Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP210007S
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00:01 Hello and a great big welcome to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel.
00:04 Man, we're so glad you joined us today. 00:06 We do have an exciting lesson. 00:08 We're going to be on lesson number seven, 00:09 get everything that you need right now, 00:11 because we're going to zoom right through it 00:12 by the grace of God. 00:14 If you're interested in history, 00:16 if you're interested in seeing 00:17 how God works through man and wins battles for us, 00:21 you're going to want to stay right here with us 00:22 lesson number seven. 00:24 We're going to talk about the defeat of the Assyrians. 00:26 It's going to be such a good lesson. 00:27 I know the Holy Spirit's going to bless and lead 00:29 and guide and direct. 00:30 And so we encourage you to stay right with us. 00:32 Now, if you don't have your study guides, 00:34 and I'm going to encourage you right now 00:35 to download those right now, you can do that. 00:38 Go to ABSG.Adventist.org. 00:42 That's ABSG.Adventist.org. 00:45 Get those study guides, study right along with us. 00:48 You know, it'll get to be a habit. 00:50 And it's a good habit. 00:51 Again, we're glad that you're with us. 00:52 We're getting ready to start right now. 00:54 I hope you're as excited as we are. 00:56 And may God bless you as we study together. 00:58 We'll see you in just a moment. 01:31 Hello and welcome back to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 01:33 We're glad again that you're still right here 01:35 joining right along with us, 01:37 again, lesson number seven, 01:38 going to be talking about the defeat of Assyria. 01:41 Well, I mean, this is a real good study. 01:43 And I'm really, I'm looking forward to it. 01:44 I know there's a lot of history. 01:46 And I'm really not a history buff. 01:48 Is that okay to say that? 01:50 I'm just not really no, 01:51 but this is I think it's essential 01:52 that we look at some of these things 01:54 to see how God's people what a dilemma they were in 01:58 and also to look and see how God brings them 02:00 out of that dilemma 02:01 and really what takes place in betwixt, 02:03 in between we say. 02:04 Well, again, glad you join us. 02:06 You just made our day. 02:07 Thank you for that. 02:08 We're going to introduce our panel right now to my left, 02:11 Pastor Ryan Day, bless you. 02:13 I'm glad you're here today. 02:14 Well, bless you too, Brother. 02:16 It's good to be here. Yeah. 02:17 I love working with you. Thank you. 02:18 Amen, same here. 02:20 Of course, the panel is just always so good 02:21 and so gracious, 02:22 pulls me out of a lot of messes I get myself into, 02:24 so thank you all for that. 02:25 Now near... 02:26 Lastly our Sister Shelley Quinn, 02:28 always a pleasure. 02:29 Always a pleasure and my privilege 02:31 to be on this panel with all of you. 02:32 Yeah. 02:33 Can you answer a question for me? 02:35 Is this a lot of work to do Sabbath School Panel? 02:36 Or is it just got come easy? 02:37 You know, I don't think people realize 02:40 how much you study for a 10 minute segment. 02:42 I'll start off with 15 pages of notes 02:45 and then you are trying to distill it, so. 02:48 Yeah. 02:49 Reason I asked that some people say, 02:50 "Oh, it can't take too long time, blah, blah, 02:53 I'm like you start with a big list 02:54 and all shorten this down. 02:56 It takes hours maybe just to do 10 minutes. 02:57 But anyway, it's sure is a blessing. 02:59 It helps us grow closer to God. Amen. 03:01 Praise the Lord. Pastor John Lomacang. 03:02 Yes. 03:03 Always glad to have you, my brother. 03:05 I'm on charge. 03:06 I'm on target. 03:08 You know, I've got my polka dots with me today. 03:09 I think everything's going to be 03:10 just fine. 03:12 I think it looks good with your tie. 03:13 Absolutely. We're glad you're here. 03:14 And Sister Jill Morikone on your left. 03:16 Always a pleasure. 03:18 Thank you, Pastor Kenny. 03:19 Always a joy to open up God's Word 03:21 and just study together. 03:22 I am excited about this lesson. 03:24 Yes, amen. 03:25 Okay, well, we know 03:26 we can't do anything without prayer. 03:28 Ain't that right? What do we do? 03:29 I jot down a couple of things. 03:30 Just a couple little words here, 03:32 Fundamentals of Education, 441. 03:34 It says, "Seek to know God through prayer. 03:39 Seek to know God through prayer." 03:40 So we're seeking to know Him 03:42 as we pray and as we study this lesson. 03:45 And then notice this message to young people, 53, 03:48 talks about the sound of prayer that the devils tremble, 03:53 at the sound of prayer the devils tremble. 03:56 But today, the devils are going to tremble 03:58 because we're going to have prayer. 04:00 Brother Ryan, what do you say? Let's do it. 04:01 Let's pray. Absolutely. 04:03 All right. 04:04 Father in heaven, Lord, 04:05 just as Brother Kenny just said, 04:07 we want to make some devils tremble. 04:08 Come on now. 04:09 Because we know that You 04:11 are more powerful than the devil. 04:12 Amen. 04:13 And, Lord, we want to thank You for this opportunity 04:15 that we have to be able to come together once more, 04:16 and be able to share Your Word to dissect it, 04:18 to learn it, to grow from it. 04:20 And so, Lord, give us Your Holy Spirit right now 04:21 as we rightly divide Your word of truth. 04:24 May this go out and bless so many people, 04:26 including ourselves, we ask in Jesus' name, amen. 04:29 Amen. Praise the Lord, okay. 04:31 Memory text, we need to get memory text 04:32 that may just sets up the foundation 04:34 of what we're going to build off of and spring in. 04:37 And also in our lessons, 04:38 some of us will kind of go off to the other 04:39 and work with that 04:41 because we're given some of the same passages 04:42 and we want to stick with the lesson 04:44 and try to get the meaning out of it. 04:45 So it helps you and helps us too. 04:46 Sister Shelley, how about you? 04:48 Would you read our memory text for us? 04:49 Absolutely. All right. 04:51 "O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, 04:54 the one who dwells between the cherubim, 04:57 You are God, 04:59 You alone of all the kingdoms of the earth, 05:03 You have made heaven and earth." 05:05 Isaiah 37:16. 05:09 That's also exciting to know, right, in passage of scripture. 05:13 There in Isaiah 37:16 again, with the Sabbath part, 05:16 we're just kind of go and set a little background here. 05:18 I think it's important 05:20 that we go through this on this verse, 05:22 because at this point in time, Assyria was at its height, 05:26 in the military form, 05:28 you know, and they were certainly looking 05:30 at God's people 05:32 and thinking about anytime taking advantage of them. 05:35 And I say that 05:36 it's because at this point in time, 05:38 under Hezekiah, they really had no military, 05:40 they were really, 05:41 I mean, they just, they really couldn't fight. 05:43 And I'm so thankful God says, 05:45 I'll fight your battles for you, 05:47 that's good, isn't it? 05:48 According to 2 Kings 18 says, "Judah had no training, 05:53 they had no cavalry as it were, no military, 05:57 and then all of a sudden 05:59 here was Assyria trying to attack God's people 06:02 and through rumors. 06:04 I thought that was very interesting. 06:06 They were actually telling lies. 06:07 They were saying 06:08 that God's people were trying to attack them, 06:10 had to be very careful with all these things. 06:11 So it gives them excuse to go and get. 06:13 We hear a lot of that today going on. 06:15 There's one side tells a story 06:17 and the other side tells that story. 06:18 And all of a sudden, we have to be very careful. 06:20 Jerusalem, though, 06:21 we realized was soon to face a real terrible siege. 06:25 Assyrian started to, 06:26 I want to put text that like this, 06:28 a talk war, maybe a cold war, we call it today. 06:31 And again, they begin to, 06:33 they begin to say to God's people, 06:36 and to Hezekiah's people, 06:37 "Listen, the only way you're going to get out of this 06:39 is if you turn on the king." 06:41 I thought that was kind of interesting. 06:43 A lot of times the devil works that way, 06:44 doesn't he? 06:45 Trying to get us to turn on one another 06:48 when we should be shoulder to shoulder. 06:50 We should be working together in the cause of God. 06:54 But the enemy tries to divide and conquer 06:55 and certainly to separate here. 06:57 Now, we realize then, since the king knew right then, 07:01 we realized that something was going to happen. 07:03 A battle, his people may be defeated, 07:06 a lot of death. 07:07 He put on sackcloth and ashes, didn't he? 07:08 I wonder why they put those things on 07:10 and went to the temple. 07:12 Number one, it was a custom, was it not? 07:15 And I think he was falling after. 07:16 I think it was Joel Chapter 1. 07:18 That's what Joel did when he was in trouble. 07:20 And so now before Hezekiah realized, 07:22 "I'm in trouble. 07:23 I'm in trouble. 07:25 And best thing I can do," and I like this, 07:26 "is I need to seek God." 07:28 So when you're in trouble, my brothers and sisters, 07:30 may I just say seek God. 07:31 That's right. Seek God first, not everything. 07:33 But seek God first right here, 07:35 because there was a great crisis, 07:36 there's going to be a lot of death, 07:38 a lot of suffering, so on. 07:39 And right then and there 07:41 is what we talked about in our lesson. 07:42 We need good leadership. 07:43 Now we're facing a tremendous battle 07:45 as God's last day people. 07:47 We need good leadership. 07:49 Next, we talk of, can I, may I say from the ground up, 07:52 need new good leaders 07:53 that will lead based upon the Word of God. 07:56 And I want to say the Spirit of Prophecy 07:58 if you allow me to do that, 08:00 because I think that's the greatest gift, 08:02 certainly Holy Spirit given to the church, 08:04 but it's given to the church today, 08:05 which we can read. 08:06 And somebody like me simple minded, 08:08 it helps me to understand this crisis 08:10 that we are in that how to prepare for it. 08:13 This is what was going on this time, here for sure. 08:15 Now, another couple things 08:17 that Assyria had belittled the God of heaven. 08:19 And they were making fun of Him and said, 08:21 You know what, we'll defeat Him 08:22 like we've done all the other gods. 08:23 So we're not really worried about this. 08:26 But he realized 08:27 what was getting ready to take place. 08:28 Hezekiah had tried to encourage his people. 08:32 He tried to encourage them. 08:33 At some time 08:34 some of you who work with people all the time, 08:36 and all of you do, 08:38 you try to encourage people and there are just some you, 08:40 you just cannot encourage. 08:41 You know, you get on the Word of God, 08:43 you pray with them, you bolster them up, 08:44 and next day, they're in the same, 08:46 we say same pickle, 08:47 you know, but anyway, that's what we should be doing. 08:49 So Hezekiah, said, "Man, I need to seek God. 08:52 I need to get, you know, 08:53 I need to bring God into this thing. 08:54 So he sent a message of encouragement to his people, 08:59 some accepted, some didn't accepted, 09:01 kind of reminds me of Joshua and Caleb, 09:04 you remember that when they talked, 09:06 they were. 09:07 They said, "We want to encourage the people. 09:09 Don't fear, 09:10 you have nothing to fear with men. 09:12 You need to be, you know, your courage 09:14 and your love needs to be put toward God, 09:15 God's going to be. 09:17 Will be more than conquerors through Him. 09:19 But sometime people have a very difficult time, 09:21 you know, of listening. 09:23 So today I would say, "Be strong. 09:25 Be strong in the Lord 09:26 regardless of what we're going through. 09:28 And what we're, we are headed into, 09:31 and I have to bring that, 09:32 I think Pastor John mentioned before we went on the air. 09:34 Some of this stuff needs to be brought forward 09:36 to today. 09:37 I need encouragement today. 09:40 I need to know, I read this, I get encouraged 09:42 because I see when the odds are seemed to be 09:43 all against, you know, God's people. 09:46 That's when He steps up to the plate as it were. 09:48 This is when He begins to work it out. 09:50 That's when He takes the battle into His own hands. 09:52 And He gets to show that He is God. 09:54 And I believe He's doing that right now 09:56 in this hour that we're living in. 09:59 Well, we notice that the king here, 10:01 and the king of Assyria, 10:03 Sennacherib, they're pretty close. 10:06 Sennacherib Sennacherib. Okay. 10:07 It's close as I'm going to get. 10:09 Yeah, and I'm going to go right on with it. 10:10 And I'll say the king of Assyria, 10:12 and I won't stumble around over that. 10:13 All right. 10:15 We'll know who it is. 10:16 All right, Sunday's lessons. 10:17 We don't have a lot of time on it, 10:19 but it's okay, Lord puts things on your heart. 10:20 I think we should share those things 10:22 that God puts on our heart. 10:23 Some of these lessons strings attached. 10:25 What does that mean? 10:26 Isaiah 36:1, said, 10:28 "Now it came to pass 10:29 in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, 10:31 that Sennacherib king of Assyria," 10:33 I said it, "came up 10:34 against all the defensive cities 10:36 of Judah and took them." 10:38 And Sennacherib goes against Judah, 10:41 and this was about four years after he became king, 10:44 kind of interesting. 10:45 He goes, he goes against God's people, 10:48 because of basically three reasons. 10:50 I'll give you those three reasons. 10:51 Number one, 10:53 Hezekiah refused to submit to the Assyrian yoke. 10:57 He just refused. 10:58 At some time, we had to refuse to go 11:00 under a yoke or bondage of things 11:01 we know that's not godly, 11:03 things that we know that goes against God's Word. 11:06 Two, Hezekiah call for some help 11:08 with his neighbors to go against the king 11:11 and the king held that against him. 11:12 So maybe some of the things we said or done. 11:14 Some people say, you know, you're going to be in trouble 11:16 because you said certain things. 11:17 And I say, you know, 11:18 you can't get of his truths, let it be. 11:20 That's right. 11:21 You know, and but he went ahead and the king said, 11:23 "Ah, I remember that." 11:24 Number three, they had assisted 11:26 in the Philistines in their uprising. 11:29 So they done several things that the king didn't like, 11:32 and he said, we're going to basically get 11:33 even with you, 11:35 Another problem of Hezekiah, 11:37 now refused to pay tribute money. 11:41 My mind just goes 11:42 in a lot of different directions. 11:44 I'm just so sorry 11:45 when I talk about tribute money, 11:46 so I'm not going to go too much, the tribute money. 11:49 And to me that, isn't that protection, money, 11:51 tribute money, I mean, 11:53 Pastor John mentioned New York law, 11:54 some I mean, they used to pay for protection, did they not? 11:57 And some cities, 11:58 I think today probably still do, 12:00 they pay money to be kind of protected. 12:01 And so anyway, this is protection, money, 12:04 tribute money, 12:06 like his father Ahaz had had done, 12:08 and money can still be an issue today. 12:11 And maybe question might be asked, 12:12 you know, to each one of us, 12:15 good point, where do you pay your tribute? 12:18 Hmm. 12:19 Let that go wherever you want to, 12:20 where do you pay your tribute? 12:22 You know, think about. 12:23 Now, with a lot of these things going on with Assyria, war, 12:28 death is taking place right now. 12:31 It seemed a very good time right now for Hezekiah 12:35 because he said, you know, right now 12:37 we're not going to take this anymore, 12:38 we're going to, 12:40 there's going to be an uprising. 12:41 And we're going to rebel, 12:42 and give you a couple quick reasons why. 12:45 Now remember, we looked at the power, 12:47 the nation in power was kind of going downhill. 12:50 Hezekiah on the impression of the Holy Spirit 12:53 realized this thing, 12:54 if they were going to do something, 12:55 it might be time to do it. 12:57 And so they begin to rebel. 12:58 2 Kings 18:3 13:00 and it takes a lot of time to go through 13:02 and different panels will go through this, 13:03 as you look at what we're studying right now, 13:05 in Isaiah, and you go to, like 2 Kings on through there, 13:09 several of those chapters are just almost identical 13:11 to what we're talking about. 13:13 So you can go back and forth and get a lot of meaning. 13:14 I hope that you do that. 13:16 So let me give you these three, four, five reasons real quick. 13:19 Number one, why, 13:20 and why rebel at this point in time? 13:22 2 Kings 18:3, 13:24 "He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord." 13:26 Oh, that's good. 13:28 Number one, if you do that, 13:29 which is right in the sight of the Lord, 13:31 God will bless you. 13:33 That's right. He will always bless. 13:34 That's right. 13:35 It might take a little while 13:37 and may take a little twist and turn. 13:38 But God will always bless 13:40 those who stand for what is right. 13:41 2 Kings 18:4, second reason. 13:44 He broke the images and he destroyed the groves. 13:47 That's right. It was time to do it. 13:49 And he was rising up. 13:50 This is what God asked him to do. 13:52 Number three, 2 Kings 18:5, notice, 13:55 "Because He trusted, notice, in the Lord." 13:58 Wow. 13:59 In the time we trusted in the Lord, 14:01 especially the hour that we're living in, 14:03 you know, I can't understand, 14:04 I understand how people get by in this world 14:07 if they don't have something I like the Lord to lean on, 14:09 the Lord to lean on right now in this time. 14:12 2 Kings 18:6, it says here, "He kept God's commandments." 14:17 Wow, he kept God's commandment. 14:20 So there's another clue for us. 14:21 We want to be blessed. 14:23 And we want to ride on the high places 14:24 and say we need to keep the commandments of the Lord. 14:26 Now, number five, last one here, 14:28 2 Kings 18:7 says, 14:30 "And the Lord was with him, 14:33 and prepared him wherever he went." 14:35 Amen. 14:37 And I believe that we can say that, 14:38 we should be able to say that from experience, 14:42 that we've committed our life to God 14:44 by keeping His commandments 14:45 by His grace and by His strength. 14:46 That's right. 14:48 And the Lord was with Him. 14:49 Can you say that today that the Lord is with you, 14:52 wherever you're going, is the Lord really with you? 14:54 And He's only going to be with you 14:56 as we're doing those things 14:57 which are according to His will. 14:59 Isn't that so wonderful to know these things? 15:01 We're just setting the stage, Brother Ryan, 15:02 you're going to have to take control 15:04 from right here, my brother. 15:05 All right, let's do it. 15:06 Let's continue on. 15:08 So there is a lot of history in this lesson. 15:10 And Monday's lesson entitled, "Propaganda" 15:14 will be a little bit of a historical narrative, 15:19 setting us up for Wednesday's, 15:22 excuse me, Tuesday's lesson 15:23 which Shelley is going to kind of continue on 15:25 with that narrative. 15:26 But there's a lot to read here. 15:28 I may not even be able to get through it all. 15:29 But I want to just set the foundation here 15:31 by saying that, 15:32 you know, Assyria was the champions of the world 15:34 at this time. 15:35 Yeah. 15:36 This was before Babylon about, 15:38 I don't know, 150, 160 years before Babylon. 15:40 And so at this time, 15:41 they're the champions of the world. 15:43 And they were very intelligent. 15:44 Don't think for one moment that and I forget, 15:47 how do you say, How do you say his name pastor again, King TP. 15:51 Tiglath-Pileser, okay. 15:55 So, you know, this guy was, 15:57 I mean, he was the military genius of his day. 15:59 And we have to give credit 16:00 where credit is due to a certain extent, 16:02 because there's a reason 16:03 why they were the champions of the world, 16:04 but they, they were bullies, they were the bully also. 16:07 They were that big brother, 16:08 or that bully coming and stealing 16:11 your lunch money, right? 16:12 And that's exactly what was happening with Israel, 16:14 and many of those surrounding nations 16:16 and in cities around them. 16:18 And so, I'm going to go ahead and start back with verse 1, 16:21 even though Brother Kenny read it. 16:22 I'm going to kind of walk us through this narrative 16:24 to show us what is happening 16:25 because there are some lessons that we can learn from this. 16:27 So again, Monday's lesson, Propaganda. 16:31 And you'll see why it's entitled that 16:32 in just a moment. 16:33 So it says there in verse 1, "Now it came to pass..." 16:35 Isaiah 36. 16:36 Isaiah, that's right, Isaiah Chapter 36. 16:39 Thank you, Shelley. 16:40 We're going to start reading there in verse 1. 16:43 "Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year 16:46 of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib 16:48 king of Assyria 16:49 came up against all the fortified cities 16:51 of Judah and took them." 16:53 And this is where Monday's lesson 16:55 picks up in verse 2, 16:57 "Then the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh, " 17:00 if I'm saying that correctly, I believe so, 17:02 "with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. 17:08 And he stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool, 17:11 on the highway to the Fuller's Field. 17:13 And Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, 17:17 and then Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, 17:21 the recorder, came out to him." 17:23 So this, this red Rabshakeh, 17:26 which is basically kind of 17:27 the butler/kind of right hand man 17:32 under the king. 17:34 The king has sent him out as a representative. 17:35 He said, "Well go to Jerusalem, send them this message, 17:38 they need to hear this message 17:39 because I'm coming for their city." 17:41 And here's what you have to understand. 17:43 This is how intelligent this king was. 17:45 All of these other surrounding cities, 17:47 they put up a fight. 17:48 So he had to use his resources 17:49 to take down these other surrounding cities, 17:51 but he's thinking if Jerusalem has been paying attention, 17:54 and they know I'm coming for them, 17:55 why waste my resources and efforts 17:58 and going in and sieging the city? 18:00 What if I can use a little bit of manipulation, 18:02 propaganda 18:03 and basically talk them into surrendering 18:06 that we don't have to, 18:07 you know, mess up our resources 18:09 or using of our resources 18:10 or our fine men 18:12 or any deaths or anything like that, 18:13 which was actually a genius plot. 18:15 So notice what it continues to say, 18:17 verse 4, this is where the Rabshakeh 18:19 begins to promote this propaganda. 18:21 So here we go. 18:23 Verse 4, it says, 18:24 "Then the Rabshakeh said to them, 18:27 'Say now to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, 18:30 the king of Assyria: 18:33 'What confidence is this in which you trust? 18:36 I say to you speak of having plans, 18:39 or I say you having, 18:41 speak of having plans and power for war, 18:43 but they are mere words." 18:45 So you know what, you say you have a plan of war, 18:48 you say that you're okay, 18:49 that you're going to stand your ground 18:50 but, you know it sounds like you just talk, all talk. 18:53 He says, "Now in whom do you trust, 18:56 that you rebel against me? 18:57 Look! 18:59 You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, 19:02 on which if a man leans, 19:05 it will go out into his hand and pierce it. 19:08 So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him." 19:11 So notice the arrogance of his language here. 19:14 He's saying really, really, you got to, 19:16 you got to trust in Egypt, those Egyptians? 19:18 Really? 19:19 That you're going to help, they're weak 19:21 and they're unreliable 19:22 and you're going to put your trust in them 19:23 that will crush them like a little mosquito, right? 19:25 It goes on to say in verse 7, 19:28 "But if you say to me, 'We trust in the Lord our God,' 19:32 is it not He whose high places 19:35 and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, 19:38 and said to Judah and Jerusalem, 19:40 'You shall worship before this altar'?" 19:42 'Okay, so notice this why Hezekiah 19:44 as Brother Kenny brought up beautifully, 19:46 he was a good king for the most part, 19:49 but he's a good king, like many others 19:50 that made mistakes right along the way. 19:52 And so in this case, he had made the mistake 19:54 and so basically notice the propaganda 19:56 and notice the manipulation here 19:58 that Rabshakeh is using. 20:00 He's basically saying, 20:02 "Look, you cannot depend on the Lord to help you 20:04 because Hezekiah has offended him 20:07 by removing his high places, 20:09 and the altars throughout Judah, 20:11 telling the people to worship at one altar in Judah. 20:14 Well he's offended God 20:15 and you think you can depend on the Lord? 20:17 All right." And so he continues on. 20:20 Verse 8, "Now therefore, I urge you, 20:22 give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, 20:25 and I will give you two thousand horses, 20:28 if you are able on your part to put riders on them!" 20:32 Again notice. 20:34 Again, the arrogance and the sarcasm here. 20:37 You know what he says, 20:38 "You don't even have enough train men 20:40 to handle 2,000 horses 20:41 and you want to come up against us? 20:43 Come on, come on, right." 20:44 Verse 9, he says, 20:47 "How then will you repel one captain 20:49 of the least of my master's servants, 20:51 and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 20:55 Have I now come up without the Lord 20:57 against the land to destroy it? 20:59 The Lord said to me, 21:01 'Go up against this land, and destroy it.' " 21:04 So now, now he's really throwing, 21:06 he's really throwing it here. 21:08 He said, "Look, you know, in fact, 21:10 the Lord is on Assyria side, 21:12 and he told Sennacherib to come and destroy Judah. 21:16 So you're wanting to trust in the Lord. 21:17 But look, your Lord told us to come do this. 21:21 So why don't you just lay down and surrender? 21:23 And by the way, send us a little bit of a gift, 21:24 you know, give me some nice, right?" 21:26 All right, verse 11, it says, "Then Eliakim, Shebna, 21:30 and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, and they said to him, 21:34 "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, " 21:36 notice the response there, "Please speak to us in Aramaic, 21:41 for we understand it, 21:43 and do not speak to us in Hebrew 21:44 in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.' " 21:46 In other words, what they're saying is, 21:48 don't say that too loud in that language, 21:51 these guys on the wall can hear what you're saying, 21:53 you know, there is the challenge. 21:54 And they're basically saying, "Don't speak in Hebrew, 21:56 where these other brothers can hear you." 21:58 Speak in Aramaic, we can understand that, 22:00 but they can't. 22:01 "But the Rabshakeh, he responds and says, 22:04 "Has my master sent to me, to your master, 22:07 and to you to speak these words, 22:09 and not to the men who sit on the wall, 22:12 who will eat and drink their own waste with you?" 22:15 Verse 13, it says, 22:17 "Then the Rabshakeh stood 22:18 and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, 22:20 and said," notice, eats of right in his face, 22:22 almost in Hebrew anyways. 22:24 He says, "Hear the words of the great king, 22:26 the king of Assyria! 22:27 Thus says the king: 22:29 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, ' 22:31 notice this, he says, 22:32 'for he will not be able to deliver you, 22:35 nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, 22:38 saying, 'The Lord will surely deliver us, 22:41 this city will not be given 22:42 into the hand of the Assyrian king.' " 22:47 'So basically, he's saying, 22:48 I want you to understand this message clearly, 22:51 listen up, because these brothers 22:52 ain't going to tell you the truth. 22:53 Let me just give it to you straight. 22:55 Verse 16, we're coming to the end of this. 22:56 It says, "Do not listen to Hezekiah, 22:59 for thus says the king of Assyria: 23:01 'Make peace with me by a present," 23:06 here it is, "and come out to me, 23:08 and every one of you eat from his own vine 23:10 and everyone would eat of his own fig tree, 23:12 and every one of you would drink of the waters 23:14 of his own cistern, 23:16 until I come and take you away 23:18 to a land like your own land, 23:20 a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards." 23:25 So he says, "Look, come give me a present, 23:28 give me something nice. 23:30 And I'll take you away to better things right, 23:32 to avoid a siege 23:33 in which you have nothing to eat and drink. 23:36 Give up now, and you'll be treated well." 23:38 That's basically what he's saying. 23:39 "We don't really want to fight. 23:40 We don't want to come to that. So just give up now." 23:43 And then notice verse 18, again, 23:45 "Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, 23:47 saying, 'The Lord will deliver us.' " 23:50 Do you notice a pattern throughout this entire thing, 23:52 at least three or four times at this point 23:54 he has already brought up, 23:56 "Don't let Hezekiah tell you the Lord or do this. 23:58 Well, the Lord really helped you? 23:59 The Lord's not going to come through, 24:01 he keeps bringing it up as if, 24:02 as if he almost knows something. 24:04 As if he knows 24:06 that if the people grasp the concept 24:09 that they need to depend on the Lord 24:11 that something may happen. 24:12 So what is he doing? 24:14 And who do you thought of, 24:15 who do you think is behind this? 24:17 Who do you think, just like in our lives, 24:18 who comes along when you need the Lord to be on your side, 24:21 when you need to place your trust in the Lord, 24:23 who comes along and says, "Don't think for one moment, 24:25 the Lord's on your side? 24:27 Don't think for one moment 24:28 that the Lord's going to hear you. 24:30 You've offended him, you know, you sinned too much. 24:32 You won't win him. 24:33 Don't do that, you know, leave the Lord alone, 24:34 because you know what, 24:36 he's not on your side at the moment. 24:37 So it goes on to say here at the end of this passage, 24:39 "Has any one of the gods of the nations 24:41 delivered its land 24:43 from the hand of the kings of Assyria? 24:45 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad?" 24:47 And he goes on basically to list and say, 24:50 basically, Hezekiah cannot save you 24:52 and because the gods of all the other countries 24:54 that we've conquered, 24:55 that Assyria has conquered, because gods, 24:57 those gods have not saved them. 24:59 What makes you think 25:00 that your God's going to save you? 25:02 He throws them under the bridge here, 25:04 under the rug. 25:05 So, my friends, the point that we can learn from this 25:07 is the point I get is when people try to tell us 25:10 and the devil tries to tell us don't trust in the Lord, 25:12 that's when we need to put our trust in the Lord. 25:14 So the question is what's going to happen 25:16 from this point on, how does the Lord respond? 25:17 How do the people respond? 25:19 That's what Shelley is going to do for us 25:20 on Tuesday's lesson, 25:21 but I think we're going to take a break. 25:23 Well you know what? 25:24 You've got my attention, 25:26 I guarantee you got the people's attention. 25:27 So stay right there. 25:28 We'll be right back. 25:30 Praise the Lord. 25:34 Ever wish you could watch 25:35 a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again, 25:37 or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 25:41 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com. 25:46 A clean design makes it easy 25:48 to find the program you're looking for. 25:50 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 25:54 so you can follow along. 25:55 Sharing is easy. 25:57 Just click share and choose your favorite social media. 26:00 Share a link, save a life for eternity. 26:04 Welcome back to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 26:06 We're going to jump right into Tuesday's lesson. 26:08 I like the title Sister Shelley. 26:09 I know you're going to bring some things out, 26:11 "Shaken but Not Forsaken." 26:13 Boy, I can't wait, I'll identify with it. 26:15 Oh, that's true. 26:17 Okay, so what we're doing here, Isaiah Chapter 36 and 37. 26:22 This, actually, there's four chapters here 26:25 that are a historical interlude. 26:28 Chapters 36 and 37 26:32 are the consummation of chapters 1-35. 26:37 And what this is doing 26:38 is this is talking about their deliverance 26:41 from Assyria how it's going to end up. 26:43 And then chapters 38 and 39 are kind of prelude, 26:48 the historical prelude 26:50 for the rest of the story from chapters 40-66. 26:56 That's going to be a preview of the Babylonian captivity. 27:00 So what we're going to do is look at Isaiah 37, 27:05 I'm just going to tell you the story a little bit 27:07 instead of reading it, 27:09 because few points I want to bring out, 27:11 we won't have time otherwise. 27:13 How did the clever oratory 27:16 of the Rabshakeh 27:19 affect not only the officials 27:23 and by the way, the Rabshakeh, 27:25 those are like the captains of the guard for Sennacherib, 27:30 the Assyrian army. 27:31 And so they're men of importance. 27:34 And here, they're coming and telling all of this. 27:37 How did the officials, how did Hezekiah respond? 27:41 We see in Isaiah 37:1, that when he hears, 27:46 Hezekiah hears this report, 27:48 here he is rebelling against Assyria. 27:51 Now they're saying, "Hey, off with your neck, 27:54 we're coming in for you. 27:55 Your God is no match for our gods. 27:59 You can't do anything about this. 28:01 So Hezekiah is shaken. 28:04 I mean, he's disturbed and what does he do? 28:07 He tears his robe, he puts on sackcloth and ashes. 28:12 And what this is was symbolizing, 28:15 not just his grief, 28:16 but repentance and contrition, 28:19 then it goes into the House of the Lord. 28:21 And you know, the temple was known 28:24 as the house of prayer. 28:26 So how appropriate was his response? 28:29 When we get disturbing news, we may mourn for a while. 28:34 That's right. 28:35 But let's come to our senses and get into the prayer mode. 28:41 So verse 2, what Hezekiah does 28:43 is he sends two of his officials, 28:45 and then some of the senior religious leaders, the elders. 28:51 He sends them to the Prophet Isaiah, 28:56 because what he's going to do, he wants Isaiah to pray. 29:00 And that was one of the main functions 29:02 of a prophet's role, 29:04 was intercessory prayer. 29:06 So in verse 3, what Hezekiah, I love this. 29:10 He compares his dilemma to a mother 29:13 who's in labor of birth. 29:15 In other words, what he's saying is, 29:18 "You know what? 29:19 I'm unable to, I mean, 29:21 I know Jerusalem needs to be delivered, 29:26 but I'm helpless." 29:27 He said, "I'm like a mother, who is in labor, but I've got, 29:32 I don't have the strength to complete the delivery." 29:36 So here these emissaries, go to Isaiah. 29:40 And they say, 29:41 "Hey, the Rabshakeh have belittled the Lord. 29:45 They have equipped or equated Him to pagan gods. 29:50 And they ask Isaiah, they say therefore, 29:52 because of this insult, 29:55 lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left. 29:57 What is the remnant? 29:59 Only Jerusalem. 30:00 Jerusalem is the only part that remained unconquered. 30:05 So, listen, how God speaks through Isaiah, 30:11 to encourage Hezekiah. 30:13 Isaiah 37:5-7. 30:15 "So the servants 30:17 of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 30:19 And Isaiah said to them, 30:21 'Thus shall you say to your master, 30:24 'Thus says the Lord: 30:26 'Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard.' " 30:32 Somebody who is hearing my voice today, 30:36 needs to know that do not be afraid 30:40 of the words you have heard. 30:43 It may be a diagnosis, it may be the bank, 30:46 I don't know what it is. 30:48 Don't be afraid, you turn to God. 30:50 He says, "With which the servants 30:52 of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me," 30:55 is what God is saying. 30:57 "Surely, I will send a spirit upon him," 31:00 upon Sennacherib, 31:02 "and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land. 31:04 And I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land." 31:10 The message was brief, but it was enough. 31:12 God's on the side of His people. 31:15 Praise the Lord. 31:17 So Isaiah is predicting 31:19 that Sennacherib's going to hear a rumor, 31:21 and it's going to distract him from his attack 31:24 on Judah and guess what? 31:25 That's exactly what happened. 31:27 Isaiah 37:10-12. 31:30 Sennacherib sends Hezekiah another threatening message, 31:35 he's not going to give up, 31:36 the devil doesn't give up very easily. 31:39 He says, "Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, 31:43 saying: 'Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you." 31:50 Has anyone ever said to you, 31:53 those promises of God are not for you? 31:56 God's deceiving you? 31:58 Let me tell you something. 31:59 Every promise of God is yes and amen in Christ Jesus. 32:03 Here in Jesus Christ, that's it. 32:06 He says, and now this is Sennacherib, 32:08 the king of Assyria, he says "Jerusalem." 32:11 He said, "Don't let your God deceive you saying 32:13 that Jerusalem shall not be given 32:15 into the hand of the king of Assyria." 32:16 Look! 32:18 You have heard what the kings of Assyria 32:20 have done to all the lands 32:21 by utterly destroying them, shall you be delivered?" 32:26 He says, "Have the gods 32:28 of the nations delivered those." 32:30 He's talking about those pagan nations, 32:31 those pagan gods. 32:33 Hey, in the past did they delivered those 32:36 whom my fathers have destroyed, 32:39 Gozan, Haran and Rezeph, 32:41 and the people of Eden who were in Telassar?" 32:45 So Sennacherib is comparing God, 32:51 the Creator God to mere idols. 32:55 And he's suggesting 32:57 that he's going to defeat 33:00 Yahweh's people that Sennacherib, 33:02 he is saying, "Hey, just like we defeated 33:05 all the rest of these people, we're going to defeat you. 33:07 You can't rely on your God." 33:09 So you know what Hezekiah does? 33:11 To me, this is an interesting comparison. 33:13 Let's look at Isaiah 37:15. 33:16 He's learned a lesson, 33:17 he's not going to sit around and mourn anymore. 33:20 You know, before he mourned and he put on the sackcloth. 33:24 And then he finally went into the temple of the Lord. 33:27 This time he goes directly to the temple of Lord, 33:30 and he spreads a message out before the Lord. 33:33 And he says Isaiah 37:15, 33:35 Hezekiah prayed to the Lord saying, 33:37 "O, Lord of hosts, God of Israel, 33:40 the one who dwells between the cherubim." 33:44 You know, he is speaking to God 33:48 as the sovereign God of the whole world. 33:50 He says, "You are the Lord of hosts, 33:53 the cherubim with the angelic, 33:55 powerful, angelic, heavenly creatures." 33:58 And they were often represented 34:00 as being close to his divine presence. 34:02 You remember, in the Holy of Holies, 34:06 the Ark of the Covenant, 34:08 there were two cherubim 34:09 that were over the throne where the mercy seats, 34:12 where Jesus, our God sat. 34:15 Well, that was what? 34:16 A copy of the heavenly so he... 34:19 Then listen to this. 34:22 He says, this is Isaiah, 34:23 "O Lord, You are God, You alone, 34:26 of all the kingdoms of the earth. 34:28 You have made heaven and earth." 34:30 He's appealing to Him as the creator, 34:32 "Incline Your ear and hear, O Lord, 34:36 open Your eyes, O Lord, 34:37 and see, hear all the words of Sennacherib, 34:40 which he has sent to reproach the living God." 34:44 And so, here Sennacherib, 34:46 the king of Assyria is mocking God. 34:49 But boy, Isaiah is saying, 34:52 "Lord, stand up, defend your honor." 34:54 Verse 18, "Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria, " 35:01 he's looking at history path, 35:03 "have laid waste 35:04 to all the nations and their lands, 35:06 and have cast their gods, 35:08 their idols into the fire, for they were not gods, 35:12 but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. 35:15 Therefore you have destroyed them. 35:18 Now therefore, O God," verse 20, 35:21 "Now therefore, O Lord our God, 35:24 save us from his hand, 35:26 that all the kingdoms of the earth 35:28 may know that You are the Lord, 35:32 You alone." 35:34 Hezekiah is appealing to God based on His glory. 35:39 Yes. 35:40 You know, that's what we always pray, 35:42 to God be the glory. 35:43 Amen. 35:44 This was the highest motivation of all, 35:48 for God to save Jerusalem was for His glory. 35:54 And Hezekiah wants the world to know that He alone is God. 35:59 You know what? One quick point. Well. 36:01 Sennacherib had attacked Hezekiah's strongest defense, 36:07 and that was his faith. 36:08 But what did Hezekiah do? 36:10 He didn't buckle under, don't buckle under. 36:13 That's right. 36:14 What you do is appeal to God and say, 36:16 "Lord, for Your glory." 36:17 Oh, good. Amen. 36:19 Thank you so much, Shelley, and Ryan, and Kenny, 36:21 for that outline of history. 36:23 We're going to dive into this section of the lesson 36:25 on Wednesday called "The Rest of The Story." 36:27 And one of the confirming aspects 36:29 of the Bible is his historical record. 36:31 Many books are written 36:33 that you cannot really trace its content. 36:36 The Book of Mormon is one of those 36:38 where the cities and names and coins that are mentioned 36:41 cannot be found in history. 36:43 But the Bible is a confirming book, 36:44 you can trace it back through the pages of history. 36:47 The other thing about the Bible that takes us 36:49 through the conquest of kingdoms, 36:51 the sequential records of kings, 36:53 both of Israel and Judah and other nations 36:55 that came up against the people of God, 36:57 which in fact, once again, 36:59 you can trace that through the pages of history. 37:01 It takes us through the highest and lowest trace of humanity, 37:04 which also shows us 37:05 that if the Bible was solely written by men, 37:08 it would never tell us anything bad about humanity, 37:11 confirming the fact 37:12 that God is showing us who we really are. 37:14 Therefore, men are not the origin of the Bible. 37:17 But this story in particular, 37:19 in Isaiah 37:21-38 37:23 takes us through the conquest of Sennacherib 37:26 then the attempts of further conquest 37:28 of Sennacherib, 37:30 then God's interposition in the behalf of His people. 37:32 So let's begin in verse 21. Let's break it down. 37:35 It starts with the prayer of Hezekiah 37:37 one who besieged God on behalf 37:39 when he saw 37:40 that he was in fact in a pickle, 37:42 that's the word I can use. 37:44 When he saw that this king coming up against him 37:46 was one that just was mowing down nations 37:49 like a John Deere tractor. 37:51 There was nobody able to stand against him. 37:53 But we find that God responds to Hezekiah's prayer. 37:57 Verse 21 of Chapter 37. 38:01 "Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, 38:05 'Thus says the Lord God of Israel, 38:07 because you have prayed to Me 38:08 against Sennacherib king of Assyria, 38:11 this is the word 38:12 which the Lord has spoken concerning him:' 38:14 that is Sennacherib, 38:15 'The virgin, the daughter of Zion, 38:17 Has despised you, laughed you to scorn, 38:19 the daughter of Jerusalem 38:21 has shaken her head behind your back!' " 38:23 In other words, 38:24 Jerusalem is mocking Sennacherib behind his back, 38:27 because they know something that Sennacherib does not know. 38:30 Let's go to verse 23. 38:32 "Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? 38:35 Against whom have you raised your voice, " 38:37 that is Sennacherib, who are you speaking against, 38:40 "and lifted up your eyes on high 38:42 against the Holy One of Israel." 38:44 Watch out when you mock God. 38:49 Be careful, God is not mocked. 38:50 Whatever a man sows that shall he reap. 38:53 So Sennacherib seeks to have victory 38:55 without even considering God. 38:57 Verse 24, "By your servants you have reproached the Lord, 39:01 and said, 'By the multitude of my chariots 39:03 I have come up to the height of the mountains, 39:05 to the limits of Lebanon, 39:06 I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees, 39:10 I will enter its farthest height, 39:12 to its fruitful forest. 39:14 I have dug and drunk water, 39:15 and with the soles of my feet 39:17 I have dried up all the brooks of defense.' " 39:19 In other words, God is nothing you can do 39:21 to stop me. 39:22 Look what I've done so far. 39:24 Watch out. 39:25 God always reminds us that I've often said 39:27 make your word soft and sweet 39:29 because it's going to be difficult 39:30 to eat them otherwise. 39:33 Verse 26, 39:34 "Did you not hear long ago how I made it, 39:37 from ancient times that I formed it? 39:39 Now I have brought it to pass, 39:41 that you should be for crushing fortified cities 39:44 into heaps of ruins." 39:45 In other words, I've allowed you to do that. 39:46 Verse 27, 39:48 "Therefore the inhabitants had little power, 39:50 they were dismayed and confounded, 39:53 they were as the grass of the field 39:54 and the green herb, 39:55 as the grass on the housetops 39:57 and grain blighted before it's grown. 40:01 But I know your dwelling place, 40:03 your going out and your coming in, 40:04 and your rage against Me." 40:06 In other words, you may think that I'm not watching 40:08 but I've got you on the clock. 40:10 Verse 29, "Because you rage against Me 40:12 and your tumult have come up to My ears, 40:15 therefore I will put My hook in your nose 40:18 and My bridle in your lips, 40:20 And I will turn you back by the way which you came." ' 40:22 So God now says this to Sennacherib, 40:24 here's a sign of my victory coming. 40:27 Verse 30, "This shall be a sign to you: 40:29 You shall eat this year such as grows of itself, 40:32 and the second year what springs from the same, 40:34 Also the third year sow and reap, 40:36 plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. 40:38 And the remnant 40:40 who have escaped of the house of Judah 40:41 shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 40:45 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant." 40:47 In other words, 40:48 you're not going to be able to stop 40:50 my people's progress. 40:51 "And those who escape from Mount Zion, 40:54 the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. 40:56 "Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: 40:59 'He shall not come into this city, 41:02 nor shoot an arrow there, 41:03 nor come before it with shield, 41:04 nor build a siege mound against it." 41:07 And I love verse 34. 41:09 "By the way that he came, 41:11 by the same way he shall return, 41:13 and he shall not come into this city,' 41:15 says the Lord.' " 41:17 This city is My city. That's right. 41:19 I've got the doors barred. That's right. 41:21 So God reminds Sennacherib 41:23 of His divine power to defeat Him. 41:26 Verse 35, "For I will defend this city, 41:30 to save it for My own sake 41:31 and for My servant David's sake.' 41:34 Then the angel of the Lord went out, 41:38 and killed in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000, 41:43 and when people arose early in the morning, 41:45 there were the corpses, all dead." 41:47 And by the way, they were not 185,000 funerals either. 41:49 That's right. 41:50 They just decomposed where they fell. 41:53 Then Sennacherib was forced to acknowledge 41:55 the power of God. 41:56 "So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, 42:00 returned home, and remained at Nineveh. 42:02 Now it came to pass, 42:04 as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his God 42:07 that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer 42:11 struck him down with the sword, 42:13 and they escaped into the land of Ararat. 42:16 And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place." 42:20 The Lord not only told him, "Go so far, but no further." 42:24 Sennacherib found an end at the hand of his own family. 42:28 Amen. 42:29 You see, he was trying to get rid of God's family, 42:31 but God used his family to get rid of him. 42:33 So now, according to the reports, 42:35 we find here is Sennacherib, scholars often say that, 42:39 you know, he had so many conquests, 42:41 that he could have easily lined the walls of his palaces, 42:45 with all the reminders of his conquest. 42:47 But when God brought him to defeat, 42:49 there was nothing to align. 42:51 The only thing 42:52 that was on the walls of his palaces 42:53 maybe were some of his victories, 42:56 but his own family brought him to defeat. 42:59 And I like the way that Ellen White says it 43:00 in the book Prophets and Kings, 43:02 she says on page 361, 43:05 "Also, if Sennacherib had conquered Jerusalem, 43:08 he would have deported the population 43:10 in such a way that Judah 43:12 would have lost its identity as northern Israel did. 43:16 From one perspective, 43:17 then there would have been no Jewish people 43:20 to whom the Messiah could be born, 43:22 their story would have ended right there. 43:25 But God kept hope alive." Amen. 43:29 What we don't understand is God, 43:32 it was always the devil's aim. 43:34 And I think I said this in a prior lesson, 43:36 that that divine seed 43:37 was always Satan's attempt to eradicate from the line, 43:41 from the lineage 43:42 that would eventually be the line 43:44 through which Christ would come. 43:45 But God is the defender of His people. 43:48 God sees the end of a thing 43:50 before we see the beginning of it. 43:52 God knows the hearts of men, while we only know their words, 43:56 God sees their final deeds, 43:57 while we only see their present deeds, 44:00 and God prevents what He knows 44:02 that we cannot endure. 44:04 Because the question was asked, 44:05 was it fear that these Assyrian soldiers 44:07 who just happened to be born 44:09 where they were to die in mass like this? 44:12 How do you personally understand 44:15 the Lord's actions here? 44:17 God sees the end from the beginning. 44:20 He knows men's intentions before men carry them out. 44:23 So three very important points. 44:25 The things that are unknown to us 44:27 are known to God. 44:28 His sovereignty includes omniscience, 44:30 meaning God knows all. 44:32 Deuteronomy 29:29, 44:34 "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, 44:37 but those things which are revealed 44:38 belong to us and to our children forever, 44:41 that we may do all the words of this law." 44:44 In other words, be careful to follow God 44:46 because He's the one that knows the end from the beginning. 44:49 But He doesn't program us for our future. 44:52 He still gives us that free moral agency 44:55 to fit into the end-time scenario, 44:57 which in fact is, "I'm going to win. 44:59 It's just up to you to decide 45:00 if you're going to be on the winning side." 45:02 God has not programmed humanity just to make it clear, 45:04 we are not predestined to do what we do, 45:07 we still have free moral agency. 45:08 Secondly, God sees the heart and intentions 45:11 before the aspirations are carried out. 45:13 Hebrews 4:12, 45:15 "For the Word of God is living and powerful, 45:17 and sharper than any two edged sword, 45:20 piercing even to the division of soul and spirit 45:23 of joints and marrow 45:24 and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents 45:27 of the heart." 45:29 God knows our hearts. 45:30 Lord, please. 45:31 That's why David's said, 45:33 "May the words of my mouth 45:34 and the meditations of my heart be acceptable? 45:39 Sometimes we look at a person say, 45:41 Oh, we don't say it. 45:43 But God says... 45:46 Like Kenny, Whoo, don't watch out. 45:49 Don't do that. Stop thinking that. 45:51 God knows. 45:53 And finally, God sees the end from the beginning. 45:55 How can He do that? Isaiah 46:9-10. 45:58 Remember the former things of old, 46:00 just like he was reminding Sennacherib, remember this? 46:03 He says, "For I am God and there is no other, 46:05 I am God and there is none like Me, 46:07 declaring the end from the beginning 46:09 and from ancient times, 46:11 things that are not yet done saying, " 46:14 also to Sennacherib, 46:16 "My counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure." 46:19 Amen. 46:20 Thank you so much, Pastor John, and Shelley, and Ryan, 46:23 and Pastor Kenny, what an incredible study. 46:26 I am pumped up. All right. 46:27 Just to think my God is omnipotent, 46:30 and omniscient 46:31 and all knowing and all powerful, 46:33 and He can do anything. 46:35 You think about the children of Judah there 46:39 surrounded by an enemy 46:41 that had conquered every other country. 46:43 And yet God showed up. 46:45 Were they defenseless? Absolutely. 46:47 Could they fight back? No. 46:49 But God showed up, and He fought on their behalf. 46:52 I love the end of that chapter. 46:54 That's incredible. 46:56 I have Isaiah 38 and 39. 46:59 Thursday's lesson is, "In Sickness and in Wealth, " 47:03 which is kind of cute 47:04 'cause you think when you do marriage vows, 47:06 in sickness and in health, 47:08 but this is in sickness and in wealth 47:09 and you will see why in a moment. 47:11 Isaiah 30, of course, 7 47:14 ends with the deliverance of Jerusalem 47:16 and the children of Judah because of Isaiah's message 47:18 because of Hezekiah's faith and prayer, 47:21 because God stood up and defended His people 47:23 and the honor of His name, as Shelley brought out. 47:28 We look at Isaiah 38, 47:30 as Hezekiah's miraculous healing, 47:33 we won't read the chapter, but in a nutshell, 47:36 he becomes sick unto death. 47:37 That's in Isaiah 38:1. 47:39 And Isaiah, the prophet goes into Hezekiah, 47:43 because Hezekiah is about ready to die. 47:45 And Isaiah says, "Set your house in order, 47:47 you are going to die." 47:49 Yes. 47:51 And then Isaiah leaves. 47:52 And the Bible says in verse 3 that, 47:54 verse 2 Hezekiah turns his face to the wall. 47:57 He's upset, he's hurt. 47:59 He doesn't want to die. 48:00 Who of us would want that? That's right now. 48:02 Okay, set your house in order, Jill, you're going to die. 48:05 You don't want to hear that. 48:06 We want to live, 48:08 I'm sure he wanted to continue serving God. 48:11 And so he set his face to the wall and he prayed 48:14 God, remember how I've walked in Your ways, 48:17 with a loyal heart 48:19 and I have done what is good in Your sight." 48:20 And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 48:23 So, God came to Isaiah, and said, "Okay, go back, 48:27 you have a different message for the king." 48:29 So he went back in 48:31 with a much more pleasant message 48:32 to the king's ears, 48:33 and said that the Lord is going to heal you. 48:35 And then Hezekiah asks for a sign. 48:39 And the sign that he asked for was what? 48:42 That the sundial would go backwards, 48:45 not forwards, but backwards 10 degrees. 48:49 Now remember, Hezekiah's dad that would have been King Ahaz. 48:52 The Lord told King Ahaz asked for a sign. 48:55 And Ahaz refused to ask for a sign. 48:58 He chose instead to trust in Assyrian power. 49:01 And look where that got them. 49:02 Hezekiah, he asked for a sign. 49:06 He chose to trust in God for deliverance, 49:10 not just from the Assyrian siege 49:13 and Assyrian power, 49:14 but for his own healing. 49:17 When I used to study this, 49:18 I always thought chapter 38 came after chapter 37. 49:21 And it does, 49:23 but if you look at verses 5 and 6, 49:24 you see that it runs concurrent. 49:27 In other words it says in verse 5, 49:31 this is Isaiah telling Hezekiah, 49:34 "I've heard your prayer, I've seen your tears, 49:36 I will add 15 years to your life. 49:40 I will deliver you and this city 49:43 from the hand of the king of Assyria, 49:44 and I will defend the city." 49:46 So that means the siege 49:48 and this crisis is running concurrent 49:51 with Isaiah sick unto death. 49:55 We look at this miraculous healing 49:57 and what happens 49:59 and then I kind of wish it ended in Chapter 38. 50:03 Chapter 39, I wish it just stopped there. 50:07 And we didn't even have 39. 50:09 And we just jumped over to Isaiah Chapter 40. 50:11 Because in Chapter 39, in Babylon, 50:14 they studied the celestial bodies, 50:16 they studied what happened in the heavens, 50:18 and they saw that the, 50:19 the sundial had gone back 10 degrees, 50:22 and they said, what happened 50:23 and they got news 50:25 that Hezekiah had been miraculously healed 50:28 by God. 50:29 And that this was, 50:30 sun was a direct result of God's intervention. 50:33 And so they traveled to Jerusalem 50:36 to meet with Hezekiah 50:38 probably to learn a bit more about this God. 50:40 And instead of talking about this God, 50:43 Hezekiah showed everything in his house, 50:48 in his Jerusalem, the treasure. 50:52 Pridefully, he showed everything. 50:54 And we know this is what about 701 BC, 100 years later, 50:59 the same country, 51:01 the Babylonians would come 51:03 and take captive the people of Judah 51:05 and take a lot of those treasures 51:07 that they had seen 100 years ago, 51:09 they would take that out of the country. 51:11 Also during this time... 51:13 We don't see this in Isaiah, 51:14 but you can see this 51:15 if you read 2 Kings and Chronicles. 51:17 You'll see that the King's son Manasseh 51:19 was born during this time, 51:21 because when Hezekiah died, his son Manasseh reigned. 51:25 And he was only 12 when he reigned, 51:27 which means that he was conceived 51:30 after Hezekiah was miraculously healed. 51:34 And I wonder about that, too. 51:36 Let's look at six lessons. 51:38 We'll talk about that. 51:39 That's lesson number six, 51:41 six lessons that I see from this passage 51:42 in Isaiah 38 and 39. 51:44 Lesson number one, 51:45 God shows up when it looks the darkest. 51:48 Are you in a dark place? Do you need deliverance? 51:51 God specializes in turning darkness into light 51:54 and despair into hope, discouragement into victory. 51:59 With God, nothing is impossible. 52:02 Jeremiah 32:27, he said, "Behold, I'm the Lord, 52:05 the God of all flesh. 52:07 Is there anything too hard for me?" 52:10 We see this twofold attack I already referenced. 52:12 The siege against Jerusalem by the Assyrians 52:14 and Hezekiah being about ready to die. 52:17 The SDA Bible commentary volume 4, page 240 says this. 52:22 "Satan was determined 52:24 to bring about both the death of Hezekiah 52:27 and the fall of Jerusalem, 52:29 reasoning, that of Hezekiah were out of the way, 52:32 his efforts at reform would cease 52:35 and the fall of Jerusalem 52:36 would be more readily accomplished." 52:38 Was Satan was thwarted in both of those efforts 52:42 because God shows up when it looks the darkest. 52:45 Lesson number two, 52:46 God delights to hear and answer the prayers of His children. 52:50 Amen. 52:52 John 16:24, 52:53 "Until now you've asked nothing in My name, 52:57 ask and you will receive that your joy may be full." 53:02 Hezekiah, remember he turned his face 53:04 to the wall after Isaiah had said 53:05 you're going to die. 53:07 This is in Isaiah 38:2-5. 53:09 "And he said, 'Lord, remember how I've walked in Your ways 53:14 and I have kept and done what is good in Your sight." 53:18 And verse 4, "And the word of the Lord 53:19 came to Isaiah saying, 53:21 'Go and tell Hezekiah, 53:22 thus says the Lord, the God of David, 53:24 your Father, I've heard your prayer. 53:26 I've seen your tears, 53:27 I will add to your days 15 years.' " 53:30 God heard Hezekiah's prayers 53:33 for deliverance from the Assyrian siege, 53:35 and God heard Hezekiah's prayer, 53:38 to be healed and to live longer. 53:41 Lesson number three, 53:42 God deals gently and kindly 53:45 with our small measure of faith. 53:47 You know, Romans 12, Paul says in Romans 12:3, 53:50 "God has dealt to each one, a measure of faith." 53:55 Hezekiah asked for the sign and God didn't burn him or say, 53:59 why'd you ask for a sign? 54:00 He didn't say you should have more faith. 54:02 What did he say? 54:03 He gave him the sign 54:05 and He granted him that healing. 54:08 Lesson number four, 54:09 God heals through prayer and natural remedies. 54:13 Another word, 54:14 sometimes it's a combination of prayer and human effort. 54:18 We see that in Isaiah 38:29, 54:20 not just the prayer worked, and the prayer did work, 54:23 but God used some natural remedies with it. 54:26 Verse 21, "Isaiah said, 'Let them take a lump of figs, 54:29 apply it as a poultice on the boil, 54:32 and he shall recover." 54:35 There's a combination that I see there 54:37 between this natural remedy as well as the prayer. 54:42 We see that sometimes when Jesus healed people, 54:44 think of John Chapter 9, 54:46 remember the man who was born blind. 54:47 Jesus could have just said "I heal you, " 54:49 and he was instantly healed, instead he spat on the dirt, 54:52 mix the mud for the men's eyes, then said, 54:56 "Now you do something. 54:57 You go wash in the pool of Siloam." 54:59 So Sometimes there's that combination 55:01 that we see in that healing. 55:04 Lesson number five, 55:05 "Beware, lest you forget what God has done for you." 55:11 And the joy of Hezekiah's healing 55:13 and the joy of his freedom from that Assyrian siege, 55:16 he forgot it was God that had healed him. 55:18 He forgot it was God 55:20 that had saved the city of Jerusalem. 55:22 And he, instead of giving glory to God, 55:27 when the Babylonians came to Jerusalem, 55:29 he gave glory to himself 55:31 and what Jerusalem had done there. 55:35 Lesson number six, 55:38 beware to ask for something against God's will. 55:42 That's right. 55:44 Was it God's will to heal Hezekiah? 55:45 We only have 36 seconds. 55:47 Now we have no time to really unpack that. 55:50 But I do know 55:51 that Manasseh wouldn't have been born 55:53 if Hezekiah had lived, 55:54 that Hezekiah failed to train him 55:56 in the later years of his life, 55:58 or was it somehow a consequence 56:00 as a result of Hezekiah asking for more life? 56:05 Sometimes I think God gives us maybe what we've asked for, 56:08 even if it's not what is best for us. 56:11 That's why I think when we pray, 56:13 we always say, God, 56:15 in accordance with Your will, not what I want, 56:18 but Your will be done. 56:20 Amen. 56:21 Praise the Lord. 56:23 Awesome lesson. 56:24 I think we'll have to say panel awesome lesson. 56:25 We pray, it will be a blessing to you folks, too. 56:27 We just have a few minutes. 56:29 But I think a good last thought 56:31 that the Lord gives you please. 56:32 Absolutely. 56:34 You know from Monday's lesson, 56:35 I just want to encourage our viewers 56:37 that, you know, don't let, 56:38 don't allow the enemy to convince you 56:41 that the Lord is not on your side 56:43 or that the Lord is not going to answer you 56:45 or that you should not seek Him. 56:47 I think that's a very bad mistake. 56:49 We need to go to the Lord always, 56:51 even when we don't feel worthy, humble ourselves before Him, 56:54 pray to Him. 56:55 He will hear us and He will forgive us. 56:57 Praise God. 56:58 Amen and I just ditto that 56:59 that circumstances might shake us, 57:03 but God will never forsake us. 57:05 Amen. 57:07 And the rest of the story in the battles of your life, 57:10 every confrontation you're going to face in life. 57:12 Remember, Psalm 118:6, "The Lord is on my side, 57:17 I will not fear what can man do to me. 57:21 But thanks be to God 57:23 who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 57:26 1 Corinthians 15:57. Amen. 57:29 I think when it looks the darkest, 57:30 and it looks like the world is coming against you, 57:32 God will show up 57:34 and He will fight your battles for you. 57:35 Amen. 57:36 This has been an awesome lesson. 57:38 As far as I'm concerned, it's been a blessing to me. 57:39 Pray it's been a blessing to you, too. 57:41 We want to make sure not that you joined us today. 57:43 That's wonderful. 57:44 But we want you to join us 57:45 for lesson number eight next time. 57:47 We're going to be talking about comfort my people, 57:50 if we ever lived in a day and hour 57:52 of earth's history where we need comfort, 57:54 it's right now 57:55 and so I know next week's lesson 57:57 will be such a blessing to you. 57:59 So make sure you join us. God bless you. 58:00 Thank you for joining us here at 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 58:03 See you next time. |
Revised 2021-02-05