I try to tell God everything. Sometimes I get tired of telling Him things. I get tired of talking to Him.
I'm just tired of talking, not in the sense that I'm tired of talking to you, not in that sense, but just fatigued on certain things. And so I just sit before Him. And I don't sit there too long. I get restless.
But I do sit a little bit. And all I can say is that after all these years, I'm still standing. I've seen others turn away from the faith.
They're not serving anymore. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Isaiah.
Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. And now here's Pastor Rick in the book of Isaiah chapter 37 with today's edition of Cross-Reference Radio. Hezekiah, again, spiritually wise enough not to dismiss the threat and not to succumb to it at the same time. That's poise.
I see the threat. He's not caving to the threat. He's not going crazy. He's going to God's house and he's keeping his wits about Him. He did not have this blind faith. The sackcloth is saying this is major league.
This is a heavy weight situation. And his call for Isaiah to pray showed his confidence in prayer. Prayer counts because the devil works so hard to tell us that it does not. And so the comment Luke adds that Jesus talking about prayer to the apostles, men ought always pray and not lose heart.
Well, he only said that because that's what we do. We lose heart. But if you love somebody enough, you won't lose heart.
You just will stay at it. And love covers a multitude of sins. Love is invincible in that sense. And hell knows it. And the Christian who is aspiring to be Christ-like will learn these lessons.
And so even though the Lord had brought Assyria to chase in Judah, the king hoped that the judgment was now over using them as an instrument. The sovereignty of God, Job 38.11, God speaking to Job, when I said, speaking to the oceans, this far you may come but no father and here your proud waves must stop. That's the sovereignty of God. He knows when to turn it off.
He knows when to leave it on. And the Christian learns that. And we don't rebel against him because of that. Verse 5, so the servants of the king came to Isaiah and Isaiah said to them, thus you shall say to your master, thus says Yahweh, do not be afraid of the words which you have heard with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. So Isaiah, he's older now. He's an old prophet. He's established as a prophet. And he knows what his role is.
And he is carrying it out. And he says, I'm going to give you what God says. I want you to take these words back to the king. You've come to ask me to pray. Well, while he's there praying, God's telling Isaiah what to say.
And the first thing is, do not be afraid. One of the most cherished words that God speaks to us. It's so prevalent in the New Testament.
I fear not. Original sin has made earth the battlefield, a battlefield where faith fights fear. You know, there's original sin. We're all sinners. Then there's the sinful acts that we commit based on that original sin.
So when someone is sick, a beloved Christian is sick with a terminal sickness, that's sin, not their sin, but sin on earth and the curse upon mankind that we have to go through. And God says, of course, I'm going to make this worth it. Just abide in me. You keep your faith going. And as believers leave this life, will one of the first things we hear or have imparted to us is fear not? Because, you know, a lot of people get up to that gate of death and there's fear, believers.
Some others just, you know, dive right in. But it's real. And so that's why God tells us fear not. He means it.
It doesn't mean the outcome is going to be the way you want. It means He'll be with you. And He says here in verse 6, of the words which you have heard, do not be afraid of the words which you have heard. That was the voice of the devil from chapter 36.
A real devil with a real army and real swords that cut and kill. God hears all the praises, the genuine praises of believers, and He hears all the blasphemes. And He serves notice to those who aren't believers that it will be used against you. Matthew chapter 12, verse 36, but I say to you that every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
That's pretty serious coming from God Almighty. How would an unbeliever know that unless we tell them? That's what Paul's argument is in Romans 10. How should they hear without a preacher? How should they preach unless they are sent? And that can be on an individual, evangelical level or from a pulpit. Anyway, he continues here in verse 6 at the bottom, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
Now Isaiah, all those prophets, they knew how to stick it to the devil's people. And here's an example. The word servants is not the common word for servants.
It's used elsewhere, but in context it's like an errand boy or a lad. But to use it here in this context, the structure of the Hebrew is derogatory. It's contemptuous. They're saying those little flunkies of Sennacherib, his Assyrian flunkies. So he says, which the flunkies of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. That is a closer reading to what Isaiah is actually saying. And so there's the servants of Hezekiah listening to Isaiah's word and they're going, yes. He says, I love when the prophet speaks. So verse 7 now, surely I will send the spirit upon him and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. You know, prophecy blends a lot of things into simple sentences that can span decades, if not centuries, and it kind of leaves it for us to figure it out. In this case, where he says, I will send the spirit upon him and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land. Well, yeah, he's going to do that, but then he comes back and then he says, and Isaiah leaves all that out and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
Well, that's 20 years from now before that takes place. And yet they treated it like this is what God said and they went by faith on these things. And here we have, you know, this giant New Testament and we struggle to believe, but at least we're struggling. So he makes no reference here to the devastation that's coming to the Assyrian army, the 185,000 slaughtered in one night, because he already did, he already mentioned it. Isaiah 31 verse 8, then Assyria shall fall by a sword, not a man, not of man, and a sword not of mankind shall devour him, but he shall flee from the sword. The idea being that Sennacherib, the king, when his armies return and they're wiped out that night, they're terrified and they flee. They don't just mosey back to Assyria. Isaiah is saying that they're going to be shaken up by that and they'll never come back into Judah again. So God knows how to lead enemies to their doom. He is going to hear a rumor.
Right now at this time in history there's an Ethiopian king who will also be king over Egypt, merge the two together, and Isaiah writes that way for his audience because it's not at the time it's happening, it happens later. I don't know why I'm telling you that. That's for commentators to argue back and forth, and I've been arguing with them and winning. I've been winning.
They haven't said anything back to me when I... Anyway, I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land, again 20 years later. Verse 8, then Reb Shachar returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed from Lachish. So he's giving us detail that really is too much for us, about 20 miles from Jerusalem. Reb Shachar, he brings his army to Jerusalem, hears that there's trouble with his king Sennacherib, he takes his army there, but they're going to send a letter and they're going to say, don't think you've gotten away with this.
We will be back. There's a terror of Satan on the faith of believers. And Hezekiah, he had taken the time to fortify Jerusalem. We believe he is the one that cut that water well in Jerusalem. It's called Hezekiah's tunnel. It's a conduit for water because he knew the sieges would come and he was going to be ready for them as best he could. Verse 9, then the king heard concerning Terhaca, king of Ethiopia, he has come out to make war with you, so when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah's saying.
Okay, so Terhaca, this Ethiopian who becomes king of Egypt too, and the Ethiopians had a huge army, he's rattling, he's mobilizing. The Assyrians find out about this and say, well, we're not going to fight Jerusalem and this guy at the same time. We'll just pull our troops to face this other threat. We'll come back and get Jerusalem later.
They're not going to do anything. But we can't have this Terhaca's army coming from the south. And so they're going to respond to that. And so verse 9, the bottom, it says, so when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah's saying. So now this is the Assyrians sending this letter to Hezekiah. Verse 10, thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah saying, do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Again, you could insert, you know, the Jewish believers in Daniel saying, oh king, we're not even careful how we're going to answer you in this. We're going to trust God no matter what he does or does not do. So he, here, this is Sennacherib, the boss of Reb Sheka, the king of the Assyrians, who's going to be killed by his own sons in 20 years in his temple. Anyway, he's echoing what Reb Sheka said because he's the author of what Reb Sheka was saying. And he's trying to put the pressure on Judah, Judah's king Hezekiah, to not trust God, to not trust Yahweh.
Been through this in chapter 36. Hezekiah is, he's not pressured. He's just going to trust the Lord. He's going to do everything right. So here's what he is told, says in his, writes in his letter to the Jewish king. Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of, Isaiah responding, saying Jerusalem shall not, don't trust the prophecies that Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. He's saying don't trust your God. You will be given into my hand. I'm going to conquer you. That's the voice of the devil.
I hope I'm not confusing you with that. Verse 11, look, still the evil king talking, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands by utterly destroying them and shall you be delivered? He's just trying to inject terror and fear into them, break their faith down, attacking their faith and their God.
This is what Satan does. Verse 12, have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? This is not the Garden of Eden, it's another Eden. Verse 13, where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arphad, the king of the city of Sarahavim, Hannah, Ivah?
Ivah asked you the question, where are these places? So it's pretty spooky. It's pretty spooky even with faith because faith does not ignore reality. It looks for God in reality.
Miracles, God's miracles, they overrule statistics. God can deal with all of this and Hezekiah knows it. And the New Testament spends a lot of time telling us Christians in its own way, I need you to be strong.
I need you to be anxious for nothing but in all things, with thanksgiving, prayer and let your supplications be made known to God. Well, we'll come back to that verse again. But unbelief, our own unbelief, tries to void out the idea of God's faithfulness. The world tries to void out the idea of an absolute sovereign God to whom we are to be faithful to. That's what's going on here. He's trying to void out the king's faith.
It's not working. Verse 14, and Hezekiah received a letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. And Hezekiah went up to the house of Yahweh and spread it out before the Lord. Verse 15, then Hezekiah prayed to Yahweh saying.
So he gets the letter, he reads it, and he takes this to God. What would Saul, King Saul, have done? He wouldn't have done this. Hezekiah's father Ahaz would not have done that. He pushed back on the prophet when Isaiah was saying, ask for a sign. God wants to get involved in this and He didn't want any part of it. But Hezekiah, he's got it right.
He doesn't tear his clothes this time. And he's not in a hurry to answer the letter. But he is, he is focused on getting to God. So, you know, faith seeks to conform to God's will, no matter what it costs. Nevertheless, Father, not my will but Your will be done. Basic Christianity.
Be anxious for nothing. But in everything, prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. It's not being a tattletale to run and tell God everything. It's prayer. That's walking with the Lord. He knows it anyway. But it sure helps to get it in front of Him. As Habakkuk said, I will see how He will answer me and how I will respond.
And that's where the growth takes place. If maybe you don't like somebody, tell God, Lord, you know I don't like this. Sometimes you're not justified and you know it.
I have no reason. I just don't like the person. Well, that may not be a sin in and of itself if it doesn't, you know, show up in the way you treat them. But when those kind of things, you know, they're not little. They can, they can snowball into something very big. They can create a spirit of bitterness, a spirit of pettiness, of injustice.
All sorts of things can happen when you give that to Satan. I try to tell God everything. Sometimes I get tired of telling Him things. I get tired of talking to Him.
I'm just tired of talking, not in the sense that I'm tired of talking to you, not in that sense, but just fatigued on certain things. And so I just sit before Him. And I don't sit there too long. I get restless.
But I do sit a little bit. And I, all I can say is that after all these years, I'm still standing. I've seen others turn away from the faith. They're not serving anymore.
Life has caught them in certain things and they've just turned away. And you just want to not be on that casualty list. Verse 16, O Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, the one who dwells between the cherubim, you are God, you alone. Of all the kingdoms of the earth, you have made heaven and earth. So we pause here and remember I mentioned in the beginning that His doctrine was a part of this. We have Acts 2.22 in motion, continuing steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and prayer and communion and fellowship.
Well, that's what we have here. Isaiah, Hezekiah, he's not isolated. He's plugged into the prophet. He has his servants. He goes to God.
He says God is the creator of heaven and earth, so he's a creationist. Verse 17, incline your ear, O Yahweh, and hear, open your eyes, O Yahweh, and see, and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. Well, coming from a man like him, there's no insult there. Open your ears, open your eyes.
But, you know, we can use that in an insulting. Why don't you just open your eyes? You know, that's not what he's saying. So he's saying this with feeling, this feeling behind this.
You know, he's crying out to God, maybe not with tears, but he's a serious. Verse 18, truly Yahweh, the king of Assyria, have laid waste to all the nations and their land. So he says, I admit, what Sennacherib is telling us is true. He's wiped out these peoples who had these false gods. The king has no sense of entitlement, but he does have a spirit of dependence. And if you have a spirit of entitlement that somehow God owes you, you might want to get rid of that and instead just look to be dependent on the Lord.
So the king says, here's the problem, Sennacherib. Write out with that, verse 19, that he continues what he has done. He has cast out their gods into the fire. Well, they are not gods, but the work of men's hands, wood, stone, therefore they destroyed them. So again, his doctrine, he's sharing it right out. The living God versus the dead idols. Something martyrs never lose sight of. You know, God did not, the Lord did not have to say to Stephen, fear not, he just showed up.
That did it. Just seeing the Lord, Stephen had no fear when he checked out. Anyway, I want to just, Acts chapter 4, verse 18, because here we have the living God versus these idols. And the name Jesus, in the context of Christ, or Nazareth, it is a big deal. The name of Christ Jesus is not, there's nothing common about it.
There's nothing average about it. In Acts chapter 4, so they called them, the apostles, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. You see chaplains today, they're saying you cannot be a chaplain in the name of Jesus. You can be in front of Muhammad or Krishna or whoever else, we don't want to hear you invoking the name Jesus.
Because, well I'll just give you another one. Acts 21, verse 13, this is when they're telling Paul not to go to Jerusalem, he'll be persecuted. He says, I am ready, not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. Philippians chapter 2, verse 10, that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue, every knee shall bow of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth. You see what I'm saying, when I pray, I love saying in Jesus' name, because I love him.
And it is personal. I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ because of Jesus Christ and so do countless multitudes of Christians through the ages to this day have this relationship. It is making a distinction between the fake gods and the real Savior. And I think that when you pray, you know, with boldness, in the name of Jesus, I'm not saying it's not a, you don't have to do this, I'm just telling you, I enjoy doing that.
I open my prayers the three ways Christ did, you know, righteous Father, our Father who art in heaven, your heavenly Father, just because I want to. But that doesn't mean I think others should. However, I still know that the Bible teaches that, nor is there salvation in any other name given among men by which we must be saved.
And so, yeah, it's not being proud of, it's just making that declaration. Isaiah, no less than eight times, he refers to the no gods. And here he says, Hezekiah says, for they are not gods. Yahweh is God. And Yahweh of the Old Testament is Jesus of the New Testament. Isaiah chapter two verse eight, their land is also full of no gods. They worship the work of their own hands that which their own fingers have made.
Now the Hebrew is no gods, but it was translated idols. And as I've said a few times before, going through the Old Testament, Ezekiel, he just, he lays it on heavy. Well now, that's my emphasis on the name of Jesus. It used to be a song. There's a few of them. The one that's coming to mind, Jesus, just a mention of your name.
The flowers bloom, the desert blooms again. I think it's a Jimmy Swaggart song, actually. He can sing, he can play that piano.
And anyway, used to, in spite of his shortcomings. So, verse 20 now. Now therefore, O Yahweh, our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are Yahweh, you alone.
Nor is there salvation in any other name, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow. And Paul, when he says that, he's quoting Isaiah, incidentally. So here, the question in verse 20, he wants more than deliverance from Israel for Jerusalem. He wants more than deliverance for his life, for the people, for the city of Jerusalem.
He wants God to be glorified. So you see, this is a great man of faith, this king. It is a central theme in Isaiah, that God be glorified, that the Gentiles get this light. And it's nice to see it. Verse 21, then Isaiah, the son of Amor, sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus says Yahweh, God of Israel, because you have prayed to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria.
We'll pause there. As I mentioned, men ought always pray, and it means humans, people, ought always pray, and not lose heart. And here we see God ringing in on that in the Old Testament. The king is praying to God. God is answering the king's prayer. He doesn't know it at the moment, but he's answering it to the prophet Isaiah. Anyway, verse 22, This is the word which Yahweh has spoken concerning him. The virgin, the daughter of Zion, has despised you, laughed you to scorn, and the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head behind your back. And so the prophet is saying that in the end, we will mock the king of the Assyrians.
This was supposed to create peace in the heart of the Jews. Philippians 4, verse 7, And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Thanks for tuning in to Cross Reference Radio today. Cross Reference Radio is a ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia. If you'd like to learn more about this ministry, we invite you to visit our website, crossreferenceradio.com.
You'll find a number of teachings from Pastor Rick available there. We also encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. When you subscribe, you'll be notified of new editions of Cross Reference Radio. Just search for Cross Reference Radio on your favorite podcast app. You can also follow the links at crossreferenceradio.com. We're glad we were able to spend time with you today. Tune in next time to continue learning from the book of Isaiah with Pastor Rick, right here on Cross Reference Radio.
