Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What Brings Hope? | The Writings | 2 Chronicles 29-32

Episode Date: April 2, 2024

Is there any reason to have hope when the world is full of doom? Who comes out victorious in the end? Will bad news always win? In today's episode, Keith shares encouragement from 2 Chronicles 29-32��for times when everything feels wrong. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 2 Chronicles 29-32

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. Are you familiar with the term doom scrolling? Doom scrolling is scrolling through the news on your phone on the lookout for sad or negative stories. Some people doomscroll with a hope that if they know all the bad things out there, then somehow that will enable them to prevent those bad things from happening to them. Sometimes people doom scroll for so long that they actually have physical symptoms that arise. Things like their heart begins to erase, their mind begins to spin.

They can even have panic attacks because of doom scrolling. I think we'd agree that whether or not we classify ourselves as doom scrollers, we do come across a lot of negative sad stories that can steal our hope and leave us discouraged. Is there any reason to have hope when the world is full of doom? Things like war and political crisis, poverty, homelessness, drug use, anxiety, depression, overdoses, sexual immorality. I bet in your own life you know people who have addictions, who are on the brink of divorce, who are single parents and are struggling, who have bad health or broken relationships. I mean, maybe some of those things even describe your life. In the middle of all that, it's easy to give up hope.

It's easy to live in discouragement. When I'm asked what makes me hopeful, I return to one thing. Every single time I return to the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus rose from the dead. When it looked to the bleakest, when his followers had scattered and he'd been crucified, at that point, God was at work. So I tell people all the time, since Jesus rose from the dead, I can't lose hope. Christians can't lose hope.

We are people of hope. If you've been following along on our trip through First and Second Chronicles, you might be discouraged. These books record a lot of bad kings who do evil in the eyes of God. Sure, there are some good ones, but the bad ones have them outnumbered. In the northern kingdom, there are no good kings. Some are worse than others, but the Bible never says that any of the northern kings did right in the eyes of the Lord. By the time we get to the end of Second Chronicles, God has brought judgment on those northern tribes, by sending Assyria the world's superpower to defeat them and take them into captivity.

Meanwhile, in the southern kingdom, things aren't a lot better. Second Chronicles 28 ends on a very bad note. King Ahaz has destroyed the instruments used in the temple worship. He's closed the temple doors. He's ended all worship in the temple so that there are no more offerings of worship to God. At the end of Second Chronicles 28, things look pretty bleak. When Ahaz dies, Hezekiah comes to the throne, and everything needs a reboot. It's interesting that Chapter 29 starts on a hopeful note.

When Ahaz dies, Hezekiah comes to the throne, and to be honest, the whole thing needs a reboot. Second Chronicles 29 starts on a hopeful note. It says Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem 29 years. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. The name Hezekiah means may Yahweh establish, and then he is positively compared to David. So in all the mess and all the brokenness, what we find is that God was at work. God had not given up on his people. Hezekiah starts with restoring the temple worship, but then his reforms move out from the temple

into the city and eventually into the nations. In chapter 29, Hezekiah purifies the temple. Then in chapter 30, he leads the people in the celebration of the Passover. And then in chapter 31, he collects offering from the people. And then in chapter 32, the whole world notices that under Hezekiah's leadership, God delivers the southern kingdom from the Assyrian army. But it all starts with getting things right between the people and God. Hezekiah reopens the temple and gives people access to the king of heaven.

If we really want to fix what's wrong in our life, the place to start is our relationship with God. See, our main problem is not a budget issue, an income issue. Our main problem is not a health issue or a job issue or a people issue. We can try to fix those things, and fixing them might provide temporary relief. But our main problem is always between us and God. The author of Chronicles isn't afraid to make a direct link between the people's rebellious. against God and the hardship they find themselves in. Here's chapter 29, verse 8.

Therefore, the anger of the Lord has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem. He has made them an object of dread and horror and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes. This is why our fathers have fallen by the sword, and why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity. Hezekiah calls all the people to repent. Maybe it feels weird to be in a difficult financial situation or have a difficult financial situation or have a difficult health situation or be in a difficult marriage and say, okay, I want to hear about all the problems that you're experiencing in those areas of your life, but is there anything you need to repent of?

Let's start by getting things right with God. I think that's what this passage is teaching us. Now, it doesn't mean that every time we experience hardship, it's because we've disobeyed God. You know, like our car won't start, and that's because we just sinned against God in some way. not at all. The book of Job is proof that those who faithfully follow God still suffer in this world. We're going to look at Job on TMBT later this year. But Chronicles tells us that sometimes there is a spiritual cause behind the events in our life. Hezekiah sends a letter to the nation calling them to repentance. I could summarize his letter, but it's just too darn good. So I just want to read it. Now, while I'm reading it,

I just want you to think, what does God want to say to me through this letter that was probably written about 2,700 years ago? We pick it up in chapter 30, verse 6. At the king's command, couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and from his officials, which read, People of Israel returned to the Lord. That's repentance, by the way. Repentance is turning away from sin and back to the Lord. Okay, back to the letter. people of Israel return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may return to you who are left,

who have escaped from the hand of the king of Assyria. Do not be like your parents and your fellow Israelites who are unfaithful to the Lord, the God of their ancestors, so that he made them an object of horror as you see. Do not be stiff-necked as your ancestors were. Submit to the Lord. Come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, serve the Lord your God so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. If you return to the Lord, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him. So what's the message of this letter?

Repent of your sin. Submit to God, and you'll experience his grace. Some of the people heed Hezekiah's call, and they come to the temple and they participate in this repentant service, and other people who are called to repent don't. It's not unlike Jesus' parable, the wedding feast. When some get the invitation, they mock Jesus. They ignore the invitation, and some humble themselves and accept it. Well, things are going well under King Hezekiah's leadership until they aren't. Isn't that how your life is?

Just when you think you're making progress in your relationship with God, you're faced with a test. Israel and Hezekiah's test comes in the form of King Shannacharib of Assyria. Remember, Assyria is the world's superpower, and King Shanakurib leads his armies all the way down to the walls of Jerusalem. We read in chapter 32 that Hezekiah calls his war council together, and they did some things to help them in the battle. First, they cut off the water supply so the Assyrian army. couldn't get any water, then they repaired breaches in the wall. But their main military strategy against the Assyrians was to trust God. I'm serious. Worship and prayer were the tactics of warfare. King Hezekiah gathers the people together and he says this in chapter 32 verse 7. Be strong and

courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him. For there is a greater power with us than with him. With Him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles. And the people gained confidence from what Ezekiah the king of Judas said. See, Hezekiah says that the Assyrians might have a strong army, but we have a strong God. The Assyrian king said that God wouldn't save them because he couldn't save them.

Here's the message that the Assyrian king sent to the Israelites. Do not let Hezekiah deceive you and mislead you like this. Do not believe him. For no God of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my predecessors. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand? So now we have a battle between the Assyrian army and all of its power and all of its might and God. Yahweh, the God of Israel. King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, they cry out to God.

And here's what happens. Chapter 32, verse 21. The Lord sent an angel who annihilated all the fighting men in the commanders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his God, some of his sons, his own flesh and blood cut him down with a sword. So the Lord saved Ezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Shannacharib, king of Assyria, and from the hand of all the others. He took care of them on every side. Many brought offerings to Jerusalem for the Lord and valuable gifts for Hezekiah King of Judah.

From then on, he was highly regarded by all the nations. It's clear that God has won this battle for Israel, and it's God who gets the glory. Now, King Hezekiah goes on to have ups and down in his faith, just like all of us do. Hezekiah is not the hero of this story. That role belongs to God. raised Hezekiah up. God brought the people to repentance. God is the one who defeated the Assyrians. There's so many takeaways for our life. Maybe there's some sin that you're convicted that you need to repent of, to turn from your sin and turn back to God. Or maybe you're asking yourself, what's my real problem?

Right? Like maybe I need to stop rearranging the circumstances of my life and get my heart right with God. but let's end where we started and that's with hope the world is a mess your life might be a mess but god is still at work do not lose hope jesus is alive he is on the throne of heaven and i promise you that in the end he wins amen