Title: God Who Changes His Will (2 Kings 2001)
Contents
God who changes his will (2 Kings 20:1-7)
1 At that time Hezekiah became sick and died, and Isaiah the son of Amos the prophet came to him and said, "This is what the LORD says: Destroy the house, for you shall die and not live."
2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying,
3 I pray, O LORD, remember that I have walked before you in truth and with all my heart, and that I have done that which is good in your sight.”
4 Before Isaiah came even to the middle of the city, the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
5 Go back and say to Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, saith the LORD, the God of David your father, I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you, and in three days you will go up to the house of the LORD.
6 I will add fifteen years to your days, and I will save you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will protect this city for myself and for David my servant.
7 Isaiah said, "Bring me some figs." So the crowds took them and laid them on the sack, and it was healed.
i.
Today is the story of Hezekiah's personal crisis.
First, although this event is recorded after defeating the Assyrian attack in Chapter 19,
In terms of time, it seems that something happened in the middle.
The Bible is not a record of history, but a book written to reveal the will of God.
Therefore, the biblical record does not necessarily correspond to the order in which the events actually occurred.
In verse 6, along with the healing of Hezekiah, we hear the words, “…I will save you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria…”
This incident appears to have taken place in the midst of a national crisis in Israel.
Hezekiah became ill.
He must have been working hard on it.
But Isaiah, a man of God, comes to Hezekiah and says,
“Destroy the house, for you shall not live, but die” (verse 1).
Clean up the house, because Hezekiah is ill.
This means that it was God's will, not Isaiah's.
Is there a crisis greater than death for an individual?
How would you feel if you went to the hospital because you were ill and were unexpectedly sentenced to death?
Hezekiah faced the greatest crisis of his life.
Comparing 2 Kings 18-19 and 20
A warning of ruin: the community will perish vs you will perish
Warning: General Rabshakeh of Gentile Assyria vs Isaiah the Prophet of God
In this respect, for believers, the problem of Chapter 20 is much more serious.
ii.
What did Hezekiah do in the face of the crisis of absolute despair today?
Verse 2: “He turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD, saying, “…”
What does Hezekiah's name mean?
“God is my strength”
He turns to God in any case.
We rely on God when we have other things to depend on.
We depend on God even when we have nothing else to depend on.
Only God is Hezekiah's opponent.
“To face the wall…” means “only God”.
Although this death is proclaimed from God, it comes to God.
Here, Hezekiah's faith stands out.
Strict trust in God.
If you hit a puppy, the puppy has to run away, but even after being hit, he digs into his knee.
This is Hezekiah's heart toward God.
“Master, are you going to kill me? Even if I die, my best course of action is to trust in God. I will die by your side.”
Do you have this level of trust in God?
Our opponent must be God.
Do not look at the environment or circumstances.
The opponent we have to bet against is God, not people or the environment.
Because when God says to die, we die, and when God says to live, we live.
Jacob's heart at the Jabbok River is like this Hezekiah's prayer.
He left all his property and his wife and children.
“Jacob was left alone…” (Genesis 32:24)
Jacob, who is in danger of dying because of his brother, is left alone and wrestles with the angel.
“I cannot go unless you bless me.”
If you are looking for a prayer similar to this wrestling, it is Hezekiah's prayer today.
A prayer that did not give up until Jacob's hip bone was broken.
That is the prayer that turned Hezekiah's face toward the wall.
Do you have a problem or crisis?
So what are you doing for it?
Face your face towards the wall.
Turn your face to God.
Failure to do so means you still have something else to rely on.
Even then, we must turn to God.
iii.
The content of his prayer is verse 3
“Remember that I have walked before you in truth and with all my heart, and that I have done what is good in your sight.”
Don't misunderstand it as a proud prayer before God.
It's not about saying, "Why do you want to kill me when I've lived so good?
I have so many good things, how can I do this?
I'm really embarrassed to give it out, but it's so desperate that even a tiny thing as small as a speck,
It is a prayer that is offered earnestly from the heart to hold on to even the straw.
Do you know the earnestness of prayer?
Long rupture prayer, throat rupture prayer...
Also, these words are a prayer that shows that Hezekiah contains thorough trust in God's love for him.
I'm not saying my righteousness is great
Praying with the belief that God will not ignore even the smallest of your own righteousness.
So, this prayer is a prayer that contains 'desire' and 'trust'.
These two are the most essential elements of prayer.
Faith in God who hears prayers, and the earnest desire that if this is not solved, I will die.
A man named Hall said this.
Prayer is not mathematics, so the number of prayers does not become the strength of prayer.
Prayer is not rhetoric, so the eloquence of prayer is not the power of prayer.
Prayer is not geometry, so its rhythm is not the strength of prayer.
Prayer is not music, so the beauty of his voice is not his strength.
Prayer is also not logic, and his tone or coherence is not a strength.
Even theology, which God cares most about, cannot be the power of prayer.
But the zeal of the heart, this is the greatest power and the most useful element of prayer.
Here, the ‘zeal of the heart’ that Hall refers to means earnestness.
Of course, God is a God who knows and answers even things we do not pray in advance.
But, in many cases, he gets us to pray and then he answers,
In such cases, he especially waits for us to pray earnestly and earnestly.
It is because the earnest prayer knows the gratitude of answers.
iv.
Look at God after Hezekiah's prayer (vv. 4-6).
4 Before Isaiah came even to the middle of the city, the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
5 Go back and say to Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, saith the LORD, the God of David your father, I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you, and in three days you will go up to the house of the LORD.
6 I will add fifteen years to your days, and I will save you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will protect this city for myself and for David my servant.
"Before Isaiah came to the city..." = 'immediately' could be changed to 'immediately'.
“I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears”
“I will heal you, and on the third day you will go up to the house of the Lord.”
“I will add fifteen years to your days.”
“You are for me and the City of David, and I will protect them too.”
Hezekiah's prayer changes God's heart.
The original plan is modified.
What do you think of people who change their words?
God is weak in the prayer of sincere faith, even if God himself is called an 'incompetent god' or 'a god who does not do what he says'.
We are weak in giving grace.
He looks for people who can be gracious and does not think about his crumpled face.
See the book of Jonah.
“Nineveh shall be destroyed in 40 days” The destruction of Nineveh is proclaimed.
original plan.
But when Jonah calls out to the king of Nineveh and the people all repent, He raises them up.
God is weak to tears and repentance, prayers and tears.
v.
God who turns his will
God changes his mind
God gave to man.
Why does God turn?
Why does God submit to man?
Is it because God is powerless?
Sincere prayer changes God.
When a child asks a parent to do something,
What do you say when you close the door?
“I am not eating”
it's intimidating
Why can a child threaten her mother?
This is a possible intimidation because they know their parents love them.
Really, if their children don't eat, where are the parents who won't listen to anything?
So there is a saying that there is no parent who beats the child.
So is God.
God trusts in his love and cannot overcome his people who are desperate.
When we pray, pray with God's love for us as security.
God values the tears of those he loves.
So even the will he had already established is reversed.
How amazing is the news?
What an amazing event.
There is a prayer that moves God.
My nephew Dong-seok's middle school days.
One day, I give all the pocket money I saved up as a thank-you offering.
Parents, what do you want to have after being touched?
"computer..."
It was something I couldn't even afford with my own pocket money.
He buys a computer because his parents don't question him and he loves his trust.
So is God.
There is a prayer that God moves.
Not praying is not because of laziness, but because of arrogance.
Some people say this as an excuse for not praying.
“I believe that God will take care of everything even if you don’t pray”
But prayer is not because we do not have faith, but because we pray because we have faith.
It is already an expression of faith that we pray with us on Friday nights like this.
Impress God with your faith in God.
Our faith and our earnestness move God.
Until last week, chapter 19 looked at Hezekiah, who overcame the national crisis through prayer.
How did he overcome the national crisis? It was because of prayer.
Today is the story of overcoming one's personal crisis.
How does he overcome his personal crisis?
because of prayer.
God speaks to us through this story of Hezekiah.
From personal crises to national crises...
There is a way to overcome every crisis. it's just prayer
Any difficulty can be overcome with prayer.
Draw a portrait of Hezekiah.
Put your thin and flat hands together
I have tears in my eyes
kneel down,
The head is raised about 30 degrees towards the sky...
Or maybe you just keep your head down...
And there is nothing around it.
dark background. But bright light on one side.
light overcomes darkness
Through prayer...
That prayer is a prayer offered with earnestness (=perseverance) and faith.
God is so pleased with our prayers that He even turns back His will.