Read Online Song of Redemption by Lynn Austin - Free Book Online Page B

anything?”
    “King Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, and they led him to compromise his faith in God.”
    “Wait a minute,” Hezekiah said. “I thought kings were supposed to have large harems to make sure they produce an heir to the throne.”
    “God promised that there would always be an heir of David reigning on his throne. Does God need the help of a hundred women to fulfill that promise?”
    Hezekiah smiled. “No, I guess He needs only one.”
    “Marriage is a sacred covenant, much like Israel’s covenant with God. Our affections must stay pure toward one wife, just as Israel’s affections toward God must remain pure, not lusting after other gods. Do you have many concubines?”
    “A few, and I’m not sure I want to get rid of—” “How many wives?”
    “Only one—her name is Hephzibah.”
    “Good. Do you love her?”
    Hezekiah leaned back in his seat. “No. I hardly know her. My father arranged the marriage as a political payback. I’ve always thought of her as a present from Ahaz, so I guess I never showed much interest in her. I want to choose my own wife now that I’m king.”
    “Does Hephzibah love Yahweh, or does she practice idolatry?”
    Hezekiah frowned. “I don’t know what she believes. Why?”
    “If you decide to be faithful to one wife, as the Torah commands, then Hephzibah would be the mother of your heir.”
    “I really don’t know anything about her,” he admitted. But the thought that he might be stuck with the wife that Ahaz chose for him made him uneasy.
    Hezekiah thought back to the day he married Hephzibah, and how young she had seemed. He remembered how she had trembled when he held her in his arms. He smiled to himself when he remembered her daring scheme to get a glimpse of him, fearing that he might resemble his father. Maybe he should give her another chance.
    “I guess it isn’t her fault that she was a gift from Ahaz,” he murmured.
    “It wasn’t until after my beloved wife died that I realized she was my most cherished treasure. Hold your wife close to you, son. Confide in her. Listen to her. Sometimes women see things more clearly than we do. If you win her loyalty and her love, you’ll be the happiest man alive. God gives us wives for more than offspring and physical pleasure. Ancient tradition says that Yahweh dwells amid married couples.”
    Zechariah picked up a clay tablet and a writing tool. “You see, here’s the word for man—and the word for woman. All the letters are the same except for these two. And if you put those two letters together, they form the name of God. If you share a love for each other and for God, His presence will dwell in your midst.”
    Hezekiah still wasn’t sure he wanted to dismiss all of his concubines, even if what Zechariah said was true. He turned back to Zechariah’s scroll and continued to read. “‘He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.’ Well, this won’t be hard to obey,” he said. “The royal treasuries are empty. I can only hope that this nation will prosper again someday.”
    “It will, son, if you obey God. I promise you.”
    “‘When he takes the throne of his kingdom,’ ” Hezekiah read, “‘he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law … it is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God… . Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.’ ”
    Zechariah stopped him again. “Yahweh knows that a king’s three biggest temptations are power, pride, and pleasure,” he said. “When we begin reading the history of your forefathers, you’ll see how often one of these three contributed to their downfall. Yahweh requires you to write the words of His Law yourself so that you can study them. The king must have no doubt about what God demands of him.”
    “Will you come every day and teach it to me as I copy it?”
    “Yes, I’ll get you