Scripture
“Don’t listen to Hezekiah! These are the terms the king of Assyria is offering: Make peace with me—open the gates and come out. Then each of you can continue eating from your own grapevine and fig tree and drinking from your own well.”
~Isaiah 36:16, NIrV
Quote
“When pride and presumption walk before, shame and loss follow very closely.”
~Louis XI of France
Sennacherib was the son of Sargon, whom he succeeded on the throne of Assyria (B.C. 705), in the 23rd year of Hezekiah. He was weak and vainglorious, cowardly under pressure, and cruel and boastful in success. He was named after the Mesopotamian moon god Sin. What an appropiate name for this tyranical devil. Obviously, he was lacking in character because his own sons took his life.
Sennacherib was a fool. He assumed Yahweh, the invisible and infinte Creator of all things, was like idol gods made of wood, stone and metal. He also assumed that he could defeat Judah and their invisible God Yahweh. How can a mere mortal threaten Yahweh? Yet this fool said to King Hezekiah, “How can the Yahweh save Jerusalem from my power?” [Isa. 36:20] When you read Isaiah 36-38, you find an amazing parralel between Sennacherib and the devil.
- He questioned God’s intention. “Why are you depending on God, He is not going to save you. He sent me to destroy you.”
- He accused God’s spiritual leader. “Don’t let Hezekial fool you. He’s telling you lies when he says, ‘Yahweh will save us.'” Obviously, he was trying to undermine their confidence in their king {leader}.
- He lied repeatedly. He did tell the truth about one thing; he did destroy the idol gods of the nations he conquered but everything else was a lie.
- He lied about peace. “Surrender to me and you can continue eating from your own grapevine and fig tree and drinking from your own well.”
- He lied about purpose. “Do you think I came without being sent by Yahweh.”
- He espouses incessant propaganda. With Sennacherib, it was one lie after another, like Hillary and the demon-crats.
- He threatened God’s people. “If you don’t surrender, you will eat your own waste and drink your own urine.”
The LORD declared in chapter 37:22, “You {Sennacherib} will not win the battle over Zion.” Sennacherib, like the devil, thought he could win. This puny creature of clay thinks he can win a battle over the Infinite One, whom he cannot even see, let alone attack. God was the one who put breath in his lungs and holds his very life in His hands.
The moral of the story is good news for today: the devil cannot win. Yes, he lies, he threatens, he terrorizes, he destroys, he decieves but he cannot win. Ultimately, Yahweh will triumph. Today, amidst all the disappointment and heartache, there is victory in Jesus. “Sorrow may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning.” Hezekiah made the same mistake we make, he continued to worry after he got a word from the LORD. We must not rely on our emotions; we must not focus on the circumstances; what we must do in trust the word of the LORD.
November 6-9 with Wade Morris
- Bill Harrison began coughing up blood yesterday and he is back at Vanderbilt. Joe David is there now but we don’t know exactly what is going on at this moment. They did put him on the vent but I don’t think this particular problem is life threatening. They had to get him relaxed to stop the bleeding. The blood may be coming from the surgery they did a few days ago. We do want everyone to pray. We will have a special prayer time tonight in the sanctuary.
- Good news–bad news: The good news is that we got power to our new office building which is located on the property where the old Rocky Ford School building once sat. I want to thank John Harold Hayes for his help. The Bad news is: my Believeland Indians lost 5-1. This Toronto team is dangerous: they demolished the Texas Rangers who I thought was the best team in the America league.
- THE GATHERING tonight at 6:30.
- Today is Sheila Segar’s husbands birthday: he is 67. I can’t believe that Jerry is an old man. We have two beautiful granddaughter who will be 19 Friday. There are a lot of Birthdays in October.
- Today we visit our National Parks…