2 Kings 18-25 – The story of 2 Kings continues with the introduction of King Hezekiah of Judah, who is like a breath of fresh air when compared to his predecessors. This is because he does what is right in the eyes of God and tries his best to obey His commandments. YHWH also alters the rhythm of the story a little because He takes a more active role in Judah’s history. When Judah is threatened by foreign invaders, YHWH acts as the defender of His people and does not allow the enemy to advance. Later, Hezekiah falls ill and is informed that he will die very soon, but after much pleading with YHWH, he is granted 15 more years of life. The consequences of this gift are more dangerous than Hezekiah could have known because that allowed his
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It is refreshing to read about kings like Hezekiah and Josiah, but it is still hard to be excited about their characters and their accomplishments when I know that the man who succeeds them in the kingship will just screw everything up. Manasseh’s character, in particular, and the actions that he took are disturbing to say the least. While reading, I could not help but wonder how it could be that a great and God-fearing king like Hezekiah could be followed by his son, who is nothing less than his extreme opposite in that regard. Did this happen because Hezekiah followed the traditional biblical model of bad parenting? Did something traumatic happen to Manasseh when he was young that caused some rebellion against everything his father stood for? All of it just seems crazy to me and it does not make sense. Also, something Anderson said caused me to pause. I have never read much of Isaiah and his story in the Bible up to this point, but even I have heard the story of how he was sawn in half by Manasseh. According to Anderson, however, there is no hard biblical text that supports this story and that they only reason that people believe it is because it is taught by tradition. My question is: what specific tradition gives this account of Isaiah’s death and how credible is it? These issues that
It is refreshing to read about kings like Hezekiah and Josiah, but it is still hard to be excited about their characters and their accomplishments when I know that the man who succeeds them in the kingship will just screw everything up. Manasseh’s character, in particular, and the actions that he took are disturbing to say the least. While reading, I could not help but wonder how it could be that a great and God-fearing king like Hezekiah could be followed by his son, who is nothing less than his extreme opposite in that regard. Did this happen because Hezekiah followed the traditional biblical model of bad parenting? Did something traumatic happen to Manasseh when he was young that caused some rebellion against everything his father stood for? All of it just seems crazy to me and it does not make sense. Also, something Anderson said caused me to pause. I have never read much of Isaiah and his story in the Bible up to this point, but even I have heard the story of how he was sawn in half by Manasseh. According to Anderson, however, there is no hard biblical text that supports this story and that they only reason that people believe it is because it is taught by tradition. My question is: what specific tradition gives this account of Isaiah’s death and how credible is it? These issues that