More Kings....

OK ... don't call me a blog-slacker ... I've updated my other blog several times this week. AND, please don't think that I've been an Isaiah-slacker. I've actually been ruminating about Uzziah and what I wrote in the previous post on this blog. AND, I've been spending some really good time reading about King Hezekiah.

Now, you may be thinking, "But, Lou Ann, you've skipped TWO of the kings." And you're right ... after King Uzziah (see previous post) comes King Jotham (II Kings 15:32-38 and II Chronicles 27) and then King Ahaz (II Kings 16 and II Chronicles 28). I found that I really didn't feel drawn to spend much time contemplating those kings. Yes ... they're important to the story of Isaiah. Yes ... I did read each account of both of them. And, yes ... I even dug into some commentaries about each of them. But, no ... I was not drawn to go further than that. Since this study of these four kings is really just a rabbit trail from my Isaiah study, I figured that it's okay. Here's the short version: King Jotham (son of Uzziah) was a good guy. That's it ... he was basically a good guy and did right in the sight of the Lord. Then there's King Ahaz (son of Jotham). Let's just say that King Ahaz did NOT do right in the sight of the Lord. He worshipped just about everything except the Lord. He even closed the doors to the temple of the Lord.

SO ... what to expect in upcoming posts? Well, I am absolutely fascinated with King Hezekiah (son of Ahaz). He was a man who did right in the sight of the Lord. Even more so than his great grandfather, Uzziah. The II Kings story about Hezekiah tells about him from a different angle from the II Chronicles story. Both stories are wonderful and very interesting and leave LOTS of room for introspection ... and "up"-trospection. (FYI ... in my devotions I am reading the Max Lucado book, _It's Not About Me_, which, if you know me even a little, you know is all about a lesson that I NEED to learn ... so you may be finding little bits and pieces of that thinking as I write in this blog.) So, in the posts in the near future, you can expect to read about King Hezekiah ... opener of temple doors, builder of pools, prayer warrior, consultor of Isaiah, remover of high places, destroyer of idols, and all-around devotee to the Lord!!

The bottom line is, in my own humble opinion, that the Kings of Judah (probably even the kings of both Judah AND the kings of Israel would make great stuff for a study in and of themselves.... Hmmm....