우리들교회

First, mothers of faith are important.

Hezekiahs mothers name was Abijah, short for 'Abijah,' which means 'The LORD is my father.' His father, Zechariah, meant 'The LORD remembers.' They were a family of faith, even though Ahaz had done more evil than all the kings of northern Israel. Ahaz wanted to preserve his family name by passing his children through the fire as an idol for his children. Killing your children for the sake of your children in the service of the idol of Molech is not true love, and no one can stop him because he is so zealous that he listens to no one. Hezekiah could have grown up with such a frightening and cruel father and become accustomed to the normality of evil, but because of his mothers discernment and tearful prayer, he was able to restore the nation instead of falling into a grief of hurt and resentment. The author of Kings focuses his attention on the kings of Southern Judah because no matter how evil and bad Ahaz is, the Davidic line, the Jesus line of Southern Judah, is important. And while Northern Israel mentions the paternal line every time the throne changes hands in a coup, Southern Judah records the maternal line. Jews only count you as Jewish if your maternal line is clear. Hezekiah, by his mothers faith, said, The Lord has strengthened me. Jehovah is my strength, he was prepared as a son who could reform. This structure of the holy army coming out from under the evil father and the most evil king, Manasseh, coming out from under the best holy man, Hezekiah, illustrates the principle of faith alone saving. Of course, there are other models, such as saints under saints and evil kings under evil kings, but the most important thing is to let go of stereotypes and just have faith, trusting that the Lord will strengthen us.