Advanced Level, Block 7—Idolatry and Division
Week 66
Hezekiah—Making a Promise
Point to Emphasize: We should not make promises in a light way; otherwise, we may end up making promises that we are not able to keep.
Reference Reading: 2 Kings 20:1-19; Isaiah 38, footnote 151; 39
Memory Verse: When a man vows a vow … he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. (Numbers 30:2)
Story Sample
Today we will talk about King Hezekiah and how he made a promise to God and failed to keep it. The outcome of his not keeping his promise was that everything in his house, including his treasures, those related to him, and his family was carried away to Babylon.
You may have heard some things about Hezekiah, but I doubt you know that during his reign as king, he became ill, mortally ill. That means he had a sickness that could not be cured and he would die. Jehovah sent His prophet, Isaiah, to the king to tell him that he would die from this illness, so he needed to put his affairs in order. Hezekiah wept for himself and prayed. Jehovah heard his prayer and added fifteen years to his life. At this point the king promised he would be deliberate in his actions during all those added years. This means that Hezekiah realized that he had previously been hasty and not so proper before God.
What is the difference between being hasty and being deliberate? Can you give us some examples? [Let the children discuss this. It can mean being in such a hurry to get your homework done that your handwriting is sloppy with incomplete sentences and spelling errors OR doing your homework carefully and correctly. It can mean making a snap decision without the needed consideration OR giving careful thought before deciding. It can mean telling a friend it is okay for you to go to their house without talking to your parents OR checking with your parents first.] So, to be hasty is to act too quickly. It most often resulted in sloppy workmanship, unnecessary errors, and very poor decisions. But by being deliberate, we carry things out in a careful way, with consideration, saving us from many mistakes.
So, the king who had been a hasty person for years now promised to be careful and to do things with consideration. Do you think he was able to keep his promise? [Let them discuss this and lead them to see that it is easy to make a promise but to change a habit takes effort.] No, Hezekiah did not keep his promise. And he made no attempt to change from being hasty to becoming one who decided on matters with careful consideration.
Once he had recovered from his illness, an envoy from the king of Babylon came with letters and a gift for him. Hezekiah was so happy to be honored like this that he hastily and foolishly showed them all the treasures in his palace and of his kingdom. This was a great mistake to display all the riches to the envoy because years later all that he showed them was taken away to Babylon.
We often are like Hezekiah in promising to be more thoughtful and careful in the future. Maybe, while your mom is scolding you for not cleaning up your room nicely, you say, “Oh mom, next time I’ll do it neatly.” Or maybe your dad is telling you how you rushed off without putting all his tools back into place and you say, ”Oh next time, I will do it right.” Or maybe an assignment is passed back to you with all kinds of red marks noting your sloppiness and errors. So, you say to yourself, “Next time I will be more careful.” Things like this are easy to say but do we follow up in our actions? I am assured that if I were to ask for an example of this kind of interaction between you and your parents, you all would be caught…especially if I asked whether or not you had followed up on your promise. Does talking about incidents like this make you feel proud of yourself? Of course not. You should feel uncomfortable and uneasy remembering these kinds of incidents. Even you should feel ashamed about how you quickly promised something but you never followed up with your actions.
After our time together today, I do hope that you would talk with your parents. You can open up to them and share with them that uncomfortableness or shame you feel inside of you. They can help you formulate certain actions to fulfill your promises or as a start, help you to become more aware of them. Having such times with our parents really help.