Author Archives: RB3

All glory to God our Father

Let us turn now to Isaiah 44 and read it together.

The Blessings of Israel

1 “But now listen, O Jacob, My servant,

And Israel, whom I have chosen:

2 Thus says the Lord who made you

And formed you from the womb, who will help you,

‘Do not fear, O Jacob My servant;

And you Jeshurun whom I have chosen.

Jershurn is yet another name, and an honored one, for Israel. It means righteous or straight and is in contrast to Jacob, which means over reacher or deceiver. Possibly even trickster. 

Lest you think this is a one time use of this new name, not so. While you were perusing Deuteronomy, you would have encountered it first in: – You were perusing Deuteronomy weren’t you?

Deuteronomy 32:15

“But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—

You are grown fat, thick, and sleek—

Then he forsook God who made him,

And scorned the Rock of his salvation.

Also in:

Deuteronomy 33:5

“And He was king in Jeshurun,

When the heads of the people were gathered,

The tribes of Israel together.

Let’s go back up to the first one, Deuteronomy 32:15 and consider that for a moment. 

Deuteronomy was written by Moses, in Moses’s day, around 1400 BC. The book is right after Numbers, in case you didn’t happen to read it yet. The Hebrew translation is “These are the words”, from the first 2 Hebrew words in Deuteronomy. When the Greek Septuagint translated this book, they got the name wrong. Their version means “Copy of this Law.” A better description of it is “a record of Moses’ words of explanation concerning the Law.”  It is a bit legal and dry to read, but instructive all the same.

Moses wrote that Jeshurun had grown fat and kicked. Meaning that Israel had gotten quite happy with itself and started to rebel against their God. Elohim, and we are dealing with the Hebrew word for God now, because they are all Hebrew and this was well before the Middle Ages came and started dropping J’s all over the place. So Elohim had brought his people out of Egypt and blessed them, because they were his people and He was their God. I keep bringing this up because it is important. This is where God’s plan for bringing salvation to his people, through is Son, Jesus Christ into fruition. And from the word Go, those Jeshurunites, those sons of Jacob were not buying into the program. And as of this day, those stiff necked Jews are still not buying into the program. 

Getting back to Deuteronomy, the book itself does not advance chronologically from the last 2 books and takes place in one location and for a period of about a month. And that month is the last month of Moses’s life. Elohim had told him he would not be crossing over to the promised land. He and his people were encamped in the rift valley, on the plains of Moab, near Jericho. This book is Moses last words of divine revelation from God to the people of Israel. 

Like an ox who has gotten fat and intractable, the people of Jacob were not living up to God’s Law. A more valid question would be, when did they live up to God’s Law? We will have to chase that down another day.

3 ‘For I will pour out water on the thirsty land

And streams on the dry ground;

I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring

And My blessing on your descendants;

4 And they will spring up among the grass

Like poplars by streams of water.’

5 “This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’;

And that one will call on the name of Jacob;

And another will write on his hand, ‘Belonging to the Lord,’

And will name Israel’s name with honor.

6 “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:

‘I am the first and I am the last,

And there is no God besides Me.

7 ‘Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it;

Yes, let him recount it to Me in order,

From the time that I established the ancient nation.

And let them declare to them the things that are coming

And the events that are going to take place.

We have heard this same argument from God 2 or 3 times now in Isaiah. God is, quite reasonably, asking “Who is like me? Let them come forward and state their case.”

There must have been a very uncomfortable silence when that was asked.

8 ‘Do not tremble and do not be afraid;

Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it?

And you are My witnesses.

Is there any God besides Me,

Or is there any other Rock?

I know of none.’”

The Folly of Idolatry

9 Those who fashion a graven image are all of them futile, and their precious things are of no profit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be put to shame. 

10 Who has fashioned a god or cast an idol to no profit? 

11 Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them tremble, let them together be put to shame.

12 The man shapes iron into a cutting tool and does his work over the coals, fashioning it with hammers and working it with his strong arm. He also gets hungry and his strength fails; he drinks no water and becomes weary. 

13 Another shapes wood, he extends a measuring line; he outlines it with red chalk. He works it with planes and outlines it with a compass, and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of man, so that it may sit in a house. 

14 Surely he cuts cedars for himself, and takes a cypress or an oak and raises it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow. 

15 Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also makes a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image and falls down before it. 

16 Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat as he roasts a roast and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” 

17 But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god.”

18 They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend. 

19 No one recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!” 

20 He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

Another talk about idols, that we have heard, again, many times. These Jews had a thing choosing poorly. But we must not laugh at their expense. Are we any different? Since Hollywood came into existence, we have had our own idols. In fact it has become so pervasive that now it has just about overtaken our culture. You have a favorite movie star or more modern media personality, maybe a sports team? Would you rather watch your favorite movie, tv show or sports game than read the Bible, go to Church or do the Lord’s work? These media personalities or sports stars that so capture our attention, we now have them telling us how to live, how to be more virtuous. Telling young women that you no longer have to be a slave to a family, raise kids and all that. No, get an abortion, live your own life. And young women are listening. From the Census in 2016, of the 11 million families in America without spouses, 8.3 million of them were single mothers. If the trend continues, single parent homes will eclipse traditional family homes in the not too distant future.

From 1970 to 2015 there were 45.7 million legal abortions in our country.

Hitler only killed about 6 million Jews. Our country, following the lead of satan, has far surpassed that. Stalin said “a single death is a tragedy, a million deaths are a statistic.” And that is how people are treating it. A mere statistic, not the horror that it is. God is watching and there is a very strong possibility that He has removed his blessing from the USA. I recommend that you all read Romans 1:18-32 later today.

Out of all that bad news, we can take heart that we have a Merciful and Loving God.

God Forgives and Redeems

21 “Remember these things, O Jacob,

And Israel, for you are My servant;

I have formed you, you are My servant,

O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me.

22 “I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud

And your sins like a heavy mist.

Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”

23 Shout for joy, O heavens, for the Lord has done it!

Shout joyfully, you lower parts of the earth;

Break forth into a shout of joy, you mountains,

O forest, and every tree in it;

For the Lord has redeemed Jacob

And in Israel He shows forth His glory.

24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,

 and the one who formed you from the womb,

“I, the Lord, am the maker of all things,

Stretching out the heavens by Myself

And spreading out the earth all alone,

25 Causing the omens of boasters to fail,

Making fools out of diviners,

Causing wise men to draw back

And turning their knowledge into foolishness,

26 Confirming the word of His servant

And performing the purpose of His messengers.

It is I who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited!’

And of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built.’

And I will raise up her ruins again.

27 “It is I who says to the depth of the sea, ‘Be dried up!’

And I will make your rivers dry.

28 “It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd!

And he will perform all My desire.’

And he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’

And of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”

1 Kings 8 to 9

When last we left Solomon, everything was going well. The Lord’s Temple was done but for the details and so was his Palace. Let us turn to 1 Kings 8 and pick up the story.

The Ark Brought into the Temple

1 Kings 8

1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the city of David, which is Zion. 

2 All the men of Israel assembled themselves to King Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. 

3 Then all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. 

4 They brought up the ark of the Lord and the tent of meeting and all the holy utensils, which were in the tent, and the priests and the Levites brought them up. 

5 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were assembled to him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen they could not be counted or numbered. 

6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim. 

7 For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its poles from above. 

8 But the poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; they are there to this day. 

9 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. 

10 It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the Lord, 

11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

Then Solomon faced the crowd and addressed the people.

12 Then Solomon said,

“The Lord has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.

13 “I have surely built You a lofty house,

A place for Your dwelling forever.”

He then blesses the people and gives a prayer of dedication and benediction. What do you do after you’ve built the Lord’s Temple, thanked the Lord and blessed the people? Sacrifices, of course. They now had a beautiful temple to do the sacrifices in and this was something they had waited for a long time. In Israel today, they have all the material to build the Lord’s temple anew, just waiting for someone to give them permission to start building. It is thought that it will be the antichrist that will be that person. As I said before, the Jews have still not gotten with the program.

Getting back to Solomon and sacrifices, they offered to the Lord 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. And I imagine it must have taken more than a day to get that done. 

While all the Levite priests were hip deep in blood, Solomon observed a feast with all Israel, and that was quite a feast. 

1 Kings 8:65-66

65 So Solomon observed the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, for seven days and seven more days, even fourteen days. 

66 On the eighth day he sent the people away and they blessed the king. Then they went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had shown to David His servant and to Israel His people.

Seems like a good time was had by all. One of the few times Israel was happy and aligned with the Lord. 

Let us now turn to 1 Kings 9 and see that God gives a promise and a warning.

1 Kings 9

God’s Promise and Warning

1 Now it came about when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all that Solomon desired to do, 

2 that the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. 

3 The Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication, which you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. 

4 As for you, if you will walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you and will keep My statutes and My ordinances, 

5 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised to your father David, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

6 “But if you or your sons indeed turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 

7 then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and the house which I have consecrated for My name, I will cast out of My sight. So Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 

8 And this house will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by will be astonished and hiss and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ 

9 And they will say, ‘Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them, therefore the Lord has brought all this adversity on them.’”

A quote from the 80’s “The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.” I imagine that’s how Solomon was thinking. And could you blame him? God made him the wisest, wealthiest and pretty good looking to boot. Everything is coming up roses. 

Next week, the Queen of Sheba comes a callin’ to see just how dang smart ole Solomon is.

We will find out then.  Let finish this with:

Psalm 145:1-3

1 I will extol You, my God, O King,

And I will bless Your name forever and ever.

2 Every day I will bless You,

And I will praise Your name forever and ever.

3 Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,

And His greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall praise Your works to another,

And shall declare Your mighty acts.

5 On the glorious splendor of Your majesty

And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.

6 Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts,

And I will tell of Your greatness.

7 They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness

And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.

8 The Lord is gracious and merciful;

Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.

9 The Lord is good to all,

And His mercies are over all His works.

10 All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord,

And Your godly ones shall bless You.

11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom

And talk of Your power;

12 To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts

And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.

14 The Lord sustains all who fall

And raises up all who are bowed down.

15 The eyes of all look to You,

And You give them their food in due time.

16 You open Your hand

And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways

And kind in all His deeds.

18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,

To all who call upon Him in truth.

19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;

He will also hear their cry and will save them.

20 The Lord keeps all who love Him,

But all the wicked He will destroy.

21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,

And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.

All glory to God our Father

Revelation 21:5: “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”

Our King Jesus told John this from His throne in Revelation, but it holds for the whole book. Keep that in mind when you hear that this Bible is too old and outdated to be of use.

Let us turn to Isaiah 43 where we find El Shaddai, that is Hebrew for Mighty One, speaking to Israel, about to redeem them with these words from his prophet.

1 But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob,

And He who formed you, O Israel,

We are going to pause right here and find the first reference of Jacob as Israel.

Genesis 32:28

He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”

This was right after Jacob wrestled a man till daybreak. That man was Jesus. Jacob had been concerned over meeting his brother Esau again after so many years, remembering that he stole Esau’s birthright and ran off to live with Laban and gain 2 wives. He was thinking it might not go well so he sent his 2 wives, 11 children and all the rest that he had, across the stream and then went back across to spend the night alone, brooding over the coming day. God arranged that for Jacob, just like he arranges our lives for us. Have you ever had something happen at just the right time and place, that you wondered at it? I believe we would call serendipitous, works of God we are too self absorbed or just plain clueless to understand. Never discount how God works in our lives and put it down to luck.

So Jacob gets named Israel and those 2 names become interchangeable and used many times in the Bible. Isaiah uses it this way 21 times in his book of prophecy. And in that form, it is God’s special attachment to the seed of Abraham.

Back to the verse at hand:

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name; you are Mine!

This is the best thing that could ever be said to a people, “You are Mine! This redemption God is talking about will not be complete until Christ returns to reign over his faithful remnant, all those who believed and accepted Christ.

Verse 2:

2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,

Nor will the flame burn you.

This is symbolic of all the travails that we will be confronted with throughout the centuries. God promises them, they, the remnant, will survive it all.

3 “For I am the Lord your God,

The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

I have given Egypt as your ransom,

Cush and Seba in your place.

God delivered his chosen from Egypt and will also deliver them from Babylon and all future exiles. Cush was Ethiopia and Seba is in Southern Arabia, across the Red Sea. They became compensation, so that God could spare Israel.

Verse 4

4 “Since you are precious in My sight,

Since you are honored and I love you,

I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.

5 “Do not fear, for I am with you;

I will bring your offspring from the east,

And gather you from the west.

6 “I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’

And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’

Bring My sons from afar

And My daughters from the ends of the earth,

We saw this in 1948 when the Jews came back home. Called from the ends of the earth.

Verse 7

7 Everyone who is called by My name,

And whom I have created for My glory,

Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”

Israel Is God’s Witness

8 Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes,

And the deaf, even though they have ears.

This speaks of them having their spiritual eyesight and hearing restored.

Back in chapter 6, Isaiah was talking to a people that could not see or hear the word of God.

Jeremiah 5:21 said the same thing:

Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; that have eyes, and see not; that have ears, and hear not.

Verse 9

9 All the nations have gathered together

So that the peoples may be assembled.

Who among them can declare this

And proclaim to us the former things?

Let them present their witnesses that they may be justified,

Or let them hear and say, “It is true.”

Those smooth talking idolatrous soothsayers could not predict Cyrus would deliver Israel from Babylon. The gods of those nations showed no ability to predict anything at all. They had no witnesses to accredit their gods that they could speak prophetically. 

Verse 10

10 “You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,

“And My servant whom I have chosen,

So that you may know and believe Me

And understand that I am He.

Before Me there was no God formed,

And there will be none after Me.

On the other hand, Israel’s God was able to not only predict the future, but could make the present do what He wanted. Thereby enabling Israel to witness accurately that their God was real and a Mighty God!

Verse 11

11 “I, even I, am the Lord,

And there is no savior besides Me.

12 “It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed,

And there was no strange god among you;

So you are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,

“And I am God.

El Shaddai!

Verse 13

13 “Even from eternity I am He,

And there is none who can deliver out of My hand;

I act and who can reverse it?”

Deuteronomy 32:39

‘See now that I, I am He,

And there is no god besides Me;

It is I who put to death and give life.

I have wounded and it is I who heal,

And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.

Babylon to Be Destroyed

Verse 14

14 Thus says the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,

“For your sake I have sent to Babylon,

And will bring them all down as fugitives,

Even the Chaldeans, into the ships in which they rejoice.

Babylon was very proud of those ships and now the fugitives of the conquering arrny of Cyrus left in those very ships to escape Judgement. 

Verse 15

15 “I am the Lord, your Holy One,

The Creator of Israel, your King.”

The Lord was King over Israel from the very beginning, but the people asked for a human King.

1 Samuel 8:4-7

4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah; 5 and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.

From king, small caps, to KING, all caps

Luke 1:31-33

31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.

32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;

33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

Verse 16

16 Thus says the Lord,

Who makes a way through the sea

And a path through the mighty waters,

17 Who brings forth the chariot and the horse,

The army and the mighty man

(They will lie down together and not rise again;

They have been quenched and extinguished like a wick):

18 “Do not call to mind the former things,

Or ponder things of the past.

Deliverance of the nation in the past will look small in comparison to the future deliverance that the Lord will give his people.

Verse 19

19 “Behold, I will do something new,

Now it will spring forth;

Will you not be aware of it?

I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,

Rivers in the desert.

20 “The beasts of the field will glorify Me,

The jackals and the ostriches,

Because I have given waters in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert,

To give drink to My chosen people.

21 “The people whom I formed for Myself

Will declare My praise.

Elohim, that is God in Hebrew, is telling His people that He is God over all, which seems obvious to us, well some of us in this age, but not so much to his people back then. They had a notoriously short memory and a what have you done for Me lately attitude. Idolatry was rampant back then. As evidenced by how many times God asked rhetorically for the idols to come up with something, anything at all. Which of course they could not.

1 Kings 18:21

Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word. 

450 prophets of Baal and they could not get a response from their god, even after cutting themselves and becoming hoarse from shouting to get Baal’s attention. 

Elijah’s God not only burned the sacrifice, but the stone altar and the water that was in the ditch. That’s a great story and I encourage you to investigate it on your own.

God has a grievance with the people.

The Shortcomings of Israel

Verse 22

22 “Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob;

But you have become weary of Me, O Israel.

23 “You have not brought to Me the sheep of your burnt offerings,

Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices.

I have not burdened you with offerings,

Nor wearied you with incense.

24 “You have bought Me not sweet cane with money,

Nor have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices;

Rather you have burdened Me with your sins,

You have wearied Me with your iniquities.

Can you imagine what God thinks of us today??? We no longer have to sacrifice or follow the Law. We merely believe and accept His Son as our Savior and Lord. Elohei Chasdi, which is The God Of My Kindness, in Hebrew. For God is my stronghold, the God (Elohim) who shows me lovingkindness (Chasdi). Psalm 59:17.

Today, with all the pull of our modern life style, looking up from our phones takes more willpower than many people have. Our Merciful God has offered us a wonderful gift. He wants our worries, all of them, so that we might not be burdened. And he wants the details of our life, the good things, the bad things, the mundane things. A Father is interested in His children.

Verse 25

25 “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.

God hates sin and He won’t remember ours. The only thing better than that is eternal salvation.

In spite of Israel’s absolute unworthiness, the turning away, wanting their own king, idolatry and all that, God is still offering His hand and will not remember their sins. A merciful God indeed.

Verse 26

26 “Put Me in remembrance, let us argue our case together;

State your cause, that you may be proved right.

27 “Your first forefather sinned,

And your spokesmen have transgressed against Me.

Sins of their patriarchal ancestors, like Abraham, kept them from claiming personal merit. 

Verse 28

28 “So I will pollute the princes of the sanctuary,

And I will consign Jacob to the ban and Israel to revilement.

Even though God will forgive the nation in the messianic age, she must still suffer in the intervening interval.

Let us now turn to 1 Kings Chapter 3, and pick up where we left off last week.

God had blessed Solomon with great wisdom and here we find that he is judging a complaint made by 2 women. Harlots living in the same house and had babies within days of each other. One woman slept upon her baby son and smothered it. On finding this she took her dead son and swapped it out with the other woman’s live son. The other woman, waking in the morning and trying to nurse her son, found it was dead. But looking closely, she was able to tell it was not her son at all. So now they are standing before their King and Judge. 

Turn now to verse 23 and let us read how Solomon judged.

1 Kings 3:23

23 Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’” 24 The king said, “Get me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. 25 The king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” 26 Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply stirred over her son and said, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him!” 27 Then the king said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother.” 28 When all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had handed down, they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.

A very well known story, I think I heard a more sanitized version of it in Sunday school. We didn’t talk about harlots in those days, possibly just women living together and we were left to draw our own conclusions as to why women did things like that. I still wonder sometimes.

Solomon had indeed been given great wisdom. He now acquired much wealth and power to go with that, like bookends. The scripture talks of how many horses and chariots he had, how much stuff it took to run the kingdom from day to day. A staggering amount of provisions that were brought in from all over the kingdom. Everybody shared the burden of keeping the King and his people well fed and happy. While this was going on, Solomon was said to have spoke 3000 proverbs and over 1000 songs. He was known far and wide as the wisest King. 

1 Kings 4:34

Men came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

Solomon now forms an alliance with King Hiram of Tyre, which is just North of Solomon’s Kingdom. Hiram had been a friend of King David and was happily surprised that Solomon turned out to be a chip off the ole block, so to speak. Hiram lived in the hill country with all the trees and his people were known for their skill in lumbering and shipbuilding. 

1 Kings 5:3-6

3 “You know that David my father was unable to build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the wars which surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. 4 But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor misfortune. 5 Behold, I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he will build the house for My name.’ 6 Now therefore, command that they cut for me cedars from Lebanon, and my servants will be with your servants; and I will give you wages for your servants according to all that you say, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”

And Hiram was pleased…

1 Kings 5:7

7 When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the Lord today, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.”

So Solomon starts work on the house for the Lord. A big job like that takes a lot of people. The conscription of forced labor, malcontents, people conquered and captured in war, 30,000 of them were levied from all across Israel. He sent them in relay, 10,000 a month. They worked 1 month in Lebanon and 2 months at home. This project required a tremendous amount of skilled labor also.

1 Kings 5:15-18

Now Solomon had 70,000 transporters, and 80,000 hewers of stone in the mountains, 16 besides Solomon’s 3,300 chief deputies who were over the project and who ruled over the people who were doing the work. 17 Then the king commanded, and they quarried great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with cut stones. 18 So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites cut them, and prepared the timbers and the stones to build the house.

It was the 480th year, since they walked out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, taking a slight 40 year detour in desert for bad attitudes and now the Lord’s house is being built. So far, so good. Solomon is getting busy, building things, astounding all with his wisdom. He seems to have his head in the game. This is where pride lurks, when you are doing well and feeling good about it. I’ve felt it, back in the day when I rebuilt an entire School District’s technology backbone. Basically stuff I learned and I have always been good at learning on my own. Came up with a plan, gave it to my Boss and he said make it so, and I did. The best part was, it was free. I used technology that they already had and made it work my way. I actually felt pride flowing through my fingertips as I typed this. Dangerous stuff.

1 Kings 6:11-14

Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon saying, 12 “Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word with you which I spoke to David your father. 13 I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.”

I think God had seen in Solomon, the beginnings of the corrosive agent of pride and gave him a little pep talk. “You’re doing good Son, keep up the good work and I will not have to take off my belt and give you a whoopin.”

1 Kings 6:37-38

In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of Ziv. 38 In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts and according to all its plans. So he was seven years in building it.

The Lord’s House is done and it is beautiful! Gold and Cedar, it must have smelled wonderful, until they started sacrifices again. Now Solomon starts on his palace, because what good is it to be King if you don’t have a super swell palace to lounge in. He also hires a skilled bronze craftsman named Hiram from Tyre. It must have been a common name, either that or the King of Tyre named Hiram, moonlighted in bronze for walking around money. Whoever this Hiram guy was, he was good at what he did. He outfitted the Lord’s house, gave it all the bells and whistles it needed. A very handy guy to have around.

We finish it out here with Solomon being just about done with the Temple.

1 Kings 7:51

Thus all the work that King Solomon performed in the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things dedicated by his father David, the silver and the gold and the utensils, and he put them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.

Everything is going well. The Temple has a few details left to get done. Solomon’s house is also about done. What is Solomon going to do with his time now? We will find out next week.

Let us end with a couple of proverbs from Solomon about pride. 

Proverbs 11:2

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

Proverbs 27:2

Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;

A stranger, and not your own lips.

All glory to God our Father.

Let us turn to Isaiah 42. I want you to keep in mind while we go through this scripture that the Holy Spirit was speaking through Isaiah about Our Savior Jesus Christ 600 years before Christ was born. Imagine if we were given an important message 600 years before the event. How would we as a people react? 600 years ago was 1419. That was before the printing press, which was still a couple of decades to come, and even before Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue. A very large chunk of time, and the amazing thing to me is this book spans 1500 years, written by around 40 authors. A consistent story of the Grace and Mercy of God and the coming of His Son Jesus Christ. I have had people tell me that the Bible is a fairy tail, couldn’t be true. 

How could it not be? People generally can’t agree on the color of the sky, but this Book, written by many different men, over a really long period of time, and they kept the message? How does that happen except by the hand of God. Yet the unbelievers scoff, can’t understand, it just don’t make sense to them. It does to us and that in itself is proof of God’s hand. Just something to consider…

1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold,

    my chosen one in whom I delight;

I will put my Spirit on him,

    and he will bring justice to the nations.

An interesting observation of content and meaning between different versions of the Bible. I primarily have used the NIV version because it is a bit easier to read and I really get tired of all those Thees and Thous. However, the NIV version has been known to condense or paraphrase the Word of God down to something that changes the meaning, at least for me. We keep a King James version, in fact my wife uses it, to check on things now and then. This is one of those times. The King James version of verse 3 is this:

“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,

My Elect One in whom My soul delights!

I have put My Spirit upon Him;

He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.

 

Did you notice the difference? Just one word, will over have, put a gnat in my orange juice, so to speak. Does it change the meaning for you? It did for me. The NIV states that God will put His spirit on Jesus. The King James states that He did put His spirit on our Savior. Both are true. When Isaiah was speaking it was a future event, where God will do this thing. But God is everlasting, meaning that there was never a time when God was not around. And He knew that we, the people of this day would be reading it and His spirit had already been placed on Jesus.

Now, in the big picture view, where we all hold hands and sing Kumbiya, I suppose it doesn’t change all that much, but it sort of bugged me.

Getting back to verse 1 of Isaiah 42, I think we will go with the King James version at least verse one.

1 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,

My Elect One in whom My soul delights!

I have put My Spirit upon Him;

He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.

Matthew 3:16-17

16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

2 He will not shout or cry out,

    or raise his voice in the streets.

3 A bruised reed he will not break,

    and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.

In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;

4  he will not falter or be discouraged

till he establishes justice on earth.

    In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”

Our Lord Jesus is the servant that our Heavenly Father delights in. So gentle that he does not break a bruised reed.

 Matthew 21:7-9

7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. 8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!

‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’

Hosanna in the highest!”

Matthew 20:28 Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

Matthew 11:28-30

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Jesus rode a donkey when he came the first time. 

Yet when he comes back the second time, He will be riding a white horse and come as a conquering King. 

Revelation 19:11-16

11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 

12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 

13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 

14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 

15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 

16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

5 This is what God the Lord says—

the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out,

    who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it,

    who gives breath to its people,

    and life to those who walk on it:

6 “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;

    I will take hold of your hand.

I will keep you and will make you

    to be a covenant for the people

    and a light for the Gentiles,

7 to open eyes that are blind,

    to free captives from prison

    and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

8 “I am the Lord; that is my name!

    I will not yield my glory to another

    or my praise to idols.

9 See, the former things have taken place,

    and new things I declare;

before they spring into being

 I announce them to you.”

10 Sing to the Lord a new song,

    his praise from the ends of the earth,

you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,

    you islands, and all who live in them.

11 Let the wilderness and its towns raise their voices;

    let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice.

Let the people of Sela sing for joy;

    let them shout from the mountaintops.

12 Let them give glory to the Lord

    and proclaim his praise in the islands.

13 The Lord will march out like a champion,

    like a warrior he will stir up his zeal;

with a shout he will raise the battle cry

    and will triumph over his enemies.

14 “For a long time I have kept silent,

    I have been quiet and held myself back.

But now, like a woman in childbirth,

    I cry out, I gasp and pant.

15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills

    and dry up all their vegetation;

I will turn rivers into islands

    and dry up the pools.

16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,

    along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;

I will turn the darkness into light before them

    and make the rough places smooth.

These are the things I will do;

    I will not forsake them.

What a wonderful message, the mighty hand of God stretches out and gives us breath. He opens the eyes of the blind and frees captives of their prison. Our enemies are but dust before Him. He will smooth the rough places and will not forsake us. 

That was the good news part of the scripture. God will do and has done all these things, but we must fear our Creator too. Those who do not accept his Son as Lord and Savior and walk in righteousness will suffer His wrath.

17 But those who trust in idols,

    who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’

    will be turned back in utter shame.

18 “Hear, you deaf;

    look, you blind, and see!

19 Who is blind but my servant,

    and deaf like the messenger I send?

Who is blind like the one in covenant with me,

    blind like the servant of the Lord?

20 You have seen many things, but you pay no attention;

    your ears are open, but you do not listen.”

21 It pleased the Lord

    for the sake of his righteousness

    to make his law great and glorious.

22 But this is a people plundered and looted,

    all of them trapped in pits

    or hidden away in prisons.

They have become plunder,

    with no one to rescue them;

they have been made loot,

    with no one to say, “Send them back.”

23 Which of you will listen to this

    or pay close attention in time to come?

24 Who handed Jacob over to become loot,

    and Israel to the plunderers?

Was it not the Lord,

    against whom we have sinned?

For they would not follow his ways;

    they did not obey his law.

25 So he poured out on them his burning anger,

    the violence of war.

It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand;

    it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.

God the Father will shower Blessings upon us if we do as He asks. And as our Holy Father, He will discipline us when we stray and we will stray. The price of sin is death but He has given us His Son, our High Priest and Savior, that we might live.

Let us now step back a bit further and turn to 1 Kings 1 and see just how God’s children, those brothers of Joseph, who became very fruitful on the plains of Goshen, why had they become the idol worshipers of Isaiah’s day. 

This is one of the great stories of the Bible. David, the King of Israel is now an old man and could not keep warm. So his administrators searched the land and found a beautiful virgin named Abishag to nurse him and keep him warm. I think this is where the saying “It’s good to be King” arose from. It was during this time that one of his sons decided that he would now be king. It appears that David was a father that spared the rod and spoiled the child. You will recall that this had happened before with another Son. Absalom was another who exalted himself, and he had great hair. 

2 Samuel 14:25-26

25 Now in all Israel was no one as handsome as Absalom, so highly praised; from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no defect in him. 

26 When he cut the hair of his head (and it was at the end of every year that he cut it, for it was heavy on him so he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head at 200 shekels by the king’s weight.

That’s almost 5 pounds of hair. He tried to be king but it didn’t work out. You could say his hair did him in.

2 Samuel 18: 9-15

9 Now Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. For Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak. And his head caught fast in the oak, so he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him kept going. 

10 When a certain man saw it, he told Joab and said, “Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.” 

11 Then Joab said to the man who had told him, “Now behold, you saw him! Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? And I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a belt.” 

12 The man said to Joab, “Even if I should receive a thousand pieces of silver in my hand, I would not put out my hand against the king’s son; for in our hearing the king charged you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ‘Protect for me the young man Absalom!’ 

13 Otherwise, if I had dealt treacherously against his life (and there is nothing hidden from the king), then you yourself would have stood aloof.” 

14 Then Joab said, “I will not waste time here with you.” So he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak. 

15 And ten young men who carried Joab’s armor gathered around and struck Absalom and killed him.

David’s sons thought much of themselves and now while David is an old man, just trying to stay warm, another son, Adonijah, decides now is the time to be King. But God makes the decisions here, not man and it was such that Solomon was made King. Because it was promised to Solomon’s Mother, but mostly because God wanted Solomon to be King. Much like God chose David to be King, instead of his handsome brothers.

1 Samuel 16:6-13

6 When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.” 

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 

8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 

9 Next Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 

10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 

11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the children?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.”

David Anointed

12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.” 

13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

Another would-be king finds that his aspirations did not meet with God’s approval.

So now David now charges Solomon to walk in the Lord’s way…

1 Kings 2:1-4

1 As David’s time to die drew near, he charged Solomon his son, saying, 

2 “I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. 

3 Keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn, 

4 so that the Lord may carry out His promise which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons are careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

David now goes to be with the Lord and Solomon starts to get busy with running the Kingdom. His father, David, left him a bucket list of people needing attention.

Adonijah the would-be King was executed. He asked for Abishag as a wife and Solomon did not find favor with that request.

Joab the bloody and traitorous head of David’s army is executed.

Shimei is executed for leaving his home when Solomon had told him not to. Shemei had cursed David mightily and David had told him that he would not put him to the sword. Never said anything about his son not doing it.

Solomon marries the daughter of Pharaoh and gets asked a question from God.

1 Kings 3:1-15

Then Solomon formed a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her to the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem. 

2 The people were still sacrificing on the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days.

3 Now Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 

4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place; Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 

5 In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, “Ask what you wish Me to give you.”

Solomon’s Prayer

6 Then Solomon said, “You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father, according as he walked before You in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and You have reserved for him this great lovingkindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 

7 Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 

8 Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted. 

9 So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”

God’s Answer

10 It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. 

11 God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, 

12 behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you. 

13 I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days. 

14 If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days.”

15 Then Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and made peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.

What a deal! Solomon only wanted discernment and wisdom enough to run his kingdom. God was delighted with that humble request and said yes to that and MORE. Which we will find is a double edged sword in a sense. Get everything you didn’t even ask for and see what a mere sinful man will do with it. And we will pursue that next time.

All glory to God our Father.

I’ve been reading much about prophets of late and it’s got me curious. When you think of prophets, you might think that Jesus was our last prophet and yes, Jesus was a prophet. What then is a prophet, you might ask? In the dry and unbelieving world that we live in, I found this when searching in online: A prophet is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on that entity’s behalf, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the supernatural source to other people. That definitely sounds like Jesus and I wonder if that surprises you. That Jesus was a prophet among all his other glorious attributes and our Savior. These are things that come to me in the middle of the night and cause me to ponder just a bit.

Let’s turn to Isaiah 41 and see what our prophet of God’s word has for us today.

Isaiah 41 seems to be a continuation of the questions asked in Chapter 40. Basically that chapter and this one deal with the greatness of God and the weakness of man. This chapter can be broken down into 3 segments. 

Verses 1 through 6: God overrules individuals.

Verses 7 through 20: God asks Israel to trust Him.

Verses 21 through 29: God overturns and mocks idols

1 “Be silent before me, you islands!

    Let the nations renew their strengths

Let them come forward and speak;

    let us meet together at the place of judgment.

These Islands I imagine would be the pagans, idol worshippers, gentiles and Us. Don’t think that God is just talking to the people of Judah. This passage is in the Bible for a reason. How could it not be about us, too? We are just as wayward as the Jews. Keep in mind you are the only Bible some unbelievers will ever read, and your life is under scrutiny every day. What do others learn from you? Do they see an accurate picture of your God?

Are you constantly needing to remind yourself that this Book is the Living Word of God and useful for our daily living, as much now as it was then? What’s coming is Judgement. Like DelRoy said last week. We’re all going to live forever. Where will you live when judged of your faith?

Lightness is overcoming darkness. Our God is telling them, and us, to be quiet and consider what He is about to say. 

2 “Who has stirred up one from the east,

    calling him in righteousness to his service?

He hands nations over to him

    and subdues kings before him.

He turns them to dust with his sword,

    to windblown chaff with his bow.

Who is this person? Some say Cyrus the King of Persia, but no, I believe it is Jesus and his rule of righteousness at his return to Earth. Who among us could turn Kings to dust? Who among us could do anything but return to dust ourselves.  

Genesis 3:19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.

3 He pursues them and moves on unscathed,

    by a path his feet have not traveled before.

4 Who has done this and carried it through,

    calling forth the generations from the beginning?

I, the Lord—with the first of them

    and with the last—I am he.”

The majesty of our Lord God, from which all has been created. Those Jews, led out of Egypt. How many miracles did they witness. And yet not that long afterward, while Moses was chatting with God, they persuaded Aaron to fashion a golden calf to worship. God came very close to destroying them. And I wonder today, how close we come. We have no Moses to talk God out of it. His Grace and Mercy are truly a blessing, each day. Make sure you tell Him that.

5 The islands have seen it and fear;

    the ends of the earth tremble.

They approach and come forward;

6     they help each other

    and say to their companions, “Be strong!”

7 The metalworker encourages the goldsmith,

    and the one who smooths with the hammer

    spurs on the one who strikes the anvil.

One says of the welding, “It is good.”

    The other nails down the idol so it will not topple.

The hubris of man. We think that we can overcome what God has wrought. Nail down those idols so they do not topple. What Idols have you nailed down in your life? What is so important, so powerful in its attraction that you put it before all else? Be honest with yourself. We’ve all done it. For me it would be technology, learning new things to do with it. I had a working artificial intelligence of a sort. No, I did not create it on my own but I did get it working on a little tiny computer the size of a deck of cards. I could tell it to turn on and off my lights, start my coffee. I was working on a robot that would follow me around and expedite my supposed needs. Idols come in various forms. You need to recognize that and take measures to remove them from your life. And one of the best ways of doing that is reading the Bible and being around and talking with other believers, like what we are doing now. Remove the people from your life that do not serve the Lord. And if you are going to a Church that serves out only skim milk, find one that serves meat, or speaks the whole truth. They are getting harder to find in these modern times. 

8 “But you, Israel, my servant,

    Jacob, whom I have chosen,

    you descendants of Abraham my friend,

9 I took you from the ends of the earth,

    from its farthest corners I called you

I said, ‘You are my servant’;

    I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

10 So do not fear, for I am with you;

    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

This is God’s basic argument for all of us. I chose you after calling you from the ends of the earth. Since we have accepted Christ, we are also descendants of Abraham in spiritual sense. We are his servants. Let that sink in a bit. Do you feel like a servant? Act like one? Really? How do you think the Lord feels about our rebellion? He chose us and He did not reject us, meaning that in spite of various sins we commit, and remember He hates sin, He still calls us His children. And do not fear. How could we?

Psalms 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

11 “All who rage against you

    will surely be ashamed and disgraced;

those who oppose you

    will be as nothing and perish.

12 Though you search for your enemies,

    you will not find them.

Those who wage war against you

    will be as nothing at all.

13 For I am the Lord your God

    who takes hold of your right hand

and says to you, Do not fear;

    I will help you.

To have the Creator of us and the universe say to us do not fear, he’s got our back. Wow. We are nothing, as you’ll see in the next verse, nothing. God can vanquish your enemies, including satan’s demons. What could we possibly worry about. I used to be very concerned with security, after all, I thought I was in charge of my life. I knew how to shoot, pistol, rifle or shotgun and was good at it. Had my concealed carry. Kept a close watch on large parking lots when shopping among the unwashed. Mildly paranoid if you had to ask. Now, when my Lord is my Savior and protector, the last time my brother in law was visiting, I gave him all my pistols. My nephew will probably get the rifles and shotguns. I have no need for them. I am not concerned about my safety, I am not concerned about anything at all really, that is my Lord’s concern. All I have to do is believe, trust and have faith. And is that all you have to do, too. 

14 Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob,

    little Israel, do not fear,

for I myself will help you,” declares the Lord,

    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

15 “See, I will make you into a threshing sledge,

    new and sharp, with many teeth.

You will thresh the mountains and crush them,

    and reduce the hills to chaff.

16 You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up,

    and a gale will blow them away.

But you will rejoice in the Lord

    and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

Once again, God is reassuring his people and us that he will protect us, strengthen us, make us grind our enemies so that the wind will pick up the pieces of them and blow it away. Our God is an Awesome God!

17 “The poor and needy search for water,

    but there is none;

    their tongues are parched with thirst.

But I the Lord will answer them;

    I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

18 I will make rivers flow on barren heights,

    and springs within the valleys.

I will turn the desert into pools of water,

    and the parched ground into springs.

19 I will put in the desert

    the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive.

I will set junipers in the wasteland,

    the fir and the cypress together,

20 so that people may see and know,

    may consider and understand,

that the hand of the Lord has done this,

    that the Holy One of Israel has created it.

Our whole purpose in this life of ours is to glorify our God. To know that He is all powerful, all knowing, all involved with our little lives. We so often forget to glorify God in the successes that we have in this life of ours. Could we have accomplished that success on our own? It is all good to be humble and meek, but if you forget to glorify God, you are missing the point and probably the Blessing. 

Quite a few times in the Bible it says to be in constant communication or prayer with God. 

Romans 12:12 

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 

Pray without ceasing,

Philippians 4:6 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Ephesians 6:18 

Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

To name a few. 

This constant prayer is part of giving glory to our Lord. I am not sure if they really mean constant prayer as in CONSTANT prayer, by I think that by doing good works, keeping the Lord at the front of your mind, praying with great regularity, not hit and miss with mostly a miss. This in particular is what I think it means. That and loving your neighbor as yourself is going to go a long way toward what the scripture implores us to do. So do so!

21 “Present your case,” says the Lord.

    “Set forth your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.

22 “Tell us, you idols,

    what is going to happen.

Tell us what the former things were,

    so that we may consider them

    and know their final outcome.

Or declare to us the things to come,

23     tell us what the future holds,

    so we may know that you are gods.

Do something, whether good or bad,

    so that we will be dismayed and filled with fear.

24 But you are less than nothing

    and your works are utterly worthless;

    whoever chooses you is detestable.

I do like when God is using His ironic sense when talking about things made of wood or metal or what have you. He is talking to the people who try to justify themselves with things made of wood, metal or stone. These days we would add plastic and technology to that list of stupid things to worship. I am continually struck by how everything old is new again and there really is nothing new under the sun.

25 “I have stirred up one from the north, and he comes—

    one from the rising sun who calls on my name.

He treads on rulers as if they were mortar,

    as if he were a potter treading the clay.

King Cyrus who would be considered to come from the East. Who calls upon my name – This expression means, probably, that he should acknowledge Yahweh to be the true God, and recognize him as the source of all his success. This he did in his proclamation respecting the restoration of the Jews to their own land: ‘Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, Yahweh, God of heaven, hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth’ Ezra 1:2. There is no decided evidence that Cyrus regarded himself as a worshipper of Yahweh, or that he was a pious man, but he was brought to make a public recognition of him as the true God, and to feel that he owed the success of his arms to him.

26 Who told of this from the beginning, so we could know,

    or beforehand, so we could say, ‘He was right’?

No one told of this,

    no one foretold it,

    no one heard any words from you.

Which of your idols could foretell such things as these from the beginning of the world unto this day? Do not fool yourself in thinking idolatry is of the past and has no connection to our timeline. We idolize many things, to our ruin.

27 I was the first to tell Zion, ‘Look, here they are!’

    I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of good news.

The passage means that the hearer of the good tidings of the raising up of a deliverer should be sent to the Jewish people. To them the joyful news was announced long before the event, so long before that many forgot. It would occur as the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy recorded among the Jews. Isaiah refers here to his own prophecies uttered so long before the event would occur, and which would be distinctly known when they would be in exile in Babylon.

28 I look but there is no one—

    no one among the gods to give counsel,

    no one to give answer when I ask them.

29 See, they are all false!

    Their deeds amount to nothing;

    their images are but wind and confusion.

A final “outburst of scorn” and fittingly so. Idolatry has been one of the primary sins that his chosen people fell into. The first commandment: God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:1–3

This is why God told Joshua to destroy all who breathe:

Deuteronomy 20:16-18

16 However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. 17 Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you. 18 Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God.

Verse 16 and 17 in Deuteronomy is a major argument by nonbelievers, saying God is not a loving, forgiving God. Why would He kill all those people. The answer is in verse 18. And them, being nonbelievers and have not read the Bible, continue to claim what they do, which corrupts others who hear this. These nations were not unaware of God and His ways.

We find in Joshua 2:11 what Rahab the prostitute said to the spies:

I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon, and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.

We look to Romans 1:21-25 to find the Cannanites were not Innocent victims:

Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man-and birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped the creature rather than the Creator. 

Is this not still true now? Hear the word of our Lord and heed it!

Let’s finish with this:

Psalm 62:5-8

5  Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. 6  Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. 7  My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. 8 Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.

This last Wednesday we had a special treat. Pastor DelRoy led Bible study with a talk on the Rapture and Tribulation. I recorded the hour long session with all its small talk, coffee pouring and mysterious noises from out of the blue. It was a great talk by DelRoy, as it always is.

Today we start a new division in Isaiah. Chapters 1 through 39 were of the judgement and government of God. Really the method of how God judged his rebellious people and what he expected of them in their day to day life. From here on out, Isaiah will speak of the Grace of God. Judgement will not be spoken of, for a while at least. Salvation will be the new message. The earlier chapters had the revelation of the Sovereign on the throne, these coming chapters reveal the Savior in the place of suffering. 

We have in chapter 40 a message of Comfort from God. I know that because it is listed at the top of the chapter in my NIV Bible. I’d say that is a welcome change from the continuous smiting His people required in previous chapters. 

This is such a change from what had been written before that this is where critics come in and say “Hang on, this is so different that we must have two Isaiahs here. Of course, two Isaiahs, two prophets of God, in pretty much the same time and space. What we have here are men whose hearts are not aligned with God and put much trust in their own ability to reason things out. The Bible is the written word of God. His thoughts put down through his messengers. Yes, we are all sinful people, prone to pride and conceit. But when the Holy Spirit is upon you, guiding your thoughts and what gets put down on paper or papyrus as the case may be, he is the author, not the scribe. You are short changing God when you start arguing about what the Bible says. When you have more faith in yourself than you do in God, this is what happens.

Oh, I am sure they had and have good intentions for their arguments. We always have good intentions when we are sinning. But that is what the vile deceiver does.  A whisper here, a nudge there, pretty soon you think that you have the perfect explanation of how the Bible is wrong. But if you’d actually read the Bible, you would find scripture verses such as my favorite one here:

Revelation 22:18-19

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

That should cure you of any notion of tampering with the message, don’t you think? Possibly, you argue, but it’s very near the end of the Book, so maybe they didn’t get that far. Well, there’s your problem, you’re doing it wrong. Read the whole Bible before forming opinions and then ask God for understanding. You can find many dozens, and I do mean many dozens of warnings about changing God’s words. 

Getting back to Isaiah, God decided to now focus on Grace and Salvation after covering Judgement and Government. You always eat your meat and potatoes before you get your dessert. Everything God does makes sense, is not complicated and because we don’t understand it does not mean God is wrong. So no, God did not change messengers, just the message. I run into this all the time in doing research. These boys can’t agree on the color of the sky, yet they know better than God in regards to what He has said. The hubris of Man. I could go on, but let’s not, and get back to Isaiah 40. 

We are going to find in this section of Isaiah that God is revealed as Creator, as Savior and as Sustainer and he will not be the great unknown to his people. He will be a very personal God, very much of a reality for His people.

The Bible is to be used to know God and how he wants us to live. And how he wants us to live is through Jesus. I ask, ironically, how hard is that? To live through Jesus, to accept Christ as Lord and Savior, to confess your sins and to not simply go to Church each week, wearing a hole in that cushion you always sit on, because you always sit in the same spot. Listen to the sermon and go home to watch some trashy TV, listen to the same garbage on the radio and basically not show that you are of Christ. Having the Holy Spirit indwell you is supposed to show. People are supposed to notice that you are of God. And if they don’t notice, there very likely could come a day when the Lord says, as in Matthew 7:23 “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity”.

Let’s use Isaiah himself as an example of how a Godly man should look. Early in his life as a prophet, he walked around in the buff for a good long while. A clue perhaps? Yes, you say, but people walk around like that in San Francisco and the citizens of the town hardly bat an eye. I counter with “the whole town burned down once and nobody seems to have gotten the message.” Sodom of the West Coast I call it. And let’s not forget the San Andreas fault. God has said that earthquakes are going to be a major sign of the end times, so their day of atonement is coming. But let’s move on and determine what else would make Isaiah stand out as a man of God. Unruly beard and fiery eyes? Maybe, but we all tend to grow a bit of fur on our faces now and then (as I pull on my own fury chin). How about the absolute assurance in the way he spoke of God and his prophecies. The not caring of the consequences of his words or actions. How he spoke, “Hear the word of the Lord Almighty…” 

I think you could tell he was a mighty man of God. The point being it is up to us to do more than just go to Church, to show that we belong to Jesus. To do his good works.

Matthew 7:16-20

You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

 

Lets go to Isaiah 40 and see how God brings comfort to his people.

1 Comfort, comfort my people,

    says your God.

2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

    and proclaim to her

that her hard service has been completed,

    that her sin has been paid for,

that she has received from the Lord’s hand

    double for all her sins.

Since the last chapter told of impending doom of the Kingdom of Judah and its captivity, this now is a promise for the restoration of the Kingdom and the return of the people from Babylonian captivity. 

3 A voice of one calling:

“In the wilderness prepare

    the way for the Lord;

make straight in the desert

    a highway for our God.

A clear reference to John the Baptist, “A voice crieth, In the wilderness, prepare ye the way of Jehovah.”

4 Every valley shall be raised up,

    every mountain and hill made low;

the rough ground shall become level,

    the rugged places plain.

John’s duty was to bring back the people to obedience to the law and to remove all self-confidence, pride in national privileges, hypocrisy, and irreligion, so that they should be ready for His coming. Level the road, so to speak.

5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,

    and all people will see it together.

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Probably not the context that is being referred to here, but this is what came to my mind:

Revelation 1:7 

“Look, he is coming with the clouds,”

    and “every eye will see him,

even those who pierced him”;

    and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” 

So shall it be! Amen.

6 A voice says, “Cry out.”

    And I said, “What shall I cry?”

“All people are like grass,

    and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.

Again not in the context of this verse but we find this in:

Isaiah 6:8-10

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

9 He said, “Go and tell this people:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;

    be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’

10 Make the heart of this people calloused;

    make their ears dull

    and close their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

    hear with their ears,

    understand with their hearts,

and turn and be healed.”

7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,

    because the breath of the Lord blows on them.

    Surely the people are grass.

8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,

    but the word of our God endures forever.”

Yes, we are grass and weeds along with a few flowers, here and there.

If God were to take an interest in how we as a people are behaving, I mean in the way that He did to the people Moses brought out of Egypt. Would we as a nation not wither??? 

Not saying that he does not take an interest in us. I would not be here right now if He had not taken an interest in me. And that interest in me, not that I am anything special at all, that interest started back when the stars were not yet formed. It is the same for all of us. As it was for them. They had access to God, maybe more so than we do now. We no longer have prophets to tell us what God says. I am not counting the unruly bearded types on the street corner with cardboard signs speaking of Doom. 

What we do have is the Bible. What is clear to me in reading this passage in Isaiah is not really talking to his people of that day. Most of what is said in this chapter is for us. You may shake your head at that, but how could his people who were already judged by God to be carried off into captivity, how could they feel they were benefiting from what he was saying? I think it would be “That’s nice and all, but what about the here and now?” No I believe this chapter and beyond is for us. How could it not be? We are so easily swayed by all the distractions of our modern life. The devil is very busy because we have such small attention spans. And that is by design, don’t you think? We used to have an oral tradition, and with it, memories that would contain all that was said. Now, with the influence of the serpent, education is no longer valuing rote repetition of what you need to memorize and strengthening your brain. My wife and I worked in education and when I talked to educators about old ways of teaching versus new, they would just shake their heads at me, the poor fool that did not buy into the baloney that is being served out. No, most people, kids especially with their phones and internet, we are no better than terrestrial goldfish. And whose idea was that? Did God want us to be stupid, not being able to remember His written word? Nope. He loves us and wants us to do well. Why did he send his only begotten Son down here to die on a cross, for our sins, if he did not love us? This is the work of satan who has dominion over this world. We are in a battle that most people have not one clue about. A spiritual battle of dark forces. It is talked about in this:

Daniel 10:13 

But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. 

Who was this prince of the Persian Kingdom? A very high powered demon of satan. If an angel of God has to struggle against a demon of satan, that’s something to think about. Nothing has changed. There is probably a prince of satan over every major city. That would certainly explain San Francisco. We need to take this seriously and use the armor of God. That is found in Ephesians 6:10-18. Read that often.

Let us read the rest of Isaiah Chapter 40 together.

9 You who bring good news to Zion,

    go up on a high mountain.

You who bring good news to Jerusalem,

    lift up your voice with a shout,

lift it up, do not be afraid;

    say to the towns of Judah,

    “Here is your God!”

10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,

    and he rules with a mighty arm.

See, his reward is with him,

    and his recompense accompanies him.

11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:

    He gathers the lambs in his arms

and carries them close to his heart;

    he gently leads those that have young.

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,

    or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?

Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,

    or weighed the mountains on the scales

    and the hills in a balance?

13 Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord,

    or instruct the Lord as his counselor?

14 Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,

    and who taught him the right way?

Who was it that taught him knowledge,

    or showed him the path of understanding?

15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;

    they are regarded as dust on the scales;

    he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.

16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,

    nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.

17 Before him all the nations are as nothing;

    they are regarded by him as worthless

    and less than nothing.

18 With whom, then, will you compare God?

    To what image will you liken him?

19 As for an idol, a metalworker casts it,

    and a goldsmith overlays it with gold

    and fashions silver chains for it.

20 A person too poor to present such an offering

    selects wood that will not rot;

they look for a skilled worker

    to set up an idol that will not topple.

21 Do you not know?

    Have you not heard?

Has it not been told you from the beginning?

    Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,

    and its people are like grasshoppers.

He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,

    and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

23 He brings princes to naught

    and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.

24 No sooner are they planted,

    no sooner are they sown,

    no sooner do they take root in the ground,

than he blows on them and they wither,

    and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

25 “To whom will you compare me?

    Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.

26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:

    Who created all these?

He who brings out the starry host one by one

    and calls forth each of them by name.

Because of his great power and mighty strength,

    not one of them is missing.

27 Why do you complain, Jacob?

    Why do you say, Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord;

    my cause is disregarded by my God”?

28 Do you not know?

    Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

    the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

    and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 He gives strength to the weary

    and increases the power of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,

    and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the Lord

    will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

    they will run and not grow weary,

    they will walk and not be faint.

A poetic and beautiful piece of scripture of God’s comfort for His People, of which we are. Much of what Isaiah says in his many chapters is not easily known to us. The places I go for commentary mention that quite a bit. All we can do is ask God for understanding and have Faith that he has a loving interest in every one of us. 

Now for a change of venue, Ronda asked us to take a look at Mark 13:24-27. Mostly because she wants our take on why her son thinks he’s a post tribber. Let’s go there and read 

Mark 13:24-27

24 “But in those days, following that distress,

“‘the sun will be darkened,

    and the moon will not give its light;

25 the stars will fall from the sky,

    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

26 “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 

27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

My take is I don’t know. I am pretty sure that we are going to be snatched away in a twinkling:

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Also, the Jews are still very important to God and I am thinking that will determine the how and when of things. Beyond that, the Lord has not blessed me with understanding, and that is just fine. Some things we just won’t know, we just have to believe.  

Let us finish with this scripture.

Romans 8:14-17

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

All Glory to God our Father. 

I ran across a term this morning that changed my perspective. 

Don’t confuse prisoners of war with the enemy. 

What am I talking about? Those who reject Christ and God have become unwitting prisoners of war—captured and mobilized by the enemy, the vile serpent, to accomplish his purposes. Think about them that way and see if your perspective changes. It did for me.

Last week we found Hezekiah being threatened by the Assyrian army. And Hezekiah, being a good King, he put his sackcloth on and went to the temple.

So I wondered, what do we do when threatened by something dire? Everyone in this room has lived a fair portion of their lives and as such, has lived through some trying times. Before you accepted Jesus, what did you do? You had your family to fall back on, and that is some comfort, but your family can only do so much. We are a lost people and that is what you are seeing in the world today. People searching for comfort and meaning in their lives and not finding it, because that type of love and comfort can truly not be found in this world. 

The Jews were brought out of Egypt by the Lord’s Grace and Mercy. They witnessed miracles and the mighty power of our Creator. It is possible I suppose that they could not comprehend what they were seeing when Moses raised his staff and a great East wind arose and divided the waters of the Red Sea? How would you perceive that? Would it be too much to take in, so much so that your brain would refuse to understand what you saw and simply make you a new reality where it somewhat made sense?

I have seen a few things in my life that my brain refused to make sense of. Something so out of what I perceived to be normal that it just refused. And then you tilt your head a certain way and reality comes rushing back to you. I imagine the Jews seeing the doom of Pharaoh’s chariots and army on the horizon and looking back to what used to be water, but was now dry land, with walls of water on both sides. Even though they did not seem to like Moses all that much, they knew that Moses was talking to God and, well my point is, these people had God at their fingertips. He’s right there, in a huge burning cloud, and yet they tried time and time again to turn back to the world. Why did you drag us out here? We had a good thing in Egypt. Lots of good food and we didn’t have to march around in the desert, picking manna off the ground and almost dying of thirst every other day. They had God that close and still they longed for the comfort of this world. It is a testament to God’s Grace and Mercy that He puts up with that.

We also have God that close. Not in a burning cloud hovering over the building, but he is that close. 

Matthew 18:20  For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.

A lot of times Jesus is talking specifically to his Disciples, educating these boys for what they need to know when He is gone from their midst. But I think this verse is talking to all of us. The Church. We are the Church, us, the people of God. Not a building, never a building. So we have access to
God through our Lord Jesus.

Psalms 50:15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.

That’s pretty close, don’t you think. Call on Me He says. He knows we are a pitiful people, prone to heeding the deceiver’s message. Those little whispers that tell you that comfort is here, in the world. The evil serpent must have put in a lot of overtime working on the Jews. They were so rebellious and not willing to get with the program that they caused Moses to lose his cool and because of that Moses did not get to enter into the Promised Land. 

We find in Exodus 17:6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.

But a little while down the road, after dealing with the constant bickering and bellyaching of these people, the ones he brought out of Egypt, we find in Numbers 20:8-12 “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” 9 And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him. 10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. 12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

So, the rebellious Jews did not seem to have trust in God. Moses did, but being vexed by the people as he was, struck the rock, twice, instead of speaking to it. Our Creator, our God requires our trust in Him. Faith that he will do what He says He will do. Have there been any rocks in your life that you should have spoken to, but struck? Yes, that’s a metaphor, but the idea remains in that you’ve not trusted God in a time when you should have? Faith is not hard, but yet it is. God is close, so close that all you have to do is pray to Him. How hard is that? A simple prayer. Oh, and to trust in Him. The World pulls at us. The evil one whispers to us. All we must do is trust in God, to deliver us from evil, to provide our daily bread, to comfort us in times of grief and so on. Trust that He will take care of these details that vex us. We must give those vexing details to our Lord. Remember, he knows what we need before we do. 

A good example of trust is one that I experienced over the weekend. Many of you know I took in an orphaned baby squirrel that I found under our back porch. Now in my life, I have not been the best friend to squirrels. I hunted them, ate them, shot them when they became a nuisance, but things are different now. I am not the same person I was. When you ask the Lord to increase your Love, because Love is the most important of all Laws. Well, that Love is not selective, I guess. This baby squirrel was looking like it needed help. God has taken from me what he could not use, the pride, self sufficiency and rebellion and has blessed me with many gifts that He can use through me. The old me would have dealt with letting nature take its course and that would be that. Not so this time, to my wife’s consternation. I picked it up, brought it in the house and all it wanted to do was curl up in my warm hand. We did what you do with house squirrels, fed her, housed her, held her. The next day she was bright eyed and demanding to come out of the cage and after eating, just curl up in my hand and sleep, much to my wife’s consternation. I began to make plans on how to reintroduce Miss Squirrel to the great outdoors. I figured she was between 6 or 7 weeks of age and they need to be about 12 weeks to be released. We are getting a puppy in a couple of weeks and that complicated things a bit but I had a plan. I also asked God for guidance and that His will be done. 

Into this life, a little rain must fall. The next day, was not a good day for squirrel. She wasn’t much interested in food or water and mostly just wanted to be in my hand. By the end of the day she had taken a little food and water and she slept in my hand for an hour or so before I put her back in her cage. It seems a bit silly talking about how that wild squirrel trusted a predator to just hold her and keep her warm. But, the Lord works in mysterious ways. We learn by doing. If that baby squirrel could trust me, something it should fear, is it really that hard to trust a God that Loves us?

That was a fairly long into to Isaiah Chapter 38, but sometimes you have to take a detour to get to where you need to go.

Let’s read Chapter 38 together.

1 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”

2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. 6 And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.

7 “‘This is the Lord’s sign to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: 8 I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down.

9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:

10 I said, “In the prime of my life

    must I go through the gates of death

    and be robbed of the rest of my years?”

11 I said, “I will not again see the Lord himself

    in the land of the living;

no longer will I look on my fellow man,

    or be with those who now dwell in this world.

12 Like a shepherd’s tent my house

    has been pulled down and taken from me.

Like a weaver I have rolled up my life,

    and he has cut me off from the loom;

    day and night you made an end of me.

13 I waited patiently till dawn,

    but like a lion he broke all my bones;

    day and night you made an end of me.

14 I cried like a swift or thrush,

    I moaned like a mourning dove.

My eyes grew weak as I looked to the heavens.

    I am being threatened; Lord, come to my aid!”

15 But what can I say?

    He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this.

I will walk humbly all my years

    because of this anguish of my soul.

16 Lord, by such things people live;

    and my spirit finds life in them too.

You restored me to health

    and let me live.

17 Surely it was for my benefit

    that I suffered such anguish.

In your love you kept me

    from the pit of destruction;

you have put all my sins

    behind your back.

18 For the grave cannot praise you,

    death cannot sing your praise;

those who go down to the pit

    cannot hope for your faithfulness.

19 The living, the living—they praise you,

    as I am doing today;

parents tell their children

    about your faithfulness.

20 The Lord will save me,

    and we will sing with stringed instruments

all the days of our lives

    in the temple of the Lord.

21 Isaiah had said, “Prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.”

22 Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the temple of the Lord?”

Isaiah comes to Hezekiah and tells him to tidy up your life, you are going to die. This troubled Hezekiah because he had been a righteous King, one better than those before him and apparently those after him. He turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord and wept. It is interesting that God told him to put his house in order. When you know the span of your days, things you thought were important, become much less so and getting closer to God is the most important thing ever. I don’t really know how long I have to live, but what I once thought was important is not now. ALS can be a very frightening diagnosis, as all terminal diseases are, but it no longer matters to me.

When I accepted Christ, death lost its sting. I began to give away what I had treasured, my books, tools and things and began to read the Bible. I am still in the process of getting rid of things and the Lord is still winnowing from me what he does not need. And that’s a good thing.

Hezekiah prayed and shed tears before the Lord and the Lord, through Isaiah tells the King that I have heard your prayer and added 15 years to your life.

We have a Merciful God. What would you do if the Lord told you He has heard your prayer and added time to your life. Would you praise Him and grow closer to the Lord? Something to think about.

We know that this illness was happening at the same time the Assyrians were besieging his city. Hezekiah ruled for 29 years. 29 -15 is 14. We find in Isaiah 36 in the 14th year of Hezekiah’s rule, he was beset by the Assyrians.

So he’s got trouble from without and from within.  And now the Lord says, OK, I will extend your life and here is a sign for you that things will be as I say. Verse 8 says “I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down.”

Now these steps of Ahaz were a large sundial. They way they made this timepiece was the sun rose up the steps on one side and down the other. 10 steps would equal 45 minutes. Where else have we heard God handling the sun? 

Joshua 10:12-13 

12 On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel:

“Sun, stand still over Gibeon,

    and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”

13 So the sun stood still,

    and the moon stopped,

    till the nation avenged itself on its enemies,

as it is written in the Book of Jashar.

The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.

Now Dr J. Vernon McGee says that time might have stood still in Joshua for 45 minutes or so, but the Bible says a whole day. It does not matter. The only thing that matters is God is in control of all things and he marched the Sun back 10 steps as sign to Hezekiah. 

Hezekiah was thankful to the Lord for adding years to his life. Thankful enough that he wrote a song or psalm. It is thought that he wrote Psalm 116.

Let’s read that.

1 I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;

    he heard my cry for mercy.

2 Because he turned his ear to me,

    I will call on him as long as I live.

3 The cords of death entangled me,

    the anguish of the grave came over me;

    I was overcome by distress and sorrow.

4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:

    “Lord, save me!”

5 The Lord is gracious and righteous;

    our God is full of compassion.

6 The Lord protects the unwary;

    when I was brought low, he saved me.

7 Return to your rest, my soul,

    for the Lord has been good to you.

8 For you, Lord, have delivered me from death,

    my eyes from tears,

    my feet from stumbling,

9 that I may walk before the Lord

    in the land of the living.

10 I trusted in the Lord when I said,

    “I am greatly afflicted”;

11 in my alarm I said,

    “Everyone is a liar.”

12 What shall I return to the Lord

    for all his goodness to me?

13 I will lift up the cup of salvation

    and call on the name of the Lord.

14 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord

    in the presence of all his people.

15 Precious in the sight of the Lord

    is the death of his faithful servants.

16 Truly I am your servant, Lord;

    I serve you just as my mother did;

    you have freed me from my chains.

17 I will sacrifice a thank offering to you

    and call on the name of the Lord.

18 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord

    in the presence of all his people,

19 in the courts of the house of the Lord—

    in your midst, Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord. 

He was rather proud of that Psalm. Proud enough that it began to affect his opinion of himself. And that affected how God thought of Hezekiah.

2 Chronicles 32:25

But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

The argument is made, in the places I go to for research on this subject, like this. Is it right for Hezekiah to ask God for his life, for the added years?. At first glance, you’d think to yourself that of course it is right to ask God to save your life. 

Hmm. Do you know what God knows? Do you know what you’d do with that extra time. Would you praise your Lord and get closer? Become more like Jesus? Or would you be inclined to think, yeah, I got it going with God. I’m sort of his favorite. You have to remember that we are fallen humans. Prone to sin. Remember those times when God told his people to eradicate this other people, man, woman, child and beast?

Deuteronomy 20:16-17 

But in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, 17 but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded.

Why did He command that? And this is a source of contention in many people. People who love to judge the past with their own morality. Or people unhappy with our supposed loving God, killing all these people. First off, we have a Loving God, a Merciful God, but we must fear God’s judgement. God had judged those people. What is the number 1 thing that God hates? Have no other gods before Me. And he hates sin. 

Now let’s read Verse 18 That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the Lord your God.

They would have and did infect his people with their sinful ways. We are all his people, but if we have been judged a lost cause, your life is forfeit for all eternity. That’s harsh, but God is Just. Do His will and His ways and you shall drink from the water of Life. John 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Now we are into Chapter 39.

Hezekiah got a letter from the Babylonians. One of those “heard you’ve been sick, sorry to hear that and get well soon” things. Hezekiah liked that the Babylonians sent him a get well card. So much so that when they showed up to say Hi howya doin, he showed them all he had. Treasure, armaments, the works. There was nothing that he did not parade in front of them. Isaiah rebuked Hezekiah for his foolishness and prophesied that everything the king had shown the Babylonians would one day be taken to Babylon—along with Hezekiah’s own descendants.

He also had a son and that sons name was Manasseh. He reigned for 55 years, longer than any other king. 2 Chronicles 33

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. 4 He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” 5 In both courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. 6 He sacrificed his children in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced divination and witchcraft, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.

I would make the argument that it was a mistake asking for the gift of 15 more years of life. All the good that had been done, became undone. Just like Solomon. Sometimes when you ask for a blessing, you get it good and hard. Trust in the Lord that His will shall be done.

Let us end with this Psalms about blessings: 

Psalms 32:1-2

1 Blessed is the one whose fault is removed,

whose sin is forgiven.

2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes no guilt,

    in whose spirit is no deceit.

All Glory to God our Father. When we last left our story, King Hezekiah’s administrators, the ones he sent to talk to Rabshakeh the military commander, had come back to their King with bad news. So bad, in fact they had torn their clothes and probably wished that somebody else could deliver that bad news. And the King, after hearing what Rabshakeh said, tore his clothes, too.
We don’t have that custom in this day and age. It was typical back in that day to tear your clothing on being told something unpleasant and if it was really bad, you’d haul out your sackcloth and ashes and sit there in misery.
Sackcloth and ashes was used often in the Bible and is a symbol of debasement and or repentance. Someone wanting to show his repentant heart would wear sackcloth and either sit in ashes and or put ashes on top of their head. Sackcloth was a course material, usually made of black goat’s hair, making it quite uncomfortable. The ashes signified desolation and ruin.
I think a lot could be fixed in this day and age with the adoption of this old custom. Yup, I’m serious. The Lord looked on people wearing their repentance and quite often had mercy on those people. To do this, you have to be serious about whatever is troubling you when you choose an outward expression of grief and humility. God can see our hearts and he knows we are good at saying we are sorry, but saying it and showing it means we have truly accepted that we need to atone for whatever we did to affront God. The first mention of sackcloth in the Bible is:
Genesis 37:34
Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days.

Jacob’s sons hated their brother Joseph and knew that he was their father’s favorite. They hatch a plan and sold Joseph into slavery then told their father that he had been killed by a wild animals. And the amazing thing in this is God controls everything, and I do mean everything. Every detail. It troubles my mind to think about how all this works, but tiny details and connections matter to God. So much so that he took what the brothers, these sons of Jacob, what they had done and made it work out that it saved the father and his sons, so that those sons became the Tribes of Israel. And these Tribes of Israel fell away from God, all except Judah, and that was questionable at times. And here we are now in Chapters 36 to 39 of Isaiah, with Judah having a good King, a righteous King, destroying idols everywhere, making his people walk closer to God than they had for quite some time. And all those tribes of the brothers that had conspired against Joseph, when God had told Abraham that he would father a great people, these people, these tribes had just been swept up by Assyria. Assyria had been used by God as an instrument of Judgement on his wayward people. Isaiah told his people that this would happen, but they did not listen. God had told Isaiah in Chapter 6:9-10
He said, “Go and tell this people:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
Are we not the same as these people? Do we hear what is preached to us in Church, but our ears refuse to understand and accept what is said? Our eyes see but if you are watching TV and reading anything of the secular world, more than the Bible, is it a wonder that they don’t perceive the Word of God? The Lord said
Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Why wouldn’t you choose this over whatever the world has to offer? And yet we have so much unhappiness in the world, so much searching for meaning. Our Lord said His burden is light, and yet we yoke ourselves to depression and anxiety, witchcraft and everything else this world has to offer. You may scoff at the term witchcraft. But it is what the Bible tells is Astrology, Horoscopes, the belief in Luck and ends as idol worship. How many times have your said to someone “Good Luck”? Do you really want to place your faith in Luck, rather than the Lord? How many horseshoes have you seen over doorways of barns and outbuildings. Satan has wormed his way into our culture long ago and now it’s just a way of life for many.

We read about the Armor of God last week in Ephesians 6:10-18. I recommend that you mark that in your Bible and read it every day. Give it some serious thought, and while you’re at it, give your worries to the Lord. Why would you trust in the world or yourself? Can you change anything by worry? Does it give you pleasure to worry? It must be, seeing how often I keep hearing it. I was a very self sufficient man. I could, by my own hand, manage my life and the things around me, I thought this until the Lord humbled me. All those things I could do, those things I worried over. Gone, like tears in the rain. The Lord took from me what he could not use, and he is still taking from me. Everyday I can do a bit less. That prideful, rebellious man, is now someone who relies on the Lord, trusts in the Lord, more each day. My favorite verse is from 2 Corinthians 12:10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Place your faith in the Lord, not in flesh. Our God will provide your daily bread and much more. Keep in mind all the details and connections that our Lord handles. He knows what you need before you do. You really need to believe that.
He knew what Hezekiah needed before the King did. Hezekiah was worried, and rightly so. The entire Assyrian army was camped on his doorstep.
Let’s go to Isaiah 37 and I’ll go through what we find.
1 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”
So, Hezekiah’s got trouble. He tears his clothes and dons his sackcloth and heads to the Temple. I would call that a good start. Shows you are serious about this, willing to be humble and uncomfortable. And if he’s going to get his sackcloth on, all his government officials are going to do it, too. What a breath of fresh air that would be for our government to follow this old custom. Instead of lowering the flag to half mast, mandate that everybody put on sackcloth and get serious about praying.
The city of Nineveh did it, much to Jonah’s disgust.
Jonah 3:6-10
6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:
“By the decree of the king and his nobles:
Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.
And Jonah told God that he’d rather die than see these gentiles repent.
Keep your place in Isaiah 37 and let’s go read Jonah 4.

1 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

5 Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”

9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”

10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
We are quite often ungrateful and still have the Love of God.
God’s children in Judah had been ungrateful and more and yet the Lord still loved them. Hezekiah’s officials go to the Temple and confer with Isaiah, asking him to put a good word in with God. They were hoping that God would preserve the remnant that they were.
Verse 5
5 When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’”
Isaiah has good news for Hezekiah. Do not be afraid, he told them. I tell you this also, do not be afraid. Do not be afraid of this world. Do not be afraid of the arthritis in your bones. Do not be afraid of where your next meal comes from. Faith, Faith in the Lord that he will provide. God is the same now as He was back then. He does not change, which is hard to understand in our fallen condition. Satan is always whispering to us, but the armor of God and the Holy Spirit indwelling us, will keep him at bay. You just have to trust in the Lord, as Hezekiah did. God told him that the Assyrian King’s underlings have blasphemed the Lord and Sennacherib will hear something that will make him want to return to his own country, where he will meet his end with a sword. In this we must keep in mind that we ourselves should never seek justice. The Lord our God is the Great Judge.
Verse 8
8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
9 Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush, was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”
Rabshakeh finds out his King has left him to go back home. Then he delivers a stern warning to Hezekiah to not get comfy with him being gone for long. Oh, and that god you depend on is not going to help you when I get back. After all, how much help where these gods to all the other people I and my predecessors have destroyed? Where are those people now?
Let us read together the rest of Chapter 37
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: 16 “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 17 Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.

18 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 20 Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Lord, are the only God.”
21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:

“Virgin Daughter Zion
despises and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
tosses her head as you flee.
23 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
24 By your messengers
you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
‘With my many chariots
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest heights,
the finest of its forests.
25 I have dug wells in foreign lands
and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.’

26 “Have you not heard?
Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned it;
now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
into piles of stone.
27 Their people, drained of power,
are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
like tender green shoots,
like grass sprouting on the roof,
scorched[d] before it grows up.

28 “But I know where you are
and when you come and go
and how you rage against me.
29 Because you rage against me
and because your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
by the way you came.

30 “This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah:

“This year you will eat what grows by itself,
and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
31 Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
will take root below and bear fruit above.
32 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.

33 “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:

“He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
or build a siege ramp against it.
34 By the way that he came he will return;
he will not enter this city,”
declares the Lord.
35 “I will defend this city and save it,
for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!”

36 Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.

38 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.

Hezekiah goes to the Temple and prays to the Lord and lays it all out.
16 “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. What a great verse. It follows closely with the Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
After acknowledging that the gods of other people were only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands, Hezekiah boldly goes forth and asks God for deliverance.
Isaiah then tells of the end of Sennacherib and how the Angel of Death will put to death 185,000 in the Assyrian camp. And one day while Sennacherib was worshipping to his god made of wood or stone, he was killed with a sword by his 2 sons.
Also interesting is that Jonah was in Nineveh around 790 BC, about 100 years before Sennacherib meets his end, in the same city. I can’t stress enough that God is in control of all things. Even small things, like why am I here talking to you. A little more than a year ago it was Pastor Pete, and I was still in rebellion. My wife asked me every Wednesday to come to Bible study. Nope. Until God told me Yup, you’re going to Bible study. Pastor Pete then leaves to go minister to a town near the arctic circle or so it seems. Next up in the land of details and connections is Pastor Delroy takes over Bible Study. I am no longer in rebellion and listen in wonder as Delroy spends 6 weeks in studying Psalms 23. Then summer comes, this summer, and Delroy and Patty want to take the summer off.

I am not saying it was like me in Isaiah’s place, standing before our Lord, hearing this scripture:

Isaiah 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

No, it was more like Charlotte asking me if I would teach Bible study this summer. The Lord works in mysterious ways. If Pastor Pete had not left, I would not be here. And another mysterious thing is Delroy and Patty did not take the summer off.
What God has planned for you, you can resist, you can fight it and boy howdy I did. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. And remember this.
John 15:9-11
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”