Monday, September 28, 2026

Opening Scripture

They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”

Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived. Number 21:4-9

Opening Prayer

Gracious Heavenly Father, you are holy and exalted! May your kingdom come and your will be done in my life, home, and community just as it is in Heaven. Help me to trust you today to meet all of my needs. Help me to forgive others just as you have forgiven me. Help me to resist temptation and overcome the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Daily Bible Reading

2 Kings 18:1-8

In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it.

Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the LORD and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses. And the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.

Reflection  

The chapter before today’s reading (2 Kings 17) describes the destruction of the Northern Kingdom. As predicted, Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, invaded the entire land and laid siege to Samaria for three years. He eventually conquered the city and deported the Israelites to Assyria. In their place, the king of Assyria brought in people from other conquered nations “and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its towns.”

“All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshipped other gods and followed the practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before them. The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. They did wicked things that provoked the LORD to anger. So the people of Israel were taken from their homeland into exile in Assyria, and they are still there.”

The punishment of the Northern Kingdom paved the way for the establishment of the racially and religiously mixed population known as “Samaritans.” The transplants from those various cultures brought with them their pagan practices and “each national group made its own gods.”

At one point, the LORD sent lions as punishment for their wickedness. It was reported to the king of Assyria, “The people you deported and resettled in the towns of Samaria do not know what the god of that country requires. He has sent lions among them, which are killing them off, because the people do not know what he requires” (2 Kings 17:26).

The lion attacks were interpreted as divine punishment from the God of the Israelites. In response, the king of Assyria sent an exiled Jewish priest back to Samaria to teach the people Yahweh’s commands (for all the good it did). The polytheistic Samaritans simply made Almighty God one of the many deities who had to be placated and appeased.

Chapter 18 contrasts what was happening in the Southern Kingdom with the tragic events in the Northern Kingdom. In today’s passage, Hezekiah becomes king of Judah at the age of twenty-five. “He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.” Besides Hezekiah, that positive statement is made about only three other kings in Judah’s history: Asa, Jehoshaphat, and Josiah.

Hezekiah destroyed the “high places” that had become popular religious gathering sites for God’s people. Many of the Canaanite religions viewed these raised areas around Israel as sacred shrines to their gods and their worship there involved idolatry, immorality, astrology, child sacrifice, and occult rituals.

Before God’s chosen people took possession of the Promised Land, He gave them instructions through Moses to destroy everything associated with pagan worship. “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places” (Numbers 33:51-52).

King Hezekiah did what God had commanded hundreds of years earlier. “He held fast to the LORD and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses.” And because of Hezekiah’s faithfulness, “the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook.” 

Flourishing Habit

Flourishing Christians

One of the saddest sections in 2 Kings 17 is the last two verses. “They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. Even while these people were worshiping the LORD, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did.”

At the time this was written, the generations after those who were left in Samaria were still committing the same sins. As in every place at every time, the children watched and learned the values and priorities of their parents. Without the proper instruction and example in the way of the LORD, they simply adopted the morals and practices of the surrounding community.

The people of Samaria were very “religious,” worshipping a whole pantheon of gods. Yahweh was simply one of the many deities acknowledged in their rituals. This polytheistic syncretism merged various beliefs and practices into a comfortable, customized, hybrid religion. Each person was free to choose a little of this and a little of that, an approach to “spirituality” that is still very common today!

Humans have always had a natural tendency to worship created things rather than the Creator. Even good things can become idols. Hezekiah had to destroy the bronze snake Moses had made in the wilderness wandering (Opening Scripture) because the people of Judah were burning incense to it and treating it like a cultic object of worship.

Of course, that bronze snake foreshadowed the crucifixion of the Messiah. Those who were bitten by the venomous snakes and doomed to die had only to look in faith at the bronze snake on the pole to be healed. God offers that same healing to everyone today who looks to the cross of Christ in faith. Jesus said, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him” (John 3:14-15).

This begs the question, why would anyone back then NOT look at the bronze snake to be saved? And why would anyone here today NOT look to the cross of Christ in faith to be saved?

Almighty God has made it clear from the beginning that we are to have no other “gods” before or besides Him. “Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Exodus 34:14). The Creator of the universe is not interested in being “one of many.” He deserves and demands our total devotion. He expects and merits our exclusive worship, gratitude, and praise. We must orient our lives completely around Him and teach the next generation to do so as well.

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-7).

This week’s collective prayer: Father, create in me a true desire to share your love with others. Amen.

Remember: Nothing changes until something changes!