Speaker 1: Thank you, micah.
Speaker 1: Good morning church, family and friends.
Speaker 1: As you know, pastor Doug and Pastor Micah have been preaching through the prophecy of Isaiah.
Speaker 1: Pastor Doug assigned me chapters 36, 37, 38, and 39.
Speaker 1: We covered part one last week.
Speaker 1: That was Isaiah, chapter 36, verse 1, to 37, verse 7.
Speaker 1: Today we'll cover part 2, which is the remaining part of chapter 37.
Speaker 1: So turn with me to our text, chapter 37, verse 8, through the rest of the chapter.
Speaker 1: The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the final and most influential period of the Assyrian Empire and it lasted from 912 BC to 612 BC.
Speaker 1: It grew from a small kingdom to one of the most powerful empires in the ancient world.
Speaker 1: It was characterized by a ruthless military conquest and territorial expansion.
Speaker 1: Under leaders like Tiglath-Peleser III, which you can read in 1 Chronicles 6 and 2 Kings 17, assyria went to battle utilizing the most advanced siege techniques and a superior military organization, allowing them to dominate the entire Near East.
Speaker 1: One of the most disturbing aspects of Assyrian expansion was the use of terror tactics to instill fear in the peoples they were conquering.
Speaker 1: Fear in the peoples they were conquering.
Speaker 1: To maintain control and deter rebellion, they brutally treated their captives as a warning to others, which included dismemberment, beheading and impaling on wooden poles.
Speaker 1: The conquest of the northern tribes of Israel began in 740 BC by the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III I mentioned, who deported the tribes on the east side of the Jordan River to Mesopotamia, and this is found in 1 Chronicles 6, verse 22.
Speaker 1: And this whole deportation and exiling was completed by the Assyrian king Sargon II in 720 BC.
Speaker 1: He deported the remaining tribes of Israel.
Speaker 1: This is recorded in 2 Kings, chapter 17.
Speaker 1: 20 years later, the Assyrian king Sennacherib led a military campaign into the kingdom of Judah in 701 BC.
Speaker 1: 46 fortified cities of Judah fell very quickly to this Assyrian war machine, and the king of Judah, hezekiah, exhausted his military resources as he watched Judah slowly succumb to the Assyrian king.
Speaker 1: What remained of Judah's military forces was not even a splinter in a finger against the Assyrian war machine, against the Assyrian war machine.
Speaker 1: Having already overcome 46 fortified cities and a vast number of villages in Judah, the Assyrian king Sennacherib laid siege to the fortified city of Lachish, 35 miles southwest of Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: Lachish was the second most important city in Judah.
Speaker 1: It was second only to the capital Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: Lachish was the second most important city in Judah.
Speaker 1: It was second only to the capital, jerusalem.
Speaker 1: Sennacherib sent a massive army from Lachish to Jerusalem in order to add Jerusalem and King Hezekiah to be among his military achievements.
Speaker 1: This was one of Hezekiah's greatest crises in his life, one that revealed his vulnerability, attacked his confidence, created doubt and despair and caused him to battle anxiety.
Speaker 1: When undergoing a life crisis.
Speaker 1: Do you feel bewildered, scared, confused, maybe desperate?
Speaker 1: Do you feel helpless, overwhelmed, maybe depressed?
Speaker 1: Do you feel that you've lost control?
Speaker 1: Let me ask you how can you develop a steady heart when you navigate through life's crises?
Speaker 1: How King Hezekiah battled this crisis highlights practical steps that could help us steady and sustain our hearts when we've lost control, as well as fear and anxiety when they weigh us down in the crises we face.
Speaker 1: He demonstrates in these practical steps that, ultimately, the battle is the Lord's.
Speaker 1: So he outlines several steps First, affirm our trust in God.
Speaker 1: Second, appeal to God in prayer.
Speaker 1: Third, anchor in God's promises.
Speaker 1: And fourth, anticipate God's response.
Speaker 1: So let's pray.
Speaker 1: Heavenly Father, thank you for your word.
Speaker 1: Open our eyes that we may see wonderful things in your word.
Speaker 1: Help us to gain insight from your word into how to remain sure and steady whenever we face life's crises.
Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 1: So turn with me Chapter 37, verse 8.
Speaker 1: We'll look at the first section.
Speaker 1: The first point is affirm your trust in God.
Speaker 1: As we consider our text for today, a massive Assyrian army has already positioned themselves right outside the walls of Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: King Hezekiah not only grappled with the external threat of the Assyrian invasion, but he was also processing the internal fears and doubts.
Speaker 1: Hezekiah's pride, coupled with fear and anxiety, had recently driven him to make foreign policy decisions without considering God's promises or the advice that the Lord gave him through the prophet Isaiah.
Speaker 1: He made two foreign policy decisions I reviewed last time a decision and alliance to be made with Egypt and a massive payment of tribute to Assyria from his kingdom's treasury.
Speaker 1: Hezekiah's self-reliant foreign policy decisions failed miserably to deter the Assyrians from trying to take over the kingdom of Judah.
Speaker 1: But we also saw last week in chapter 37, earlier in the verses verses 1 to 7, that Hezekiah's pride finally broke when he acknowledged by words and demeanor how he had strayed away from walking in obedience with God.
Speaker 1: Affirming your trust in God requires a heart surrendered to God.
Speaker 1: The Hezekiah who appears in chapter 37, verses 8 to 38, our text today is not the same Hezekiah we saw in chapter 36.
Speaker 1: We see in today's text, a Hezekiah who is fully trusting in the sovereignty of God and his promises.
Speaker 1: We see this in Sennacherib's second attempt to intimidate Hezekiah into surrendering, a letter communicated and hand-delivered by messengers from the king of Assyria, sennacherib, and this is contained in verses 10 to 13.
Speaker 1: So turn there Verse 10, say this to King Hezekiah of Judah don't let your God, on whom you rely, deceive you by promising that Jerusalem won't be handed over to the king of Assyria.
Speaker 1: Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries.
Speaker 1: They completely destroyed them.
Speaker 1: Will you be rescued?
Speaker 1: Did the gods of the nations that my predecessors destroyed rescue them?
Speaker 1: Gazan Haran, reziv and the Edomites and Telassar?
Speaker 1: Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpat, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, hina or Iva?
Speaker 1: First, why did Sennacherib need to send this follow-up letter?
Speaker 1: Wasn't the intimidation delivered by the Assyrian royal spokesman effective enough to cause Hezekiah to surrender?
Speaker 1: When we read between the lines of this letter, we gain some insight into how Hezekiah had replied to that Assyrian royal spokesman.
Speaker 1: His intimidating speeches seem not to have fazed Hezekiah.
Speaker 1: Hezekiah's reply is not recorded in the Bible, but was probably based on his affirmation of his wholehearted trust in God's promises.
Speaker 1: His reply to the Assyrian royal spokesman probably sounded something like this to the Assyrian royal spokesman probably sounded something like this I, hezekiah, king of Judah, will not and I repeat, will not surrender to the king of Assyria, and Jerusalem will not be handed over to him.
Speaker 1: Instead, hezekiah's heart was surrendered to God In humility.
Speaker 1: Hezekiah held firmly onto and trusted God's promises.
Speaker 1: They were now fresh on his heart.
Speaker 1: Isaiah 37, verse 7,.
Speaker 1: I am about to put a spirit in him, sennacherib, and he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.
Speaker 1: And Isaiah chapter 38, which we'll cover next week.
Speaker 1: Isaiah 38, verse 6.
Speaker 1: And I will, god, I will rescue you, hezekiah, and this city from the grasp of the king of Assyria.
Speaker 1: I will defend this city.
Speaker 1: Hezekiah affirmed his trust in God's promises.
Speaker 1: Second, sennacherib detected a distinct change in the person of Hezekiah.
Speaker 1: There was a time when Hezekiah placed his primary reliance on the Egyptian army to get him out of his mess.
Speaker 1: That was the Hezekiah that Sennacherib had known.
Speaker 1: But now this letter doesn't mention Egypt at all.
Speaker 1: Instead, it refers only to your God, on whom you rely verse 10.
Speaker 1: Sennacherib picked up on a palpable change in Hezekiah's heart, that Hezekiah now trusted seriously in his God, the sovereignty of his God.
Speaker 1: Hezekiah was previously branded by the Assyrian royal spokesman as a would-be deceiver of his people who used faith as a pawn for political survival.
Speaker 1: As a pawn for political survival.
Speaker 1: Isaiah, chapter 36, verses 14 and 15 say this is what the king Sennacherib says Don't let Hezekiah deceive you, for he cannot rescue you.
Speaker 1: Don't let Hezekiah persuade you to rely on the Lord.
Speaker 1: And verse 18, beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you by saying the Lord will rescue us.
Speaker 1: But look here at Sennacherib's letter, verses 10 to 13.
Speaker 1: Sennacherib mentioned no deception on Hezekiah's part at all.
Speaker 1: What changed in Sennacherib?
Speaker 1: What changed in Hezekiah's part at all?
Speaker 1: What changed in Sennacherib?
Speaker 1: What changed in Hezekiah?
Speaker 1: Well, nothing changed in Sennacherib's boastful arrogance.
Speaker 1: What changed in Hezekiah was that he now believed and was convinced of the promises of God that it was surely God alone who would deliver them.
Speaker 1: Hezekiah had come to a personal and unequivocal faith in God, and this was perceived by the Assyrian king.
Speaker 1: This is not a blind faith, a term that many people use in a negative and disparaging way to describe anyone who believes in God, the Father, or his Son, jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: Early Reformed theologians described true faith as having three parts, three elements knowledge, belief and trust.
Speaker 1: Certain information must be known and understood.
Speaker 1: This is the data or content of faith.
Speaker 1: True faith requires not just knowing God, but also requires a mental assent to or belief in the truth of that information.
Speaker 1: But you know, knowledge and belief are necessary conditions for having true faith, but they're not sufficient alone.
Speaker 1: A third element must also be present before we have true faith a personal trust and reliance on the object of our faith.
Speaker 1: This involves our affections by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: A believer sees, embraces and loves Jesus Christ, as we see in Evan.
Speaker 1: True faith involves knowledge, belief and trust.
Speaker 1: True faith can be refined through trials and questioning.
Speaker 1: Doubt can play a role in strengthening true faith, as it encourages believers to engage critically with their beliefs and seek deeper understanding.
Speaker 1: In contrast to blind faith, which might avoid questioning, true faith is a dynamic process that involves continuous reflection and growth in one's relationship with God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: Hezekiah had a knowledge of God's promises.
Speaker 1: He knew that God was committed to the Davidic monarchy.
Speaker 1: God was faithful to the Davidic line, even if Hezekiah did not fully understand its long-term implications.
Speaker 1: The Lord said to Hezekiah in Isaiah 37, verse 35,.
Speaker 1: Hezekiah in Isaiah 37, verse 35.
Speaker 1: For I will defend this city to save it for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.
Speaker 1: The narrative suggests that Hezekiah accepted this and believed this, but not until he fully trusted God and his promises did his faith in God come alive.
Speaker 1: Not trusting in God is a pride issue.
Speaker 1: God may allow circumstances that feel overwhelming or unbearable to strip away at your pride and self-sufficiency.
Speaker 1: When your pride is broken, you can then affirm your trust in God.
Speaker 1: Navigating through life's crises with a steady heart begins when your pride breaks and you affirm your trust in God.
Speaker 1: And secondly, by appealing to God in prayer.
Speaker 1: This is our second point Appeal to God in prayer.
Speaker 1: There'll be two points underneath this.
Speaker 1: Hezekiah was preoccupied with God in his prayer and Hezekiah acknowledged God's sovereignty and power over all earthly rulers.
Speaker 1: So the first one Hezekiah was preoccupied with God in his prayer.
Speaker 1: Preoccupied, hezekiah first acknowledged who God is.
Speaker 1: In verse 16, isaiah writes this is the words of Hezekiah Lord of armies, god of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you are God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth.
Speaker 1: You made the heavens and the earth.
Speaker 1: This is the opening verse.
Speaker 1: It positions Hezekiah as surrendered to the Lord God.
Speaker 1: I have more to say about this verse later.
Speaker 1: The second thing we see here Hezekiah honored God as a living God, which makes God distinct from all other gods.
Speaker 1: Look at verses 17 to 19.
Speaker 1: Verse 17, listen closely, lord, and hear.
Speaker 1: Open your eyes, lord, and see.
Speaker 1: Hear all the words that Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God.
Speaker 1: So they have destroyed them.
Speaker 1: They were not gods, but made from wood and stone by human hands.
Speaker 1: So they have destroyed them.
Speaker 1: Hezekiah proclaims God's uniqueness.
Speaker 1: And the third point under this and how Hezekiah appealed to God.
Speaker 1: Hezekiah sought to have God's glory revealed to the world.
Speaker 1: We see this in verse 20.
Speaker 1: Now, lord, our God, save us from his power, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, lord, are God, you alone.
Speaker 1: Hezekiah appealed to God by making his prayer all about God, not about himself.
Speaker 1: At least, not until the very end of the prayer does Hezekiah petition to God to save Judah.
Speaker 1: But pay attention to Hezekiah's purpose.
Speaker 1: The reason why he asked God to save Judah from the Assyrians is not for his own glory, but so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that the Lord alone is God.
Speaker 1: This is extraordinary.
Speaker 1: What does this tell you about our own prayers and how we should pray?
Speaker 1: Now let's take a deeper look at the opening verse of Hezekiah's prayer again, verse 16.
Speaker 1: This verse is really the heart of Hezekiah's prayer.
Speaker 1: It's not the petition but the acknowledgement of who God is.
Speaker 1: Hezekiah acknowledged God's sovereignty and his power over all earthly rulers.
Speaker 1: The first phrase, the Lord of armies, reflects the Lord's personal omnipotence and the one who is the military commander of the hosts of heaven's army.
Speaker 1: The next phrase, god of Israel, god of Israel, describes that God is connected with his chosen people, not the Assyrians.
Speaker 1: The third phrase, enthroned between the cherubim, portrays God's sovereignty, his royal kingly rule from his temple throne above the Ark of the Covenant.
Speaker 1: The cherubim were the figures at each end of the mercy seat.
Speaker 1: Looking inwards and downwards, we see that in Exodus 37.
Speaker 1: They formed the pedestal of the invisible throne of God of all.
Speaker 1: Israel.
Speaker 1: Ezekiel, chapter 1.
Speaker 1: Thus his feet rested on the mercy seat in the temple.
Speaker 1: The Lord was enthroned and present at the center of his people's lives.
Speaker 1: The phrase you are God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth.
Speaker 1: This phrase presents God as the one and only true God and proclaims his worldwide dominion.
Speaker 1: And the phrase you made the heavens and the earth.
Speaker 1: This phrase declares that he is creator of the heavens and the earth and thus he owns the world and is powerful enough to make or undo what he has made.
Speaker 1: These titles are not just a way to identify who God is.
Speaker 1: They affirm trust.
Speaker 1: They affirm trust, assurance and praise.
Speaker 1: Hezekiah is calling out to the one and only true God who controls the world and who can rectify what the Assyrian king had falsely claimed.
Speaker 1: This is Hezekiah's God.
Speaker 1: Hezekiah's prayer stresses the importance of communicating with god when you face fears.
Speaker 1: Worry is a form of pride.
Speaker 1: I'll say that again worry is a form of pride.
Speaker 1: It takes some humility to go to god in prayer and admit your helplessness and entrust your concerns to him.
Speaker 1: Your earnest prayer to God helps you unload your burdens.
Speaker 1: We see this in 1 Peter 5, verses 6 and 7.
Speaker 1: Peter writes humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on him because he cares for you.
Speaker 1: The manner by which you humble yourselves is by casting your cares on God.
Speaker 1: If anxiety about family finances overwhelms.
Speaker 1: You take a moment each night to pray before going to bed.
Speaker 1: Sit down with your spouse and have an open conversation about your fears, laying everything before God in prayer, like Hezekiah.
Speaker 1: During times of emotional upheaval, it's normal to feel intense fear and anxiety.
Speaker 1: Instead of isolating yourself, create a circle of support by gathering close friends for a monthly prayer gathering at your home.
Speaker 1: Share your struggles Openly.
Speaker 1: Invite them to pray specifically for your healing and clarity.
Speaker 1: Establish a routine of reading scripture together, focusing on passages that emphasize God's faithfulness and his love, which can provide comfort and strength in a difficult time.
Speaker 1: For Hezekiah to navigate through his crisis with a steady heart, it was essential for him to affirm his trust in God, to appeal to God in prayer.
Speaker 1: And now the third point to anchor in God's promises.
Speaker 1: Anchor in God's promises, To rest firmly on God's promises.
Speaker 1: Let's look at how anchoring yourself in God's promises yields several important benefits for believers.
Speaker 1: First, anchoring in God's promises keeps believers continually focused on his sovereignty and power.
Speaker 1: This strengthens trust in God's ability to fulfill his promises in spite of seemingly impossible circumstances.
Speaker 1: Listen to these words that God spoke to Hezekiah against Sennacherib.
Speaker 1: That God spoke to Hezekiah against Sennacherib, verse 23.
Speaker 1: Who is it you have mocked and blasphemed.
Speaker 1: Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride?
Speaker 1: Against the Holy One of Israel?
Speaker 1: You have mocked the Lord through your servants and then go down to verse 26.
Speaker 1: 26.
Speaker 1: Have you not heard?
Speaker 1: I designed it long ago, I planned it days gone by.
Speaker 1: I have now brought it to pass and you have crushed fortified cities into piles of rubble.
Speaker 1: God is speaking about Sennacherib here.
Speaker 1: Their inhabitants, the inhabitants of the fortified cities that he crushed, their inhabitants have become powerless, dismayed and ashamed.
Speaker 1: They are plants of the field, tender grass, grass on the rooftops, blasted by the east wind.
Speaker 1: But I, the sovereign God, I know you're sitting down and you're going out and you're coming in and you're raging against me.
Speaker 1: Because you're raging against me and your arrogance have reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth.
Speaker 1: I will make you go back the way you came.
Speaker 1: Did you know that the way Assyrians led their prisoners, their captives, was by placing a fish hook through their nose or right even, through their lips, and then pulled them along on a leash?
Speaker 1: God is turning it back onto Sennacherib here.
Speaker 1: The second one, anchoring in God's promises, keeps believers sure and steadfast amidst doubts and challenges.
Speaker 1: God gave Hezekiah a sign that he will faithfully preserve the land and feed the people as they recover from this invasion, in order to show that his purpose, and not chance, orchestrated the entire event that is unfolding before King Hezekiah.
Speaker 1: We see this in verses 30 to 32.
Speaker 1: Therefore, this is what the Lord I'm sorry this will be the sign for you.
Speaker 1: This year you will eat what grows on its own and in the second year what grows from that.
Speaker 1: But in the third year, sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
Speaker 1: The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward, for a remnant will go out from Jerusalem and survivors from Mount Zion.
Speaker 1: The zeal of the Lord of armies will accomplish this.
Speaker 1: The third thing, the third benefit believers can get from anchoring in God's promises, is that it offers an unshakable hope.
Speaker 1: It was for God's own glory and out of his covenant faithfulness to David that God declared that he will defend the city of Jerusalem, and we see this in verses 33 to 35.
Speaker 1: Verse 33.
Speaker 1: Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria he will not enter this city.
Speaker 1: Shoot an arrow there, come before it with a shield or build up a siege ramp against it.
Speaker 1: He will go back the way he came.
Speaker 1: He will not enter this city.
Speaker 1: This is the Lord he came.
Speaker 1: He will not enter this city.
Speaker 1: This is the Lord's declaration.
Speaker 1: I will defend this city and rescue it for my sake and for the sake of my servant, david.
Speaker 1: Stop here for a moment.
Speaker 1: Have you noticed that the prayer of a believer's humble heart is a truly practical way of dealing with the harsh realities of this world?
Speaker 1: What military force and arms or diplomacy or money could not achieve?
Speaker 1: Prayer accomplished for Hezekiah, amen.
Speaker 1: The security of God's people comes from God's unfaltering commitment to them.
Speaker 1: In the New Testament, christ has given his promise to his people.
Speaker 1: In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 16 and verse 18,.
Speaker 1: And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ will take action to counter even the weakness and failure of his servants.
Speaker 1: Another example is in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 22, verses 31 to 32.
Speaker 1: This is what Jesus said at his first Lord's Supper Simon, simon, look out.
Speaker 1: Satan has asked to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.
Speaker 1: Deliverance promised to Hezekiah extended hope far beyond Hezekiah's day to the church today.
Speaker 1: God will not desert those for whom Christ died.
Speaker 1: Factors that help you navigate through a crisis with a steady heart include affirming your trust in God, appealing to God through prayer, anchoring in God's promises and the fourth point and the last point, anticipating God's response.
Speaker 1: Anticipate God's response.
Speaker 1: Isaiah previously predicted the destruction of the Assyrian army.
Speaker 1: In Isaiah, chapter 14, verses 24, 25, and 27, isaiah writes the Lord of armies has sworn.
Speaker 1: As I have purposed, so it will be.
Speaker 1: As I have planned it, so it will happen.
Speaker 1: I will break Assyria in my land.
Speaker 1: The Lord of armies himself has planned it.
Speaker 1: Therefore, who can stand in its way?
Speaker 1: It is his hand that is outstretched, so who can turn it back?
Speaker 1: And then in Isaiah, chapter 30, verses 30 and 31, it says and the Lord will make the splendor of his voice heard and reveal his arm striking an angry wrath and a flame of consuming fire in driving rain.
Speaker 1: A flame of consuming fire in driving rain, a torrent and hailstones.
Speaker 1: Assyria will be shattered by the voice of the Lord.
Speaker 1: He will strike with a rod.
Speaker 1: These were promises of God Hezekiah put his faith in God's promises.
Speaker 1: Now let's see how God responded.
Speaker 1: There are three general principles that we see here.
Speaker 1: In verse 26, god displays his sovereignty over human affairs.
Speaker 1: We see this in what the Lord said against the king of Assyria, speaking through Isaiah.
Speaker 1: Have you not heard?
Speaker 1: I designed it long ago.
Speaker 1: I planned it in days gone by.
Speaker 1: That Sennacherib was an instrument of judgment on Judah was by God's design and this was planned out long ago.
Speaker 1: The victories of powerful rulers like Sennacherib were part of God's preordained plan.
Speaker 1: The second thing is God displays his power and judgment against those who defy him, and this is seen in verses 36 and 37.
Speaker 1: It says then the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000.
Speaker 1: Not a small number.
Speaker 1: When the people got up the next morning they were all the dead bodies.
Speaker 1: So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and left.
Speaker 1: He returned home and lived in Nineveh.
Speaker 1: The overnight slaughter of the Assyrian army 185,000 of the troops did not come by the hand of an enemy, but by the angel of the Lord.
Speaker 1: The narrative is brief, it's not dramatic, but remember the real drama took place in Hezekiah's prayer In verses 14 to 35.
Speaker 1: God intervened in massive proportions and ultimately settled Hezekiah's dilemma.
Speaker 1: It settled his crisis.
Speaker 1: Sennacherib returned home to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria at that time, and never returned to attack Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: The third principle we see here is that God underscores the futility of trusting in false gods and the consequences of blaspheming against the true God.
Speaker 1: We see this after Sennacherib returned to Nineveh.
Speaker 1: Isaiah says in verse 38 here one day when he that's Sennacherib when Sennacherib was worshiping in the temple of his God, nisroch, his sons, adrammelech and Sherezer, struck him, struck him down with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat.
Speaker 1: Then his son, esarhaddon, became king in his place.
Speaker 1: Sennacherib was assassinated by two of his own sons 20 years after his failed siege of Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: But do you see the irony in this?
Speaker 1: The king who ridiculed the one true God dies in the temple of the God he worshipped.
Speaker 1: The emperor who boasted that he could subdue any nation found himself unable to guard against the treachery within his own family.
Speaker 1: There's no security apart from trusting in the one true God, and there's no escaping his control of events nor the determination of their outcome.
Speaker 1: This was God's devastating response to the king of Assyria, an embarrassing outcome for him.
Speaker 1: Hezekiah anticipated a response, but this one probably blew his mind away.
Speaker 1: This is the mighty hand of the God, who is sovereign over all.
Speaker 1: He is at work.
Speaker 1: This was one of Hezekiah's greatest crises, one that revealed his vulnerability, attacked his confidence, created doubt and despair and caused him to battle anxiety.
Speaker 1: Some of us sitting here today might be going through a personal or family crisis of our own.
Speaker 1: How can you have a steady heart when you navigate through these crises?
Speaker 1: Hezekiah's example highlights some practical steps.
Speaker 1: He demonstrated to us that we should affirm our trust in God, appeal to God in prayer, anchor in God's promises.
Speaker 1: Anchor in God's promises and anticipate God to respond.
Speaker 1: God's deliverance of Jerusalem from the Assyrian army can be viewed as a picture of Jesus' death and resurrection.
Speaker 1: Just as Hezekiah's Jerusalem was surrounded by enemy soldiers, jesus was surrounded by Roman soldiers at his crucifixion.
Speaker 1: However, just as the Assyrian army was defeated miraculously, jesus' followers woke up Sunday morning to find him alive.
Speaker 1: This is a picture of Jesus' victory over sin and death, which delivers those who have placed their trust in him from the power of sin and death.
Speaker 1: If you don't know Jesus, some of what I'm saying may not make sense to you.
Speaker 1: Yet you might have crises that you're facing something similar to the massive army of Assyria that Hezekiah faced.
Speaker 1: You might be swimming to keep your head above water and experiencing fear and anxiety over the uncertainties that you are facing in life, whether they are directly from your own doing or not, or your fears and anxieties are coming from other potential threats.
Speaker 1: Your greatest fear might even be wondering where you will be after you die.
Speaker 1: The Bible says, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Speaker 1: Romans 6.23.
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ delivers all who trust in him from sin and death.
Speaker 1: This is the victory we have in Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: If you would like to know more about the good news of Jesus Christ, I would invite you to please come and speak with one of the church elders.
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ is the one who leads us through life's crises.
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ is the ultimate source of courage and strength.
Speaker 1: Through him we find assurance that God's promises reach its highest point in our salvation, our deliverance, our victory over sin and death.
Speaker 1: When we have seen in Hezekiah the transforming power of faith under pressure, and how reliance on God and faith in him, rather than human efforts, can turn the tide of seemingly hopeless situations, remember this.
Speaker 1: The battle is the Lord's, so let's walk with him, let's pray.
Speaker 1: I confess to you, heavenly Father, that we often live our lives apart from submitting to you, break our sinful attitudes instead, cause us to know you deeply and your promises and to trust in you fully and to rest firmly, safely and securely in you, especially when we face challenging situations in our lives.
Speaker 1: Securely in you, especially when we face challenging situations in our lives.
Speaker 1: You have reassured us not to fear, for you are with us.
Speaker 1: You told us not to be afraid, for you are our God.
Speaker 1: You said that you will strengthen us, you will help us and you will hold on to us with your righteous right hand.
Speaker 1: Thank you for your grace and mercy upon us.
Speaker 1: In Jesus' name, I pray, amen.