Thursday, September 30, 2010

King Hezekiah - The Good and the Bad

Earlier this month on the same day, I read Isaiah 37-39 and Proverbs 25:1. They are interesting to compare.
  • These also are the proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied. - Prov 25:1
  • Behold, days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says Yahweh. - Isaiah 39:6
Hezekiah reigned from about 715-686 BC, and had accomplished a revival and return to Yahweh during his reign. Isaiah 37-39 is interesting in this regard as Yahweh granted him an extra 15 yrs to his life (Isaiah 38:15) because he prayed and was diligent to follow the Lord.  

However, both good and bad/evil happened during that "extra" time he prayed for:  
  1. One good thing is possibly Proverbs 25, where he commissioned "a new.expanded edition of Solmonic proverbs apparently part of that revival [period]" (ESV Study Bible, p. 1178). 
  2. But one bad thing was that Hezekiah gave birth to Manasseh during his latter 15 years, and he would be the most wicked king over Judah. Manasseh's wickedness would be cited as the quintessential reason for Judah's exile.

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