Believing in What You Cannot See

The Soul of a Nation-Hezekiah:The King Who Rebuilt the Temple & Saved Judah

It is a constant trope that all politicians and national political leaders are inept at best or corrupt at worst. After the death of King Solomon, the wisest and richest man ever, Israel was ruled over by a series of evil kings that led the people into idolatry, divided the nation, and plunged the land into an era of deep poverty and sorrow. Righteous King Hezekiah understood that in order to restore his country back to its original glory, it must first return its Heart back to the God that founded it.

Hezekiah was the son of King Ahaz, thought to be one of the most wicked and immoral rulers of Israel’s history. By the time of King Ahaz’s rule, the Nation of Israel had already split between the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judea. When confronted with the threat of Assyrian invasion, rather than join the Northern Kingdom of Israel in repelling them, King Ahaz instead formed an alliance with Assyria, which led to the capture of its neighbor’s major cities and deportation of the people of Israel. But it was not enough to betray Israel, King Ahaz began to adopt the culture, government, and religion of his Assyrian overlords. King Ahaz sacrificed his sons, by passing them through fire, and this precedent led to the rest of Judah murdering their infant children by sacrificing them to the Assyrian gods (2 Kings 16:3; 2 Chronicles 28:3). Wicked King Ahaz persistently defiled the Temple of Jerusalem with the introduction of new foreign gods and increasingly debased forms of worship, such as implied human sacrifice, religious prostitution and scatological ceremonies. After all this debauchery, King Ahaz shut the doors of The Temple, hoping the True God of Israel would be forgotten.

Despite his father’s example, Hezekiah took after his mother Abijah, who was the daughter of High Priest Zechariah. On the first day, of the first month of his reign as King, Hezekiah decreed that the doors of the Temple of Jerusalem be reopened and the temple grounds be cleansed of all the evils that had corrupted the holy place of worship. Because work in the Temple could only be carried out by the priests and Levites, Hezekiah reinstated the Levitical Priesthood and assembled them in Jerusalem, and ordered that they consecrate themselves before purifying the House of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place.

The cleansing of the Temple took sixteen days to complete, but despite the worker’s hurried efforts, did not finish the work in time for Passover, which began on the fourteenth day of the first month. After much deliberation and counsel, the rulers deemed it fit that Passover should still be observed, even if a month later. So Passover was scheduled to be held on the fourteenth day of the second month, so that it would allow the priests to consecrate themselves and furnish the tools and articles for worship, and would give the people of the land an opportunity to ready themselves for the celebration that had not been celebrated for decades. But the hearts of the rest of Israel was as hard as their fathers’ before them and despite receiving an invitation to participate in the festivities, they rejected the messengers that King Hezekiah had sent. But citizens from the least prominent and most humble tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, decided to participate even though they had not had the opportunity to properly cleanse themselves.

But Righteous King Hezekiah prayed for his people, saying, “May the Good Lord pardon everyone who set his Heart to seek God, the Lord, the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary’s rules of cleanness”. And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

Not only had Hezekiah reopened the doors of the Temple and cleansed it of all the idolatrous worship his father King Ahaz introduced, Hezekiah reinstituted The Temple Worship, with large processions of priests and Levites singing with all their might, filling the city with their Songs of Praise. The citizens who participated in the Passover Feast and finally experienced the majesty of worshipping the God of Israel, were inspired to go back home and destroy all the idols, high places, and other instruments of worship to the Assyrians false gods, their fathers had erected.

After the Assyrian idols were destroyed and the worship at Jerusalem had been reintroduced, the King of Assyria became jealous of the prosperity that the Southern Kingdom of Judah began to experience and sought to invade it and take it for himself, since good King Hezekiah had cut off political alliances with his heathen sovereigns.

King Hezekiah strengthened the damaged walls of Jerusalem, rebuilt the military fortresses throughout the kingdom, made weapons of war for all the citizens to defend their regions, and prepared the capital city for besiegement. Sennacherib, King of Assyria, sent messengers to blaspheme the God of Israel, declaring that the gods of all the other nations failed to protect them, and that Jerusalem would be captured just the same, since their God was powerless to confront the power of the Assyrian Empire.

Rather than bend to the might of their former allies, or rely on the military preparations they had enacted, King Hezekiah joined Prophet Isaiah and prayed in the newly cleansed Temple and cried to Heaven for deliverance.

And the Lord sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty warriors, and commanders and officers in the Assyrian camp overnight, leading to the destruction of 185,000 troops.

The defeated Assyrians fled back to their lands with shame in their hearts, where King Sennacherib, while worshipping one of his gods in their temple, was assassinated by his sons, sending the Assyrian Empire into tumult and chaos. So the Lord saved the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib, King of Assyria, and Good King Hezekiah was exalted in the sight of all nations from that time onward.

Rather than relying on the aid of foreign nations and bowing to their forms of government, cultures, and gods, King Hezekiah put his trust in the God of Israel, which the nation and the people had seemingly forgotten. His first acts as King focused on the sweeping religious reforms which brought the soul of the country back to centralized worship in Jerusalem. These changes were not just cosmetic dressings, but affected the mentalities of the common people who took it as their own responsibility to destroy the idolatrous worship throughout the land. When threatened by an outside force, several magnitudes greater than himself, Hezekiah turned to God in prayer first and God not only healed the faithful during Passover, but destroyed the Assyrian invaders and caused their empire to begin to crumble.

A nation concerned with looking like its worldly neighbors, rather than the God which established it, will fall and collapse as all governments establish by men do. The healing of a nation can only begin when it returns to the things that once made it great. A God focused nation can only return to prominence, when it’s Heart and Soul are focused on the Worship and Glory of the Almighty, rather than itself.

Prepared by, Kent Simpson, Apostolic Prophet & Eric Sepulveda, PMT Administrator

A Stubborn Soul Resists Salvation

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The Soul of a Nation-The Affair that Started a Civil War

Many powerful leaders have fallen from grace and power due to the uncovering of seemingly private matters. While impeachments have been levied against modern politicians for lying about their illicit activities to the public while under oath, and rising political careers have stopped short or completely ended, few nations have experienced the same fracturing that Israel experienced when its king was seduced by a married woman. This affair not only led to a broken marriage, but destroyed many families, and started a Civil War.

In the springtime, when kings went off to war, King David sent his nephew Joab to command the whole Israelite military, while David remained in the capital city of Jerusalem. During a nightly stroll around the roof of his palace, King David saw a beautiful woman bathing in the moonlight. When inquiring as to who she was, his servant reminded him that the woman was Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam, one of David’s thirty most elite warriors, who had fought beside him when he fled the previous King Saul’s murderous rampages (ref. 2 Samuel 23:34). Bathsheba’s father, Eliam was the son of Ahithophel, one of King David’s most trusted military and political advisors (ref. 2 Samuel 15:12; 16:23). Not only was Bathsheba the daughter of one of David’s most trusted battle companions, and the granddaughter of one of his most wise consultants, she was the wife of Uriah the Hittite another member of King David’s the Thirty who protected David when he had to flee Israel and survive amongst the Philistines as a refugee.

Despite the fact that Bathsheba was related or married to many important men in King David’s inner circle, he still gave in to his lusts and brought her to his palace. David did this while knowing full well that Bathsheba was not some poor peasant girl he could easily turn into a concubine in his haram, but a well-connected and high status woman, part of an influential family network, who not only could have chosen to turn down his sexual advances, but could have created a huge scandal in the courts for David’s attempted abuse of power. But Bathsheba was receptive to David’s invitation for intimacy and became pregnant by him (ref. 2 Samuel 11: 1-5).

In an attempt to cover the affair, David pulled Uriah from the battlefield and twice tried to convince him to go home and sleep with his wife, so that Uriah would believe that the child was actually his. But Uriah had been a trusted battle buddy to David many years ago and this steadfast loyalty extended to his fellow troops as Uriah’s honor code prevented him from enjoying the comforts of home and his wife, while the rest of the men were fighting and dying at war. David ultimately sent Uriah as the messenger of his own execution order, as General Joab was commanded to murder Uriah by proxy, by placing him on the front lines and failing to give his unit the defensive support it needed. Uriah was killed in battle and Bathsheba mourned for her dead husband, but after the time of mourning was over, she went to the castle and became one of David’s wives and bore him a son (ref. 2 Samuel 11:6-27).

But what David had done displeased the Lord, and then began a series of events, which slowly tore David’s reign apart.

Prophet Nathan confronted David regarding his affair with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah, David’s personal friend by way of his military enemies. Nathan declared that because he killed Uriah by the sword, the sword would never depart from David’s house, and out of his own household, the Lord would bring calamity upon David. Just as he had taken the wife of his military companion, David’s wives would be taken away before his very eyes and given to someone close to him. While David’s affair with Bathsheba was done in secret, David’s punishment would be done in broad daylight before all of Israel (ref. 2 Samuel 1-12).

The son whom Bathsheba had borne for David, became gravely ill and died, but would not be the only son of David that would pass.

After the child’s death, King David’s oldest son Prince Amnon became obsessed with his half-sister Tamar. But rather than legitimately asking for her as his wife, which she even suggested as the attack began, Amnon raped his half-sister Princess Tamar before disgracing her and sending her away, rather than marrying, providing for, and redeeming the honor of his victim, which was required by law. In direct contrast to Bathsheba who was made a queen and joined the royal household after her consensual affair with King David; after her sexual assault, David’s daughter Tamar covered her face with ashes and tore her ornate robe which distinguished herself as a virgin daughter of the king, before leaving the palace to live as a disgraced and desolate woman in her brother Prince Absalom’s house (ref. 2 Samuel 13: 1-20).

When King David discovered all this, he was furious, but did not carry out Justice on behalf of his own daughter. Instead, it was her brother, Prince Absalom, who avenged Tamar. Two years later, Absalom took the opportunity to kill his half-brother Prince Amnon before fleeing the country (ref. 2 Samuel 13:21-39). Absalom was banished for three years before being called back to Israel with protection orders placed against anyone avenging Prince Amnon murder. After two years of house arrest, Absalom sought to see his father King David and confront him concerning the fact that if Absalom was guilty of anything, David should be the one to put him to death. But just as David did not punish his son Amnon for the rape of Princess Tamar, David did not reprimand Absalom for the murder of Amnon (ref. 2 Samuel 14).

Having seen that his father, King David, would not treat his own family with equal Fairness and Justice, Prince Absalom approached anyone with a complaint to be placed before the King for a decision, recognized their claims as valid and proper, but explained that there was no representative of the king to hear them. Prince Absalom campaigned that if he were appointed Judge in the land then everyone who had a complaint or case could come to see him and he would ensure they received proper Justice, unlike how his father had proceeded. With his calls for judicial reform, Prince Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel. Recognizing that the nation’s people were no longer in support of him, King David left Jerusalem to avoid being overthrown by his son Absalom (ref. 2 Samuel 15).

After Absalom captured the palace, Bathsheba’s grandfather, Ahithophel suggested Absalom sleep with David’s concubines on the roof of the palace as a show of political defiance and dominance against the ousted king. This fulfilling of Nathan’s prophecy that David’s women would be taken from him by someone close to him, on the very same balcony David saw Bathsheba, was a cruel twist of irony (ref. 2 Samuel 15-22).

While King David was on the run, Bathsheba’s grandfather and King David’s personal counselor, advised self-declared King Absalom to strike while David and his men were in retreat. King David’s friend Hushai, acting as a double agent, instead suggested Absalom wait and gather more troops before engaging in a large scale attack. Absalom chose to follow Hushai’s misdirected counsel and this allowed David time to rally a larger fighting force to confront Absalom’s military (ref. 2 Samuel 17:1-14). When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, that the coup would ultimately fail and he would be branded a traitor and executed, Ahithophel went to his hometown to put his affairs in order before hanging himself. Likewise, Absalom’s rebellion failed as his troops were routed and destroyed at the Forest of Ephraim, and in another display of irony, Absalom himself was caught and entangled by his famous hair, also hanging from an oak tree, where he was killed.

While many powerful politicians have gone to great lengths to cover their shadowy conspiracies, God’s Sight is not blinded by their cover-ups and His Justice overwhelms corrupt judges and administrators. Despite being God’s Anointed King, David’s affair with Bathsheba and murdering of his friend Uriah, did not go unpunished and led to David’s newborn son’s death, the rape of his daughter Tamar, the murder of his son Amnon, the suicide of his most trusted advisor, and the rebellion and death of his son Absalom. When Injustice is carried out by a nation’s most influential and dominant leaders, that country suffers, and if God rules over that nation, He will enact Justice on His People’s behalf.

Prepared by, Kent Simpson, Apostolic Prophet & Eric Sepulveda, PMT Administrator

Soul Mates

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The Soul of a Nation-
Jonathan: The Prince who Chose Friendship over Kingship

One of the most rare and admirable qualities in a national leader is someone who is self-less and humble. Such qualities are essential to ensuring that those in charge are acting on behalf of their fellow countrymen. Prince Jonathan, son of King Saul, was a rare example of someone who was born to take the throne, but who surrendered his right to be king, because he recognized that God had chosen someone else to lead His Nation.

Prince Jonathan is introduced attacking the Philistine outpost at Geba, a town on the northern border of Judah (ref. 1 Samuel 13:3). This location is significant, since despite the fact that the city of Geba is located in the Benjamite territory, which is the tribe King Saul and Prince Jonathan are part of, Geba is a Levitical city, set aside for the Aaronites (ref. Joshua 21:13-17 ; 1 Chronicles 6:57-60). Though Jonathan was stationed at the Benjamite city of Gibeah, he felt a duty to protect the Levitical priests in the city north of him.

The ousting of the Philistines from the Levitical city of Geba with Jonathan’s meager thousand man militia (ref. 1 Samuel 13:2), was such a crushing and embarrassing defeat that the Philistines retaliated and invaded Israel with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore (ref. 1 Samuel 13:5). The overwhelming force terrified the Israelites and they quaked with fear, fled and hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns (ref. 1 Samuel 13:6-7).

Despite their overwhelming numbers, the Philistines feared the Israelites would be able to overthrow their foreign occupation and began raiding the Benjamite region, before executing a nationwide disarmament program, even going so far as to remove all the blacksmiths in all of Israel so that the people would have to go to the Philistines to sharpen their agricultural tools. After disarming all the citizens, only King Saul and Prince Jonathan had any spears or swords, which may have only been symbols of their royal positions rather than effective fighting tools (ref. 1 Samuel 13:16-22).

One day Prince Jonathan planned a sneak attack with his young armor-bearer on another Philistine outpost located on a cliff. Despite being overwhelmingly outnumbered and the Philistines having the strategically superior high ground, Jonathan was confident that “the Lord will act on our behalf, [because] nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few”. Even then, Jonathan still waited for a “sign that the Lord [will give] them into our hands” and when it appeared, recognized that “the Lord had given [the Philistines] into the hand of Israel” (ref. 1 Samuel 14:1-12).

Jonathan’s skirmish led to an initial twenty Philistine’s deaths, but it was the catalyst that started a wave of panic that struck the whole Philistine army. The panic sent by God overtook those in the camp and field, outposts and raiding parties, and the ground shook, causing the whole Philistine military to melt away in all directions and in their confusion they turned their weapons on each other. King Saul took advantage of the chaos and pushed the Philistine battle lines out of Benjamite territory.

In his desperate attempt to avenge himself and crush the occupiers, King Saul bound his army under an oath to fast till the Philistine army was completely pushed back. The rash and foolish decision had unintended consequences, when Prince Jonathan, who was not aware of the oath, ate honey to refresh himself after his attack that turned the tide of the war. When Saul called for the death of his son Jonathan for breaking his unwise oath, the men rebelled and rescued Jonathan asking “Should Jonathan die-he who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Never! As surely as the Lord lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he did this today with God’s help” (ref. 1 Samuel 14: 13-46). Because of his bravery and selflessness, Jonathan was loved by the people of Israel, who recognized that God worked through him to defeat the Philistines.

When the Philistines returned to try to retake some of the land they had lost, they sent out their champion Goliath who was crushed by future King David. This victory caused a deep fear to fill current King Saul’s heart, but even though he had been the previous Champion of the People, Prince Jonathan had a different response to David. Jonathan recognized that God had anointed David to be the next king, despite the fact that Jonathan had the birthright to replace his father Saul. But instead Jonathan humbled himself and became one spirit with David and loved him as himself, making a covenant with David. Jonathan’s dedication to the true heir to the thrown extended so intensely that he publicly gave David his robe, tunic, sword, bow and belt. He literally stripped all the symbols of his princely status and gave them to his friend (ref. 1 Samuel 19; 18: 1-4).

As Saul’s jealousy intensified and he sought to kill David, Jonathan remained loyal and made multiple efforts to reason and calm his father’s increasingly intensifying anger, while still hiding David. They were only reconciled briefly before Saul’s murderous plans led to David having to flee the nation. In their final meeting, Jonathan and David wept together, but David wept the most. Their bitter goodbye had them reaffirm their “sworn friendship with each other in the name of the Lord, saying ‘The Lord is witness between you and me and between your descendants and my descendants forever’”.

But there would be no everlasting friendship.

During a campaign against the Philistines on Mount Gilboa, King Saul and all his sons, including Prince Jonathan, were killed in battle. When David was informed of his companion’s death, he tore his clothes to shreds and wept and fasted the rest of the day grieving the loss of a true friend. David’s grief was channeled into a dirge, and the funeral song of lamentation was taught and sung throughout the nation.

Jonathan’s bravery struck huge blows against the Philistine army time and time again, but he did not rely on his own skills in battle, but trusted that God was the source of his victories. This humbleness and reliance on God was tested and proven true when Jonathan gave up his priestly adornments to David, whom Jonathan recognized as the rightful King, anointed by God. Jonathan’s love for his friend David and his country Israel was so great, that he died in the defense of both of them. Nations are blessed when their leaders do not believe they are owed positions or that it is their turn to rule, but step aside when they recognize that God has placed His Favor on another. Israel was blessed with a humble and self-less prince who placed his nation’s interests before his own.

Prepared by, Kent Simpson, Apostolic Prophet & Eric Sepulveda, PMT Administrator

What Happens to Your Soul?

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The Soul of a Nation-Phinehas: Zealous Patriot

Many countries have legends of their founders and the brave acts they undertook to ensure the survival of their fellow countrymen and beloved nations. These stories serve to underscore the ideals that are valued by the peopleand hold up examples of model citizens. A very public killing was at the center of this patriot’s imminent fame, but his accomplished career as a political and religious leader molded the establishment and future of Israel.

As the tribes of Israel were traveling to the plains of Moab, they camped along the Jordan across from Jericho. The King of Moab, Balak, son of Zippor, sent messengers to Balaam, son of Beor, asking him to divine a curse against the Israelites, whom he feared because of their multitudes. But because God had blessed them, Balaam could not curse them (ref. Numbers 22:1-20). Even after seven attempts to curse Israel, every one of Balaam’s curses were turned to blessing towards Israel as they left his lips (ref. Numbers 23-24).

Despite his failure to curse Israel, Balaam devised a plan to corrupt the Israelites (ref. Numbers 31:16; 2 Peter 2:15; Jude 1:11; Revelation 2:14) so that God would punish them Himself. The Diviner Balaam convinced King Balak to have the Moabite women seduce the Israelite men into indulging in sexual immorality, making sacrifices to their gods, eating of food offered to their idols, and worshiping their idols. God’s anger burned against them because they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor and He unleashed a plague upon them which killed tens of thousands (ref. Numbers 25:1-3).

God explained to Moses that in order for His fierce anger to be turned away, they must “take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the Lord”. While Moses was explaining what needed to be done, a prince of the tribe of Simeon named Zimri, son of Salu, defiantly brought a Midianite woman, implied to be a temple prostitute of Baal of Peor, into the camp. This was not a secretive act, was done “right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping” over the deaths of those who had fallen due to the plague (ref. Numbers 25: 4-6).

“When Phinehas, son of Elazar, the son of Aaron the High Priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand and followed Zimri into the tent. He drove the spear into both the Israelite prince and into the woman’s stomach, ending the plague” (Numbers 25:7-8; Psalm 106:30).

God declared that Phinehas’ actions turned away His Righteous Anger because Phinehas was focused on preventing more of his countrymen’s deaths and restoring the Fear of God within Israel. God established His Covenant of Peace: an everlasting priesthood for Phinehas and his children after him; because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel (ref. 25: 11-13).

This was just the beginning of the heroic acts Phinehas conducted on behalf of Israel.

To avenge the events of Peor which led to the plague, Moses raised an army to wage war against the Midianites, with Phinehas helping to lead the charge with the holy instruments and the sounding trumpets in his hand (ref. Numbers 31:4). The campaign was so successful that not a single person of the 12,000 man army was lost (ref. Numbers 31:48-49).

Because of this military victory, and the fact that “the Lord was with him” (ref. 1 Chronicles 9:20), Jewish tradition holds that Phinehas was one of the two spies sent to scout the walled city of Jericho.

Later, as the Israelites began to settle into their respective territories, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, set up a monument to commemorate their conquering the land. Because the Jordan River divided these tribes from the rest of Israel, it was misinterpreted that they were forming a separatist movement and a competing center of worship in revolt against God’s Tabernacle at Shiloh. Phinehas was again chosen to lead the military to confront the supposed insurrectionists in order to preserve the nation (ref. Joshua 22:10-13).

Though Prince Zimri’s insubordination was blatant and obvious and Phinehas’ actions were swift and just during the Peor Incident, Phinehas instead took the time to confront the leadership of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh and ask why the altar had been built. Phinehas’ patience and wisdom prevented his fellow Israelites from going to war with each other needlessly due to a misunderstanding (ref. Joshua 22:14-33).

When faced with a legitimate crisis during the Benjamite Rebellion, Phinehas again showed that he was not a blood thirsty man, but one who went to God asking “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease?” It was obvious he was dreading fighting his fellow countrymen and seeking another solution as he’d been presented early, but was obedient when the Lord instructed him to “Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver them into thine hand.” (Judges 20: 28)

Though Phinehas is known for his zeal confronting Prince Zimri’s disrespectful affront to people mourning those who died in the plague, Moses’ leadership, and God’s Laws, he was not a man eager to kill. His actions were done to save his fellow countrymen from further destruction from the plague and out of his zealousness for God’s Honor. When avenging the events at Peor, he ensured that every single one the 12,000 men under his command returned home. If Jewish tradition is correct, he put himself in the way of great danger as a spy within Jericho to gather intelligence, so that many of his fellow Israelites would not die en masse trying to scale the walls. When it was incorrectly believed that the commemorative altar the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh erected was a challenging religious center, Phinehas did not attack mindlessly, but was deliberate with his first understanding why they’d built their monument to prevent a needless battle. Even when war was necessary during the Benjamite Rebellion, Phinehas did not take joy in it, and inquired of God if there was a way the fighting could end. When another battle was necessary, Phinehas carried out God’s Will, even though it meant fighting his fellow Israelites.

Phinehas served as a model example of leadership and someone who placed the needs of his countrymen above his own feelings or concerns. He was not only the hero who stopped a deadly plague, but saved his nation multiple times. Because he was focused on his fellow citizens and God’s Honor, he was chosen by God to be honored by his countrymen.

Prepared by, Kent Simpson, Apostolic Prophet & Eric Sepulveda, PMT Administrator