{"id":35760,"date":"2025-05-07T22:00:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T05:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=35760"},"modified":"2025-04-29T16:00:49","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T23:00:49","slug":"2-kings-18_1-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2-kings-18_1-16\/","title":{"rendered":"Blaze the Trail"},"content":{"rendered":"

2 Kings\u00a0 18:1-16 \u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Kings 18:1-16.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.\u00a0 See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

2 Kings 18:1-16 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He did what was right in the eyes of the\u00a0LORD, just as his father David had done.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Hezekiah trusted in the\u00a0LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He held fast to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the\u00a0LORD\u00a0had given Moses.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In King Hezekiah’s fourth year, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0At the end of three years the Assyrians took it. So Samaria was captured in Hezekiah’s sixth year, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0This happened because they had not obeyed the\u00a0LORD\u00a0their God, but had violated his covenant–all that Moses the servant of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0commanded. They neither listened to the commands nor carried them out.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the temple of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0and in the treasuries of the royal palace.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors and doorposts of the temple of the\u00a0LORD, and gave it to the king of Assyria.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses\u00a01-16:\u00a0 After Judah had been led by a handful of spiritually rotten, idol-worshiping\u00a0kings, Hezekiah bursts onto the scene.\u00a0 Hezekiah courageously breaks with his predecessors’ idol worshiping traditions.\u00a0 He begins to use his authority as king of Judah to remove idolatry from his land.\u00a0 Hezekiah also courageously stands up to the king of Assyria, even while Hezekiah’s counterpart Hoshea king of Israel was being defeated by Assyria.\u00a0 When Assyria turns its attention to attacking and capturing all of Judah, Hezekiah stands in the gap and offers whatever we can to stop Judah from being completely taken over.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 \u00a0Our world is in need of trail-blazing leaders like Hezekiah — people who trust in the Lord no matter what, who aren’t afraid to break with the idol-worshiping traditions of those who came before them and those around them, and who will stand up to the enemy and fight to protect the people in their care.\u00a0 Because of Hezekiah’s courage and how he hung onto God no matter what, verses 5-7 honour him with these words:<\/p>\n

2<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Kings<\/em><\/strong>\u00a018<\/em><\/strong>:5-7 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0Hezekiah trusted in the\u00a0LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the\u00a0<\/em>kings\u00a0of Judah, either before him or after him.\u00a0<\/em>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0He held fast to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the\u00a0LORD\u00a0had given Moses.\u00a0<\/em>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.\u00a0<\/em>
\n
As it was said of Hezekiah, may it be said of you that you trusted the Lord, that you took on and took down the idol-worshiping tendencies that may have been passed down to you, that you held fast to God no matter what, and that you weren’t afraid to stand up to the enemy and fight for those in your care.\u00a0 May you be a modern day Hezekiah who puts God first and sees God move in your life in powerful ways.\u00a0 May you blaze a trail for God in your generation.<\/p>\n

Father, please give me courage to live like Hezekiah today \u2013 to trust in You more than in my circumstances, to put You first no matter what.\u00a0 Thank You that You are with me and that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Kings 18:1-16.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.\u00a0 See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!\u00a0<\/p>\n

2 Kings 18:1-16 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.<\/p>\n

On verses\u00a01-16:\u00a0 After Judah had been led by a handful of spiritually rotten, idol-worshiping\u00a0kings, Hezekiah bursts onto the scene.\u00a0 Hezekiah courageously breaks with his predecessors’ idol worshiping traditions.\u00a0 He begins to use his authority as king of Judah to remove idolatry from his land.\u00a0 Hezekiah also courageously stands up to the king of Assyria, even while Hezekiah’s counterpart Hoshea king of Israel was being defeated by Assyria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35762,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35760"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35763,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35760\/revisions\/35763"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}