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00:12 ♪♪♪ 00:34 Jean Ross: Good morning, friends. 00:36 We'd like to welcome you to Sabbath School Study Hour, here 00:39 at the Granite Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church in 00:41 Sacramento, California. 00:43 We always want to welcome our online members who are joining 00:46 us across the country and around the world, as well as those who 00:48 are viewing us maybe on a television network a little 00:51 later, maybe you're watching this live. 00:54 Welcome, we are so glad that you are studying with us. 00:57 We're studying through a great series of lessons on the book 01:00 of Isaiah. 01:02 The prophet Isaiah is sometimes referred to the gospel writer of 01:04 the Old Testament. 01:07 There's a number of great themes and important lessons that we 01:09 find in our study. 01:11 Today, we're on lesson number seven. 01:14 It's entitled, "Defeat of the Assyrians," and there's a lot of 01:16 information we've got to try and cover today. 01:19 But before we get to our study, we'd like to remind you of our 01:21 free offer. 01:23 We have a study guide, one of the "Amazing Facts" study guide, 01:25 entitled, "Saved from Certain Death." 01:28 And if you have not yet read the study guide, we want to 01:31 encourage you to do so. 01:33 It is a great resource. 01:35 To receive it, just call the number, 866-788-3966, and you 01:38 can ask for offer number 109 and we'll mail the study guide to 01:42 your home. 01:45 If you'd like to receive a digital download of the study 01:47 guide, you want to text the code "SH060" to the number, 40544, 01:53 and you'll be able to receive a digital copy of the study guide, 01:57 "Saved from Certain Death." 02:00 Well, before we get to our lesson, we want to invite you to 02:03 join us as we lift our voices in song. 02:06 We're singing that great hymn, "My Hope is Built on 02:09 Nothing Less." 02:11 ♪♪♪ 02:17 ♪ My hope is built on nothing less ♪ 02:21 ♪ Than Jesus' blood and righteousness ♪ 02:25 ♪ I dare not trust the sweetest frame ♪ 02:29 ♪ But wholly lean on Jesus' name ♪ 02:35 ♪ On Christ the solid rock I stand ♪ 02:38 ♪ All other ground is sinking sand ♪ 02:43 ♪ All other ground is sinking sand ♪ 02:49 ♪ When darkness seems to veil His face ♪ 02:53 ♪ I rest on His unchanging grace ♪ 02:57 ♪ In every high and stormy gale ♪ 03:01 ♪ My anchor holds within the veil ♪ 03:07 ♪ On Christ the solid rock I stand ♪ 03:12 ♪ All other ground is sinking sand ♪ 03:17 ♪ All other ground is sinking sand ♪ 03:23 ♪ When He shall come with trumpet sound ♪ 03:27 ♪ Oh, may I then in Him be found ♪ 03:32 ♪ Clad in His righteousness alone ♪ 03:36 ♪ Faultless to stand before His throne ♪ 03:42 ♪ On Christ the solid rock I stand ♪ 03:46 ♪ All other ground is sinking sand ♪ 03:52 ♪ All other ground is sinking sand ♪ 04:03 Jean: Let us pray. 04:05 Dear Father in heaven, we thank You for our beautiful Sabbath 04:08 that You've given us here in northern California. 04:10 We thank You for the opportunity that we have to open up and 04:12 study Your Word in such an important book, such an 04:15 important lesson that we need to be looking at today. 04:17 So we invite Your presence. 04:19 We ask the Holy Spirit to come and speak to each of our hearts 04:21 wherever we might be, Lord, and impress upon us the things You 04:23 would have us to know. 04:25 For we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. 04:28 Our lesson today is going to be brought to us by Pastor 04:30 Rod Thompson. 04:33 Rod Thompson: Good morning, everyone. 04:35 I want to invite you to open up your Bibles to Isaiah 04:39 chapter 36. 04:41 We are continuing our study in the book of Isaiah and today 04:46 we're going to be looking at four chapters, chapter 36 04:49 through 39, and we've got a lot to talk about. 04:53 Pastor Ross prayed for us but let's offer another prayer up 04:56 quickly to the Lord. 04:59 Father in heaven, thank You that You have pulled us up out of the 05:02 mud, the muck, the mire, the clay, and You have set us on a 05:05 firm foundation and, Lord, You have begun a good work in each 05:08 of us and we pray that You would continue that work and bring it 05:12 to completion. 05:14 Give us ears to hear now as You speak to our hearts in Jesus' 05:16 name, amen. 05:20 The Bible tells us that Solomon was the wisest man that 05:24 ever lived. 05:27 And in the book of Ecclesiastes he tells us there is nothing new 05:29 under the sun. 05:32 In Romans chapter 15, verse 4, the apostle Paul tells us that 05:35 everything that was written in Scripture was written for 05:38 our learning. 05:42 In 1 Corinthians he tells us that it was written for us, 05:44 those who are alive in the last days, that we might have hope. 05:49 And in the book, "Christian Experience and Teachings," 05:52 chapter 33, Ellen White tells us that we have nothing to fear for 05:57 the future, except that we forget how God has led us in 06:01 the past. 06:04 The prophets in Israel were called to proclaim and interpret 06:08 the actions of God in the events of history. 06:14 They tried to keep alive the memory of the exodus and all of 06:20 the miracles that God had done for them, and they were to 06:23 interpret the meaning of their ancient faith and they were to 06:27 try and help the people in their day to understand and to apply 06:33 God's Word to their lives in their time. 06:37 They were to identify to the people God's will in a national 06:45 crisis and when that crisis was over, they were to bring hope 06:51 and comfort. 06:53 And Isaiah was one of those prophets that had served God and 06:57 had been a--had been an advisor to the kings for over 60 years, 07:06 and he had his ministry throughout four kings of Judah. 07:13 That is, Uzziah who is called--also called Azariah; his 07:17 son, Jotham; his grandson, Ahaz; and his 07:20 great-grandson, Hezekiah. 07:24 The fact that he doesn't talk about Hezekiah's son, Manasseh, 07:27 indicates to us that his prophetic ministry was done 07:31 right about the time of the end of Hezekiah's life. 07:36 And so it's very interesting that we have these four kings 07:41 and you can see in 2 Kings chapter 15, verse 3, it says 07:46 that Uzziah was the king and he did what was right in the eyes 07:51 of the Lord. 07:54 And then in 2 Kings chapter 15, verse 32, it tells us that his 07:57 son, Jonathan--Jotham, became king and he did what was right 08:02 in the eyes of the Lord. 08:06 And then we see his son, Ahaz, become king and he does not do 08:08 what's right in the eyes of the Lord. 08:12 And then his son, Hezekiah, becomes king and he does what is 08:15 right in the eyes of the Lord. 08:17 And so we see this up-and-down rollercoaster of Israel, 08:21 sometimes following the Lord, sometimes not. 08:24 And it's interesting, friends, that when we look at a son and a 08:27 grandson and a great-grandson, if you have a godly man and you 08:30 would expect that his children would follow the Lord too. 08:35 But it's not automatic. 08:37 Every single one of us has to choose whom we are going 08:41 to serve. 08:44 And even when we see Ahaz, who is a wicked king, his son, 08:48 Hezekiah, when he comes on the scene, he follows the Lord. 08:52 So even though a person may not be following the Lord, their 08:55 children can. 08:58 Every single one of us has a choice to make: whom are we 09:02 going to serve? 09:04 So our study today is in Isaiah chapter 36 through 39. 09:08 Look with me at verse 1. 09:11 It says: "Now it came to pass." 09:15 This chapter marks the beginning of a new section in the book of 09:18 Isaiah, and chapters 36 through 39 are actually more historical 09:28 than they are prophetic. 09:32 And as we look at that, we might think, "Well, that's a nice 09:34 history lesson but what's that got to do with me?" 09:38 But, friends, we want to apply the Word of God to our life and 09:41 there's actually a lot for us to learn from these four chapters. 09:45 In these four chapters, we're going to see three very 09:48 important historical points. 09:52 We're going to see the war that Israel has with Sennacherib in 09:57 the Assyrian army. 10:01 We're going to see and talk about the illness of Hezekiah, 10:04 and then the visitation of the Babylonians to Israel. 10:09 And in these four chapters in Isaiah 36 through 39, they 10:13 actually have parallel chapters in 2 Kings chapter 18 through 10:18 20, and then in 2 Chronicles chapter 29. 10:22 So there is a lot more information that we can pull 10:26 into these four chapters and we're going to take a look 10:28 at that. 10:30 And so let's read verse 1 again: "Now, it came to pass in the 10:33 14th year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib king of Assyria came 10:37 up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them." 10:43 History shows us that Sennacherib became the king in 10:48 705 BC and four years later, in 701, is when he comes up and 10:55 makes his first campaign against Israel, and specifically the 11:01 cities of Judah. 11:04 And in his own account of this campaign, he tells us and he 11:09 claims that he had captured 46 fortified cities of Judah. 11:16 Forty-six cities. 11:20 And he lists many reasons why he comes against them, but three of 11:24 them we want to look at in particular. 11:28 Number one is the fact that Hezekiah refused to pay tribute. 11:33 Now, Sennacherib's father had already come against Judah and 11:37 he was already forcing them to pay tribute, but now Hezekiah is 11:41 rebelling against him. 11:44 Number two, because Hezekiah has called on Egypt and he has 11:48 called on the Ethiopians to join him in rebelling against 11:54 Assyria, and number three, because Hezekiah had gone up 12:00 against the Philistines and he had imprisoned their king who 12:04 was loyal to the Assyrians. 12:08 And so for those three reasons, he says, he came up 12:11 against them. 12:14 But I would add a fourth reason, and we're going to read about 12:17 that in a minute. 12:19 It says because the children of Judah and Israel were not 12:22 following the Lord. 12:25 So let's look at verse--look at verse 2. 12:27 Chapter 36: "Then the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh with 12:31 a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. 12:34 And he stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the 12:37 highway to the Fuller's Field." 12:41 Now, I want to point out to you that the Rabshakeh is not a name 12:45 but rather, it is a title. 12:49 And the Rabshakeh is the cupbearer of the king. 12:53 In other words, he's the person that tastes the food and drinks 12:56 the cup before the king does in case someone has been trying to 13:01 kill the king and poison him, that person would die rather 13:04 than the king. 13:06 How'd you like to have that job? 13:09 But we tend to look at that and we think that that may be the 13:12 lowest person in the kingdom, someone that's easily 13:14 replaceable, right? 13:17 But, in fact, in the Assyrian kingdom, the Rabshakeh was a 13:20 very important military official. 13:24 He was the assistant to the king, if you will. 13:28 And I want you to notice what he says. 13:31 I want you to hold your place here in Isaiah chapter 36, but 13:34 let's go back and let's look at the parallel passage in 2 Kings 13:38 chapter 18. 13:41 2 Kings chapter 18, and I want you to notice what it says, 13:46 starting in verse 1. 13:49 The Bible says: "Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea 13:52 the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, 13:55 king of Judah, began to reign. 13:58 He was 25 years old when he became king, and he reigned 29 14:01 years in Jerusalem. 14:04 His mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 14:06 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to 14:09 all that his father David had done. 14:11 He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut 14:14 down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent 14:16 that Moses had made; for until those days the children of 14:19 Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan. 14:23 He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was 14:26 none like him from among all the kings of Judah, nor who were 14:30 before him. 14:33 For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following 14:36 Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord 14:39 had commanded Moses. 14:41 The Lord was with him; he prospered wherever he went. 14:44 And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not 14:46 serve him. 14:48 He subdued the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territories, 14:51 from watchtower to the fortified city. 14:53 Now it came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, 14:56 which was the seventh year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of 14:58 Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria 15:02 and besieged it. 15:05 And at the end of three years they took it. 15:07 In the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, in the ninth year of 15:10 Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 15:13 Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away captive to Assyria, 15:17 and put them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and 15:21 in the cities of the Medes, because they did not obey the 15:24 voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed His covenant and 15:28 all that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded; and they 15:31 would neither hear nor do them. 15:34 And in the 14th year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of 15:38 Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and 15:41 took them. 15:43 Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at 15:46 Lachish, saying, 'I have done wrong; turn away from me; 15:50 whatever you impose on me I will pay.' 15:52 And the king of Assyria assessed Hezekiah king of Judah 300 15:55 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. 15:58 And so Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the 16:01 house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king's house. 16:05 At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the 16:08 temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of 16:11 Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria. 16:15 Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and 16:18 the Rabshakeh from Lachish, with a great army against Jerusalem, 16:22 to King Hezekiah. 16:24 And they went up and came to Jerusalem. 16:27 And when they had come up, they went and stood by the aqueduct 16:30 from the upper pool, which was on the highway to the 16:33 Fuller's Field." 16:35 And we read already in Isaiah chapter 36 where it talks about 16:38 him coming to the Fuller's Field. 16:41 But here we see a lot more information added to the story. 16:46 And so there are some very interesting things there that I 16:50 want to point out to you. 16:52 Number one, Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of 16:56 the Lord. 16:58 And we see here, it's talking about how he tore down the high 17:01 places, how he tore down the altars, how he told the people 17:05 of Israel that they needed to go to Jerusalem, to the temple, to 17:10 worship there. 17:12 And so he was trying to bring about a reform in the land 17:16 of Judah. 17:19 We see that he also rebels against the Assyrian oppression 17:23 of God's people. 17:26 But then we see that the Assyrian king defeats him and so 17:32 Hezekiah says to him, "I will pay to you whatever you ask." 17:37 And so he gives him this great tribute to be paid. 17:41 But then we see that the Assyrian king still comes up 17:45 against Jerusalem to besiege it even after he has paid him 17:49 this tribute. 17:52 Now let's go back to Isaiah chapter 36. 17:55 You see, the king sends the Rabshakeh to the children of 18:00 Israel to directly speak to them and he asks them a very 18:06 important question. 18:11 And if I could paraphrase that question, it's simply this: "In 18:16 whom are you going to place your trust?" 18:22 In whom are you going to trust? 18:25 And he starts telling them, "You are putting your trust in the 18:29 king of Egypt but he can't help you. 18:33 And you are putting your trust in the king of Israel but he 18:38 can't help you either." 18:41 And then he says, "You're putting your trust in your God 18:45 and He's not going to be helping you either," because, after all, 18:48 Hezekiah is taking down His high places. 18:52 He's taking down His altars. 18:55 He's killing false prophets and he is--he's telling people that 18:59 they have to worship in Jerusalem at the temple, and so 19:03 "your God is offended and He's not going to help you either." 19:07 Now, of course, that wasn't true, but that's what 19:10 he's saying. 19:13 And then he comes and he says something very important. 19:18 He says, "And oh, by the way, it is your God who has told me to 19:23 come up and destroy this place." 19:27 But then he adds one more thing. 19:31 He says, "You can't trust Egypt, you can't trust your king, you 19:34 can't trust your God, but you can trust me. 19:41 You can trust me, that if you pay me a tribute I'll protect 19:45 you from me." 19:49 Brothers and sisters, does that remind you of someone else? 19:55 That should--we should recognize in that argument that the 20:01 Rabshakeh is making that there's something else going on here. 20:06 There is a spirit behind all of this, isn't there? 20:12 And we know that that is the spirit of the enemy of 20:16 our souls. 20:19 He is promising peace and safety, and he cannot 20:23 provide it. 20:25 Look with me here in Isaiah 36. 20:27 Look at verse 12 through 16: "But the Rabshakeh said, 'Has my 20:32 master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, 20:35 and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink 20:38 their own waste with you?' 20:41 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in 20:44 Hebrew, and said, 'Hear the words of the great king, the 20:46 king of Assyria! 20:49 Thus says the king: "Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he 20:52 will not be able to deliver you; nor let Hezekiah make you trust 20:55 in the Lord, saying, 'The Lord will surely deliver us; this 20:58 city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.'" 21:02 Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: 21:05 "Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; and every 21:10 one of you will eat from his own vine and every one from his 21:13 own fig tree, and every one of you will drink the waters of his 21:16 own cistern."'" 21:20 Here we see the enemy of God's people and what he's trying 21:25 to do. 21:28 First of all, I want you to notice that he makes it appear 21:32 that he is--has your best interests at heart, that he is 21:39 more interested in the welfare of God's people than God 21:46 Himself is. 21:50 And then notice that he is also portraying Hezekiah as 21:53 being vainglorious. 21:56 He is portraying him as someone who is a self-interested 22:00 deceiver who does not have God's people and their interests in 22:05 his heart. 22:08 And he says: "Don't let the king deceive you into thinking that 22:12 your God can save you." 22:15 And so here we see that the issue is directly and 22:19 distinctly drawn. 22:23 Are you going to give your loyalty to God or are you going 22:26 to give your loyalty to me? 22:31 Now, brothers and sisters, we know the prophetic Word, 22:34 don't we? 22:37 We know that history is going to repeat itself. 22:40 In fact, we are living in some pretty strange times, aren't we? 22:43 And as we look at our situation today, we could ask ourselves, 22:49 "Are we going to put our trust in doctors that they can save us 22:55 from COVID-19? 22:58 Are we going to put our trust in the governor that he has our 23:02 best interests at heart when he tells us that we shouldn't 23:05 gather together for worship on a Sabbath morning? 23:09 Are we going to trust those leaders of the nations around us 23:12 that are telling us we all need to do this thing?" 23:18 And so, we have a very important question: in whom are you going 23:24 to trust? 23:28 I want to point out to you something that it says in Psalm 23:31 91, verse 5 and--5 through 7, and thinking about the present 23:36 time in which we live, and this pestilence all around us. 23:40 Notice what it says: "You shall not be afraid of the terror by 23:43 night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the 23:48 pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction 23:51 that lays waste at noonday. 23:54 A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your 23:57 right hand; but it shall not come near to you." 24:01 The question that we want to answer is, "In whom are we going 24:05 to place our trust?" 24:08 Are we going to place our trust in doctors? 24:11 Are we going to place it in the governor, in the president, in 24:13 the nation. 24:15 And the nations around us, are they going to be able to protect 24:18 us from what's going on in the world today? 24:23 And I know that there might be someone out there right now 24:27 that's thinking to themself, "Pastor Rod, are you telling me 24:30 that if I put my trust in God that I will not get COVID-19?" 24:38 Friends, please understand. 24:40 That is not what I'm saying. 24:44 I'm simply saying this: In whom are you going to place 24:48 your trust? 24:51 Are we going to put it in the government? 24:54 Are we going to expect that the government who has our best 24:57 interests at heart, there's the ones telling us to stay at home 25:00 and are you going to expect them to bail you out financially? 25:06 And so whom are we going to trust? 25:14 I want you to think about those three Hebrews boys who were told 25:22 by the government, "You either do it our way or we're going to 25:26 throw you into the fiery furnace." 25:30 And, friends, what did those three boys say? 25:35 "Our God is able to save us. 25:41 But even if He doesn't, we're still going to put our trust 25:46 in Him." 25:51 I love the way Job put it. 25:53 Job chapter 13, verse 15: In the midst of all that was going on 25:57 with Job, he said, "Though You slay me, yet will I trust You." 26:06 You see, friends, Sennacherib's challenge is in reality a direct 26:13 defiance of God. 26:19 "Your God is not able to save you." 26:24 And the Rabshakeh makes this grandiose promise that if you 26:28 trust him and you are disloyal to your king, you're disloyal to 26:33 your God, then he will do something for you. 26:37 Let's look at it again. 26:39 Look with me--we're still in chapter 36. 26:42 Look at verse 16: "Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the 26:45 king of Assyria: 'Make peace with me by a present and come 26:49 out to me; and every one of you will eat from his own vine and 26:52 every one from his own fig tree, and you'll drink from your 26:55 own cistern.'" 26:58 Think about this for a minute. 27:02 He is saying, "If you give me a present, I won't attack you." 27:06 But guess what? 27:09 He already had and Hezekiah had already given him a tribute so 27:13 that he wouldn't attack them. 27:16 You know, friends, the enemy of your soul never has enough. 27:20 If you give him an inch, he'll take a mile. 27:23 And if he--they give in to him, they pay that tribute, and now 27:28 he's coming for another tribute. 27:32 Isn't that what the enemy of your soul does? 27:37 But notice, what he says in the next verse, verse 17. 27:43 He says, "You're going to get to stay in your house, you're going 27:45 to get to stay in your own land, you're going to eat from your 27:48 own garden, until I come and take you away." 27:54 Here we see this mockery of the words that he had just said. 28:01 Here we see a vain promise: "I'm going to let you stay there 28:04 until I come and take you away." 28:08 The enemy is never satisfied with what you've given him; he 28:12 always wants more. 28:15 Look with me, verse 19 and 20: "Where are the gods of Hamath 28:20 and Arpad? 28:22 Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? 28:25 Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? 28:28 Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their 28:31 countries from my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem 28:34 from my hand?" 28:37 Samaria had fallen to the Assyrians years earlier, and the 28:43 fact that the capital of the northern kingdom had fallen into 28:48 their hands was, in their eyes, proof to them that the same 28:52 thing was going to happen to Judah in Jerusalem. 28:57 But, friends, let me read you a verse that you're very 29:00 familiar with. 29:03 Revelation chapter 13, verse 4, talking about the first beast of 29:08 Revelation 13: the Antichrist. 29:11 This is what it says: "So they worshiped the dragon who gave 29:14 authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, 29:17 'Who is like the beast? 29:19 Who is able to make war with him?'" 29:22 We see it repeat in history here, don't we? 29:24 Because that's exactly what the king of Assyria was doing. 29:27 And we really know the spirit behind the king of Assyria, we 29:31 really know who this is. 29:34 This is the dragon, right? 29:37 And the Rabshakeh is essentially saying the exact same thing: 29:40 "Who can make war against the king of Assyria? 29:43 He's too powerful for you." 29:47 But notice, verse 21: "But they held their peace and answered 29:54 him not a word; for the king commandment was, 'Do not 29:58 answer them.'" 30:02 Friends, there was no effective answer that the people 30:07 could have given to the Assyrian leaders. 30:12 There was nothing that they could do to turn Sennacherib 30:16 away from his purpose. 30:20 Nothing they could do to turn the real enemy behind that from 30:24 his purpose. 30:27 And so, wisely, the king said to them, "Say nothing." 30:32 Friends, don't ever try to get into an argument with the devil 30:38 because you are not going to win. 30:42 Don't think that you're going to be able to convince him that he 30:45 is wrong. 30:48 And so the king wisely tells them not to say a word but 30:52 Hezekiah trusted--he had faith that God would be able to 30:57 deliver them. 31:00 And so, the people come to Hezekiah and they tell him what 31:03 the Rabshakeh has said. 31:06 And if you look at chapter 37, verse 1, it tells us that when 31:09 Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, he put on sackcloth, 31:13 and he went into the house of the Lord. 31:19 You see, friends, the king had done everything that he could do 31:23 to prepare the people to protect themselves in this confrontation 31:30 with the enemy of God's people. 31:33 He strengthened his fortifications. 31:36 He further equipped and organized his army. 31:40 He increased the security of Jerusalem's water supply, and 31:44 you can go back and read that for yourself, how he did that. 31:48 But when he was done doing everything humanly possible, he 31:54 goes to the one who can truly help him. 31:59 And, friends, we find ourselves in the same situation today. 32:03 We have a global pandemic and we want to do everything that we 32:06 can to protect ourselves. 32:09 Yes, we need to social distance, yes, we need those masks, yes, 32:12 we need to wash our hands. 32:15 But when it's all said and done and we've done everything 32:18 humanly possible, whom are we going to trust in? 32:21 Who are we going to go to and trust that He is able to 32:25 help us? 32:28 And so, Hezekiah goes to the Lord and he prays and while he 32:32 is in the temple, pouring out his heart to the Lord, I imagine 32:37 that the Lord impresses him with something because he does 32:41 something very important. 32:44 Look with me, chapter 37, verse 2: "Then he sent," that's 32:48 Hezekiah sent, "Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the 32:53 scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, 32:56 to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 32:59 And they said to him, 'Thus says Hezekiah: "This day is a day of 33:03 trouble and rebuke and blasphemy; for the children have 33:06 come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth. 33:10 It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of 33:13 Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to 33:17 reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the 33:20 Lord your God has heard. 33:23 Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left."'" 33:27 Friends, I don't know about you, but I see that Hezekiah's 33:31 doing something very important here. 33:35 He is trying to bring about reform. 33:39 He is taking down the high places. 33:42 He is tearing down the altars. 33:44 He is telling the people to come to Jerusalem and worship the one 33:47 true God. 33:50 And he says, "We are about to break out of this idolatry and 33:53 we have come to the point of birth but we don't have the 33:57 strength to go out. 34:00 We need God." 34:03 And he does something very important. 34:05 Friends, I don't know about you, but when I am in trouble, I 34:08 spend more time on my knees than I normally do. 34:12 How about you? 34:15 And he does something very important and I do this too. 34:18 Because when I'm in trouble, I want to seek out those prayer 34:23 warriors that I know that God listens to them, because I've 34:28 seen God working in their lives in the past and I call that 34:32 friend and say, "I'm in trouble. 34:34 You've got to pray for me." 34:37 And that's what Hezekiah's doing. 34:39 He goes to the man of God, he goes to the prophet of God, and 34:42 he says, "Pray for the remnant." 34:46 And notice what happens. 34:49 Look with me in verse 5. 34:52 Chapter 7, verse--37, verse 5: "So the servants of King 34:54 Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 34:57 And Isaiah said to them, 'Thus you shall say to your master, 35:00 "Thus says the Lord: 'Do not be afraid of the words which you 35:03 have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria 35:06 have blasphemed Me. 35:09 Surely I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor 35:12 and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the 35:15 sword in his own land.'"'" 35:17 Friends, when you pour out your heart to God, when you pray 35:21 to Him, God is already there with an answer. 35:25 And here we see that Isaiah tells him, "Your God is 35:30 with you. 35:32 He is going to save you." 35:36 Now, the Rabshakeh asked a very important question: "In whom are 35:42 you going to trust?" 35:45 And friends, we might ask another question: "Can God 35:50 be trusted?" 35:53 Can God be trusted? 35:57 I love what it says in the parallel passage that we read 36:01 earlier in Isaiah, or, excuse me, in 2 Kings chapter 18, 36:06 verse 5. 36:08 Do you remember it? 36:11 It said that "he," that is Hezekiah, "trusted in the Lord 36:14 God of Israel so that after him was none like him among the 36:19 kings of Judah nor none before." 36:22 Friends, how would you like that said about you? 36:26 That you trust God so much that there was no one like that 36:29 before you and there ain't gonna be anyone after you like that 36:32 but you have put your complete and total trust in God. 36:37 And Hezekiah believes the word of Isaiah and he sees that 36:41 prophecy immediately fulfilled. 36:46 Sennacherib gets the word that Ethiopia is attacking Assyria, 36:51 and so he takes his army and he goes back to Assyria to 36:54 fight him. 36:57 Like a hook in his jaw, God just pulls him away and there is 37:01 relief in Israel. 37:05 But, friends, your enemy doesn't give up that easily. 37:09 I think this was an opportunity for Sennacherib to repent of 37:14 his blasphemy. 37:17 It was an opportunity for him to give his heart to the Lord, but 37:20 he doesn't take God up on that opportunity because then, right 37:23 after this, he writes a letter to Hezekiah and he essentially 37:28 tells him the exact same thing. 37:31 He reiterates what he has already said through the 37:34 Rabshakeh, that your God is not able to save you. 37:41 And so Hezekiah returns to the house of the Lord and this time 37:50 he spreads out that letter before the Lord and he prays a 37:56 beautiful prayer. 37:59 Let's look at it. 38:01 Look with me, chapter 37. 38:04 Look at verse 33. 38:07 Or, excuse me, look at verse 16. 38:10 He says, "O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells 38:15 between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the 38:19 kingdoms of the earth. 38:21 You have made heaven and earth. 38:24 Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, 38:26 and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has 38:29 sent to reproach the living God. 38:32 Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the 38:35 nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the 38:39 fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men's 38:41 hands--wood and stone. 38:44 Therefore they destroyed them. 38:46 Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all 38:48 the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord, 38:52 You alone." 38:57 Well, friends, you know the story. 39:01 God sends Isaiah to Hezekiah, and notice what God says. 39:09 Look at verse 33: "Therefore thus says the Lord concerning 39:13 the king of Assyria: 'He shall not come into this city, nor 39:16 shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with a shield, nor 39:20 build a siege mound against it. 39:23 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return; and he 39:27 shall not come into this city,' says the Lord. 39:31 'For I will defend this city, to save it for My own sake and for 39:34 My servant David's sake.'" 39:39 Here we see God already there, already ahead of Hezekiah, He is 39:45 there to immediately respond to his need and He says to him, 39:50 "I'm going to take care of this because the real enemy behind 39:56 this is blaspheming Me and I'm going to do it for my 40:00 name's sake. 40:02 And I'm going to do it for David's sake as well." 40:06 Friends, in whom are you going to place your trust? 40:13 Is God the kind of King that you can trust? 40:21 And then there's a third question, and that is where is 40:26 God in your calamity? 40:31 You remember the story of Job. 40:35 Job is unaware of all that's going on, but Satan and God come 40:41 together and God says, "Have you considered My servant Job?" 40:45 And Satan, if I could paraphrase it, he simply says, "Well, of 40:50 course, Job loves You, You've blessed his little Hebrew 40:53 socks off. 40:56 But You take away that hedge of protection, You take away 40:58 everything he has, and surely he will curse You to Your face." 41:04 And of course, you know what happens. 41:07 He allows Satan that activity. 41:09 He takes away everything that Job has, but Job hangs on to 41:11 his integrity. 41:13 Job does not curse God. 41:15 He said, "God has given; God has taken away. 41:18 Blessed be the name of the Lord." 41:20 And so the enemy of his soul just walks away and says, "Well, 41:22 I guess I was wrong. 41:24 I'm going to have to repent and You were right, God." 41:26 Is that what happens? 41:29 No, he continues on the attack. 41:33 He says, "Well, okay, You got me there, but You take away his 41:36 health and surely he will curse You to Your face." 41:43 Now, friends, that's exactly the same thing that we're 41:48 seeing here. 41:50 Hezekiah has had this high spiritual 41:54 mountaintop experience. 42:02 And usually after a mountaintop experience, trouble comes. 42:08 Do you ever notice that? 42:11 He has this great victory. 42:13 I'm not going to read it to you but you go back and you look at 42:15 the story and you'll see that God sent an angel of the Lord 42:20 and in one night 185,000 Assyrians are slaughtered. 42:28 God took care of the matter. 42:31 There was this mountaintop victory because this is the 42:35 great controversy that's going on. 42:39 This war between Christ and Satan. 42:41 And we see that God has won the victory here and there's this 42:45 high mountaintop experience and so the devil just says, "Well, I 42:48 guess I can't do anything about that," and he walks away, right? 42:53 No, no, now he's going to attack Hezekiah's health, right? 42:59 And Hezekiah has this illness that is going to take his life. 43:04 In fact, God sends Isaiah to him to tell him, "Put your house 43:09 in order. 43:12 You're about to have an end of life," and, of course, Hezekiah 43:18 does what we all should do. 43:22 Rather than going and trusting the doctors, rather than 43:25 trusting the government to help him, he goes to the one who 43:29 truly can help, and he goes back into the house of the Lord and 43:32 he pours out his heart to the Lord, and the Lord immediately 43:36 answers that prayer and sends Isaiah back to him, and tell him 43:40 that God is going to give him 15 more years. 43:46 And He's going to give him a supernatural sign that He is 43:51 going to do this. 43:54 I want you to look with me in Isaiah chapter 38, starting in 43:58 verse 6. 44:02 Notice what God says. 44:05 "'"I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king 44:08 of Assyria, and I will defend this city." 44:11 And this is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do 44:14 this thing which He has spoken: Behold, I will bring the shadow 44:18 on the sundial, which has gone down with the sun on the sundial 44:21 of Ahaz, ten degrees backwards.' 44:24 So that the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by which it 44:28 had gone down." 44:31 Now jump with me to verse 21. 44:34 Verse 21 and 22 say: "Now Isaiah had said, 'Let them take a lump 44:39 of figs, and apply it to a poultice on the boil, and he 44:42 shall recover.' 44:44 And Hezekiah had said, 'What is the sign that I shall go up to 44:47 the house of the Lord?'" 44:50 So here we see that Hezekiah is told that he is going to get 44:55 15 more years of life. 44:59 And Hezekiah essentially says, "How can I be sure of this?" 45:04 And so God says, "I'm going to do something very important. 45:10 I'm going to do something supernatural here to prove to 45:14 you that you can trust Me." 45:19 Friends, in whom are you going to place your trust? 45:23 Can God be trusted? 45:27 Where is God in the midst of your calamities? 45:34 God had revealed Himself to Hezekiah in a very powerful way. 45:41 And perhaps He's done the same thing for you. 45:45 I can tell you from my own experience, God has done some 45:48 miraculous things, some supernatural things, for 45:52 my behalf. 45:55 But, friends, Hezekiah makes a critical mistake. 46:03 Friends, even those who belong to God, even those who love God, 46:09 can make mistakes. 46:11 We see that in David with Bathsheba. 46:14 And now we see it with Hezekiah, but remember how we started our 46:17 message this morning. 46:19 There's nothing new under the sun. 46:21 Everything that was written down was written for our learning and 46:24 we have nothing to fear from the future except that we forget how 46:28 God has led in the past. 46:31 And, friends, we don't want to make the same mistake that 46:34 Hezekiah did. 46:36 Because God did something supernatural, this was the 46:39 perfect opportunity for Hezekiah to share his amazing God. 46:46 You see, the Babylonians, you'll remember that later in history 46:52 several hundred years that the wise men from the East, from 46:56 Babylon, are going to follow a star to Bethlehem and worship 47:01 Baby Jesus. 47:04 The Babylonians were very interested in the stars, in 47:08 astrology, and it would not have been beyond them to notice 47:13 something supernatural had happened. 47:16 And they have heard about this great victory and the Assyrian 47:20 army slayed and so they send an envoy to Israel to find out 47:25 the story. 47:28 What has truly happened here. 47:32 And this is the perfect opportunity for Hezekiah to 47:36 share his great and amazing and powerful God. 47:40 But Hezekiah takes the glory for himself. 47:44 And when they come, he shows them all the splendor of 47:48 his kingdom. 47:52 Friends, in whom are you going to place your trust? 47:56 Can God be trusted? 48:00 Where is God in your calamities? 48:04 And number four, when God delivers you from all of your 48:07 troubles, are you going to give Him the glory or are you going 48:11 to take it for yourselves? 48:15 Friends, we want to learn from history so that we don't make 48:20 the same mistake. 48:24 Is that the desire of your heart? 48:27 You want to make sure that you learn from these things so that 48:30 you don't make these mistakes, because, friends, we are heading 48:33 into some difficulties. 48:36 Do you think that this is the end of it with COVID-19? 48:39 No, we are heading into some very challenging days. 48:43 And are you going to give God the glory when He delivers you 48:47 or are you going to try and take it for yourself? 48:53 Well, while you're thinking about that question, we're out 48:56 of time so let's pray. 49:00 Father in heaven, Lord, You are truly amazing and we are so 49:08 grateful and thankful for all that You've done and all that 49:10 You are doing, but, Lord, there are certain things that we have 49:14 to do ourselves and then there are things we can't do. 49:18 And so, Lord, it's in those times that we pray that You 49:22 would work mightily with an outstretched arm and a powerful 49:27 hand, and You would deliver us from the enemy of our souls. 49:32 And we ask in Jesus' name, amen. 49:35 Friends, I want to remind you that our free offer today is 49:38 "Saved from Certain Death." 49:41 And you can get that by calling, 866-788-3966, or you can--and 49:49 ask for number 109 or you can text the code "SH060" to the 49:54 number, 40544. 49:57 God bless you and have a great day. 50:02 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 50:04 free resource. 50:06 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 50:07 download a digital copy straight to your computer or 50:10 mobile device. 50:11 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 50:14 the keyword on your screen to 40544 or visit the web address 50:19 shown on your screen and be sure to select the digital download 50:22 option on the request page. 50:25 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 50:28 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want. 50:31 And most important, to share it with others. 50:40 Andrew: When I was eight years old, I brought home a 5-foot 50:43 rattlesnake and it's gone downhill ever since. 50:47 Rattlesnakes, sharks, cliff diving, free diving, I wouldn't 50:50 call myself an adrenalin junkie; I just realize that the closest 50:54 that I've ever been to being alive is when I'm so close 50:57 to death. 50:59 I was raised in the northern mountains of Mexico. 51:02 I learned English because there was missionary groups that were 51:04 coming from Colorado and then going to the northern mountains 51:07 of Mexico. 51:09 And they were all changed in these short-term mission trips 51:12 and they had these unbelievable experiences and there were close 51:16 encounters with God, and I would share their testimony and I 51:19 would translate for them. 51:21 And I was jealous. 51:24 I was jealous because I didn't have a testimony. 51:27 I didn't have something like that. 51:29 I didn't have that life-changing experience, that close encounter 51:32 with God. 51:34 I knew He was there; I just--I couldn't understand Him and I 51:39 didn't really want anything to do with Him and part of me 51:42 wanted Him not to want anything to do with me. 51:45 I felt like I was unworthy of God's love. 51:49 I left Mexico to come to college. 51:54 Once I got to college, I realized how expensive 51:56 college was. 51:58 And so, in order to pay for college, I became a commercial 52:01 salmon fisherman in Alaska. 52:04 And the first time that I stepped on a boat, I knew I was 52:06 going to be a fisherman for the rest of my life. 52:09 I met this man in Tennessee, in one of the rivers, and I found 52:13 out that he had an orphanage in Honduras. 52:16 And he said, you know, "You can come down to Honduras. 52:19 You can help us put a support video together." 52:21 And you know, he was like, "Maybe you can get some college 52:24 credits out of it." 52:26 I said, "You know, that would be great. 52:27 I would do that. 52:28 I would love to do that." 52:30 And so I flew down to Honduras and one of the conversations 52:32 that we had during dinner, we were talking about this and 52:35 that, and somehow I brought up Rapture and they said, "Well, 52:39 find us a place in Scripture where it talks about Rapture." 52:42 And I said, "It's all over the Bible." 52:44 They said, "Is it, really, though?" 52:46 So they gave me a DVD that said "Amazing Facts," and I remember 52:50 coming back to America and I started watching it and it said, 52:54 "Amazing Facts Presents." 52:56 And Doug Batchelor started talking. 52:58 One of the things that he said is the word "rapture" wasn't 53:00 in Scripture. 53:02 And that was the first time that I actually heard Pastor 53:05 Batchelor speak. 53:07 And then I run into YouTube, a video series called "The 53:12 Prophecy Code," and I said, "Oh, this is going to be 53:14 good, sweet." 53:17 But it was just torture because everything I knew, it was just 53:21 getting tossed out the window. 53:23 He was just using Scripture after Scripture to take away 53:29 everything and all--everything that I thought was normal and 53:31 everything that I knew about the book of Apocalypses. 53:36 Ever since I've learned scriptural truth and I've seen 53:38 the light, I feel like there's been a fire rekindled in 53:42 my heart. 53:44 And I have this knowledge that I want to share with people. 53:48 It brings me peace and I think that it does that for other 53:52 people we've managed to share with. 53:55 My name is Andrew. 53:57 I am a fisherman and a dreamer. 53:59 I want to thank you for changing my life. 54:03 ♪♪♪ 54:13 announcer: "Amazing Facts Changed Lives." 54:22 Bill Powell: Well, we lived in pretty much a secular household 54:25 up until Mom started sending us to Sunday school. 54:29 Pretty soon my mom started getting caught up in it and she 54:31 started coming too. 54:33 But, unfortunately, about the time that my dad started getting 54:36 interested, I started becoming less and less interested. 54:41 It finally came to a head one day where I just told him I 54:44 wasn't going anymore. 54:46 My attitude was just I could party and do what I wanted to do 54:49 and have fun and as long as I'm not hurting anybody, it's 54:52 nobody's business. 54:55 The whole time I was in high school, the Vietnam War was 54:58 going on and I just assumed that I was going to be in Vietnam. 55:03 Five days after I graduated high school, I was in the Navy. 55:07 I became more and more secular. 55:10 I went from occasionally drinking to drinking almost 55:13 every night. 55:15 When I came home from the Navy, I started going to school and 55:18 gained an IT degree so I could get into being a 55:21 database administrator. 55:24 Was willing to work hard but I was going to party just as hard. 55:27 I remember one day having a conversation with myself after a 55:30 particularly rough night and I realized that I was going to a 55:35 dark place so I stopped drinking for a while, but I still looked 55:39 to solve things on my own. 55:43 I remember very vividly 9/11/2001. 55:47 I was very conservative, politically, and I began 55:49 thinking that there was something really, really satanic 55:53 about the forces that had attacked us. 55:56 So I began to accept that there might be a Satan. 56:02 I came to the conclusion that if there was a Satan, there must be 56:05 a God. 56:08 Sometime around 2005, my dad had a heart attack. 56:11 It was devastating to me, and my wife was kind of feeling the 56:15 same thing. 56:17 So she started going to church. 56:19 I was a very firm believer in evolution and the science of 56:22 the world. 56:25 She came home one day and brought a brochure and begged me 56:28 to read it. 56:30 And the brochure was about creation science. 56:32 And I realized as I was reading through this that evolution 56:35 wasn't cut and dried like they had led me to believe. 56:38 You know, I wanted to learn more and, at the back, I saw a logo 56:40 that said amazingfacts.org. 56:43 So I got on my computer and went to amazingfacts.org and I found 56:46 Bible studies. 56:49 So I'm reading the Bible now and doing these studies and I get to 56:53 a point in the study that he was talking about hell. 56:57 And I began to understand that if I went to hell, that it was 57:01 going to be a second death. 57:04 I just fell down and asked God's forgiveness. 57:08 I accepted Christ to be my Savior. 57:12 I know that God is good and that He has saved me from myself in 57:16 that sense. 57:18 The Holy Spirit is not your enemy. 57:20 He's your friend and you just need to listen. 57:25 My name is Bill Powell and Amazing Facts played an amazing 57:27 role in changing my life. 57:33 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2021-02-05