One of my fellow inmates with whom I attend weekly church with referred this book. He found this and one other by the same author in the “grocery cart” of books at the Chapel, and I’m sure glad he did! One of my favorite prophets in the Bible is Isaiah , but his book in the Bible can be difficult to interpret, at least for me. So this book does a nice job taking a portion of it and putting it into a story/novel. It also includes content from 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and Isaiah Chapters 22, 30-31, 53-54. They are all around the same time period of 700 B.C. Interesting to me how much more comprehension I have when there is a story to read as opposed to Bible verses by themselves! Though when I go back to scripture and re read its more understandable as well!
The book is based on the history and life of King Hezekiah, who ruled Judah from 716 B.C. to 687 B.C. He was a direct descendant of King David, unlike the leaders at that time of Israel to the north in the Samaria region. His leadership principles were faith based in Yahweh, the Lord. God’s rules provided guideposts for he and his people. King or not, he led a life of much suffering, divorcing his wife once he found her worshipping idols and straying from the Lord’s word. To relying on Egypt and other allies to help defend against Assyria and losing a war and his brother in it, with his reliance on Egypt instead of Yahweh angering God, and many more examples.
Eventually he recognizes, thanks to Isaiah, the wrong’s of his ways, apologizes profusely to Yahweh, and begins receiving the Lord’s blessings again for Judea/his people and himself. There is a huge battle of power between two of his advisors, one an atheist, Shebna, and one a devout follower, Eliakim. The back and forth between the two is a great story itself, with righteousness prevailing (Eliakim’s advice) and reliance on allies/fellow man failing(Shebna). The same is true of Hezekiah and his reliance on the prophet Isaiah. He was constantly pulled between Shebna’s counsel and what the prophet relayed from Yahweh, which clearly led to some of his struggles and tragedies.
One of the best examples of Yahweh’s blessings toward the end is the great plague Yahweh brings to Assyria’s soldiers, who were standing just outside Judah’s gates. True vindication to Hezekiah for how foolish he had been to stray from Yahweh’s love and principles and answers to prayers. Throughout his whole journey he missed his ex wife terribly. The story ends with her coming back to him, his forgiving her, and then Yahweh blessing them late in life with a son, an heir to the throne that he had always prayed for.
Clearly this is a story of faith and obedience, one of many in the scriptures. As humans, I find it truly amazing how often even the most Godly among us need to be reminded. Once I’m out of prison, I’ll definitely be coming back to this review from time to time to serve as a reminder of what’s truly important!BJ
