A DESIGNED DEFICIENCY

A Designed Deficiency

You did not look to the One who made it, or have regard for the One who planned it long ago.

Isaiah 22:11

READ ISAIAH 22:8–11

There’s a natural spring that rises on the east side of the city of Jerusalem. In ancient times it was the city’s only water supply and was located outside the walls. Thus it was the point of Jerusalem’s greatest vulnerability. The exposed spring meant that the city, otherwise impenetrable, could be forced to surrender if an attacker were to divert or dam the spring.

King Hezekiah addressed this weakness by driving a tunnel through 1,750 feet of solid rock from the spring into the city where it flowed into the “Lower Pool” (see 2 Kings 20:20; 2 Chronicles 32:2-4). But in all of this, Hezekiah “did not look to the One who made it, or have regard for the One who planned it long ago” (Isaiah 22:11). Planned what?

God Himself “planned” the city of Jerusalem in such a way that its water supply was unprotected. The spring outside the wall was a constant reminder that the inhabitants of the city must depend solely on Him for their salvation.

Can it be that our deficiencies exist for our good? Indeed, the apostle Paul said that he would “boast” in his limitations, because it was through weakness that the beauty and power of Jesus was seen in him (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). Can we then regard each limitation as a gift that reveals God as our strength?

By David H. Roper

REFLECT & PRAY

God, I’m weak. I pray that others would see that You are my strength.

What are your deficiencies? How are they helping you gain trust in God?

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

During the reign of King Hezekiah (728-686 bc), the Southern Kingdom of Judah faced a significant military threat from the Assyrians, who’d already destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel (722 bc). To prepare Judah to fight the Assyrians, Hezekiah adopted the defensive strategy of denying the invading army access to their water supply (2 Chronicles 32:1-8). He “blocked all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land” (v. 4) and at the same time dug tunnels to bring water into the city to ensure they’d have sufficient water to last them through a prolonged siege (2 Kings 20:20). He also fortified the wall defenses that protected the city and the water supply and made large numbers of weapons and shields (2 Chronicles 32:5). K. T. Sim