Gods And Kings
Books by
Lynn Austin
FROM BETHANY HOUSE PUBLISHERS
All She Ever Wanted
Eve’s Daughters
Hidden Places
A Proper Pursuit
Until We Reach Home
Wings of Refuge
A Woman’s Place
R
EFINER’S
F
IRE
Candle in the Darkness
Fire by Night
A Light to My Path
C
HRONICLES OF THE
K
INGS
Gods and Kings
Song of Redemption
The Strength of His Hand
Faith of My Fathers
Among the Gods
Gods and Kings
Copyright © 2005
Lynn Austin
Previously published as
The Lord Is My Strength
Cover design by The DesignWorks Group, John Hamilton
Scripture quotations identified NIV are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION
. Copyright
1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN 978-0-7642-2989-3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Austin, Lynn N.
Gods & Kings / by Lynn Austin.
p. cm.—(Chronicles of the Kings ; 1) ISBN 0-7642-2989-3 (pbk.)
1. Hezekiah, King of Judah—Fiction. 2. Bible. O.T.—History of Biblical events—Fiction. 3. Israel—Kings and rulers—Fiction. I. Title: Gods and Kings. II. Title. III. Series.
PS3551.U839G63 2005
813′.54—dc22 2004019907
Dedicated to my husband,
Ken,
who never doubted
The Lord is my strength
and my song;
he has become my salvation
.
E
XODUS 15:2
LYNN AUSTIN is a three-time Christy Award winner for her historical novels
Hidden Places, Candle in the Darkness,
and
Fire by Night
. In addition to writing, Lynn is a popular speaker at conferences, retreats, and various church and school events. She and her husband have three children and make their home in Illinois.
A Note to the Reader
Shortly after King Solomon’s death in 931 BC, the Promised Land split into two separate kingdoms. Israel, the larger nation to the north, set up its capital in Samaria and was no longer governed by a descendant of King David. In the southern nation of Judah, where this story takes place, David’s royal line continued to rule from Jerusalem. The narrative centers around events in the lives of two kings of Judah: Ahaz, who ruled from 732 to 716 BC, and his son Hezekiah, who ruled from 716 to 687 BC.
Careful study of Scripture and commentaries support the fictionalization of this story. To create authentic speech, the author has paraphrased the words of these biblical figures. However, the New International Version has been directly quoted when characters are reading or reciting Scripture passages, and when prophets are speaking the words of the Lord. The only allowance the author has made is to change the words “the Lord” to “Yahweh.”
Interested readers are encouraged to research the full accounts of these events in the Bible as they enjoy this first book in the five-book C
HRONICLES OF THE
K
INGS
series.
Scripture references for
Gods and Kings
:
2 Kings 16
2 Kings 18:1–3
2 Chronicles 28:1–8, 16–27
2 Chronicles 29:1–14
See also:
2 Chronicles 26:3–5, 16–23
Jeremiah 26:18–19
The prophecies of Isaiah and of Micah
Contents
Ahaz was twenty years old when he
became king… .Unlike David his father,
he did not do what was right
in the eyes of the Lord.
2 C
HRONICLES 28 : 1 NIV
T
HE RUMBLE OF VOICES
and tramping feet awakened him. Hezekiah sat up in bed, his heart pounding, and for the first time in his short life he was terrified. Overnight his safe, quiet world in the king’s palace had vanished, and he listened with mounting panic as the commotion in the hallway outside his room grew louder, closer. Men’s voices shouted orders. Doors opened and closed. Children cried out in fear.
He turned to his older brother, Eliab, in the bed next to his and saw that he was also awake. Hezekiah scrambled off his bed and climbed in beside him. “Eliab,” he whispered, “What’s going on? Who’s out there?”
Eliab shook his head, clutching the bedcovers. “I-I don’t know.” They huddled in the darkness, staring at the door, waiting.
In the distance, the mournful cry of a shofar trumpeted an alarm over the sleeping city of Jerusalem as the sound of footsteps thundered up the hallway, approaching Hezekiah’s room.
“I’m scared,” he said, swallowing back tears. “I want Mama.”
Suddenly the door opened, and soldiers, armed with swords and spears, poured into the room, pulling Hezekiah and Eliab off the bed. Hezekiah was powerless to stop them. His body went stiff with fear as they stripped off his nightclothes and forced a white linen garment over his head. The soldiers’ hands felt cold and rough as they dressed him and tied on his sandals. The palace servants always treated him gently, smiling and making up little games as they helped him get dressed. But none of the soldiers spoke, and their cold silence terrified him. They dressed Eliab the same way, then hustled them out of the room.
More soldiers and a dozen priests in flowing robes crowded the hallway. In the flickering torchlight, Hezekiah saw his half-brothers dressed in the same white garments, huddled together, whimpering softly. His uncle Maaseiah stood over them, armed with a sword.
“These are all of the king’s sons,” he told the priests. “Let’s get on with it. My troops have a long march ahead.”
“Everything is prepared, my lord,” a priest replied.
But before any of them had a chance to move, Hezekiah heard his mother shouting as she ran up the hall from the king’s harem. “No, wait! Stop!” She was in her bare feet and was wrapping her outer garment around her as she ran. Her dark hair flowed uncombed down her back. Hezekiah tried to squirm free to go to her, but one of the soldiers held him back.
“What are you doing?” she cried. “Where are you taking my sons?”
“King Ahaz is holding a special sacrifice before the army marches,” Uncle Maaseiah said. “Our northern border is under attack.”
“What does that have to do with my children? They’re only babies.” She hugged her robes tightly around herself and shivered.
“Ahaz wants all of his sons to take part.” Uncle Maaseiah signaled to his soldiers, and they quickly moved across the hallway to block her path. But not before Hezekiah saw all the color drain from her face.
“No! Wait!” she cried. “What kind of sacrifice?”
Uncle Maaseiah turned his back on her and motioned to his men. “Let’s get on with it.”
Hezekiah’s mother began to scream, and the sound filled him with terror. He could hear her fighting desperately to get past the wall of men, to reach him and Eliab, but the soldiers held her back.