II Chronicles 29
Dr. Roberto Miranda(Audio: Spanish)
SUMMARY:
The historical books in the Old Testament, such as First and Second Samuel, First and Second Kings, and First and Second Chronicles, tell the story of the people of Israel and their relationship with God. Through studying these stories, God's people can extract spiritual biblical teachings for their lives. One character, King Hezekiah, is a model for how to live a prosperous and blessed life. Hezekiah had a heart that loved the Lord and sought to do God's will, and as a result, wherever he went, God prospered him. The connection between a passionate love for God and prosperity is a reality in the lives of the great heroes of the Bible.
The speaker believes that loving the Lord passionately is the key to prosperity in all areas of life. He emphasizes that a nation's spiritual foundation must be in order for it to prosper, and that leaders should prioritize God's affairs. He also stresses the importance of being wholeheartedly devoted to God, as lukewarmness is displeasing to Him. He uses the example of Hezekiah, who prioritized spiritual renewal before economic, political, or structural reforms. The speaker urges both spiritual leaders and members of the church to sanctify themselves and live lives of integrity before God.
In this passage, the king and spiritual leader of the nation, Hezekiah, experiences revival, followed by a call for the priests to prepare themselves and sanctify themselves. Confession of sin and recognition of specific faults are also important steps towards a visitation of God in the church and nation. Hezekiah publicly confesses the sins of the fathers and the nation, acknowledging where they had failed, and then makes a determination to make a new pact with God. This involves a firm determination to follow the Lord no matter what, to please the Lord in all aspects of our lives, and to walk with the Lord. When leaders of a nation or household make a firm pact with God, blessings flow into all aspects of life, establishing a well-connected wire for divine electricity to run through.
Hezekiah made a covenant with God to turn away his anger and this is the key to being blessed and prosperous. We should make a firm pact with God, love Him above all things, and fix our lives with Him. We need to repent for not loving God as we should and live a life that pleases Him. We need revival in our lives and in our nation, so we should pray for God's fire and rain to make the desert bloom.There are some historical books in the Old Testament that tell the story of the people of Israel, all the different kings that were in Israel, beginning with King Saul, and that tell the whole story of the Jewish people until they were taken captive by the Babylonians. and carried out of the land of Israel, and were exiled. And these books are the books of First and Second Samuel, First and Second Kings, First and Second Chronicles. Many of the stories in these books are repeated in some of them always complementary, some provide details about certain events that others do not. And you have to concatenate them one with the other, but they are very interesting books.
Now, why do God's people use these books for their meditations and sermons? Well, because we believe that what God did was to provide, through the history of a people, and the characters that appear in that history, life models for us and ways in which we can understand how God works through of all history with all men on earth. That is, Israel is simply, among other things, a model, so that when we study God's relationship with Israel and his dealings, we can understand how we also relate to God and how we should behave before the Lord. It is like in law schools, or in business administration schools, the case method is used. The theory of law or business administration is taught a lot by studying cases of specific companies and then by studying how a company undertook a certain financial strategy or what led to the failure of a company, law students or in the case of administration of companies, or in the case of laws, how a certain case was resolved before the Supreme Court and what legal implications that case had for the future of law in the US. By studying specific cases from there, general principles are extracted that can then be used for the conduct of the law or of companies.