the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 2 of 5
2 Kings 18:1-12
From this point onwards, to the end of the book, the history concerns only Judah. God has just sadly recapitulated all the sins of His people. But now He finds joy in speaking to us of a king who is faithful. The reign of Hezekiah occupies no less than eleven chapters of the Bible (2 Kings 18-20; 2 Chronicles 29-32; Isaiah 36-39); it is as if God took pleasure, in the time of ruin, and before approaching a still darker chapter, in lingering over the life of His pious servant. Up to this time, the accounts given of the best reigns always included this reservation: "but the high places were not taken away". These high places, where the people offered sacrifices (whether to the LORD or to idols), had continued to exist in disobedience to Deuteronomy 12. They remind us of all the traditions and superstitions which in Christendom have replaced the teaching of the Bible on the subject of worship. The veneration in which they held the serpent of brass reminds us that the cross itself has become an object of idolatry for many. Hezekiah takes it away, breaks it and cuts it into pieces.
He then throws off the yoke of the Assyrians and triumphs over the Philistines in accordance with Isaiah s prophecy (Isaiah 14:28 . . .).
