Monday 1 July 2013

That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! – 2 Kings 19:35

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 1, 2013): 2 Kings 19
                                                        
In Canada, today is a day of national pride. It is the day when we remember the forming of a nation and a day in which all of the strengths of a nation are celebrated. It is a day that we remember all of the things that have been done by Canadians on behalf of the world, and the miracles that have happened in the past that have shaped our nation. Every country has – and needs –one of these days. We all need days of national celebration when we are encouraged to revel in the deeds of the nation.

As the people of Jerusalem found their beds on this night, there was no guarantee that morning was going to come for the nation of Judah. Israel was already gone – and now it looked like maybe Judah would be the next country to fall to the Assyrian dynasty. For Judah, this vulnerability was brought on by the decision of Ahaz to bow his knee to the Assyrian king – but it would be his son Hezekiah that would end up paying the price for the decision.

So as the sun sets, Jerusalem was not looking forward to the next day of national celebration, their concern was whether or not the nation would last another day before it was swallowed up and forgotten. But Hezekiah trusted God. His prophets had said that God’s intention was for the nation to continue and that was all Hezekiah needed to know. (God had given Ahaz the same, assurance, but he had trusted more in the might of Assyria than he did in God.)

So Hezekiah trusted – and waited. It was the moment that it seemed his rule had been leading up to. And on this night, something happened. We are not really sure what the something was. Some have suggested that there was a suffocating dust storm and brought on by the warm desert wind that had simply suffocated the waiting army – it had happened before. Or maybe it was disease introduced to the army by the rats (or more precisely the fleas on the rats) that seems to be an ever present reality wherever it is that people seem to go. But whatever the cause of the death, the reason was that God was protecting the people of a king that trusted in him to move. The next day Jerusalem would wake up surrounded by the dead left by an army that had decided to simply go home – and they had found a new reason to celebrate the continued existence of the nation.

We all need to recognize the miracles that have kept our nations alive and the contributions made by the people that call it home – and we should celebrate them. So, Happy Canada Day – Canada!    


Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 20

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