Untitled Sermon (12)

Last time we were looking at King Hezekiah, the best king Judah ever had. Remember that Assyria had decided to attack Judah and was closing in on Jerusalem. Hezekiah had the springs stopped up all around so that the Assyrians would not be able to get water and he strengthened the wall around Jerusalem and even built another wall around the wall he strengthened. He then called the military commanders and the people of Jerusalem into the city square and reminded them that the Assyrians had the arm of man to attack them with but that they had the Lord their God on their side. says: And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. So the Assyrians are now at Jerusalem, they are surrounding the city. So Hezekiah and his army went out to do battle. They were lobbing grenades at the enemy and using their automatic weapons just like Call of Duty video game. Do you think that is really what happened? What do you think really happened? Well I am going to tell you.

The king of Assyria’s generals and soldiers are surrounding the city and they begin to call out to the defenders on the wall telling them that they are toast. They kept telling them that no one has been able to stand against Sennecharib the king of Assyria because he conquered everyone. They tell them that the gods of all the other nations had not done them any good and then told the people of Jerusalem that they would be destroyed because Hezekiah had torn down all the “gods” and pillars, and altars and told them they could only worship at the Temple. In other words he was telling them that Hezekiah had gotten rid of all but one of their gods so they had no chance. 15Now therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or persuade you like this, and do not believe him; for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?’” 16Furthermore, his servants spoke against the Lord God and against His servant Hezekiah. Remember that; the Assyrians were talking bad about the only true God.

In the 2 Kings account of this event the leaders of the Jerusalem called down to the Assyrians and asked them not to speak in Hebrew because it might scare the people but the Assyrians said that the people had a right to hear what was going to happen to them. Not only did they speak all these things but they even wrote a letter: 17He also wrote letters to revile the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, “As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand.” 18Then they called out with a loud voice in £Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten them and trouble them, that they might take the city. 19And they spoke against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth—the work of men’s hands. What was it that Hezekiah had reminded his people back in verse 8? 8With him (talking about the king of the Assyrians )is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” Now I’ll ask you again; what do you think happened? 20Now because of this King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed and cried out to heaven. In Isaiah even gives a prophecy against the Assyrians and Sennecherib. Who is it that is going to help them and fight their battles? The Lord their God! What did King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah do? They prayed. Let’s see what happened but let’s look at the passage because it is pretty specific. 35And it came to pass on a certain night that the £angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. 36So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. 37Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the temple of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place. Talk about help in fighting a battle! Wow!

Let me make this clear. God does not always deliver His people that way. He does it different ways in the Bible and He does it different ways today. He can take care of us miraculously or He can use whatever means He chooses. But because Hezekiah and Isaiah and I would have to conclude the rest of the people of Jerusalem trusted God He delivered them in a very mighty way. They trusted Him and He delivered them. But remember they had stopped up the springs and fortified their position by strengthening the walls and fortifying the towers. So they trusted the only true God and He did what He does.

But look at Sennecherib the Assyrian king. He really didn’t even get to fight the battle and had to leave to his own country. He had trusted his own strength and evidently his own fake god Nisroch whom he worshiped. What happened to him? He got killed while worshiping a fake god. Did his strength and power save him? No! Did his fake god save him? No!

So let’s look at a couple of things then we will go. Can your own strength and abilities always get you through every situation? Will it sometimes? Ya, God gave us great abilities since we are created in His image but if that is what we rely on then we have no guarantee. If we trust in God does that mean we won’t have problems? Hezekiah and Isaiah along with the people of Jerusalem trusted God but the Assyrians still came. But they did what was prudent before the Assyrians arrived. Let’s make this current. Can God deliver us miraculously from this virus that has been spreading across the world; including the United States? Of course He can. But He still expects us to act prudently. If that means we can’t meet together in person for a while or that we have to stay home and can’t go to school then that’s what we need to do; we need to act prudently in this struggling. So what do we know about our struggles in this life if we trust in God instead of ourselves? says this: For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed in us. Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem got delivered from their trials because they believed God. We will be delivered through ours and God’s glory will be what is seen not our own. Let’s pray.

I just want to give you an update on what has been going on in the covid 19 situation. There are no cases in Oregon County MO or in Randolph County AR as of the last report I saw. As of last Friday there were just over 100 reported cases in all of Missouri. Now there are more than that in just the Springfield, MO area. Most of that is because there is more testing but the truth is those cases were there before they could be tested and confirmed. So be prudent and we will watch and see what our God does.

I talked to Raymond and Anita and they are doing well. My surgery went well but we still have to wait on the pathology, perhaps a week or two because of all the lab work that is being pushed through. And our son Josh told us that his wife Leighann is running a fever and is tired and achy, so pray for them this week. Finally, I miss you all very, very much but Raechel and I were I Springfield for a couple of days for the surgery so unless there is an emergency you probably won’t see us until we know we are safe. I love you guys and I look forward to when we can meet again in person to worship and grow together. God bless you.