In Christian ministry, the word "rebel" has an
aura that is almost entirely negative. Rebellion against authority and
especially against God's authority as it is displayed in familial
relationships, civil government and biblical revelation... that kind of
rebellion is the worst of vices, right? "For rebellion is as the sin of
witchcraft..." (I Samuel 15:23). However, just like faith, hatred,
jealousy, nakedness, eating, prayer, and many other moral, spiritual or
practical issues, the context and the object are vital in evaluating the
wholesomeness or depravity of the thing. I'm saying that Hezekiah's rebellion
against Assyria was a good thing. It was a product of his true faith in God.
One of Hezekiah's descendants, Zedekiah, later tried
rebelling against another invading gentile force, but that didn't turn out too
well for him (II Kings 24:20 & 25:5 -
7). So, civil disobedience, a
coup or even national defense should only be undertaken under the guidance of
the Holy Spirit of God... we don't ever want to find ourselves in opposition to
Him... on any level (Acts 5:39).
Anyway, Hezekiah was one of the best monarchs in history. In
his 29 years as king, he obtained such a wonderful grade from God that we read
in II Kings 18:5 that He followed God better than anyone had prior to his
coronation and more perfectly than anyone who succeeded him after his
departure. That's high praise indeed!
He wasn't perfect, of course. At the very end of his life he
ended up paying bribery money in the form of tribute to keep the Assyrians at
bay.
No comments:
Post a Comment