Readings for today: Isaiah 38-39, 2 Kings 20:1-21, 2 Chronicles 32:24-33
Our church family has experienced a lot of loss recently. Loved ones who have gone on to be with the Lord. Beloved grandmothers and grandfathers. Husbands and wives. Mothers and fathers. Friends and co-workers and neighbors. Each of the people we’ve lost played many of these roles in the lives of those who will miss them. Hundreds gathered at their funerals to say goodbye and pay their respects. Thankfully, all of them were Christians. They believed in Jesus so we can have confidence that they are now with the Lord. They are not gone forever. They are not lost forever. We will be reunited with them either when we got to heaven ourselves after we pass or Jesus brings heaven to earth and we are transformed into glory.
Hezekiah didn’t have this hope. The Jewish people didn’t have a fully formed theology of the resurrection. They weren’t sure what happened after death. They knew God was good. They knew God was faithful. They knew God would keep His promises. But resurrection was not on their radar screen. It’s little wonder then that Hezekiah weeps bitterly when he finds out he has a terminal illness. It’s nor surprising that he doesn’t seem to care what happens after he dies as long as he goes peacefully to his grave. There is no awareness of an afterlife. No awareness of life after the grave. For him, it represents an end so he prays. He asks God for more time. More years. More opportunities to serve Him as he has done faithfully all his life. The Lord answers his prayers. Gives him fifteen more years and Hezekiah miraculously recovers.
Sadly, the seeds of destruction are sown in those last fifteen years. Envoys from a “faraway” country called Babylon - an empire just beginning to rise - show up to present Hezekiah with gifts. Hezekiah shows them all the wealth in all his storehouses. He holds nothing back. Presumably the envoys return home to tell their king about this wealth and less than a hundred years later, the Babylonian armies arrive at the gates of Jerusalem.
It’s a sobering reminder. A challenge to use the time we’ve been given well. To not take the time we’ve been given for granted. Especially if we’ve been given years beyond what we expected. I think of one individual mentioned above who fought stage four liver cancer for six years. Though she was in constant pain, she got to see the birth of her grandchildren and spend time with them. Though she was on borrowed time, she made the most of the time she’d been given and her family was blessed. What about you? What about me? What are we doing with the years we’ve been given?
Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 40-42, Psalms 46