“In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.”
~ 2 Chronicles 31:21
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you hope to be prosperous when you become as old as your dad? What does being prosperous mean to you? Does being prosperous mean to you making a lot of money? Does being prosperous mean to you having a lot of things. Does being prosperous mean to you being blessed with a lot of blessings? Hezekiah was a prosperous guy. There were reasons for Hezekiah’s prosperity. The final verse in 2 Chronicles 31 sums up why Hezekiah prospered. Verse 21 says, “In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.” Hezekiah about 2700 years ago was king over the guys and gals who were living in the land of Judah. During the 29 years that Hezekiah was king over the guys and gals who were living in the land of Judah, your grandpaa believes that Hezekiah had a spiritual mentor – a prophet by the name of Isaiah, who influenced him to issue an edict that mandated God’s specially chosen guys and gals who were living in the land of Judah to cut down all the Asherah poles, smash all the sacred stones and destroy all the high places and altars in their land area. Your grandpaa believes that Isaiah influenced Hezekiah to insure that a division of Levi tribal clan temple priests always offered up burnt and fellowship offerings at the appropriate times, that a division of Levi tribal clan temple priests were always available to minister to God’s specially chosen guys and gals who were living in the land of Judah and that a division of Levi tribal clan temple priests was always giving thanks and singing praises to God. Your grandpaa believes that Isaiah influenced Hezekiah to first model tithing from his personal possessions and then he had Hezekiah issue a decree for God’s specially chosen guys and gals who were living in the land of Judah to give back to God as a tithe the first fruits of their grain, new wine, oil, honey, etc. along with the firstborn from their flocks and herds. Your grandpaa believes that Isaiah influenced Hezekiah to order God’s specially chosen guys and gals who were living in the land of Judah to completely purge from the land of Judah all the inanimate manmade gods that had been handmade from stone, clay, wood and metal, to totally dedicate themselves to worshipping God and to wholeheartedly be glad to give God without reservation their first fruits, firstborns, special gifts and at least a ten percent tithe on monies earned.
Your grandpaa believes that Isaiah influenced Hezekiah to update the Levi tribal clan guys’ genealogies to insure that there was always a pool of Levi tribal clan guys available to be assigned to the different responsibilities regarding the assortment of tasks that were pertinent to the worshipping of God in His temple that was located in the city of Jerusalem. Your grandpaa believes that Isaiah influenced Hezekiah to identify by name the Levi tribal clan guys who he wanted to have the oversight responsibilities of storing and/or distributing the tithes, contributions and gifts that God’s specially chosen guys and gals who were living in the land of Judah were giving back to God, the Levi tribal clan guys who he wanted to have the oversight responsibilities to decide who would offer up burnt and fellowship offerings at appropriate times in the temple of God that was located in the city of Jerusalem, the Levi tribal clan guys who he wanted to have the oversight responsibilities to lead out in ministering to God’s specially chosen guys and gals who were living in the land of Judah, the Levi tribal clan guys who he wanted to have the oversight responsibilities of always giving thanks and singing praises to God in the temple of God that was located in the city of Jerusalem and the Levi tribal clan guys who he wanted to have oversight responsibilities over the Levi tribal clan farmers who were living in the land of Judah. It seems to your grandpaa that there had to have been a guy like a prophet like Isaiah who had to have influenced Hezekiah for Hezekiah to take on such a proactive interest in establishing an environ where only God could be or would be worshipped.
Hezekiah – as king, was in a place where he could leverage an ambience where only God could be or would be worshipped. Hezekiah knew that he himself could not eradicate the erroneous belief and worship paradigms from the land of Judah and that he himself could not do the God expected worship functions which only the Levi tribal clan guys could do. Hezekiah was not from the Levi tribal clan. What Hezekiah sis was to publicly contribute from his amassed wealth and to verbally affirm his trust in other guys to do the tasks that needed to be done. Your grandpaa wonders though why a prophet is never mentioned by the Chronicler as playing a key role in this renewal of God’s specially chosen guys and gals to worship only Him again. Your grandpaa believes that every guy, gal and kid needs to have mentors – especially spiritual mentors, and that every guy, gal and kid needs to be always ready to mentor. Your grandmaa and grandpaa believe that there is nothing more important that they can do as missionaries than to invest their lives unreservedly in the lives of guys, gals and kids who want to know how to always live their lives reflecting God’s glory back to Him. Your grandpaa finds it very discouraging when he is not trusted to do a task that he knows that he can do. Your grandpaa is scheduled to be at Estes Park in three days where he will join his supervisor in a breakout session that will focus on short term ministry personnel. Your grandpaa has as one of his job assignments at OC International the responsibility to respond to all short term ministry inquiries. Because your grandpaa’s supervisor has never learned to pull a Hezekiah, Bill believes that he has to be who does the presenting during the breakout session. Your grandpaa struggles with guys who are unable to entrust another guy with a task.
2 Chronicles 31 (588)