Roger Lewis – The Crisis of Hezekiah – Class 2 – The Letter and The Answer

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Brothers and sisters, we are
ready to begin our third class.

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Our speaker is Brother Rodger
Lewis.

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The theme for Brother Lewis’s
classes this week is the Crisis

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of Hezekiah.
Today’s class is entitled The

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Letter and the Answer for the
Roger.

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Well, thank you, brother,
chairman, and good morning, my

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dear brothers and sisters.
Another study then on Hezekiah,

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and as our chairman has
announced the matter of the

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letter and the answer which
really brings us to Isaiah 37.

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You might remember that we left
Hezekiah in our last study,

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having received the report from
his three ambassadors.

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Those three men must have been
shattered by the propaganda of

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Reb Shaker.
And when they came back to the

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king, they knew that they were
staring defeat in the face, and

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so they would have told the
king.

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And you see, here’s a car’s
dilemma, as we saw in our study

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yesterday, was that he was
already aware that Assyria was

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the instrument of God.
And so working through the

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question of what next to do, he
wise wisely forbidden them to

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reply.
And the first thing he did, as

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we saw in Isaiah 37 verse one,
was that he now took time to

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make careful assessment of the
situation that he was in.

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He placed, as it were, a pause
on his own response until he

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could think the issue through.
But the wonderful thing is he

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went to the House of God to do
his thinking and he prostrated

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himself before God in an act of
mourning and humiliate

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humiliation.
Because, you see, he didn’t

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presume on the outcome as if he
knew already what it might be.

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And the very fact that he had
taken the time led to the events

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that will now be reported on in
Isaiah 37.

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Because what he would begin here
was a cascade of events that

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would not stop until Yahweh
himself had intervened in the

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matter.
And the story of that

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intervention is to be found in
our study today on the question

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as soon as I get this screen to
behave of the letter and the

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answer.
And that story we take up now on

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Isaiah 37 and reading from verse
14, because it’s at this moment

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that Sennacherib’s challenge was
committed in writing.

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He’d already sent messages a
second time to threaten Hezekiah

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to say that he would be coming
back for him.

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But now he wrote a letter and
sent it to the king of Judah.

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And so Isaiah 37, verse 14 says,
and Hezekiah received the letter

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from the hand of the messengers
and read it.

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And Hezekiah went up into the
House of Yahweh and spread it

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before Yahweh.
And Hezekiah prayed unto Yahweh.

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So there he is, balances the man
of sackcloth, and you can see

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the letter spread out there on
the floor before him.

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He spread the letter out, says
the record.

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How wonderful a thought when you
think about it, because

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everything now that had been
spoken by the messengers was

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committed to writing and in
spreading that letter out on the

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House of God, I think Hezekiah
really asked God, his God, to

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read the letter with him.
Shall we read it together?

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He says, and he placed it on
display as proof of

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Sennacherib’s blasphemy, since
it was all there in black and

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white.
And then he launched into the

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prayer that will tell us perhaps
best of all, what the very soul

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of this man is, the true spirit
of Hezekiah in a time of crisis.

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So this is what he prayed.
Verse 15 Prayed unto Yahweh,

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saying, O Yahweh, Sophia first,
the militant title of God, the

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commander of the armies of
heaven.

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After all, hadn’t he said to the
people there be more with us

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than with him?
And there are.

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He prayed to the God of those
legions of angels, Yahweh of

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armies, God of Israel who
dwellest between the Caribbean.

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The God who’d promised to be
present in the midst of his

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people, the God who’d promised
to commune with them from the

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most Holy.
But not just the God of Israel,

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because it goes on to say, thou
art God, even thou alone of all

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the kingdoms of the earth, thou
hast made heaven and earth.

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And if God was indeed the
creator of the heaven and the

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earth, and he was more than just
the God of Israel, He was the

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supreme and only God, none else
beside him.

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And to that God Hezekiah will
now address his plea.

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And so he says, verse 17 Incline
thine ear, O Yahweh.

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And here open thine eyes, O
Yahweh, and see and hear all the

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words of Seneca, which has sent
to reproach the living God.

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Yeah, that’s a very interesting
expression.

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The living ale, I think it was
deliberately chosen by Hezekiah.

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And it was a marvellous title,
as it were, to use in his

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prayer, because that name, the
name of the living God, is found

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throughout the Scriptures.
You see, it’s in Joshua chapter

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3 and verse 10.
It’s in Hosea chapter one, verse

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10.
It’s in 2nd Corinthians 6, verse

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16.
It’s in the first of Timothy

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chapter 4 and verse 10.
And as you look at those

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passages on the screen, brothers
and sisters, I think what it

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tells us is that this title is
about the Ale of Power who is

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living and active in the lives
of his people and fully involved

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in their destiny.
That’s what it means to be the

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living God, and that’s what
Hezekiah believed.

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And that’s the reason, I think
why he used this title.

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Incidentally, he gets it from
David.

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It was David who said in the
first of Samuel 17, on the

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occasion of facing Goliath, thy
servant slew both the lion and

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the bear.
And this uncircumcised

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Philistine shall be as one of
them, seeing he hath defied the

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armies of the living God, says
David.

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See, David faced a formidable
foe who was the champion and

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spokesman for a hostile enemy.
And his courage in Yahweh’s

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power to save was the
inspiration for Hezekiah.

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He too believed in the power of
the living God.

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He too was facing a formidable
foe.

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So he calls upon the same God
that David called upon the

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living God in terms of making
his prayer.

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And you’ll notice as it says in
verse 18 that he says, here’s a

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car makes the admission when he
says of a truth, Yahweh.

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The kings of Assyria have laid
waste all the nations and their

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countries and have cast their
gods into the fire, for they

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were no gods but the work of
men’s hands, wooden stone.

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Therefore they have destroyed
them.

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After all, the gods of the
nations about were nothing but

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wooden stone.
They couldn’t incline their ear

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or open their eyes as Hezekiah
had prayed to the Living God in

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verse 17.
So therefore there was no

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surprise even to Hezekiah that
the nations surrounding had been

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overthrown because their gods
were of no power but to

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challenge the God of Israel.
The Living God was another

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matter altogether.
And so he comes to the heart of

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his prayer, the end of his
prayer in Isaiah 37, verse 20.

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And it’s just such a a
wonderful, wonderful spirit,

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brothers and sisters, for us to
read and to understand.

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He says firstly now therefore, O
Yahweh our God save us from his

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hand and I think he used that
word because that was the key

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phrase of Rebecca’s taunts.
You see what God has been able

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to deliver his people out of the
hand of the king of Assyria.

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Isaiah 36 verse 15, verse 18,
verse 19 verse 20.

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So save us out of his hand.
But I think that that pleading

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of verse 20 is so remarkable for
this reason.

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Just stop and think about it for
a moment.

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That here the nation was at a
point of absolute crisis.

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They were desperate for
deliverance.

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They were overwhelmed by the
force and fury of the foe.

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That was, as it were, just
outside the doors.

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And yet the only words which
Hezekiah uttered in all his

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prayer which concerned them, lay
in this one phrase.

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Save us from his hand.
But that wasn’t the real focus

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of Hezekiah’s prayer, was it?
That wasn’t the real purpose of

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Hezekiah’s prayer.
That salvation was incidental to

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the primary purpose of his
prayer.

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His real reason was in the words
that follow.

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Save us from his hand, that all
the kingdoms of the earth may

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know that thou art Yahweh, even
thou only now.

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Incidentally, Hezekiah took his
words again from David.

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That’s the first of Samuel 17
again, verse 46.

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This day will Yahweh deliver
thee into my hand, that all the

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earth may know that there is a
God in Israel.

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Hezekiah had already called him
the living God, quoting from

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David, and he’d already referred
to him as the God of Israel,

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quoting from David, that the
essential focus of his prayer

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was the same as David.
You see, Hezekiah sought for the

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salvation of his people, but
only so that all the earth might

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know that Yahweh alone was the
supreme God.

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Do you notice that Hezekiah
finished his prayer exactly as

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he started?
Do you see that?

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Look at verse 16.
Verse 16 says Thou art the God,

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even thou alone of all the
kingdoms of the earth.

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And now there’s 20.
When he finishes, he will say

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that all the kingdoms of the
earth may know that thou art

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Yahweh, even thou alone.
He ends with the same thought

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with which he began.
You see, Hezekiah was not

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focused on the challenge to
himself.

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He wasn’t even focused on the
challenge to the nation.

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Hezekiah was focused on the
challenge to God and therefore

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he besought God that he would
deal with this crisis for his

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own namesake.
You see, only a God centered

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person thinks like this, and
only a God centered person prays

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like this.
And the answer was immediate,

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because verse 21 says, then
Isaiah the son of Amos sent unto

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Hezekiah, saying, you see, he
prayed to Yahweh, and now it’s

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Yahweh’s prophet who sends a
message back to the king with

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the answer of heaven.
And yet again, it seems that the

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answer was almost immediate.
Hezekiah had asked for Yahweh’s

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assistance against Senekra, but
only on the basis of God’s

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honor, not his own.
And the wonderful thing about

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this story, brothers and
sisters, is that Yahweh Safaoth

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responded to their utterly God
centered appeal.

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He said I will take full
responsibility for this matter,

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as his answer will make
abundantly clear.

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So God considered Sennacherib’s
letter to be an affront against

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himself.
And that’s how God was brought

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into this equation by means of
the prayer of Hezekiah.

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Hezekiah in effect said, I can’t
solve this, we can’t solve this.

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But this man hasn’t reproached
me, O God, He’s reproached thee

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and thy holy name.
For your name’s sake.

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I ask you to deal with this
matter.

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And God said, I will and I
shall.

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And that comes now in the answer
that he’s going to provide, as

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verse 21 is going to go on and
say.

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Then Isaiah the son of Amos sent
unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus

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saith Yahweh, Elohim of Israel,
whereas thou hast prayed to me

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against Sennacherib, king of
Assyria.

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This is the word which Yahweh
has spoken, and now we’re going

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to have the answer of Yahweh.
Now just as we discovered

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yesterday that the that the
speech of Sennacherib, not

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Sennacherib, the speech of Reb
Shaker, was made intelligible

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when we could break it into
sections.

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Remember how there were two
parts to the speech and two

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sections to each part?
Well, you might not be surprised

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to find that the answer of God
follows a very similar sort of

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format and suddenly it it makes
the answer more understandable.

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So here’s the answer of God as I
think it’s brought forth to us

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in the narrative here of Isaiah
37.

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So it begins verses 22 to 29
with a message of judgement to

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Sennacherib.
Now we know that because of

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those crucial little words at
the start of verse 22, when it

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says this is the word concerning
him, well, that’s Sennacherib.

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So this is the first part of
Yahweh’s answer.

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And there are two sections, I
think, to that part of the

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answer.
Verses 22 to 25 is a poem of

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disdain for Sennacherib’s
failure and his sentence for the

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sin of reproach.
And then beyond that, in verses

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26 to 29, we will have a warning
of divine control and God’s

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00:13:49,400 –> 00:13:54,120
threat of inexorable power to
remove Sennacherib at the time

215
00:13:54,240 –> 00:13:57,000
and circumstance of God’s own
choosing.

216
00:13:57,160 –> 00:14:00,200
So this is the first part of the
answer of God, and it deals with

217
00:14:00,400 –> 00:14:03,320
His judgement against
Sennacherib himself.

218
00:14:04,000 –> 00:14:06,480
Now do you notice incidentally
when it says in verse 22, this

219
00:14:06,480 –> 00:14:11,680
is the word which Yahweh hath
spoken, that word, word is the

220
00:14:11,680 –> 00:14:15,080
normal Hebrew word, dorbar.
But one of the meanings that it

221
00:14:15,080 –> 00:14:17,320
carries is the idea of a
sentence.

222
00:14:17,720 –> 00:14:21,320
It’s used that way in
Deuteronomy 17, verses 9 to 11,

223
00:14:21,600 –> 00:14:24,320
the sentence as it were, of
judgment.

224
00:14:24,520 –> 00:14:27,240
And I suggest that perhaps
that’s an appropriate reading,

225
00:14:27,240 –> 00:14:30,120
reading of the word here.
This is the sentence which

226
00:14:30,120 –> 00:14:34,040
Yahweh has spoken against Him.
So you notice the emphasis of

227
00:14:34,040 –> 00:14:35,920
the words.
This is the sentence which

228
00:14:35,920 –> 00:14:38,000
Yahweh has spoken concerning
Him.

229
00:14:38,960 –> 00:14:42,120
The Virgin, the daughter of
Zion, hath despised thee,

230
00:14:42,320 –> 00:14:46,320
laughed thee to scorn.
Now in the Hebrew, incidentally,

231
00:14:46,320 –> 00:14:49,480
this whole section is set in
poetic form.

232
00:14:50,240 –> 00:14:55,280
So this is what the This is what
the Hebrew says in this verse

233
00:14:55,280 –> 00:15:01,440
22.
It literally reads Has despised

234
00:15:01,440 –> 00:15:07,840
you, laughed to scorn you.
The Virgin, the daughter of

235
00:15:07,840 –> 00:15:14,000
Jerusalem, so the city he has
described as a virgin, and I

236
00:15:14,000 –> 00:15:17,400
think she was called that in
contrast to the brute power of

237
00:15:17,400 –> 00:15:21,680
the Assyrian monarch who has it,
as it were, arrived to defile

238
00:15:21,680 –> 00:15:23,120
her.
But he would fail.

239
00:15:24,240 –> 00:15:27,360
Sennacherib would be prevented
from touching her because of

240
00:15:27,360 –> 00:15:31,760
Yahweh’s protective power, and
even after his threat, she would

241
00:15:31,760 –> 00:15:35,680
still be called the Virgin to
indicate that she remained

242
00:15:35,840 –> 00:15:38,360
unsullied by foreign
intervention.

243
00:15:39,120 –> 00:15:42,960
Now, Seneca would be unable to
lay his hand upon the Virgin

244
00:15:43,080 –> 00:15:46,280
daughter of Zion.
Instead, the Virgin would be the

245
00:15:46,280 –> 00:15:50,080
one who would despise him, the
one who would laugh him to

246
00:15:50,080 –> 00:15:52,520
scorn.
The scorner would become the

247
00:15:52,520 –> 00:15:56,760
scorned, and in the failure of
his purpose Seneca was going to

248
00:15:56,760 –> 00:16:02,080
leave behind a virgin fortress
that was unmarked and untouched.

249
00:16:03,440 –> 00:16:07,120
The daughter of Jerusalem hath
shaken her head at thee, it

250
00:16:07,120 –> 00:16:09,160
says.
So says God.

251
00:16:09,160 –> 00:16:11,120
Do you know?
To shake the head was a sign of

252
00:16:11,120 –> 00:16:16,240
contempt.
Psalm 22, verse 7 says all that.

253
00:16:16,240 –> 00:16:20,120
See me laugh me to scorn.
They shoot out the lip, they

254
00:16:20,120 –> 00:16:25,360
shake the head, and again in
Lamentations 2, verse 15, all

255
00:16:25,360 –> 00:16:27,560
that pass by clap their hands at
thee.

256
00:16:27,560 –> 00:16:31,760
They hiss and wag their head.
It’s the same word Sheikh, as in

257
00:16:31,880 –> 00:16:37,280
Psalm 22 and here in Isaiah 37,
and in the sense of the city of

258
00:16:37,280 –> 00:16:41,680
Jerusalem remaining in the
Violet afterwards is caught in

259
00:16:41,680 –> 00:16:45,680
the Hebrew, because the actual
Hebrew at the end of verse 22

260
00:16:45,680 –> 00:16:48,160
reads this way.
It’s not not there in the

261
00:16:48,160 –> 00:16:52,200
English, but it’s there in the
Hebrew behind your back.

262
00:16:52,520 –> 00:16:55,720
Her head has shaken the daughter
of Jerusalem.

263
00:16:57,360 –> 00:17:01,080
So Yahweh’s answer by the
message of Isaiah pictured the

264
00:17:01,080 –> 00:17:05,800
moment when Jerusalem would
shake her head in disdain at the

265
00:17:05,800 –> 00:17:09,520
back of the retreating figure of
the Assyrian monarch as he fled

266
00:17:09,520 –> 00:17:12,440
from the scene.
And ignominy and abject failure,

267
00:17:12,560 –> 00:17:15,040
the disgrace of being unable to
take the city.

268
00:17:15,160 –> 00:17:18,520
Strong words by the sisters.
You’ll be sent away, and the

269
00:17:18,520 –> 00:17:21,119
daughter of Jerusalem will shake
her head at you as you walk

270
00:17:21,119 –> 00:17:23,599
away.
And why was that?

271
00:17:24,839 –> 00:17:30,600
Well, because of verse 23.
Whom hast thou reproached and

272
00:17:30,600 –> 00:17:35,000
blasphemed?
Against whom hast thou exalted

273
00:17:35,000 –> 00:17:39,960
thy voice, and lifted up thine
eyes on high, even against the

274
00:17:39,960 –> 00:17:42,960
Holy One of Israel?
So you see, this is the issue,

275
00:17:42,960 –> 00:17:45,360
isn’t it?
The issue of this challenge had

276
00:17:45,360 –> 00:17:49,960
gone beyond men.
The boasting of Assyria demanded

277
00:17:50,240 –> 00:17:53,800
divine intervention, and that
really had been Hezekiah’s

278
00:17:54,080 –> 00:17:56,640
request.
Now you see that word reproached

279
00:17:56,640 –> 00:17:59,960
in verse 23, the Hebrew word
Quraf.

280
00:18:00,480 –> 00:18:06,600
It means to reproach with the
idea of casting blame or scorn

281
00:18:06,720 –> 00:18:13,200
on someone, to insult, to mock,
to defy, to defame.

282
00:18:13,880 –> 00:18:16,920
And this was the great sin of
Sennacherib, and it was the

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00:18:16,920 –> 00:18:19,520
basis of his judgment in this
chapter.

284
00:18:19,720 –> 00:18:23,080
So what’s interesting about that
idea is we’ll see what it says.

285
00:18:23,240 –> 00:18:26,800
Isaiah 37, verse 4.
These are the words of Hezekiah.

286
00:18:27,960 –> 00:18:30,680
It may be that Yahweh will hear
the words of Rab Shaker, which

287
00:18:30,680 –> 00:18:36,360
the king of Assyria have sent to
reproach Koraf, the living God.

288
00:18:36,840 –> 00:18:41,160
It may be that God will hear
that says Hezekiah, and again in

289
00:18:41,160 –> 00:18:43,840
the in his prayer later in this
chapter, as we’ve just read

290
00:18:44,000 –> 00:18:48,800
Isaiah 37 verse 17 inclined by
the hero Yahweh, and hear all

291
00:18:48,800 –> 00:18:51,800
the words of Sennacherib which
have sent to reproach the living

292
00:18:51,800 –> 00:18:54,800
God.
So twice Hezekiah had called

293
00:18:54,800 –> 00:18:59,280
God’s attention to the challenge
that Sennacherib had set before

294
00:18:59,280 –> 00:19:03,760
him, and he pleaded with God to
answer a matter that actually

295
00:19:03,760 –> 00:19:07,040
questioned God’s own sovereign
majesty.

296
00:19:07,160 –> 00:19:10,480
And now in response, God will
answer twice to defend His

297
00:19:10,480 –> 00:19:13,720
supremacy.
So in verse 23 he says, Whom has

298
00:19:13,720 –> 00:19:16,400
there approached?
Even the Holy One of Israel?

299
00:19:16,640 –> 00:19:20,600
And again in verse 24, By thy
servants thou has reproached

300
00:19:20,680 –> 00:19:23,920
Yahweh.
And God was not going to permit

301
00:19:23,920 –> 00:19:27,240
that boast, brothers and
sisters, to remain unanswered.

302
00:19:28,280 –> 00:19:32,480
And this is what that reproach
encompassed, that sin of

303
00:19:32,480 –> 00:19:36,400
Sennacherib in mocking and
defaming Almighty God, because

304
00:19:36,560 –> 00:19:39,480
this was the spirit and attitude
of the Assyrian monarch.

305
00:19:39,920 –> 00:19:43,800
Read verses 24 and 25.
And just capture the obvious

306
00:19:43,800 –> 00:19:49,080
spirit of the man.
By thy servants hast thou

307
00:19:49,080 –> 00:19:56,680
reproached Yahweh, and hast said
by the multitude of my Chariots.

308
00:19:57,320 –> 00:19:59,920
And I come up to the height of
the mountains to the side of

309
00:19:59,920 –> 00:20:03,760
Lemon, and I will cut down the
tall Cedars thereof, and the

310
00:20:03,760 –> 00:20:07,080
choice fir trees thereof, and I
will enter into the height of

311
00:20:07,080 –> 00:20:08,840
his border, the forest of his
Carmel.

312
00:20:09,080 –> 00:20:12,440
I have digged in drunk water,
and with the sole of my feet

313
00:20:12,520 –> 00:20:15,280
have I dried up all the rivers
of the besieged places.

314
00:20:15,440 –> 00:20:19,680
And one of the key features of
the Assyrian records was their

315
00:20:19,680 –> 00:20:24,760
spirit of utter boastfulness.
In describing their conquests as

316
00:20:24,760 –> 00:20:29,240
they gloried in the brutal
annihilation of their rivals, I

317
00:20:29,240 –> 00:20:33,200
have done this and I have done
that was the spirit of Sinacreb.

318
00:20:33,200 –> 00:20:35,400
And I think what he was really
boasting, by the way, in these

319
00:20:35,400 –> 00:20:38,640
two verses was this, I think,
Sinacreba saying that there was

320
00:20:38,640 –> 00:20:43,240
no natural boundary that could
stop his army from advancing.

321
00:20:43,400 –> 00:20:46,840
His men could ascend every
mountain, they could traverse

322
00:20:46,880 –> 00:20:49,920
every desert, they could
penetrate every forest, they

323
00:20:49,920 –> 00:20:53,680
could Ford every river.
His forces had invincible power

324
00:20:53,800 –> 00:20:56,760
and unstoppable might.
That was the claim of Saint

325
00:20:56,760 –> 00:20:59,960
Akrab.
But his mistake lay in imagining

326
00:20:59,960 –> 00:21:03,440
that he could do the same
against the Holy One of Israel.

327
00:21:04,600 –> 00:21:08,960
And so now came Yahweh’s
assertion of His own divine

328
00:21:08,960 –> 00:21:13,440
control, and of His own
inexorable power, that he would

329
00:21:13,480 –> 00:21:17,200
execute in judgement and in
sentence against Sennacherib,

330
00:21:17,200 –> 00:21:20,560
king of Assyria.
So God now says in response, in

331
00:21:20,640 –> 00:21:23,640
answer to the spirit of that
king, verse 26.

332
00:21:23,840 –> 00:21:29,120
Hast thou, O Sennacherib, hast
thou not heard long ago how I

333
00:21:29,120 –> 00:21:34,320
have done it, and of ancient
times that I have formed it, now

334
00:21:34,320 –> 00:21:38,040
have I brought it to pass, that
thou shouldest be to lay waste

335
00:21:38,160 –> 00:21:39,920
defence cities into ruinous
heaps?

336
00:21:39,920 –> 00:21:43,520
And this time, of course, the
word I in verse 26 is God

337
00:21:43,520 –> 00:21:46,520
Himself.
So what was Yahweh’s answer to

338
00:21:46,520 –> 00:21:50,280
Sennacherib’s reproach?
It was to remind him that

339
00:21:50,440 –> 00:21:54,520
everything he’d done, all his
own exploits, had actually been

340
00:21:54,520 –> 00:21:58,520
decided beforehand by God.
Sennacherib had done nothing

341
00:21:58,520 –> 00:22:00,840
that Yahweh had not already
ordained for him.

342
00:22:02,320 –> 00:22:05,960
In fact, hold your hand in
chapter 37, come back for to to

343
00:22:05,960 –> 00:22:09,400
Isaiah chapter 10, because these
words are relevant to that the

344
00:22:09,400 –> 00:22:13,280
spirit of the king Sennacherib
in the answer of Yahweh here in

345
00:22:13,280 –> 00:22:17,400
Isaiah 37, God says I did you
not know that I’ve ordained all

346
00:22:17,400 –> 00:22:19,320
this?
I brought it to pass, not you.

347
00:22:20,280 –> 00:22:26,360
So Isaiah 10 verse 12 says this.
Wherefore it shall come to pass,

348
00:22:26,680 –> 00:22:30,200
when Yahweh have performed His
whole work upon Mount Zion and

349
00:22:30,200 –> 00:22:33,760
on Jerusalem, I will punish the
fruit of the stout heart of the

350
00:22:33,760 –> 00:22:36,480
king of Assyria, and the glory
of His high look looks.

351
00:22:36,800 –> 00:22:40,600
For He says, by the strength of
my hand I have done it, and by

352
00:22:40,600 –> 00:22:44,280
my wisdom, for I am prudent, I
have removed the bounds of the

353
00:22:44,280 –> 00:22:45,560
people and robbed their
treasures.

354
00:22:45,600 –> 00:22:48,440
I have put down the inhabitants.
Since it’s the identical spirit

355
00:22:48,440 –> 00:22:51,880
of chapter 37, is it not?
And therefore the answer comes

356
00:22:51,880 –> 00:22:53,520
back from God.
Verse 15.

357
00:22:53,760 –> 00:22:57,240
Shall the acts boast itself
against him that hewith

358
00:22:57,240 –> 00:23:01,800
therewith shall the sore magnify
itself against him that shaketh

359
00:23:01,800 –> 00:23:04,720
it, as if the rod should shake
itself against them that lifted

360
00:23:04,720 –> 00:23:08,440
up, or as if the staff should
lift up itself as if it were no

361
00:23:08,440 –> 00:23:10,600
wood?
Therefore sheth the Lord, the

362
00:23:10,600 –> 00:23:14,880
Lord of hosts, send among his
fat ones leanness, and under his

363
00:23:14,880 –> 00:23:18,880
glory he shall kindle a burning,
a burning of a fire.

364
00:23:19,000 –> 00:23:22,040
So coming back to chapter 37,
what God was really saying is

365
00:23:22,040 –> 00:23:25,800
that unbeknownst to Sennacherib,
He, for all His might and for

366
00:23:25,800 –> 00:23:29,640
all His exploits, had never been
anything more than an instrument

367
00:23:29,640 –> 00:23:33,600
in Yahweh’s hand to accomplish
Yahweh’s purpose.

368
00:23:33,880 –> 00:23:37,680
And when Yahweh’s purpose had
been accomplished, Sennacherib

369
00:23:38,160 –> 00:23:40,960
would be immediately removed,
and he would swiftly feel the

370
00:23:40,960 –> 00:23:43,640
pain of divine judgment.
It was a humbling estimate.

371
00:23:43,640 –> 00:23:47,280
God said, You’re nothing more
than my rod and my staff in my

372
00:23:47,280 –> 00:23:52,160
hand, He says.
And so he says in verse 27 of

373
00:23:52,160 –> 00:23:56,720
Isaiah 37.
Therefore, their inhabitants,

374
00:23:57,360 –> 00:23:59,760
the inhabitants of the cities
that you have successfully

375
00:23:59,760 –> 00:24:02,840
conquered and overrun, they were
of small power.

376
00:24:03,200 –> 00:24:04,720
They were dismayed and
confounded.

377
00:24:04,720 –> 00:24:08,440
They were as grass of the field,
as the green herb, as the grass

378
00:24:08,440 –> 00:24:11,680
on the housetops, as corn
blasted before it be grown up.

379
00:24:12,320 –> 00:24:16,440
So Sennacherib’s success was
only because God permitted it.

380
00:24:17,320 –> 00:24:19,960
And God’s answer used four
symbols here to portray the

381
00:24:20,320 –> 00:24:22,960
utter weakness and the
feebleness of Sennacherib’s

382
00:24:22,960 –> 00:24:27,240
opponents, the grass of the
field, the green herb, the grass

383
00:24:27,240 –> 00:24:29,960
on the housetop, and the early
blasted grain.

384
00:24:30,200 –> 00:24:33,320
And the common element, perhaps
of those four items is that none

385
00:24:33,320 –> 00:24:37,560
of them had the resilience to
withstand the scorching power of

386
00:24:37,560 –> 00:24:41,600
the vehement E wind, which in
Scripture was a symbol of the

387
00:24:41,600 –> 00:24:45,400
Assyrians.
Hosea 13 verse 15 and Jonah 4

388
00:24:45,400 –> 00:24:48,200
verse 8.
And that blighting blast would

389
00:24:48,200 –> 00:24:52,080
wither them into nothingness.
But the point of God’s comment

390
00:24:52,080 –> 00:24:55,760
here in this verse is that it
wasn’t so much that Sennacherib

391
00:24:55,760 –> 00:25:00,960
was strong, but that God had
made his opponents weak.

392
00:25:02,200 –> 00:25:06,000
I allowed you to succeed, said
God.

393
00:25:07,240 –> 00:25:10,920
But he says verse 28, I know thy
abode.

394
00:25:11,760 –> 00:25:14,520
Now that word abode, I think the
margin has sitting, and rightly

395
00:25:14,520 –> 00:25:17,040
so, because that’s what the
Hebrew word your Shah really

396
00:25:17,040 –> 00:25:18,440
means.
And I think it’s a reference

397
00:25:18,440 –> 00:25:22,880
probably to Sennacherib’s throne
where he set to hold his council

398
00:25:22,880 –> 00:25:26,120
meetings and where he set to
plot his conquests.

399
00:25:26,240 –> 00:25:29,520
I know where you sit in your
throne room, says God, I’ve seen

400
00:25:29,520 –> 00:25:32,640
you there.
I know thy going out and thy

401
00:25:32,640 –> 00:25:34,360
coming in.
Now that’s an interesting

402
00:25:34,360 –> 00:25:38,280
expression, by the way, because
that phrase is used in in

403
00:25:38,280 –> 00:25:44,400
Scripture as a metaphor for
every type of human activity by

404
00:25:44,400 –> 00:25:49,360
going out and thy coming in.
Deuteronomy 28 verse six, Second

405
00:25:49,360 –> 00:25:55,400
Samuel 3 verse 25, Psalm 121
verse 8, by going out and thy

406
00:25:55,400 –> 00:25:57,560
coming in.
And I think what God was saying

407
00:25:57,560 –> 00:26:01,680
to the king in his sentence
against him in this verse was I

408
00:26:01,680 –> 00:26:05,440
know every aspect of your life.
There’s nothing you plan,

409
00:26:06,160 –> 00:26:08,480
there’s nothing you do, there’s
nowhere you go that I do not

410
00:26:08,480 –> 00:26:11,600
already know about.
Your every move is known to me,

411
00:26:11,720 –> 00:26:16,720
including, he says, your
hostility against both me and my

412
00:26:16,720 –> 00:26:19,920
people.
Thy Rage Against me, verse 28.

413
00:26:20,280 –> 00:26:24,560
And because verse 29, thy Rage
Against me, and thy tumult has

414
00:26:24,560 –> 00:26:29,760
come up into my ears.
Now the word tumult is rendered

415
00:26:29,760 –> 00:26:33,080
by the New International Version
as insolence and by the New

416
00:26:33,080 –> 00:26:35,640
American Standard Bible as
arrogance.

417
00:26:36,160 –> 00:26:39,760
Your arrogance has come up into
mine ears.

418
00:26:39,880 –> 00:26:41,720
What a wonderful answer.
By the way, didn’t notice that

419
00:26:41,840 –> 00:26:44,440
come up into mine ears.
But isn’t that what Hezekiah had

420
00:26:44,440 –> 00:26:48,000
prayed?
Verse 37, Incline thine ear, O

421
00:26:48,000 –> 00:26:51,920
Yahweh.
And here and now God says in

422
00:26:51,920 –> 00:26:57,640
verse 29, I have heard, and your
insolence has come up into mine

423
00:26:57,640 –> 00:27:01,880
ears.
And therefore, verse 29, I will

424
00:27:01,880 –> 00:27:04,960
put my hook in thy nose and my
bridal in thy lips, and I’ll

425
00:27:04,960 –> 00:27:07,080
turn thee back by the way which
they arcamest.

426
00:27:07,800 –> 00:27:10,240
Now you’ll know that the
Assyrians were noted for the

427
00:27:10,240 –> 00:27:12,960
cruel treatment, this cruel
treatment in particular, of

428
00:27:12,960 –> 00:27:17,640
their captives, because they’d
let be LED away in ropes tied

429
00:27:17,640 –> 00:27:20,760
through a ring in either the
prisoner’s lip or the prisoner’s

430
00:27:20,760 –> 00:27:24,440
nose.
Can you imagine how

431
00:27:24,480 –> 00:27:28,960
excruciatingly painful it would
be to be literally carted off

432
00:27:28,960 –> 00:27:31,680
into captivity with a ring
through the nose or the lip

433
00:27:31,680 –> 00:27:35,400
pulling you?
It was a brutal sign of the

434
00:27:35,520 –> 00:27:39,680
utter domination.
And when Yahweh warns

435
00:27:39,680 –> 00:27:45,400
Sennacherib of Sennacherib’s own
future, he says to him, I,

436
00:27:45,840 –> 00:27:50,120
Yahweh, against whom you have
presumed to boast, I am in

437
00:27:50,120 –> 00:27:53,160
charge and not you.
And you will be LED away from my

438
00:27:53,160 –> 00:27:57,680
city in my land, and you will
experience the inexorable power

439
00:27:57,800 –> 00:28:00,160
of divine control from which
there is no escape.

440
00:28:00,160 –> 00:28:05,360
I’ll put my hook in thy nose,
and my bridle in thy lips.

441
00:28:06,240 –> 00:28:08,840
And so God promised that he
would deal with Sennacherib with

442
00:28:08,840 –> 00:28:12,480
as much force and power as
Sennacherib himself had

443
00:28:12,480 –> 00:28:15,560
exhibited against the nations
that he had come against in

444
00:28:15,560 –> 00:28:19,040
times past.
Now isn’t that interesting that

445
00:28:19,040 –> 00:28:23,440
that same promise has been made
against the latter day Assyrian

446
00:28:23,520 –> 00:28:28,200
because of that man that says in
Ezekiel 38 verse four, I will

447
00:28:28,200 –> 00:28:33,400
turn thee back, O Gog, and I
will put hooks into thy jaws.

448
00:28:34,240 –> 00:28:37,120
And the latter day Assyrian will
be treated by God in the same

449
00:28:37,120 –> 00:28:40,640
way that he dealt with on this
occasion with Sennacherib of

450
00:28:40,680 –> 00:28:45,560
old.
And then came the second part of

451
00:28:45,560 –> 00:28:51,080
Yahweh’s answer.
So thus far, the message of

452
00:28:51,080 –> 00:28:55,800
judgement to Senekreb, but the
second part of Yahweh’s answer.

453
00:28:56,600 –> 00:29:00,080
Now what that might be about?
Well, it was a message of

454
00:29:00,080 –> 00:29:05,920
comfort for Hezekiah.
And we know that because just

455
00:29:05,920 –> 00:29:09,440
like up here, this is the word
concerning Him was the clue to

456
00:29:09,440 –> 00:29:12,320
the message to Senekreb.
So now do you notice the

457
00:29:12,320 –> 00:29:14,200
keywords at the start of verse
30?

458
00:29:15,320 –> 00:29:18,320
And this will be a sign unto
thee.

459
00:29:19,840 –> 00:29:23,440
So the second part of Yahweh’s
answer is now directed to a

460
00:29:23,440 –> 00:29:26,800
message of comfort for Hezekiah
himself.

461
00:29:27,440 –> 00:29:29,400
And again, there’s two parts to
this message.

462
00:29:29,600 –> 00:29:34,520
So verses 30 to 32 is a pledge
of provision for national relief

463
00:29:34,880 –> 00:29:37,760
and the assurance of a remnant
that will be saved.

464
00:29:39,000 –> 00:29:43,440
And then finally, from verses 33
to 35, we’ve got the guarantee

465
00:29:43,440 –> 00:29:48,280
of Sennacherib’s defeat and the
promise of the city’s defence.

466
00:29:49,000 –> 00:29:51,800
So now we’ve got the completion
of Yahweh’s answer.

467
00:29:52,040 –> 00:29:53,680
And how wonderfully balanced it
is.

468
00:29:53,720 –> 00:29:57,800
First he he provides sentence of
judgement against Tenekreb, and

469
00:29:57,800 –> 00:30:00,440
then he brings forth this
message of comfort for King

470
00:30:00,440 –> 00:30:03,680
Hezekiah, who had prayed so
earnestly to him on this

471
00:30:03,680 –> 00:30:07,280
occasion.
Well, let’s start then with the

472
00:30:07,280 –> 00:30:09,720
words of verse 30.
This will be a sign unto thee,

473
00:30:10,280 –> 00:30:13,080
Ye shall eat this year such as
groweth of itself, and the

474
00:30:13,080 –> 00:30:15,680
second year that which springeth
of the same, and in the third

475
00:30:15,680 –> 00:30:18,560
year sow ye, and reap and plant
vineyards, and eat the fruit

476
00:30:18,560 –> 00:30:20,600
thereof.
So the question is, what’s all

477
00:30:20,600 –> 00:30:22,160
that about?
Do you think that promise in

478
00:30:22,160 –> 00:30:25,520
verse 30?
Well, that promise is

479
00:30:25,520 –> 00:30:29,080
interesting for this reason that
I believe that it refers to a

480
00:30:29,080 –> 00:30:32,640
particular Hebrew word that
takes us back to a place in the

481
00:30:32,640 –> 00:30:38,880
law, because in the Hebrew that
those words such as groweth of

482
00:30:38,880 –> 00:30:41,600
itself is all one single Hebrew
word.

483
00:30:41,600 –> 00:30:46,040
It’s the Hebrew word suffiac,
and that word is found back in

484
00:30:46,040 –> 00:30:50,000
Leviticus chapter 25.
So just hold your hand in Isaiah

485
00:30:50,000 –> 00:30:55,360
37 and come back to what the
book of the Law said, with which

486
00:30:55,360 –> 00:31:00,920
with relationship to the matter
of the sabbatical years and the

487
00:31:01,000 –> 00:31:06,920
Jubilee years in Leviticus 25,
where that word suffiac will be

488
00:31:07,080 –> 00:31:12,040
brought again to our attention.
So in Leviticus 25 it says this

489
00:31:12,040 –> 00:31:16,160
firstly about the Sabbath years,
maybe verse 4 for connection.

490
00:31:17,240 –> 00:31:20,440
Leviticus 25 verse 4.
The 7th year shall be a Sabbath

491
00:31:20,440 –> 00:31:22,360
of rest.
Thou sought neither sow nor

492
00:31:22,360 –> 00:31:28,360
prune that which groweth of its
own accord suffiac.

493
00:31:28,600 –> 00:31:33,360
That’s the same Hebrew word as
the one found in Isaiah 37.

494
00:31:33,360 –> 00:31:35,920
It’s in the margin.
That which growth of its own

495
00:31:35,920 –> 00:31:38,640
accord of the harvest thou shalt
not reap, neither gather the

496
00:31:38,640 –> 00:31:41,880
grapes of thy thine undressed.
For it is a year of rest unto

497
00:31:41,880 –> 00:31:44,760
the land.
And the Sabbath of the land

498
00:31:45,040 –> 00:31:48,280
shall be meet for you, for thee,
and for thy servant, and for thy

499
00:31:48,280 –> 00:31:51,680
maid, and for thy hired servant,
and for thy stranger that

500
00:31:51,680 –> 00:31:55,720
sojourneth with thee.
So the two the Sabbath year, the

501
00:31:55,720 –> 00:32:00,000
ground was to be left unsewn,
and for that matter unreaped.

502
00:32:00,200 –> 00:32:04,600
That which groweth of itself
suffiac was what they were able

503
00:32:04,680 –> 00:32:08,240
however to partake of.
And just as with the Sabbath

504
00:32:08,240 –> 00:32:13,320
year, so with the jubilee,
because verse 11 says, a jubilee

505
00:32:13,320 –> 00:32:18,040
shall let 50th year be unto you,
ye shall not not so neither reap

506
00:32:18,040 –> 00:32:23,240
that which groweth of itself
suffiac, nor gather the grapes

507
00:32:23,240 –> 00:32:26,080
of it in thy vine undressed, for
it is the jubilee, it shall be

508
00:32:26,080 –> 00:32:29,520
wholly unto you, you shall eat
the increase thereof out of the

509
00:32:29,520 –> 00:32:31,760
field.
So of course you realize that in

510
00:32:31,760 –> 00:32:35,880
the jubilee there were two
sabbatical years side by side,

511
00:32:36,320 –> 00:32:38,400
because you always counted one
to seven, one to seven, one to

512
00:32:38,400 –> 00:32:40,680
seven, one to seven.
And every 7th year was a was a

513
00:32:40,680 –> 00:32:43,800
Sabbath year.
But the Jubilee was the year

514
00:32:43,880 –> 00:32:46,440
after the Sabbath year, the
normal Sabbath year, but it

515
00:32:46,440 –> 00:32:48,480
itself was counted as a Sabbath
year.

516
00:32:48,720 –> 00:32:52,160
So now there would be two
sabbatical years, and during

517
00:32:52,160 –> 00:32:55,880
that two years they were not
allowed to either sow or reap in

518
00:32:55,880 –> 00:32:58,880
the land.
But God promised a special

519
00:32:58,880 –> 00:33:05,280
blessing of fertility, so that
even the unsone land would bring

520
00:33:05,280 –> 00:33:10,720
forth enough by itself.
Suffiac to feed everyone, master

521
00:33:10,720 –> 00:33:12,640
and servant alike, for the next
two years.

522
00:33:13,360 –> 00:33:18,400
No one could reap that crop, but
everyone could glean it and eat

523
00:33:18,400 –> 00:33:20,200
of what the land itself
provided.

524
00:33:20,920 –> 00:33:24,720
And that’s the sign that’s being
given to his a car back here in

525
00:33:24,720 –> 00:33:29,480
Isaiah 37 when it says in that
30th verse that which springeth

526
00:33:29,480 –> 00:33:32,720
of itself, Sapphire will be
enough for your food.

527
00:33:33,320 –> 00:33:36,440
And in the second year that
which springeth of the same and

528
00:33:36,440 –> 00:33:40,320
in the third year Sony.
So the very sign of his a car in

529
00:33:40,360 –> 00:33:44,800
Isaiah 37 verse 30 was the sign
of a jubilee blessing that would

530
00:33:44,800 –> 00:33:47,560
feed the nation until all the
Assyrian hosts had been

531
00:33:47,560 –> 00:33:50,960
withdrawn from the land.
And it was intended to reassure

532
00:33:50,960 –> 00:33:53,640
his, a car, that Sinacra was
going to be gone for good.

533
00:33:54,440 –> 00:33:57,360
It promised that when they did
so again in the third year, they

534
00:33:57,360 –> 00:33:59,680
could do so safely.
And when they went to reap, they

535
00:33:59,680 –> 00:34:01,720
would gather that harvest and
understood peace.

536
00:34:01,720 –> 00:34:03,480
But they’d have to wait for
three years.

537
00:34:03,480 –> 00:34:07,800
They’d have to wait for three
years before that sign would be

538
00:34:07,800 –> 00:34:10,679
fulfilled.
It demanded faith, brother and

539
00:34:10,679 –> 00:34:14,480
sisters, absolute faith.
But that faith would be rewarded

540
00:34:14,480 –> 00:34:21,080
because Sennacherib was never
seen, never heard of in the land

541
00:34:21,080 –> 00:34:25,880
of Israel ever again.
Trust me, says God, trust me for

542
00:34:25,880 –> 00:34:28,840
these three years.
And here’s a guy I did.

543
00:34:30,480 –> 00:34:34,560
And not only that, says Isaiah
37, but verse 31, the remnant

544
00:34:34,560 –> 00:34:37,320
that’s escaped at the House of
Judah shall take root downward

545
00:34:37,560 –> 00:34:40,440
and bear fruit upward, for out
of Jerusalem shall go forth a

546
00:34:40,440 –> 00:34:42,719
remnant.
And they did escape out of Mount

547
00:34:42,760 –> 00:34:46,000
Zion.
So just as the land was to enjoy

548
00:34:46,000 –> 00:34:50,199
a burst of fruitfulness, so the
people would be restored in

549
00:34:50,199 –> 00:34:53,440
every sense.
That blessing of the third year,

550
00:34:53,760 –> 00:34:56,679
when the land was resound with a
fresh crop, was going to be

551
00:34:56,679 –> 00:34:59,600
backed by a remnant who’d been
spared, who’d emerged from the

552
00:34:59,600 –> 00:35:01,600
city.
They’d come out from Jerusalem,

553
00:35:01,800 –> 00:35:05,600
they’d reoccupy their land, they
rebuild their villages, they’d

554
00:35:05,760 –> 00:35:09,360
rejuvenate their nation by
taking root downward and bearing

555
00:35:09,360 –> 00:35:12,680
fruit upward.
It was the ultimate proof that

556
00:35:12,680 –> 00:35:15,560
the Assyrian had been completely
removed from the land.

557
00:35:15,760 –> 00:35:19,520
But when God said those words in
verse 31, the remnant that’s

558
00:35:19,520 –> 00:35:22,360
escaped shall take root downward
and bear fruit upward.

559
00:35:22,360 –> 00:35:23,800
You know what I think Hezekiah
heard?

560
00:35:24,320 –> 00:35:26,600
He heard this.
See, this is what Hezekiah had

561
00:35:26,600 –> 00:35:30,240
prayed earlier in this chapter.
Wherefore he says, lift up thy

562
00:35:30,240 –> 00:35:33,320
prayer, verse 4, for the remnant
that’s left.

563
00:35:33,680 –> 00:35:36,960
And this answer from the
Almighty on this occasion must

564
00:35:36,960 –> 00:35:40,520
have rejoiced the King’s heart.
Because you see, what Hezekiah

565
00:35:40,520 –> 00:35:43,920
wanted is for Yahweh’s remnant
to be preserved, that the way of

566
00:35:43,920 –> 00:35:46,840
the truth might be continued.
And that was the answer of God.

567
00:35:46,840 –> 00:35:48,600
He says.
I’ve heard there will be a

568
00:35:48,600 –> 00:35:50,200
remnant.
In fact, that’s a key theme in

569
00:35:50,200 –> 00:35:53,040
Isaiah’s prophecy.
We won’t look at these in any

570
00:35:53,040 –> 00:35:54,760
detail, but let me just put them
on the screen.

571
00:35:54,920 –> 00:35:58,120
The remnant, the remnant, the
remnant that’s left, the remnant

572
00:35:58,120 –> 00:36:01,520
that’s escaped chapter 37.
And for his a car.

573
00:36:01,520 –> 00:36:06,680
That promise of chapter 37,
verse 31 and verse 32 was that

574
00:36:06,680 –> 00:36:09,440
he would still be able to
continue to work with those in

575
00:36:09,440 –> 00:36:13,720
Israel, those in Judah who were
of a spiritual mind that he

576
00:36:13,720 –> 00:36:15,200
might continue his labours among
them.

577
00:36:15,200 –> 00:36:19,040
The remnant will be saved, says
God, I promise you that, He says

578
00:36:19,040 –> 00:36:21,280
to the king in answer to his
earlier prayer.

579
00:36:22,360 –> 00:36:26,200
So God’s answer covered
Hezekiah’s deepest concerns for

580
00:36:26,200 –> 00:36:28,800
the needs of the nation that he
was working with, because that’s

581
00:36:28,800 –> 00:36:31,520
what Hezekiah always worried
about, the needs of the nation,

582
00:36:31,600 –> 00:36:33,960
the needs of the nation, the
needs of the remnant.

583
00:36:34,160 –> 00:36:37,640
God’s answer gave him comfort.
And how was all this going to

584
00:36:37,640 –> 00:36:39,880
happen?
What was the guarantee of all

585
00:36:39,880 –> 00:36:43,720
these things?
Well, the end of that verse,

586
00:36:44,840 –> 00:36:51,880
verse 32 says the zeal of Yahweh
of hosts shall do this.

587
00:36:53,160 –> 00:36:56,200
Now do you remember how Isaiah
began his prayer?

588
00:36:57,800 –> 00:37:06,640
Verse 16 O Yahweh of hosts, O
Yahweh of hosts, was how He

589
00:37:06,640 –> 00:37:08,840
began his prayer.
And now the arch of God comes

590
00:37:08,840 –> 00:37:11,400
back.
The zeal of Yahweh of hosts

591
00:37:11,560 –> 00:37:14,800
shall do this.
It was the answer to Hezekiah’s

592
00:37:14,800 –> 00:37:17,480
prayer.
And now came the final part of

593
00:37:17,480 –> 00:37:20,640
Yahweh’s answer, which concerned
the guarantee of Sennacherib’s

594
00:37:20,640 –> 00:37:23,320
defeat and the promise of the
city’s deliverance.

595
00:37:24,560 –> 00:37:28,520
And so he says in verse 33.
Therefore he said, Thus saith

596
00:37:28,520 –> 00:37:31,840
Yahweh concerning the king of
Assyria, He shall not come into

597
00:37:31,840 –> 00:37:35,600
the city, nor shoot an arrow,
nor come before it with seals or

598
00:37:35,600 –> 00:37:39,200
cast bank by the way that he
came by the same shall he return

599
00:37:39,200 –> 00:37:41,200
and shall not come into this
city.

600
00:37:41,400 –> 00:37:43,720
So there wouldn’t be a battle
Aaron shield, there wouldn’t be

601
00:37:43,720 –> 00:37:46,400
a siege, cast a bank.
Seneca wasn’t going to get

602
00:37:46,400 –> 00:37:51,600
anywhere near the city, and so
impregnable would its defenses

603
00:37:51,600 –> 00:37:54,480
be, not because of the
fortifications which Hezekiah

604
00:37:54,480 –> 00:37:57,640
had built, but because of the
divine hand that would over

605
00:37:57,640 –> 00:37:59,880
shadow it.
Instead, Seneca was going to be

606
00:37:59,880 –> 00:38:03,680
LED away with inexorable power
in the opposite direction.

607
00:38:03,920 –> 00:38:09,280
This was one battle Sennacherib
would not win by the way that he

608
00:38:09,280 –> 00:38:11,760
came by the same.
Shall he return?

609
00:38:12,680 –> 00:38:16,440
And so he says, verse 35, I’ll
defend the city.

610
00:38:16,600 –> 00:38:18,480
Now do you know?
So that’s the focus of these

611
00:38:18,480 –> 00:38:22,960
last three verses.
Verse 33, He shall not come into

612
00:38:23,520 –> 00:38:27,760
this city.
Verse 34, He shall not come into

613
00:38:28,240 –> 00:38:32,480
this city.
Verse 35, I will defend this

614
00:38:32,480 –> 00:38:35,040
city.
That’s the focus of these last

615
00:38:35,040 –> 00:38:37,240
three verses.
And that was the promise that

616
00:38:37,240 –> 00:38:41,240
the city of Jerusalem would be
delivered in rebuttal of

617
00:38:41,240 –> 00:38:45,560
Sennacherib’s boast, because
Sennacherib, by the mouth of his

618
00:38:45,560 –> 00:38:48,680
spokesman, Reb Shaker, had said
in Isaiah 36.

619
00:38:48,680 –> 00:38:52,080
Verse 20 Who are they that
Yahweh should deliver Jerusalem

620
00:38:52,200 –> 00:38:56,000
out of my hand?
And again in Isaiah 37, Verse 10

621
00:38:56,240 –> 00:38:59,400
Let not thy God, in whom thou
trust us deceive thee, saying,

622
00:38:59,600 –> 00:39:02,560
Jerusalem shall not be given to
the hand of the king of Assyria.

623
00:39:02,720 –> 00:39:05,200
And God now comes back, and he
says, I will, I will deliver the

624
00:39:05,200 –> 00:39:07,920
city.
The city will be safe, here’s a

625
00:39:07,920 –> 00:39:10,720
car, the city will be untouched.
And for what reason?

626
00:39:10,720 –> 00:39:14,840
Verse 35 For mine own sake, says
God, Ah, there it is.

627
00:39:15,480 –> 00:39:18,560
So now came Yahweh’s answer.
I will hear the words of

628
00:39:18,560 –> 00:39:21,000
reproach and I will reprove
them.

629
00:39:21,160 –> 00:39:22,720
The challenge that I cannot
deliver.

630
00:39:22,720 –> 00:39:27,320
The city I will respond to.
Do you see how firm the response

631
00:39:27,320 –> 00:39:30,000
of God is in this matter?
It’s absolutely marvellous,

632
00:39:30,000 –> 00:39:32,800
brother and sisters, because
Yahweh assumed full

633
00:39:32,800 –> 00:39:35,680
responsibility for the final
outcome of this crisis.

634
00:39:35,840 –> 00:39:39,480
It’s mine, says God.
I will deal with this matter,

635
00:39:39,920 –> 00:39:45,160
but not only for my sake, he
says, but also for my servant

636
00:39:45,160 –> 00:39:49,720
David’s sake.
Now that’s because of the first

637
00:39:49,720 –> 00:39:54,800
of kings 11 verse 36, which
said, And unto David’s son will

638
00:39:54,800 –> 00:39:59,120
I give one tribe, that David my
servant, may have a light all

639
00:39:59,120 –> 00:40:05,800
way before me in Jerusalem, the
city which I have chosen me to

640
00:40:05,800 –> 00:40:09,320
put my name there.
God promised that to David.

641
00:40:09,880 –> 00:40:13,080
So for his own name’s sake and
for David’s sake, the city of

642
00:40:13,080 –> 00:40:16,760
Jerusalem would stand
impregnable against the Assyrian

643
00:40:16,760 –> 00:40:18,280
host.
And so God’s answer now was

644
00:40:18,280 –> 00:40:19,960
complete.
It was a wonderful response.

645
00:40:20,080 –> 00:40:23,240
It was a thrilling reply when
you think about it, brothers and

646
00:40:23,240 –> 00:40:25,000
sisters.
So to his enemies such as

647
00:40:25,000 –> 00:40:27,960
Sennacherib, God gave this
answer in the form of a warning,

648
00:40:29,000 –> 00:40:33,960
I am in control.
And to his servants such as his

649
00:40:33,960 –> 00:40:37,520
a car, God gave this answer in
the form of a promise.

650
00:40:38,640 –> 00:40:43,720
I am in control.
And you see when you think about

651
00:40:43,720 –> 00:40:47,600
it, mother and sisters,
believing and accepting that God

652
00:40:47,680 –> 00:40:54,760
is in control is the answer to
every crisis in life.

653
00:40:57,360 –> 00:41:02,480
You see times of crisis reveal
who we really are and how we

654
00:41:02,480 –> 00:41:07,200
really think.
And you see really Hezekiah

655
00:41:07,200 –> 00:41:10,360
shows us in this prayer that he
really did trust in his God and

656
00:41:10,360 –> 00:41:12,440
he really did believe in his
sovereign control.

657
00:41:12,720 –> 00:41:15,800
And I think with that comes the
great lesson from our study this

658
00:41:15,800 –> 00:41:17,840
morning as to what we should do
in times of crisis.

659
00:41:17,840 –> 00:41:21,040
If we believe that God is in
control, then we need to pray to

660
00:41:21,040 –> 00:41:26,360
him.
But we need to do more than

661
00:41:26,360 –> 00:41:30,160
that.
We need to pray the right sort

662
00:41:30,160 –> 00:41:34,200
of prayer that’s focused on the
right objective.

663
00:41:34,800 –> 00:41:39,040
This is where the example of
Hezekiah is just so instructive,

664
00:41:39,080 –> 00:41:42,640
brothers and sisters, because he
wasn’t focused on how God might

665
00:41:42,640 –> 00:41:45,840
intervene.
He wasn’t focused on when God

666
00:41:45,840 –> 00:41:49,680
might intervene.
He was focused on why God would

667
00:41:49,680 –> 00:41:53,480
intervene.
So here’s our lesson for today,

668
00:41:53,480 –> 00:41:56,920
brothers and sisters, in terms
of what we might do in times of

669
00:41:56,920 –> 00:42:03,480
crisis.
It’s about learning how to pray

670
00:42:04,960 –> 00:42:11,280
with God centered focus.
Now here’s David’s prayer in the

671
00:42:11,280 –> 00:42:15,640
time of Goliath.
First of Samuel 17 verse 46 this

672
00:42:15,640 –> 00:42:18,560
day will Yahweh deliver thee
into my hand and I’ll smite thee

673
00:42:18,760 –> 00:42:20,800
so that all the earth may know
that there’s a God in Israel.

674
00:42:21,000 –> 00:42:25,840
Can I just draw your attention
to 1 little but crucial word so

675
00:42:25,840 –> 00:42:29,960
that I’ve added the word so so
that you can see the word that

676
00:42:31,920 –> 00:42:34,920
so that what so that David could
be delivered?

677
00:42:34,920 –> 00:42:38,480
No, so that all the earth may
know that there is a God in

678
00:42:38,480 –> 00:42:44,520
Israel.
Here’s the prayer that David

679
00:42:44,520 –> 00:42:47,160
gave to the House of Asaph to
sing as the singers in the

680
00:42:47,160 –> 00:42:50,840
sanctuary in the first of
Chronicles chapter 16, verse 35.

681
00:42:51,120 –> 00:42:57,840
And say, ye save us, O God, of
our salvation, and deliver us so

682
00:42:57,840 –> 00:43:01,680
that, so that what?
So that we might be saved?

683
00:43:01,920 –> 00:43:07,240
No, so that we may give thanks
to thy holy name and glory in

684
00:43:07,240 –> 00:43:12,480
thy praise.
Here’s one of the prayers or one

685
00:43:12,480 –> 00:43:16,000
of the Psalms that the House of
Asaph wrote and sang themselves

686
00:43:16,160 –> 00:43:20,000
in Psalm 83, verses 17 and 18.
Let them be put to shame and

687
00:43:20,000 –> 00:43:27,320
perish our enemies, so that, so
that men may know that thou

688
00:43:27,320 –> 00:43:31,360
whose name alone is Yahweh at
the most high in all the earth.

689
00:43:34,200 –> 00:43:36,680
And here’s the prayer that
Hezekiah offered in our study

690
00:43:36,680 –> 00:43:38,880
this morning in the prayer of
Isaiah 37.

691
00:43:39,040 –> 00:43:44,600
Therefore, O Yahweh, our God,
save us out of his hand, so that

692
00:43:46,040 –> 00:43:50,200
so that all the kingdoms of the
earth may know that thou art

693
00:43:50,600 –> 00:43:55,320
Yahweh, even thou only, and that
one vital phrase.

694
00:43:55,480 –> 00:43:59,400
So that is what sanctifies all
these prayers.

695
00:44:01,040 –> 00:44:05,960
Because you see, all salvation
and all deliverance is only so

696
00:44:05,960 –> 00:44:08,960
that God can be honoured in the
outcome.

697
00:44:11,400 –> 00:44:13,120
I think there’s a powerful
lesson here, brothers and

698
00:44:13,120 –> 00:44:15,920
sisters.
It’s a good lesson for us to

699
00:44:15,920 –> 00:44:17,040
ponder.
And that’s this.

700
00:44:19,400 –> 00:44:25,640
No matter what crisis we have,
God is not obliged to save us

701
00:44:25,640 –> 00:44:31,840
from our enemies, or to give us
the gift of immortality, or to

702
00:44:31,840 –> 00:44:36,200
grant us a place in His Kingdom,
or to fulfill those countless

703
00:44:36,200 –> 00:44:42,160
petitions that we might make.
Unless at the centre of each

704
00:44:42,160 –> 00:44:47,400
request and sitting at its very
heart is so that His purpose

705
00:44:47,400 –> 00:44:55,520
might be advanced in our lives.
His purpose not ours, His will,

706
00:44:55,960 –> 00:45:00,840
not ours.
And in our ecclesial prayers,

707
00:45:01,080 –> 00:45:05,960
we’re hearing less and less of
such God centred God focused

708
00:45:06,080 –> 00:45:10,280
prayers.
And the reason is because the

709
00:45:10,280 –> 00:45:13,840
doctrine of God manifestation is
progressively lost and we’ve got

710
00:45:13,840 –> 00:45:16,400
to get back to it because that’s
where the center of the truth

711
00:45:16,400 –> 00:45:18,600
is.
So when we hear petitions to God

712
00:45:18,760 –> 00:45:21,720
often on behalf of the assembly,
we ought to listen to the so

713
00:45:21,720 –> 00:45:23,920
that that should follow after
the petition.

714
00:45:24,560 –> 00:45:39,240
Save us, so that bless us, so
that forgive us, so that and we

715
00:45:39,240 –> 00:45:42,160
pray that Thou will grant us a
place in Thy Kingdom.

716
00:45:43,520 –> 00:45:48,480
So that See, that’s the crucial
thing, isn’t it, Mother and

717
00:45:48,480 –> 00:45:51,240
sisters, the little bit at the
end that changes it from a human

718
00:45:51,240 –> 00:45:55,600
prayer to a God centered. 1 So
that Thy name might be magnified

719
00:45:55,720 –> 00:45:59,320
in our lives, so that Thy
purpose might be outworked in

720
00:45:59,320 –> 00:46:03,800
us, so that Thy will may be done
and not our own, So that thy

721
00:46:03,800 –> 00:46:06,920
glory may be seen in the earth,
So that all nations may know

722
00:46:06,920 –> 00:46:09,920
that Thou art God alone.
We should all always test our

723
00:46:09,920 –> 00:46:15,040
prayers by the so that rule and
we want to hear them more

724
00:46:15,040 –> 00:46:17,080
frequently in our ecclesial
assemblies.

725
00:46:19,000 –> 00:46:22,600
Now what a wonderful example.
Here’s a car has left us with as

726
00:46:22,600 –> 00:46:24,880
we face times of child in our
own lives.

727
00:46:25,000 –> 00:46:27,800
Are we facing a crisis?
Then let us give it to the

728
00:46:27,800 –> 00:46:32,040
Father to deal with through
prayer, but let us be sure to

729
00:46:32,040 –> 00:46:35,280
give the type of prayer that
Hezekiah offered and gave so

730
00:46:35,280 –> 00:46:38,520
magnificently on this day of
trouble and rebuke and

731
00:46:38,520 –> 00:46:42,520
blasphemy.
Learning to pray with God

732
00:46:42,680 –> 00:46:47,560
centered focus allows us to
offer prayers that Yahweh

733
00:46:47,560 –> 00:46:53,680
delights Him and that He will
move to accomplish because

734
00:46:53,680 –> 00:47:00,560
they’re focused on the honor of
His name and His will and not

735
00:47:00,560 –> 00:47:05,440
our own as it says in one of our
hymns.

736
00:47:07,240 –> 00:47:16,280
Thy way not mine, O Lord,
however dark it be, Lead me by

737
00:47:16,280 –> 00:47:22,120
thine own hand.
Choose out the path for me, not

738
00:47:22,120 –> 00:47:26,600
mine, not mine the choice.
In all things, great or small,

739
00:47:27,640 –> 00:47:36,320
be Thou my guide, my strength,
my wisdom, and my all.

740
00:48:00,730 –> 00:48:03,050
Thank you, Brother Roger for
your class this morning.