Jack K
Puritan Board Doctor
I'm trying to understand a Bible passage, and I wonder what folks here think.
Next week at Bible camp, one lesson I plan to teach will focus on the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem and how the Lord saved the city. I'm wondering what to make of Hezekiah's attempts to appease Assyria prior to the siege. The detail is found in 2 Kings 18:13-16.
In the past, I've mentioned this part of the account only to show how dire the situation must have been, based on Hezekiah's level of worry. But now I'm wondering if Hezekiah also deserves at least some mild criticism. I see two alternate ways to look at his actions:
1. They show a disappointing lack of faith in the Lord. He should not be trusting in negotiations and payoffs, especially when temple treasures are at stake. It appears he also was putting some faith in Egypt, and we know Isaiah spoke against that. Hezekiah should be trusting solely in the Lord. (Happily, he eventually came around to that.)
2. His actions show appropriate prudence. Faith in the Lord does not necessarily mean one stops using the usual tactics available. It was prudent and dutiful for Hezekiah to do all he could by usual means. There's nothing faithless about that.
So, which is the better way to look at this incident?
Next week at Bible camp, one lesson I plan to teach will focus on the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem and how the Lord saved the city. I'm wondering what to make of Hezekiah's attempts to appease Assyria prior to the siege. The detail is found in 2 Kings 18:13-16.
In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear.” And the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king's house. At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord and from the doorposts that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria.
In the past, I've mentioned this part of the account only to show how dire the situation must have been, based on Hezekiah's level of worry. But now I'm wondering if Hezekiah also deserves at least some mild criticism. I see two alternate ways to look at his actions:
1. They show a disappointing lack of faith in the Lord. He should not be trusting in negotiations and payoffs, especially when temple treasures are at stake. It appears he also was putting some faith in Egypt, and we know Isaiah spoke against that. Hezekiah should be trusting solely in the Lord. (Happily, he eventually came around to that.)
2. His actions show appropriate prudence. Faith in the Lord does not necessarily mean one stops using the usual tactics available. It was prudent and dutiful for Hezekiah to do all he could by usual means. There's nothing faithless about that.
So, which is the better way to look at this incident?