Transcending Mysteries by Ginny Owens

Author:Ginny Owens
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2014-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

God’s sovereignty relies solely on His character.

Though you may be rolling your eyes at another summary of a biblical battle, Hezekiah’s challenge is an opportunity to understand how scriptural history reiterates the notion that God does not operate tit for tat. The dictatorial, micromanaging personality often prescribed to the God of the Old Testament by generations of believers who have been scarred by legalistic pasts is simply not present in this passage. Instead, God’s sovereignty, His authority or prerogative as Creator of the cosmos, relies solely on His character. God is operating out of His innate qualities, which we are trying to carefully uncover throughout this book.

God’s people are being attacked by their neighbors once again, just as they were in the time of Jehoshaphat (see chapter 1). New century, same story. Judah, though in a season of spiritual health, is not immune to the greed of its neighbors. In fact, the first tangible threat is prescribed by Sennacherib’s hatchet man, the Rabshakeh, a man of Judean descent, shrewdly selected to deliver a twisted tale to his own people in Judah. In verse 7, the Rabshakeh accuses the highly regarded Hezekiah of demolishing God’s places of worship—a reference to Hezekiah’s elimination of the bronze serpent that Moses had made after it became a tool for idolatrous worship in 2 Kings 18:4—in order to discount Hezekiah’s spiritual leadership. Then he claims Sennacherib’s determination to destroy Judah as a direct order from God (v. 10).

Fact: the Israelites had begun to immortalize and worship artifacts from the Jewish journey as gods, rather than utilize them as a sacred reminder of the God who had consistently and intimately delivered them from their harried past. Hezekiah’s sacred purge was not unlike many modern-day Christians’ attempts to prioritize relationship with God over worship of highly regarded monuments of the faith, such as statues of celebrated saints traditionally found in liturgical houses of worship.

Hezekiah has acted with spiritual integrity. But the Rabshakeh, a man from the inside, manipulatively skews Hezekiah’s intent and delivers his own people a doomsday message from the outside. How real life.

Ginny: I remember a season when I was given advice from the inside that I didn’t know how to handle. From the beginning of my music career, I have been offered opportunities to perform at some pretty significant events outside the realm of Christian music. At first, my record label and I were so excited for the unique exposure that we never considered that my involvement would be controversial.

During a radio interview to promote an upcoming show, the DJ asked me, “How do you feel, knowing protesters will be picketing your concert this weekend?” I was stunned and completely caught off guard. I momentarily forgot I was on the air and began asking for details, apologizing profusely for anything I had done to cause the trouble. I learned that several well-known religious leaders around the country had included my name on a list of artists they thought should be boycotted because of my

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