American Loon

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.”