Psalm 107:33-43, 108; 2 Kings 19:21-36; 1 Cor. 10:1-13; Matt: 8:18-27
Isaiah tells Hezekiah that the Lord has heard his prayer and is answering it. The prophecy is addressed to both Sennacherib and to Hezkiah in turn. Sennacherib is addressed first and the Lord says first, you have made a great mistake in boasting against Me, you have gone too far and that will be the end of you. He informs the king that all he has done is foreordained and known by Yahweh and what he has done has been in accord with the will of Yahweh in the chastisement of His people but now the time has come for the king to be judged by one greater than he. To Hezekiah, the Lord speaks first of crops that the next two years will be difficult ones. Sieges were typically done at the time of the harvest in order that the army could live off the harvest of the land they were seeking to conquer so this year would be lean, as would the next as the devastation of the hordes of Assyrians would be so great. The third year, however, would be a time of abundance and celebration. At any rate, they would be there, in Jerusalem, to enjoy all these harvests. Finally, we are told of Sennacherib’s demise in accordance with the word of the Lord.
“What sort of man is this?” A good question indeed. He is the most unusual sort of man who ever lived, a one of a kind sort of man, but a true man, in fact, the one true man. Absent sin, we would have the power that Jesus displayed. Sin has diminished us in every way. Jesus can speak with the power of the Creator to the wind and the waves and expect obedience from what we see as inanimate objects. When, however, He speaks to us, our sinful nature gets in the way and we have more important things to do rather than follow Him. Do we recognize truly what sort of man this is? We have the power of the Holy Spirit within us and if we will indeed follow Him, deal with sin in our lives, and live by the power of that Spirit we would be a different sort of human as well.
How are we doing with temptation? Paul says too that we are able, by the power of the Holy Spirit and reliance on God, to escape temptation. If we ask Him, if we rely on Him, He will provide a way of escape. Prayer, then, is the first response to temptation and there are temptations to sin presented to us all day long whether we recognize them or not. We need a habit of constant, abiding prayer in our lives to even see many of the temptations in our lives, much less to respond to them. Life is a dangerous business, sin abounds and we are so accustomed to the way things are that we have little sense of true righteousness. The sins of the Israelites which Paul lists here are common to us as well, and we fall often as they did. Fortunately, not only does sin abound, His grace abounds all the more. It has to if there is to be any hope for us.
Angels, help us to adore Him;
Ye behold Him face to face;
Sun and moon, bow down before Him,
Dwellers all in time and space.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise with us the God of grace.
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