This week's lesson has a few points which have great application for daily life.
In 2 Kings 18/2 Chronicles 29 we are introduced to King Hezekiah (Hebrew for "Jehovah is my strength"). His father, King Ahaz, had taken all the gold and silver from the temple and given it to the king of Assyria. 'Zeke's first order of business after assuming the throne is to repair all the damages done to the temple and get the priests sanctified and back on track. The priests "brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord ... and ... [carried] it out abroad into the brook Kidron" (2 Chron 29:16).
Passover was to be held on the 14th day of the first month, but since the priests and temple wouldn't be properly sanctified in time, passover was rescheduled for the second month. Apparently it has been a while since they had observed the passover, so he invited the Northern kingdom to come for passover as well. It might not seem like much, but North and South haven't been getting along, so this was a huge step. Many who were invited "laughed them to scorn, and mocked them" (2 Chron 30:10), but there were a few who humbled themselves and accepted the invitation. The passover celebration was such a success, the people decided to extend it for another week.
Later, the king of Assyria was rampaging through Israel and Judah with no signs of slowing down. 'Zeke prepared Jerusalem as best he could, repairing the walls, making weapons and shields, and appointed military captains. He also had his workers tunnel 540 meters through limestone under the city to bring the waters of the Gihon spring into the safety of Jerusalem. Then he approached the Lord in prayer, pleading for help.
Meanwhile, the Assyrians are taunting the people, essentially saying "the gods of the other nations couldn't save their people, what makes you think your god will save you?"
The prophet Isaiah came to reassure 'Zeke, and during the night an angel of the Lord came and killed 185,000 of the Assyrian soldiers (2 Kings 19:35).
So, it's a really cool story, but what do we get out of it. Let's see how many I can get through:
1. "...be ye clean..." (Isaiah 52:11)
'Zeke recognized the need to be clean before the Lord and made sure the proper steps were taken to sanctify the temple and those who officiated there. Through the power of the atonement, we have the precious gift of repentance so even if we weren't clean yesterday we can become clean today (or at least start the process). When we "...[bring] out all the uncleanness" from our lives, we should take it to our "brook Kidron", which was well outside the city, and leave it there. Whatever our individual weakness is, we need to remove the triggers which lead to that behavior. Elder David A. Bednar taught, "The standard is clear. If something we think, see, hear, or do distances us from the Holy Ghost, then we should stop thinking, seeing, hearing, or doing that thing" (David A. Bednar, "That We May Always Have His Spirit to Be with Us," Ensign, May 2006, 28–31).
2. Better Late Than Never
Rather than wait another year to hold the passover on the prescribed dates, 'Zeke wanted to have it done as soon as possible. How many times have I heard people say "I can repent later" as they do something they know is wrong. Some even made plans to "live a little" and then repent in time to serve their missions (several of them didn't actually end up going). 'Zeke and the priests didn't calculate how much time it would take to repent and be cleansed so they could leave it to the last minute, they worked to put things in order now.
3. Do What it Takes
I imagine tunneling through 540 meters of limestone isn't an easy task. If they decided to only go 530 meters, the whole city would've been taken because no one would have any water. Christ referred to Himself as the "living water" (John 4:10-11) and it's not a big stretch to apply this to the efforts needed to bring the spirit of Christ into our lives. According to other sources, workers were carving out the tunnel from both ends. In our lives we'll find that as we work to move closer to Christ, He is also moving closer to us. Just as the father of the prodigal son didn't let him make the journey home alone, Christ doesn't make us walk home on our own either.
4. Trust God
After we have done, or are doing, everything we can, we need to trust God to keep His promises (and He has a very good track record). I think the story would've had a dramatically different ending if 'Zeke had sat around saying "please help me out of this one" without doing anything on his part. I heard someone say once, "if you want God to direct your footsteps, you have to move your feet." I'm sure we'll all have times in our lives when we are figuratively surrounded by an unbeatable army. Whether it is by an angel during the night, chariots and horses of fire, or three hundred men with trumpets and lanterns, trust God to deliver us (and usually in a way we haven't considered). The world will taunt and try to discourage us, but we need to stay strong in our faith.
I'm sure there are countless other applications we can pull from the story (and I didn't even get into King Josiah). Feel free to comment on anything that sticks out to you. One of my favorite parts of teaching Sunday School is hearing the insights from the class.
In 2 Kings 18/2 Chronicles 29 we are introduced to King Hezekiah (Hebrew for "Jehovah is my strength"). His father, King Ahaz, had taken all the gold and silver from the temple and given it to the king of Assyria. 'Zeke's first order of business after assuming the throne is to repair all the damages done to the temple and get the priests sanctified and back on track. The priests "brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord ... and ... [carried] it out abroad into the brook Kidron" (2 Chron 29:16).
Passover was to be held on the 14th day of the first month, but since the priests and temple wouldn't be properly sanctified in time, passover was rescheduled for the second month. Apparently it has been a while since they had observed the passover, so he invited the Northern kingdom to come for passover as well. It might not seem like much, but North and South haven't been getting along, so this was a huge step. Many who were invited "laughed them to scorn, and mocked them" (2 Chron 30:10), but there were a few who humbled themselves and accepted the invitation. The passover celebration was such a success, the people decided to extend it for another week.
Later, the king of Assyria was rampaging through Israel and Judah with no signs of slowing down. 'Zeke prepared Jerusalem as best he could, repairing the walls, making weapons and shields, and appointed military captains. He also had his workers tunnel 540 meters through limestone under the city to bring the waters of the Gihon spring into the safety of Jerusalem. Then he approached the Lord in prayer, pleading for help.
Meanwhile, the Assyrians are taunting the people, essentially saying "the gods of the other nations couldn't save their people, what makes you think your god will save you?"
The prophet Isaiah came to reassure 'Zeke, and during the night an angel of the Lord came and killed 185,000 of the Assyrian soldiers (2 Kings 19:35).
So, it's a really cool story, but what do we get out of it. Let's see how many I can get through:
1. "...be ye clean..." (Isaiah 52:11)
'Zeke recognized the need to be clean before the Lord and made sure the proper steps were taken to sanctify the temple and those who officiated there. Through the power of the atonement, we have the precious gift of repentance so even if we weren't clean yesterday we can become clean today (or at least start the process). When we "...[bring] out all the uncleanness" from our lives, we should take it to our "brook Kidron", which was well outside the city, and leave it there. Whatever our individual weakness is, we need to remove the triggers which lead to that behavior. Elder David A. Bednar taught, "The standard is clear. If something we think, see, hear, or do distances us from the Holy Ghost, then we should stop thinking, seeing, hearing, or doing that thing" (David A. Bednar, "That We May Always Have His Spirit to Be with Us," Ensign, May 2006, 28–31).
2. Better Late Than Never
Rather than wait another year to hold the passover on the prescribed dates, 'Zeke wanted to have it done as soon as possible. How many times have I heard people say "I can repent later" as they do something they know is wrong. Some even made plans to "live a little" and then repent in time to serve their missions (several of them didn't actually end up going). 'Zeke and the priests didn't calculate how much time it would take to repent and be cleansed so they could leave it to the last minute, they worked to put things in order now.
3. Do What it Takes
I imagine tunneling through 540 meters of limestone isn't an easy task. If they decided to only go 530 meters, the whole city would've been taken because no one would have any water. Christ referred to Himself as the "living water" (John 4:10-11) and it's not a big stretch to apply this to the efforts needed to bring the spirit of Christ into our lives. According to other sources, workers were carving out the tunnel from both ends. In our lives we'll find that as we work to move closer to Christ, He is also moving closer to us. Just as the father of the prodigal son didn't let him make the journey home alone, Christ doesn't make us walk home on our own either.
4. Trust God
After we have done, or are doing, everything we can, we need to trust God to keep His promises (and He has a very good track record). I think the story would've had a dramatically different ending if 'Zeke had sat around saying "please help me out of this one" without doing anything on his part. I heard someone say once, "if you want God to direct your footsteps, you have to move your feet." I'm sure we'll all have times in our lives when we are figuratively surrounded by an unbeatable army. Whether it is by an angel during the night, chariots and horses of fire, or three hundred men with trumpets and lanterns, trust God to deliver us (and usually in a way we haven't considered). The world will taunt and try to discourage us, but we need to stay strong in our faith.
I'm sure there are countless other applications we can pull from the story (and I didn't even get into King Josiah). Feel free to comment on anything that sticks out to you. One of my favorite parts of teaching Sunday School is hearing the insights from the class.
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