¿Qué Harás Con El Tiempo Que Te Queda? / What Will You Do With The Time You have Remaining?
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Introduction
Introduction
Imagine that you knew the exact date/time of your death? What would you do with the time you have remaining?
Would you take as many trips as possible?
Would you use up all your credit cards and spend as much as possible?
What you want to spend more time doing the things you love?
Would you want to spend more time with your loved ones?
As
We tend to think a lot about making plans for the future but we rarely stop to think about the the day of our death!
We make plans for tomorrow, for next week, for next year.
We make plans for our future careers.
We make plans for when we retire.
We rarely make plans for the day of our death.
We live as if we were to live for ever and ever.
We forgot the exhortation from the writer to the Hebrews:
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
Y de la manera que está establecido para los hombres que mueran una sola vez, y después de esto el juicio,
We know that we are aging, we know that we are wasting away, but we act as if that day will never come.
Young people act as if they will always be that age.
Adults thinks that by taking vitamins, becoming vegans, using face creams, etc…that they will be able to reverse the aging process and never die.
Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes:
It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting,
for this is the end of all mankind,
and the living will lay it to heart.
Mejor es ir a la casa del luto que a la casa del banquete; porque aquello es el fin de todos los hombres, y el que vive lo pondrá en su corazón.
Why does Solomon say that it is better to go to the house of mourning - were people are mourning the death of someone that has just died? In fact, he says that it is better than going to a house of feasting (e.g., a party).
Solomon says we should go to the house of mourning for by doing so we will be understand once and for all that we too shall die, the day of our death today is closer to us than yesterday, our time upon earth is running out.
In our journey through the Bible in 2019 we come upon the story of king Hezekiah.
Hezekiah was confronted by God with the reality of his own mortality in a very direct way.
Hezekiah was confronted by the prophet of God and told that he would surely die - his death was right around the corner.
We will consider:
Hezekiah reign
Hezekiah’s death declared
Hezekiah’s life extended
Hezekiah’s wasted life
I. El Reino de Ezequías / Hezekiah reign
I. El Reino de Ezequías / Hezekiah reign
Hezekiah was one of the kings of Judah ().
Hezekiah had become king of the southern kingdom of Judah when he was 25 years old.
The Bible summarizes his life in
And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.
Hizo lo recto ante los ojos de Jehová, conforme a todas las cosas que había hecho David su padre.
We are told that he got rid of all the idols in Judah.
The people of God were worshipping false gods. For this reason he purged Judah of its idolatry.
God prospered his kingdom for he had been obedient to God’s word and genuinely feared God.
He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. For he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him.
8:5-
En Jehová Dios de Israel puso su esperanza; ni después ni antes de él hubo otro como él entre todos los reyes de Judá.Porque siguió a Jehová, y no se apartó de él, sino que guardó los mandamientos que Jehová prescribió a Moisés.Y Jehová estaba con él; y adondequiera que salía, prosperaba. El se rebeló contra el rey de Asiria, y no le sirvió.
Hezekiah can be credited for implementing religious reforms amongst the people of God.
He worked hard to cleanse the people of God from false worship.
In summary, he was a faithful king who feared God; nevertheless he was just like all of us sons and daughters of Adam - he too was a fallen human being, prone to sin, prone to disobey God’s word.
Hezekiah’s 29 year reign was marked by his faithfulness to the Lord in this area.
II. La muerte de Ezequías declarada / Hezekiah’s death declared
II. La muerte de Ezequías declarada / Hezekiah’s death declared
There came a day when God sent the prophet Isaiah to Hezekiah to deliver most serious prophetic word. Do not forget that the prophets of old were essentially God’s mouthpiece. They spoke for God and whatever they declared was God’s own words.
In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’ ”
2 Kings 20:
En aquellos días Ezequías cayó enfermo de muerte. Y vino a él el profeta Isaías hijo de Amoz, y le dijo: Jehová dice así: Ordena tu casa, porque morirás, y no vivirás.
When Hezekiah was 39 years old, he became very sick “at the point of death”.
In we learn that he had some kind of open wound which was the cause of his grave condition.
This was no ordinary illness. It was completely under the control of God’s mighty hand based on the prophet’s message:
The Lord declared that he was to set his house in order.
Hezekiah would die.
Hezekiah would not recover.
Hezekiah’s condition would continue to worsen until he would eventually die.
Hezekiah would not overcome his illness.
Hezekiah’s health was failing and had no hope of recovery.
How would you react knowing that you had a death sentence?
How would you react if you were told you had a terminal illness?
How would you react knowing that you had only a few days left upon this earth?
How would you react knowing that you would not make it to your next birthday?
What would matter most?
Surely not money.
Surely not possessions.
Surely not physical looks.
Surely not anything that this world had to offer.
…all you would want is some more time!
III. La vida de Ezequías extendida / Hezekiah’s life extended
III. La vida de Ezequías extendida / Hezekiah’s life extended
Hezekiah reacted like many of us would react if we were faced with the same terrible news.
Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, “Now, O Lord, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
2 Kings 20:2
Entonces él volvió su rostro a la pared, y oró a Jehová y dijo:Te ruego, oh Jehová, te ruego que hagas memoria de que he andado delante de ti en verdad y con íntegro corazón, y que he hecho las cosas que te agradan. Y lloró Ezequías con gran lloro.
Hezekiah pleaded before the face of God.
Men want to live. No one wants to die.
No one truly desires death.
Even those that sadly take their lives want to live - just not the life they are currently living.
Our instinct is to fight for our lives.
No one wants to think of themselves in a coffin being lowered into the ground.
The Lord heard Hezekiah’s cry!
God was merciful to Hezekiah.
God was under no obligation to hear Hezekiah’s cry - it is God that gives and takes men’s lives.
God told his prophet to return to Hezekiah:
“Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord, and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.”
2 Kings 20:5-
Vuelve, y di a Ezequías, príncipe de mi pueblo: Así dice Jehová, el Dios de David tu padre: Yo he oído tu oración, y he visto tus lágrimas; he aquí que yo te sano; al tercer día subirás a la casa de Jehová.Y añadiré a tus días quince años, y te libraré a ti y a esta ciudad de mano del rey de Asiria; y ampararé esta ciudad por amor a mí mismo, y por amor a David mi siervo.
God extended Hezekiah’s life by 15 years.
Hezekiah was 39 years old when he was about to die.
He cried out to the Lord and was given 15 more years.
This means that Hezekiah finally died when he was 54 years old.
God told him - you will not die. You will live!
In verse 7 Hezekiah is given the cure for his mortal wound:
And Isaiah said, “Bring a cake of figs. And let them take and lay it on the boil, that he may recover.”
Y dijo Isaías: Tomad masa de higos. Y tomándola, la pusieron sobre la llaga, y sanó.
Hezekiah did as he was told and lived as God had promised.
Hezekiah must have been so grateful knowing that God had heard his prayer and extended his life.
God has smiled upon him and blessed him with 15 more years.
IV. Ezequías desaprovecha / Hezekiah’s failure to take advantage
IV. Ezequías desaprovecha / Hezekiah’s failure to take advantage
If you were given 15 more years, knowing that you were about to die, what would you do with those additional years?
What would you do with your time remaining upon earth?
What would you do with the rest of your days knowing that you were about to die; but God had mercifully gifted you additional years of life?
The Bible tells us exactly how Hezekiah spent his last 15 years. We know of at least three things about Hezekiah’s 15 years of life.
Hezekiah’s public works
tells us about one of Hezekiah’s greatest accomplishments:
The rest of the deeds of Hezekiah and all his might and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
Los demás hechos de Ezequías, y todo su poderío, y cómo hizo el estanque y el conducto, y metió las aguas en la ciudad, ¿no está escrito en el libro de las crónicas de los reyes de Judá?
Jerusalem was the capital city in the kingdom of Judah.
Jerusalem was a walled city.
Hezekiah had began a marvelous construction of a poll and a conduit to bring water into the city. It is as if Hezekiah had installed a massive pipe that brought water into the city.
This was such a great accomplishment because even if the city was under seige, the people did not need to go beyond the city walls to gain access to water.
The conduit fed water into the city. The people of God were definitely not at risk of dying of thirst.
This was truly a great accomplishment for the ancient people of God.
Hezekiah’s pride
Unfortunately, there also came a moment in Hezekiah’s life were we see a less than pious/godly attitude.
Hezekiah was visited by messengers sent by the king of Babylon. Babylon was a great empire whose goal was to conquer the known world.
When these men came to Hezekiah he acted with great pride and brought them into his treasure house:
And Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.
2 Kings 20:13-
Y Ezequías los oyó, y les mostró toda la casa de sus tesoros, plata, oro, y especias, y ungüentos preciosos, y la casa de sus armas, y todo lo que había en sus tesoros; ninguna cosa quedó que Ezequías no les mostrase, así en su casa como en todos sus dominios.
Hezekiah was boasting of all the wealth that God had given his people.
Hezekiah displayed all the treasures before these men sent by an enemy power.
If the Babylonians were thinking about conquering Judah, surely after seeing the treasures in Judah, they were now 100% determined to gain access to those treasures.
Hezekiah acted with pride not thinking about the consequences that this could bring upon the people of God.
It is like a person boasting of withdrawing $1,000 from the city center’s ATM. He flaunts the crips $20 bills before everyone, only to get robbed a few minutes later.
The prophet of God comes to Hezekiah and declares God’s judgement.
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?”
Entonces Isaías dijo a Ezequías: Oye palabra de Jehová: He aquí vienen días en que todo lo que está en tu casa, y todo lo que tus padres han atesorado hasta hoy, será llevado a Babilonia, sin quedar nada, dijo Jehová. Y de tus hijos que saldrán de ti, que habrás engendrado, tomarán, y serán eunucos en el palacio del rey de Babilonia. Entonces Ezequías dijo a Isaías: La palabra de Jehová que has hablado, es buena. Después dijo: Habrá al menos paz y seguridad en mis días.
2 Kings 20:16
God would allow the Babylonians to conquer the people of God.
The people of God would be deported from their land into the hands of the enemy.
The treasures of the people of God would be carried away - completely!
God, who is long-suffering and merciful, told Hezekiah that he would do this during his kingdom but during his sons kingdom. Hezekiah is not at all worried: “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.”
How could this be a good word?
How could Hezekiah be thinking that this was good news?
His only justification: at least my kingdom will be a kingdom of peace. In other words, I have nothing to worry about because my kingdom will be ok.
Hezekiah’s son
Note that Hezekiah dies at 54 years of age.
Hezekiah’s son
He dies 15 years later after he was originally supposed to die.
His death is recorded as follows:
And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.
2 Kings 20:41
Y durmió Ezequías con sus padres, y reinó en su lugar Manasés su hijo.
Hezekiah is now dead and his son Manasseh is the new king in Judah.
Note what the Bible tells us about Manasseh:
Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.
De doce años era Manasés cuando comenzó a reinar, y reinó en Jerusalén cincuenta y cinco años; el nombre de su madre fue Hepsiba.
If Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king; this means that he was born 3 years after the Lord had extended his father’s life.
This is the order of events:
Hezekiah has a mortal wound and is about to die. He cries out to God and God extends his life 15 more years.
Manasseh is born three years later…year 3 of the 15 years that God gave Hezekiah.
Hezekiah continues to live and sees little Manasseh continue to grow into a young adolescent.
Hezekiah grows to become a proud man.
Manasseh sees the actions of his father.
Manasseh can see that his father is boasting of the kingdom’s treasures.
Manasseh is finally twelve years old, and Hezekiah comes to the end of his days.
The cry of “Long live king Hezekiah” is no longer heard throughout Judah - now, it is “Long live king Manasseh”.
However, let’s see how the Bible describes this young man:
2 Kings 20:2
And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.
E hizo lo malo ante los ojos de Jehová, según las abominaciones de las naciones que Jehová había echado de delante de los hijos de Israel.
Manasseh reigned over the people of God for 55 years.
He was one of the most wicked kings in Judah and worst of all he had the longest reign over the people of God.
Such was the wickedness of Manasseh that he offered his own son as a burnt sacrifice to a false god.
:
And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.
Y pasó a su hijo por fuego, y se dio a observar los tiempos, y fue agorero, e instituyó encantadores y adivinos, multiplicando así el hacer lo malo ante los ojos de Jehová, para provocarlo a ira.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Brothers and sisters, Hezekiah was given 15 more years by God.
One would think that he would’ve continued in the same faithfulness that he had walked up to this point.
One would think that out of gratitude he would have served God with all his heart, with all his strength, with all his devotion.
One would think that the rest of his life would be entirely devoted to the Lord God of Israel.
This was not so.
Hezekiah became a proud man, his own pride brought destruction upon the people of God.
Hezekiah lost sight of what was truly important. Hezekiah had a son on the third year that God had gifted him - and he did not focus his efforts in raising a godly child.
He did not focus on instructing him in the ways of the Lord.
He did not focus on instilling in him the fear of the Lord.
Hezekiah’s pool and conduit of water into the city was entirely overshadowed by the evil man he had raised and was now sitting upon the throne of Judah.
Brothers and sisters, we will all die.
Every day that we live is a gift from the Lord!
What are we doing with the time that we have remaining upon this earth?
Are we squandering it away in things that have no value?
Are we squandering it in sin?
Are we living a wicked life?
Are we not guiding our children to fear the Lord? Do not forget that you will die soon - and it could very well be we are leading our children away from the Lord!
It is not our words that will instruct our children - but rather our example/our way of life that will impact our children.
Every day second we live, every hour, every day, every week that we live is a gift from God.
Do not live like you will live forever.
Realize that your life can end at any moment.
Live for God.
Live a life entirely devoted to God.
Leave a legacy of godliness, that your children will follow the Lord. That your children will imitate your example of godliness of faithfulness and devotion to the Lord.
Live a life that you have no reason to be ashamed of.
Life a life of faithfulness; a life of gratitude for what God had done for you in the person of his son Jesus Christ.