Thought for the Week

We closed last time with: “His answer was:” specific and 100 percent accurate. Isaiah said, do not be afraid of this man nor of the words he has spoken. He will not enter this city. Not even one arrow will fly from his army into Jerusalem. He will hear a rumor and it will cause him to leave this siege and return to his country. He will die there. Your land will of itself produce food and good crops the next two years without any work on your part. For the third year, you will need to plow and plant in order to eat. There will be springs of fresh water to drink. These are the words of God, delivered by His prophet Isaiah. So, what happened? The night Isaiah issued his prophecy, there was indeed a report that came to Sennacherib that a revolt was taking place. This was apparently not true but Sennacherib did leave, with at least some of his army and delegation. He left behind a huge army for during the night an angel of the Lord went through the Assyrian army encampment. The next morning there were found 185,000 dead Assyrian soldiers. Sennacherib arrived home and went into the temple of his god where he was assassinated by two of his sons. The power of Assyria was broken. Hezekiah did not reach out to any human allies. He did not pay any bribes. His people did not suffer. It would be great if other human leaders learned to trust God. The words of the Proverb, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not upon your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him (yield to His words of counsel and advice) He will direct our paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) I think it unfortunate, tragic even, that Leaders (and their followers as well) trust in almost anything except the Lord. Their acknowledgment of God is merely “lip service.” It may sound good but is meaningless. If you want to read more details of the life of Hezekiah, you will find them in the Books of II Kings 18 — 20, II Chronicles 29–32 and Isaiah 36-39 and there are some who feel Psalm 12-16 speaks of this time but I won’t push that because it could also fit a number of other experiences of God’s people. We know God’s people Israel were not perfect and there were certainly many kings and other leaders who did not follow God whole-heartedly but thank God, He is merciful and long-suffering. He remembers many of his faithful servants and for their sake and His glory, He does not punish as frequently and as strongly as He would have the right to do. I am grateful for the Prophets, most certainly Isaiah. I would wish for and do pray that God might raise up prophets or preachers who would be true to God in every capacity of their lives and that people would hear (listen carefully to) them and then do what God wants. Unfortunately I am afraid the people of our day and time would be no more obedient to such a prophet than the people in Isaiah’s day were to him. Isaiah has much more to say but I think I will only look at two more passages from his writings. I would encourage you to spend time in prayer as we read Isaiah. I have heard it said that the study of God’s word evokes prayer. It would seem so to me. I can frequently see myself and our nation in comparison to Scripture in both the Old Testament and the New. We live in perilous times. Satan’s time is short and he will do all he can to destroy those whom God loves. Be alert.

Scriptures to Read

Isaiah 49:1-6

Isaiah 49:7-12

Isaiah 49:13

Isaiah 49:14-21

Isaiah 49:22-26

St. John 1:6-18

St. Luke 2:25-35