Michele

Thank you for your response! I had not considered that God knows best when to call us up to Heaven or when we should be put down to rest. Yes, it looks like God knew best in this example, as always. That’s a good interpretation on your part.

Yes, Hezekiah shows how important our role as “father” is to keep our kids out of trouble. I recently took my kids out of public school and now homeschool them myself, for this very reason. I am trying to teach them about God and keep them on his good side.

I do appreciate Hezekiah’s example being recorded in the bible for us to thoughtfully consider and learn from.

God bless you.

They way I see it is, when God decides to call you up in Heaven, then you should not ask Him to let you live for more. I believe God knew that Hezekiah would become worse in those last 15 years, but since Hezekiah really really wanted to live, God decided to give him what he wants. So, I think Hezekiah became greedy and selfish in those last extra years of his life.

Also, I don’t think that a prophecy is a punishment because some prophecies are good. Prophecies are more like warnings or precautions, so people would make a better decision about their choices or their way of life. I agree with you, if I would be Hezekiah then I would too repent and feel like I must have done something that God did not like.

Another really good detail, in the next chapter we see what kind of Hezekiah’s son really is. God didn’t punish Hezekiah, God warned Hezekiah through a prophecy about what’s to come when his sons (or generations) will reign. Hezekiah should definitely have improved the way he raises his kids but it doesn’t look like he even cared.

Hope this answer with my opinions or thoughts help you in some way :)

To me, the prophecy appears to be a punishment. Do you know why God decided to do this to Hezekiah’s sons and kingdom? Did Hezekiah do something that displeased God and if so, what? I understand Hezekiah showed things to the men from Babylon, but I do not understand if this was done in error or sin.

At first, I thought Hezekiah was sharing and being friendly with the people from Babylon. But maybe there is more to it. Maybe Hezekiah was boasting or suffering from pride and self-sufficiency, rather than boasting in the Lord.

What do you think? Thanks!

http://unitedintheword.blogspot.com/2011/05/may-20-bible-reading-nehemiah-chapters.html

Also, if you click on pretty much any images I have on this site, then you should be taken to the place where I got them from, hope this helps.

But I found them for you…

http://gorepent.com/category/1st-samuel/page/3/
and http://gorepent.com/category/1st-samuel/page/4/

you can also use the search like this: “Notes for 1st samuel chapter 3″ with the quotes, enjoy :)