Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Your Life is Not About You | Historical Books | 2 Kings 20:12-20

Episode Date: November 12, 2025

Who do you think of the most? God? Others? Or... yourself? In today's episode, Jensen shares how 2 Kings 20:12-20 reminds us that we are not the main character of our lives, God is. If you're listening on Spotify, tell us about yourself and where you're listening from! Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. 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 Kings 20:12-20

Welcome to 10-minute Bible talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNeer. Who do you think about most? Who do you worry about? Who do you plan things for? Who is the person you are most interested in? Who fills your mind when you have a moment of stillness? Now, I'd love for my answer to be God.

I'd love for my answer to even be my husband or my kids. But if I'm honest, like really, really honest with myself, the answer is easy. It's quick. There's almost no question. I am the person that I think most about, worry about, plan things for. I am most interested in myself. I fill my mind with me, my needs, my wants, my plans, my things, my loves. My husband often helps me see the places in my life where I fall short, not in a demeaning way, but in a loving and caring way. He's trying to help me live more like Jesus, to grow, to be a better friend, mother, wife, teacher. One of the things that I remember most clearly, probably because I catch myself failing at his advice still years later, was when he called me out for essentially being

really bad at asking questions. That's my wording, not his, but he pointed out that I have a knack for bringing every conversation back to, you guessed it, me. Now, at my core, when I'm operating in default mode, I can't help it. I am truly obsessed with myself. I want to talk about me. I want to tell others about me. I want all of us to care about what I care about. I love the sound of my voice. See, focusing on me is easy, and I default to it when I'm not being thoughtful. Can you relate at all? Are you the center of your life? Do you struggle from what is often referred to as main character energy? Believing that your life is about you? That everyone else is just a supporting actor in your story? Well, right now in Second Kings, we're going to hear the last story from King Hezekiah's life.

If you remember, King Hezekiah did what was good in the eyes of the Lord. He was more like David, than any other king that came before him or would come after him. But today's story will remind us that he wasn't perfect. Even in his faithfulness, he struggled, he fell short, he forgot his place in God's bigger story. You see, because today we're going to watch Hezekiah make himself the main character. So let's talk a little bit of historical context before we jump in. So Hezekiel has just been ill. And yet, God promises to heal him and performs a miraculous sign with

shadows to confirm to Hezekiah that he would be healed. So God reestablishes to Hezekiah that he is all powerful, that he can heal, he can control, even the sun in the sky and the shadows it creates. So that's what's going on in Judah. Now, over in Babylon, a new king has been crowned, and as the king of Babylon, he was often in conflict with the nation of Assyria. And the Babylonians, historically, they would have worshipped the sun as their god. So imagine with me that you are the king of Babylon. You look over at the nation of Judah, and you see that they've just bitterly defeated the Assyrians by the power of their God. Then you hear that the Judean God has healed the illness of their king, asserting his power over the sun, no less.

You would want to try and align yourself with that kind of power, wouldn't you? And that's exactly what he does. Verse 1 says, At that time, Marduk, Baladon, son of Baladon, king of Babylon, sent Hezekiah letters and a gift because he had heard of Hezekiah's illness. Remember, this is not just a thoughtful get-well gift. Knowing all that we know about the politics of the day, the king of Babylon is reaching out to Hezekiah. He is attempting to ally himself with Judah, to create a strong alliance against Assyria. Now, as king over Judah, Hezekiah has been tasked with trusting in the Lord, trusting God to deliver him and his people. He's seen other kings fall who have put their hope

in stronger nations, and he has seen the Lord alone deliver his people in times of great need. And so, we would expect Hezekiah not to accept this offer, not to indulge, but to remember who it is that has brought him thus far, and to remain steadfast in his devotion and trust of God. But that isn't what happens. Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his storehouses, the silver, the gold, the spices, and the fine olive oil, his armory and everything found among his treasures.

There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah takes. did not show them. Okay, so Hezekiah, he receives these envoys. He accepts gifts from them, and he understands what that means. The king of Babylon is looking for his friendship. This is a sign of honor, of respect, and in turn, Hezekiah honors the envoys. He invites them in, and he pridefully shows off all that is his. He leaves nothing out. He wants these men to return to Babylon with a good report of Hezekiah to confirm to their king that Hezekiah is a worthy and powerful friend. And he does this by showing him his wealth, his kingdom, his treasures. He doesn't speak of God. He does not show the Babylonians the man Isaiah whom the Lord speaks

through who gave the sign from God. Now Hezekiah is showing us his pride here, His belief that he has done great things, that he is worthy. He's looking out over his kingdom, and he is centering his prosperity and wealth and power squarely on his shoulders. And then Isaiah shows up, and he asks him, hey, what did these men say? Where are they from? What did they see? And Hezekiah is honest. They're from Babylon.

And he showed them every bit of his treasures. And so Isaiah replies, hear the word of the Lord. The time will surely come when everything in your palace and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away. And they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. This judgment on the nation of Judah as a whole is not directly because of the choices that Hezekiah made on this day. We know that the nation of Judah would have been taken into exile because of the sins of the kings that came before Hezekiah. It's already been prophesied about. What Isaiah is doing here is reminding Hezekiah of the story that he lives in. Hezekiah is showing off to, trying to win the affections of, parading his riches in front of the very,

nation that would one day take it all away from his people, that would take his descendants captive. He has his prideful moment today, but a day is coming when all that he believes is his would be handed over by God to these men of Babylon. Hezekiah is being shown the folly of his ways. The king he was trying to impress will grow in strength greater than his own and will take it all away from him. It's a humbling reminder for Hezekiah. Nothing will be left. Everything you have shown off will be taken away. You are not the one in control. The Lord is. Hezekiah is king, but he's not the king. He has been faithful, but it is because of the generosity, power, and goodness of the Lord God that he is even alive

to receive these envoys from Babylon. Hezekiah had his eyes on what was directly before him, on the horizontal. He got caught up in the things that the other nations valued, the treasures of his kingdom. He wanted the praise of other kings he wanted to measure up. And in doing so, he forgot about reality. He made God a supporting actor. He forgot who the story is actually about. He forgot who defeated the Assearch.

who gave him the treasures, the victory, the throne. It was all God. Not him. Still, his response to Isaiah's rebuke, it's mixed. He says, the word of the Lord you have spoken is good, has Akai replied, for he thought, will there not be peace and security in my lifetime? So he submits to the word of the Lord calling it good. The passage reveals his thoughts. Yeah, the worst is coming. but at least I will have peace. Hezekiah once again reveals the self-focused tendencies of his heart, saying with his lips that he submits to the Lord's word that is good, but in his heart he's still grasping to the comforting thoughts

that he won't have to experience the loss and devastation of exile. He can continue to hold on to his treasures. He can still be the center of his story. Have you ever been like Hezekiah? praising the ways of God with your mouth, saying your will be done, but internally thinking about your own plans, your treasures, the things you've built and accomplished

that help you feel secure, saying all I have is yours, God, but spending your days worrying about how to manage, buy, organize, and decorate all your stuff. Saying all for your glory, God, but reveling in the praise and adoration you get from your boss, coworkers, friends, spouses, striving to get more to do more, devastated when it doesn't come.

See, often my mouth proclaims the greatness of God, but my heart stays solely focused on me. My mouth says Jesus is king, but my life is lived in service to my own agendas, not his. Most days, I am living as though I am the center of my story. I am the main character. I make things happen. But if the books of First and Second Kings have taught us anything, it should be that even those who believe themselves to be king have no power or control over the true king. First and Second Kings is full of stories about the kings of Israel and Judah getting caught up in their horizontal lives. But in all of it, it is telling the story of the one true and good king. My life is not about me.

I was not created to worship me. Your life is not about you. You were created to worship, to follow, to serve, to humbly submit to the kingship of God. You were made to add to his story, the story of redemption that he's been weaving throughout all of history. To serve the king that came to bring life where there was death, light, where there was darkness, flourishing, where there was devastation. May we be a people that see our lives within that story.

May we use our lives to show the watching world, not how we measure up by their standards, but how much greater, how much more powerful and good King Jesus is than anything in this world. That King Jesus would be the one we think of, we speak of, and we devote our lives to.