Title: God with Us
2 Kings (36) God with us
(2 Kings 15:23-38)
< Historic Sites of Pekihiah, Pekah, and Jotham >
The text records the history of Pekahiah the 17th king of northern Israel, Pekah the 18th king, and Jotham the 11th king of Judah.
1. Historic Sites of Pekahiah, the 17th Northern King
In the 50th year of Azariah (Uzziah) king of southern Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem became the 17th king of northern Israel and reigned for two years (verse 23). Like most other kings of northern Israel, Pekahiah did not depart from Jeroboam's sin of idolatry of the golden calf (v. 24). In the end, Pega son of Remaliah, who was the most trusted commander of the king's guard, killed the king surrounded by alcohol and women at a feast at the guard station of the royal palace in Samaria, along with 50 guards from Gilead from the same region, and became king in his place. verse 25).
2. Historic Sites of the 18th Northern King Pega
In the 52nd year of Azariah (Uzziah) king of southern Judah, Pekah became the 18th king of northern Israel and reigned for 20 years (verse 27). Pega also did not depart from the sin of idolatry of the golden calf (verse 28). In the end, when the Assyrian Tiglath-pileser invaded the country, and the country was devastated and the king lost his people, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah (Azariah), Hoshea the son of Elah struck down Pekah and became king (verses 29-30). . At that time, Northern Israel was under Assyria's influence, so Hosea would have rebelled and ascended to the throne with the ratification of Tiglath-pileser.
3. Historic Sites of Jotham, the 11th King of South Korea
In the second year of Pekah son of Remaliah, the 18th king of northern Israel, Jotham son of Uzziah (Azariah) king of Judah became the 11th king of southern Judah (verse 32). Jotham was faithful, but he did not remove the high places, so the people still offered pagan and shamanic sacrifices on the high places (verse 34). After that, the Lord sent Rezin king of Syria and Pekah king of northern Israel to attack Judah (verse 37). At that time, Isaiah's curse on Rezin and Pekah and the 'Immanuel (God with us) prophecy' are given (Isaiah 7:6-14). The core message of Immanuel's prophecy is that God never forsakes his children even if they are whipped for a while.
< God with us >
One day, when a couple of British officers were crossing the Atlantic by boat, they encountered a severe storm. The officer's wife was trembling with great fear, and the officer suddenly drew a knife and put it around her neck. The officer asked, as the wife remained calm and not afraid. "Honey! Aren't you afraid of knives?" The lady answered. “What are you afraid of when the knife is in your beloved hand?” Then the officer said. "Honey! Why are you so afraid of this situation, not the devil, but a loving God?” At that time, the wife shook off her fear and comfortably embraced her husband.
Even if there are big problems and adversaries, there is no need to be afraid if we have the confidence that God is with us. If the saints are in God, darkness and fear may come for a moment, but they cannot control it. Darkness and fear come only when greed replaces faith in the heart. So pray like this often. "God! Give me the strength to overcome greed and selfishness so that I can live a life of sharing!”
The core of the gospel is well expressed in the word Immanuel. So just hearing the word ‘Immanuel’ gives me strength and emotion. Why is such a feeling of dwindling now? It means living like that. However, you do not know how much strength and comfort the word Immanuel gives to those who are pushed to the brink of life. For those who lived in darkness and suffered numerous oppression, discrimination, exploitation, and wounds while living as Roman colonists, the word ‘Emmanuel’ was the gospel that made them overcome all pain, wounds and darkness.
Since the ‘Christmas of Jesus’ in which the God of Immanuel was embodied was like a ray of light in the darkness, how much joy was there at that time? The first words the angel Gabriel said to Mary were, “Rejoice!” When pregnant Mary visited her relative Elizabeth, the baby in Elizabeth's womb also jumped for joy. When announcing the birth of Jesus, the angel said to the fearful shepherds “I bring you news that will bring great joy to all the people.”
It is not a dark reality that makes people despair. The dark reality has always been there. God sometimes allows us to pass through darkness as a training process. The root cause of despair is a lack of trust and communication. When God and man meet through faith and communication, pain is relieved, wounds are healed, and problems are resolved. There is also a solution when there is sunset. Jesus is the God of Immanuel, who came to this earth to fundamentally solve all human suffering and problems. Be blessed spirits who depend on that God and live with hope even in desperate situations.