TOPIC: A Little Compromise
TEXT: 2 Kings 18:13-25
13. Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.
And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me; that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto 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 treasures of the king’s house.
At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller’s field.
And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.
And Rabshakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
Thou sayest, (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it; so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.
But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God; is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?
Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
KEY VERSE:
“At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.” – (2 Kings 18:16)
MESSAGE:
Throughout his administration, Abraham Lincoln was a president who knew he was not perfect, but never resolved to compromise his integrity. So strong was this resolve that he once said, “I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me”.
From the text, Hezekiah tried to placate the king of Assyria who came to invade the fenced cities of Judah. Instead of his usual approach of relying on the Lord and confronting the enemy, Hezekiah, in fear, settled for negotiation. In a desperate attempt to meet the conditions of peace, he sent to the king of Assyria all the silver found in the house of the Lord and the king’s treasury. Yet, the king of Assyria still came with a large army to invade Jerusalem. The emissaries sent to Judah by the enemy king did not acknowledge whatever was sent by Hezekiah; they instead boasted about the military might of their king and made irreverent remarks about God and His people.
After fourteen years on the throne, Hezekiah forsook his former approach of relying only on God to defend the nation in times of war. He appeared to have accepted a little compromise by negotiating his way out of the predicament. He forgot that the enemy would hunt for the precious soul and would not settle for any gifts.
As believers, we must understand that the devil does not honour agreements. He cannot be trusted to stand by his promises. We must therefore avoid any form of compromise through negotiation with the devil or his cohorts. We must not return to the world or to Egypt for help. There is no agreement between light and darkness, and two parallel lines will never meet. Our God is more than enough to save us.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Satan’s agents cannot be trusted to keep promises.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Jeremiah 5-6
DCLM Daily Manna 23 October 2021 Deeper Life Devotional Message was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
