the golden calf. Moses intervenes successfully on behalf of Israel, and

As Moses grows he becomes aware of his lineage and takes notice to how oppressed his people are in Egypt. While leading a flock out on the side of a mountain the angel of Jehovah appears in a flame and a bush begins to burn. The bush does not erupt into ash and Moses is awestruck. God calls to Moses and begins to relay him his destiny. God says “I have surely seen the affliction of my people that are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows, and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians… and unto a land flowing with milk and honey”

As Samuel grew in age he intended to appoint one of his sons as the king of Israel. His sons however did not follow the ways of their father or God. “They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice” (I Samuel 8:3). The people of Israel desired a king, “a king like all the other nations” (Hindson and Yates, 2012. P.164). The people had grown tired of oppression and felt that “the lack of a strong human leader as the cause and did not realize that the reason for the oppression was a spiritual on-their failure to serve God” (Harbin, 2005, p.219). Saul was not God’s choice for the throne but “he was the people’s choice” (Hindson and Yates, 2012. P.164). Saul’s appointment as king was against the “old

It is apparent that the Southern Kingdom would have to face God’s judgment. The northern kingdom of Israel was destroyed by Assyria because of the sins and idolatries. Assyria tries to destroy Judah as well, but because of God’s intervention, the Assyrian army is slaughtered by an angel before they can enter Jerusalem. King, Hezekiah the righteous king who is supposed to have been one of Judah's very best rule survives. When he became ill and was told by an angel he was going to die the cried and prayed to God for help, and because he was the recipient of divine favor God gave him another fifteen years onto his life and reign after nearly dying. Yet, again, bad follows good, and the wicked king Manasseh starts doing all sorts of idolatrous

In both the Taylor Prism of Sennacherib and 2 Kings 18-19, the event of Judah attacked by Sennacherib is described. However, as both are compared Sennacherib’s story is more boastful and feels to be less truthful because of its boastful nature. They do share components and allow the study of the people, but both stories differ as well. The one thing that could help decide the truthfulness of each story is to know what really happened that night.

About 500 years after the death of Abraham, his descendants through Isaac were living in Egypt as slaves. Genesis 37 to 50 tells the story of how this came about. The 10 oldest sons of Abraham's grandson Jacob disliked their younger brother Joseph so much that they found a way to sell him to traders who in turn sold him to an Egyptian officer as a slave. In his new land, Joseph went through a series of ups and downs and eventually became the prime minister of Egypt, the highest official under the king. God enabled Joseph to foresee an approaching time of famine, and used him to store up food and then distribute it during the famine. His political position made it possible for him to settle his father's family in Egypt's most fertile territory. Here they prospered for many years. However, the time came when the leaders of Egypt began to view the rapidly growing Israelite community as a threat. As a result, they made slaves of the Israelites, treating them with ever-increasing harshness. Finally, desperate because the descendants of Jacob continued to multiply, they issued an order that all their male babies be destroyed at birth. The first 12 chapters of Exodus tell the story of how the Lord responded to the cries of His people. He miraculously provided Moses to be their leader, sent 10 plagues on the Egyptians, helped the Israelites celebrate their first Passover, and led them out of the land of bondage. It appears that as they left for Canaan, they had no

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When the Hebrew peoples lost everything and entered into captivity to Babylon, they were a lost and floundering nation. “After the days of Solomon, the history of Israel was a story of increasing apostasy and judgement” (Clowney, 2013, p. 185). Despite their breaking of the covenants, and sinning against God in the worst ways, God did not abandoned them. He was very unhappy, and sent many prophets to speak His words to try to bring them back into relationship with Him, then God sent judgements down upon them. However, through these judgements, He kept to His promise to Abraham to ultimately bless the nations of Israel. (Clowney, 2013, p. 193) When they were allowed by Cyrus to return to Jerusalem (Arnold & Beyer, 2008, p. 58), with permission

God wanted to Hebrews to be let free from Egypt. To accomplish this God sent ten plagues to Egypt. At this time Moses was the leader of the Hebrews. Moses led his people out of Egypt and into the desert. They wondered the desert for 40 years until they found the land that God had promised them. Joshua led the Hebrews to take over the land from the people who lived there before the Hebrews were

Aside from conflicting religions, Jewish people also encountered other problems with the monarchy. Hebrews believed that Yahweh was their king and his laws were their laws. In the monarchy, the tribes of Israel appointed a human king and obeyed his laws instead of divine law. This created conflict between the Hebrews that followed the laws of the king, and the Jewish that followed Yahweh and the law of the Torah. The Children of Israel that settled in Palestine between 1250 and 1050 BC found themselves amidst a corrupt monarchy. The monarchy thrived on arbitrary power, large divisions in the economical gap, vast poverty, heavy taxation, slavery, bribery and

The nation of Israel was set apart as holy to the LORD. But they When the children of Israel demanded a king, they did so to be like the other nations. The first three kings were Saul, (outwardly tall, handsome and strong—a seemingly good choice for a king, but inwardly arrogant, proud and unrepentant—not God’s choice), David (a man after God’s own heart who repented of his sins and as such was God’s choice), and Solomon (the wisest man who ever lived, but because of covenant disobedience became the catalyst for the division and ultimate exile of Israel.

Whereas, Ahaz tended to ignore the counsel of Isaiah when Hezekiah became king he valued Isaiah’s advice (Tullock, & McEntire, 2012). Although Judah was still paying tribute to Assyria, they focused on other areas allowing Hezekiah to implement changes in Judah. The first of these changes was to do away with the worship of false gods, and as part of this reform, Hezekiah destroyed any altars or shrines dedicated to the worship of false gods. Subsequently, there is possible physical proof regarding Hezekiah’s religious reformation in the form of two demolished altars within the country of Israel. The first remains were found in Arad within the Negev province, while the second was located in Beersheba where the materials were repurposed (Tullock,