“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
A few weeks ago my girls and I were involved in a discussion about modesty and the reason we make the choices we do regarding our attire. With young girls this can be such a tricky subject, because they simply are not aware of certain topics. Suddenly the life of King Hezekiah came into my mind. I had just read II Kings 18-20 that morning in my quiet time. The words “temple” and “treasure” from these chapters took on new meaning in that moment, and God gave me a story straight from His Word to explain the concept to my kids.
Hezekiah, the king of Judah at that time, is described in the Bible as a man who “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..” (II Kings 18:5-6) In the fourteenth year of his reign, Assyria set its sights on Judah, attempting to take it captive as it had done to Israel. Up until this point, Hezekiah had refused to serve Sennacherib, the king of Assyria; however, now that Assyria was taking over the cities, Hezekiah sent an apology to Assyria, in the form of treasure. This was not just any treasure- this was the Lord’s treasure. The Bible says he gave all the silver found in the house of the Lord, and he stripped the gold from the Lord’s temple and gave it to the king of Assyria. In a moment of trying to create peace for his own troubled mind, he sought an alliance with his enemy by giving him all the treasure he had.
This didn’t appease Sennacherib, who wanted to utterly destroy Judah. The Assyrian king sees the weakness in Hezekiah’s faith in God at this moment and knows he can intimidate the people of Judah. He sends his servants to coerce the people to follow Sennacherib, uttering blasphemies against God and false promises of a better life. “Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern,..” (II Kings 18:31) These sound a lot like the promises Satan enters into our heads- promises of being able to do what we want and not having to follow the rules God gives us. Our enemy often attempts to make us believe that when we can make our own choices and follow our own whims, our lives will be better. Little do we know, he is only after our destruction.
Hezekiah eventually cries out a prayer to the Lord, in which he shows he has humbled himself and is totally dependent on God. (II Kings 19:15-19) The prayer indicates he has come to an awareness that all of these struggles are for Judah to fully rely on God and to show all the kingdoms of the earth that the Lord is God alone. The Lord sends Isaiah to tell Hezekiah that the Lord has heard his prayer and will not only save Judah, but will not even allow Assyria to come close to messing with His people. The Lord kept His promise, killing 185,000 Assyrians, along with Sennacherib himself. What a wonderful ending to the story this could have been. Unfortunately, we see another chapter in Hezekiah’s life in which he begins to act in his own reasoning.
In II Kings 20, Hezekiah becomes sick, and the Lord sends Isaiah to inform him that he should get his affairs in order for he is about to die. The king of Judah cries out to the Lord again, and God grants him another fifteen years of life. The king of Babylon sends letters and a present because he has heard of the illness. Hezekiah then allows this country (who seems nice enough) to come to Judah and see all the treasures of the kingdom. “And Hezekiah was attentive to them, and showed them all the house of his treasures…all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.” (II Kings 20:13) The Lord sends the prophet Isaiah to tell him that this same country (Babylon) will eventually come and carry off his descendants. Hezekiah flippantly responds, ‘The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good!’ For he said, ‘Will there not be peace and truth at least in my days?'” (II Kings 20:19) This blows me away! Hezekiah shows all his treasures (that are actually God’s treasures, given to Hezekiah by Him) to a country of which he has no relationship. Did he believe that this would benefit him by having Babylon on his side? Was he just after the praise and approval of this other country? I honestly can’t understand his actions or his final response. He had absolutely no regard for the consequences this would have for future generations.
Whereas the temple in the Old Testament was sacred and precious as it was the dwelling place of God among His people, our bodies are now that temple, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. We are His and not our own, bought with a huge price. The treasure of our body that the Lord has given us is not to be treated in any way we wish. Exodus and Leviticus are filled with instructions on how to handle the items of the temple. Uzzah was killed for handling the ark of the covenant in the wrong way. Eli’s sons were killed for mistreating the sacrifices offered to the Lord in the temple, and Eli himself died as a punishment for not making sure his children handled them in the appropriate manner. These Old Testament principles apply to us now as children of God. Our bodies are the scared temple filled with treasures that only God can give.
In moments of trying to find peace and an alliance with the world, we often carelessly give up these treasures. Sometimes, we get prideful and seek approval from man, showing off all of our treasures. We believe these actions to be harmless. After all, look at the reactions we get when the world approves of us! We hear comments about how beautiful, brave, strong, and confident we are. But the truth is, the enemy is slowly turning us to his side. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8
I have been reading the Bible through to the kids in the morning and discussing it with them. (Some parts I must leave out for my younger ones.) Honestly, Exodus and Leviticus are extremely difficult for anyone, but especially for children. However, it has been so beneficial in helping us realize the importance of keeping to the Lord’s way and not our own. And He has very specific instructions at times that He fully expects us to keep. Is there grace for error? Absolutely. But the heart must fully desire to honor God and keep His ways. Whether or not my kids understand all of the reasons for the rules we set forth, I don’t know. But I do know I want them to trust in my advice and believe that the rules Jason and I set forth right now are for their protection. God’s ways are for our protection, though we may not understand them.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1-2
Father, forgive me for treating Your temple carelessly. I pray that my family and I would seek to follow Your rules with all our hearts. I thank You for the grace and forgiveness You offer. May we never take those for granted, but rather want to please You in all we say and do. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.