2 Kings 16 - 1 Chronicles 1: Good king, bad king

- Finally, a good king:  King Hezekiah held fast to God, and God held fast to him. He prayed an amazing prayer in 2 Kings 19:14-34, along with a prophecy by Isaiah. God promised to shield the royal city of Jerusalem from the arrogant and bloodthirsty Assyrian king. That night, an angel of God came and killed 185,000 Assyrians. The Assyrian king (Sennacherib) went home to Nineveh and was later murdered by his own sons in their temple.
- God listens:  Hezekiah prayed and asked God for physical healing. 2 Kings 20:4 says that God listened to his prayer and heard his tears and....God changed his mind. Wow. I should be praying more.
- Then more bad kings:  Manasseh set up pagan idols in the temple and sacrificed his own son to pagan gods. These passages report that this evil king set new records in evil and this type of sin led to the destruction of Jerusalem. The accounts of these evil kings and the consequences for Israel were heartbreaking and very, very difficult for me to read (2 Kings 21).
- Back to the book: Finally, along came another godly king named Josiah. He rediscovered the Word of God and read it to the people. They had forgotten what the Scriptures had to say, but Josiah's leadership led them to repentance. "The world would never again see a king like Josiah" (2 Kings 23:5).


Elena's verse of the day:  "This festival had not been celebrated in this way since the time that tribal leaders ruled Israel. But in Josiah's 18th year as king, everyone came to Jerusalem to celebrate

 year as king, everyone came to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover" (2 Kings 23:22-23).