Isaiah (Session 12) Chapters 36-39

well we are concluding a 12 session exploration that we call the first volume of Isaiah and so we're going to be exploring it is the twelfth of the twelve sessions we're going to explore chapters 36 through 39 tonight and this is the final session we're calling unit 1 don't confuse don't let us confuse you Isaiah is one book but it clearly at least in style divides into two parts and we're calling this unit one if you will and we in the last session went through a handful of chapters that that broadened the scope of attention the chapters up till now have been prophetic and the chapters from 40 on are prophetic but right in the middle of the book we have four chapters inserted that may raise more questions and an hour answered if you will and so this is a parenthesis of history the rest of the book is written in a poetic style but these four chapters are straightforward prose and it's going to know Isaiah of course began his prophetic ministry when King Uzziah died as you recall and then he continued it through the reigns of Jotham Ahaz and now Hezekiah and he picked Hezekiah start at the age 25 and then ruled for 29 years and we're gonna focus on that in this little historical session Hezekiah was one of the five great kings if you will of Judah they said Jehoshaphat joash Hezekiah and Josiah and through through whom revival came to the land so chapter 36 is going to talk about Hezekiah anxiety or trouble his concern because the Assyrians were threatening to invade chapter 37 is a very specific prayer he does the right thing he lays a a letter down in front of the Lord and prays about it 38 deals with his illness and in the last chapter is where he blows it he doesn't do everything right in the last chapter he does something that we call Hezekiah is falling and we'll get into that as we go these little four chapters now what's Trey about this little excerpt of these four chapters is this is the third time in the Old Testament they appear because in second Kings chapters 18 19 and 20 are virtually identical to this in fact they don't sound like they're the same words second chronicles chapter 29 30 repeat the same story again and then of course here in Isaiah these four chapters now one of the questions that I'll leave with you as the students to ponder is why did the Holy Spirit regard these four chapters so significant as to have them recorded three times in the Old Testament I know of no other historical passage that is repeated three times in the Old Testament and so many things are alluded to of course but that's this is a different this is history here now they do embrace three very significant miracles so that might be one of the reasons they're here the death angel is going to slay a hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians in chapter 37 God is going to heal Hezekiah and extend his life 15 years and then finally there's this strange event where the sundial of air there's a prominent monument called it has a sundial and the shadow operated a sundial and it backs up 10 steps or 10 portions it's as if it creates the apparent appearance that the Sun backed up for a 10 degrees worth whatever that means so what's all that about and so let's talk a little bit about the historical context here see the the a has the predecessor to Hezekiah was a bad king but his successor was Hezekiah whom Isaiah served and he was in fact the official prophet of the court and in general Hezekiah does pretty well he tore down all the idols throughout the land he re-established worshiped of the true God in Jerusalem but this interestingly enough was misunderstood by his enemies made a major motivation for battles in that period of was victory over foreign gods proving that the conquering nations God or Idol was better than the losers God my God is bigger than your God kind of thing and now the Assyrians were deserving to be feared because they had they had been the dominant factor in that whole region for two centuries at least and the power and brutality of the Assyrians are unparalleled they delighted in gouging people's eyes out removing their ears tearing out their throat their their tongue deporting them all the way to Central Russia maybe even to Siberia the these they relished in brutality and not just power for its sake they were they were legend in terms of how brutal they were because the Syrian army is gathering to attack Jerusalem and and it's led by their current King Sennacherib and so now Hezekiah had paid tribute to be left alone but this is being ignored by the Assyrians so Hezekiah is considering turning to Egypt for help and that that is something that is a mistake and God tries to correct them from that so let's first take a look at the text and as is our style we'll take a first look at it in terms of the ISV because we have the benefit they have a proprietary translation from the Dead Sea Scrolls which is it flows it's a little clearer perhaps and then then the traditional King James so let's just jump in and chapter 36 the first three verses here in the 14th year of King Hezekiah King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them so get the picture here the northern region is now in his grip and the king of Assyria sent his field commander along with a very large army from la Hache to King Hezekiah and Jerusalem when the field commander stopped at the aqueduct at the upper pool on the road to laundry man's field he'll kaya's son alike him who was in charge of the palace and Sheba the secretary and Asaph son Yara the recorder they all went out to him and the field commander told them quote tell Hezekiah king of Judah this is what the mighty King the king of Assyria has to say what is this guarantee that makes you yourself rely on it do you really think that guarantees alone can withstand strategy and military strength of whom are you now depending that you're rebelling against me take note you're relying on Egypt that's splintered read of a staff which pierces the palm of anyone who leans on it this is what Pharaoh the king of Egypt is like to everybody who depends on him but if you say to him if you all say to me we're depending on the Lord our God isn't he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed while he kept on telling Judah Jerusalem you are to worship in front of this altar at Jerusalem come now all of you make a bet with my master the king of Assyria I will give you two thousand horses if you can furnish riders for them how then can you repulse even one officer from the least of my Master's officials when you're depending for yourselves on Egypt for chariots and horsemen what other thing have I really marched against this country to destroy it apart from the Lord's direction the Lord himself ordered me bart's against this country to destroy it then alike him Sheba and Joyce replied to him please speak with your servants with us in Aramaic since we understand it don't speak to us in Hebrew we're the people sitting on the wall can hear they didn't like the propaganda the impact here I guess you see but the field commander asked was it only to all of you and to your master that my master sent me to speak these things wasn't also to the men sitting on the wall who like you will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine when the commander stood up and shouted out aloud in Hebrew hear the words of the great king the king of Assyria this is what the king of Assyria says don't let Hezekiah deceive you for he cannot save you don't let Hezekiah persuade you to rely on the Lord when he says the Lord will really deliver us and this city will never be handed over to the king of Assyria don't listen to her because this is what the king of Assyria says make your peace with me and come out to me then everyone will eat from his own vine and from his own victory and everyone will drink water from his own cistern until I come and take you away to a land like your own land to a land of grain and new wine a land of bread and vineyards be careful not to let Hezekiah mislead you when he says the Lord will save us has any God of any nation ever delivered his country from the king of Assyria where are the gods of Haman and Arpad where are the gods of safar I mean have they saved Sumeria from me who among all the gods of these countries has delivered their land for me how then can the Lord delivered Jerusalem from me but the people remain silent and didn't respond to him with so much as a single word because the King had commanded don't answer him then he'll Chaya send a like him who was in charge of the palace Sheba this his secretary and ASF son yo ho the recorder approached Hezekiah with their closed horn and let them let him know what the field commander had said so that's the segment if you will with 22 verses in the is V so let's take a look at in the King James now it's it's pretty understandable why has it gotta be nervous because the other cities had fallen and I can't say let's just jump in and take a look at the King James and make our comments from it now it came to pass in the 14th year of the King Hezekiah that Sennacherib the king of Assyria came up against all the defense cities of Judah and took them and the king of Assyria sent rabbi Shaq now that by the way is a title not a person's name but anyway sent rubbish shake from la Hache which is a field commander by the way that's not the capital to Jerusalem the king of Hezekiah with a great army and he stood by the conduit of the upper pool at the highway of the Fuller's field and so so that's Nineveh of course is the real capital so don't get confused by luggage that's like a you know any field capital and robert sheikh is a title ok then came forth unto him alaya kim hill kaya son which was over the house and she even described and you're a son the recorder and robert just senator them say you now to Hezekiah they say it's a great king the king was what confidence is this way now to trust us I say though I say us now but there but Romanian words I have a counsel and strength for war now on whom does now it trust that thou rebelliously against me lo thou trust us in the staff of his broken Reed on the deed whereupon if a man leaned on it it will go into his hand and pierce it so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust him you know the King James doesn't isn't different but the ISV flows to me much more eloquently but moving on here but if they'll say to me we trust in the Lord our God is it not he whose places whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away and said to Judah into Jerusalem you should worship before this owner now therefore ye pledges I pray thee to my master the king of Assyria and I will give the two thousand horses if you will be able on thy part to set riders upon them that's a facetious bet that he's proposing obviously and so but it's a rubber check is misinformed here the data is correct but his impression is wrong yes those idols were torn down but Hezekiah turned down all the idols groves and altars the pagan elements there and they had misunderstood and thought that he had torn down the altars to force worship at Jerusalem they didn't realize the difference in God's small G if you will and God thus they thought that tearing down the altars had offended the gods they worshiped that's the impression that they had jumped to but going can continue here how then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my Master's servants and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots enforcement am I now come up with out the law and against this land to destroy it the Lord has said to me go up against this land and destroy it now Robert Schenck of course here is speaking in Hebrew and Hezekiah as men would want him to speak the Syrian language if you will or Aramaic and so the men on the wall wouldn't understand what's going on here but that just that just encouraged the more it seemed like him achievement and joy and said to Robert I could pray speak afraid the servants in the Syrian language for we understand it and speak not to us in the Jews language in the ears of the people in law and that was naive because they obviously just continued speaking Hebrew for that very reason but Robert said have mice master sent me to thy master to speak me these words have he not meet to the men that sit upon the wall that they may eat their own dung and drink her own piss with you and then rubbish X stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews language and said here either words of the great king the king of Assyria and so the you know this thing that when he says that they're going to eat the own refuse and drink their own water he's being literal and graphic by the way because sieges this isn't just a metaphor sieges were horrible times for the people inside the city forcing them to turn the cannibalism for survival and something you need to realise when the Romans would circle a city and put it under siege they were prepared to stay there 20 or 20 years if necessary say we think of a siege as a few months challenge know that the the ancient warfare involved when they sealed it off that was serious stuff for the people in there and the Romans typically were prepared to camp for fifteen to twenty years if necessary and so the strength of the wall becomes the you know a primary factor in the city strength of course men stay at the king let not Hezekiah deceive you for he shall not be able to deliver you neither let Hezekiah make you trusting the Lord saying the Lord will surely deliver us this city will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria hearken not to Hezekiah with us say at the king of Assyria make an agreement with me buy a present and come out to me and eat ye every one of his vine and every one of us a tree and drynke every one the waters of his own sister until I come and take you away to a land like your own land a land of corn and why in a land of bread and vineyards and beware lest Hezekiah persuade you saying the Lord will deliver us have any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria where are the gods if a map and a far five where are the gods of suffering and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand these are all fallen cities in the north they are now under the Assyrian domination and so who are they among all the gods of these lands that they have delivered their land out of my hand that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand and but it's interesting Hezekiah smen were well instructed they were to receive rubbish but not respond to his words we see her in verse 21 they held their peace and answered him not a word for the Kings commandment was saying answer him not and they were they did their duty then came a lack him the son of Hilkiah that was over the household and sheba the scribe and you know of this the ESF the recorder to Hezekiah with her close rent and told them the words of rubbish a you notice I think if you know the Jewish style when they're mourning or the grieving they tear their clothes that's just that sort of a preparation putting on sackcloth and ashes it's sort of a first statement if you will and it's interesting it's a it's a classic Jewish gesture anguish and it's funny we even have that expression in our clothes make the man we usually usually use that phrase in a positive sense in the Jewish sense it also means that's the man is broken and repented and breathing you see us so they sing by that by tearing whatever they're wearing and you'll see them do that at a funeral or what-have-you and okay let's take a look at chapter 37 and this is where Hezekiah does the right thing because he takes this thing from the Assyrians and lays it before the Lord I think this is this is an incredible example and chapter 37 verse 1 taking in the is V as soon as Hezekiah the King heard this he tore his clothes dressed himself in sackcloth and went into the Lord's temple then he said a lie akin who was in charge of the palace Sheba the secretary and the senior priests all wearing sackcloth to a MZ's sun the prophet Isaiah here is what Hezekiah says they told him this day is a day of trouble rebuking disgrace as when children come to the point of birth and there is no energy to deliver them perhaps the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander whom his master the king of Assyria sent to mock the Living God and perhaps you go Bute the words that the Lord your God has heard so lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives in the city in this city that's why King Hezekiah officials came to Isaiah have you tried let's take a look at in the King James pretty much the same thing it came to pass that when King Hezekiah heard it he ran his clothes cover himself with sackcloth when the house Lord Central High King was over the household she described the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth Isaiah prophet really not know no deviation from the I speak and the seventh time thus saith Hezekiah this day is the day of trouble and of rebuke and of blasphemy for the children are come to the birth and there is not strength to bring forth it may be that the Lord God that God will hear the words of Raja from the king of Assyria his master had sent to approach the Living God and will reprove the words which Lord they got a third wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that has left so the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah fair enough so let's take a look at Isaiah's response here in the is V starting for six here's what to tell you a master Isaiah told them this is what the Lord says don't be afraid of the words you heard those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have insulted me watch this I'm going to place an attitude within him so that when he hears a certain report he'll return to his own country then I'll have him cut down by the sword in his own land there's quite a bit of prophecy tucked away here rather interesting a weak pit one thing as you study eschatology pay attention to precision he's not only going to he's going to turn the key he's good and the sunnat' curb is going to go home he'll die in his own land he won't die in the battle interesting the precision that Isaiah records it I think is very fascinating and the King James is pretty much the same thing Isaiah said other than the serology sandy administered thus saith the Lord be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria blasphemy behold I will send a blast upon him and he does by the way he gets badly burned but his clothes or not I'll explain that in a minute 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 that's it doesn't mean that not only are they gonna win the precision there's going to be very interesting as it all unfolds let's take a look at this here that's thus sell you say unto your master thus sayeth the Lord see this is not I say a speculation this is something God told Isaiah to tell him okay and he said and he uses that would be not afraid of the words without hurt where with the servants of the king of Assyria blessing the term therefore servants is a derogatory term the minions in other word says the back of the hand kind of a phrase he's using here and so and says behold I will send a blast up on him and you'll be astonished to discover what kind of a blast were talking about it's probably a kind of blast that most of us have never seen but that we can see today and under certain conditions and he shall hear a rumor say and then he shall fall by the sword his own land and he will his to his own two sons at home will assassinate him it'll turn out okay let's take a look here starting at verse 8 so the field commander returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Lib nough since he had heard that the king of Assyria had left la Hache now the King Sennacherib had received this report concerning the King Taraka of cush he has marched out to fight against you when he heard it he returned and sent messengers to Hezekiah so temporarily he's he's diverted here say this to Hezekiah the king of Judah don't let your God on whom you depend deceive you when he says Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria surely you've heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all countries dooming them to destruction so you do you think you will be saved did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my ancestors save them the gods of goes on Iran with F and the people of Eden who were and tell us are where is the king of Hamas the king of Arpad the king of the city of sefar volume or henna or of Eva or so many these are all foot priests previously captured cities obviously and in the King James is pretty much the same thing you see when so rubbish Shack returned and found the king of Assyria war against Libya he'd heard that he was a party from the Haitian sea when he got back to his army he learned that the king of Assyria had left like he was going to war against Lebanon so he's for a little bit here a rumor came that the main force of the Assyrian army was being attacked by the Egyptian army and so rubbish act withdrew from Jerusalem temporary to assist the main force of the Assyrian army but to save face he dispatched a letter from Sennacherib to Hezekiah saying I'll be back you got the picture so far so this is gonna turn into a letter here in a minute okay that's not clear when you read the King James but it's clear when you put it all together any let's show you speak to Hezekiah saying let not thy God in whom I trust us to see if they're saying Jerusalem shall not be given at the hand of the king of Syria behold now it's heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands destroying them utterly and shalt thou be delivered have the unique gods of the nations delivered it which my father's destroyed he runs off the years goes on her on list them all where's the king of hey man the king of our fed and so forth these are previous sub victims if you will so we get to verse 14 in chapter 37 and this is one of the things that we should just smile at and apply to ourselves notice what Hezekiah does he gets this letter from Sennacherib and when he received the letters from the messages he read them then he went up to the Lord's temple loved us and he spread the letters in front of the Lord I like that you everything about doing that when you get a piece of mail that challenges you about some issue ever thought by just taking in prayer and physically laying it before the Lord calling his attention to it Wells jump the conditional he knows what it says no I think there's there's there's it's interesting it's I think revealing to see Hezekiah spread the letters in front of the Lord I love that 14 Hezekiah then prayed unto the Lord O Lord of the heavenly armies God of Israel and throne above the cherubim you alone are the God of all the kings of the earth you made heaven and earth extends your ear Lord and listen open your eyes Lord and look listen to the words of Sennacherib has sent to mock the Living God you know as I hear this presentation by Hezekiah what echoes in my ears I'm 83 the same thing in the psalmist 83 does speaking of Israel today speaking of it being attacked by the people around its borders today but it will move on here it is true Lord that the Assyrian Kings have devastated all these countries and have thrown their gods into the fire but they are not gods but rather the products of human hands mere wood and stone so the Assyrians destroyed them so now Lord our God save us from this oppressive hand so that all kingdoms of the air on earth may know that you alone O Lord our God you know it's going to be interesting as we travel through the rest of Isaiah how again and again again it echoes in all the corridors that God is only God he's alone God Isaiah's going to redevelop that in the second unit we're gonna get into subsequently so in the King James pretty much same thing Hezekiah received the letter from the handed messages and read it and hence guy went up I see the house the Lord and spread it before the Lord I love that and that's a guy praying the Lord saying O Lord of Hosts God of Israel that dwells between the cherubims now our God even thou alone of all the kingdoms of the earth that was made heaven and earth he can climb tiny arrow Lord to here open thine eyes O Lord and see and hear all the words of Sennacherib which hath sent to approach the Living God our truth Lord and the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their countries they have cast their gods in the fire for they were no gods but their work immense hands wouldn't stone therefore they have to destroy them now therefore O Lord our God save us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord even though only and you know it's interesting one of the things you pick up you watch yourselves very carefully there's one thing God puts higher than his name and that's his word and truth is defined as when the word indeed become one so let's move on here let's look up God's answer here and I think this is more revealing than most of us pick up then innocent son Isaiah sent this message to Hezekiah this is what the Lord the God of Israel says to whom you prayed concerning Sennacherib the king of Assyria this is the message that the Lord has spoken in opposition to him quote the virgin daughter of Zion despises and mocks you the daughter of Jerusalem she tosses her head behind you as you flee it's so colorful it has a flavor you miss in the and the formulas in the King James whom have you insulted and reviled against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes and pride against the Holy One of Israel see God picks up this identity he's the one that's identified here by your messages you have insulted the Lord and you have said with my many chariots I have climbed the heights of the mountains and the utmost heights of Lebanon I cut down at starless Cedars the choicest of his Pines I reached its remotest heights the most verdant of the forest by myself dug the wells and drank the foreign waters with the soles of my feet I dried up all the streams of Egypt didn't you hear how in the distant past I decide to do it how I planned from days of old now I've made it happen that fortified cities become devastated besieged heaps now you're gonna be shocked when you begin to discover how long ago God set the preparation for the events that are about to unfold but let's go ahead here for now their inhabitants are devoid of power and are terrified and put to shame they've become like plants in the field like green shoots like grass on the rooftops scorched by the east wind I know when you rise up and when you sit down your comings and goings and how you've become enraged at me that's God talking Wow your insolence has reached my ears so I'll put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth and I'll make you turn back on the road by which you came the nomenclature is very similar to zekiel 38 isn't it putting the hooks in the jaws but let's go on here okay and this will be your sign Hezekiah eat this year what it grows on its own and in the second year what Springs from that but in the third year so replant vineyards and eat their fruit then the ones belonging to the house of Judah who have escaped will gather and those who are found will take root downward and bear fruit upward for a remnant will come out of Zion and a and of survivors from Jerusalem the zeal of the Lord of Heaven the armies will accomplish this therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria he won't enter the city build up a siege rep against it shoot an arrow here or threaten it with the shield by the same way he came he will return he won't enter this city declares the Lord Wow because I not speaking because I will defend the city and deliver it for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David you know it's fascinating how many many times God continues long after he's dead refer to his commitment being executed because of his commitment to David I think that's very very provocative well but just let's skim through the King James and see the parallel here Isaiah the son of amos sent to Hezekiah saying thus saith the Lord God of Israel whereas thou has prayed to me against the nectar of the king of Israel this is the word which the Lord had spoken concerning him the virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised the and laugh be to scorn that daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at me whom the hostile reproached and blaspheme and against whom is our exalted I voice lifted up mine eyes on high even against the Holy One of Israel Wow by thy servants has thou reproached the Lord and has said by the multitude of my chariots am I come to the height of the mountains to the sides of Lebanon and I will cut down the tall Cedars thereof in that choice enjoys fir trees there Evan I will enter into the height of his border and the forest has come loose boasts if he will of course what they were making I have digged and drugged water in the sole of my feet of I dried up all the rivers of the Seas places hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it and of ancient times that I have formed it now have I brought it to pass that thou should have lead to lay waste defense cities in ruinous heaps therefore their habitants were a small power they were dismayed and confounded they were as the grass of the field and the green herb and the grass on the housetops and the corn blasted before it be grown up but I know thy abode and I going out and they coming in and I against me because of thy rage against me and thy tumult has come up into my ears therefore will I put my hook in thy nose and my bridle in violets and I will turn the back by the way by which the chemist and this shall be the sign unto thee ye shall eat this year such as growth of itself the second year that which brings out the same man the third year so ye reap and plant vineyards and eat the fruit thereof and the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward for out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant and they shall escape out of Mount Zion the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this so let's say at the Lord concerning the king of Assyria he shall not come into the city nor shoot an arrow there or come before with shields or cast a bag to get you that's precise observable that's that's the line in the sand isn't and Wow by the way he came by the same shall he return and he shall not come into this city saith the Lord for I will defend the city and save it for my own sake and for my servant David's sake and you know that's exactly what God says in Ezekiel 36 he says I do not this for your sake sister I do it because for my name's sake and so on okay so let's get to the guts of chapter 37 here after this the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp and when Hezekiah army awaked in the morning they were all the dead bodies now by the way let me pause here that doesn't mean all of them our rabbinical record is estimate there were 250,000 in total so they you know that's almost more impressive when they're the ones that survived look around and realize that all their buddies are gone I mean they're done yeah King Sennacherib broke camp retreated returned home to Nineveh and remained there exactly what God predicted he would happen and later while he was worshiping in the house of his God in this rock this is back in Nineveh his sons a drama lek and cheresa shut him down with swords and escape to the land of hermit then silica rubs son Sr hadn't rained in his place in other words his own sons assassinated selectorate he died not in the battle he died when he got home okay in the King James is straight forward then the angel Lord went forth and spoke the campus earns a hundred and four score and five thousand that's a classic English Way of saying hundred me five thousand and when they arose early in the morning behold they were all dead corpus now that phrase is a little confusing in the morning there when they arose early in the morning they were all dead corpses well that means the ones that the few that weren't killed what surrounds all their buddies are dead okay I mean said in the English if you looked at it strictly it sounds confusing when the arose early in the morning they behold they were all dead corpses you have to realize what we're talking about we're talking about the hundred eighty-five thousand were dead out of the roughly more than two hundred they estimate Rabbinical estimates but in the two septa and the Talmud they they estimate for other reasons that they're quarter remain anyway moving on here so somebody I became in Syria departed when returned and dwelt in Nineveh came to pass when he's worshiping at the house of news regarded his sons fascinated him basically and so now see it was about this time by the way that Assyria that great Kingdom it began to disintegrate and it eventually was taken over by Babylon one of its city it was Babylon but they grew strong and they and it becomes the Babylonian Empire ultimately but it's already starting to disintegrate here obviously ok let's go to chapter 38 will come go double back on this in a minute but let's go through the text first during the time Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death when him as the son Isaiah the prophet came to him and told him this is what the Lord says put your house in order because you are going to die you won't recover then has a guy had turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord please Lord he said remember how I have walked before you faithfully and with a true heart and I have done what pleases you and Hezekiah wept bitterly you know it's a probably hard for us to imagine what that would be like to really be announced that get you when you get a final estimate from a doctor or in this case from the Lord Himself but then this message from the Lord came to Isiah go tell Hezekiah this is what the Lord God of your ancestor David has to say I've heard your prayer and I've seen your tears so I will add 15 years to your life I suppose that's getting a second opinion in the medical term right okay I'll save you from the city from the king of Assyria that I will defend the city for my own sake and for my servant David say this is what the Lord sign to you that the Lord will carry out this thing he has promised watch I will make the shadow on the steps of the upper dial of Ahaz that marks the Sun go 10 steps backwards and then the sunlight turned back on the dial the 10 steps by which it had gone down does that give you a problem can you imagine a sundial going backwards see we jump to the conclusion that would require the earth to stop and go backwards not necessarily it turns out there's other ways to do that but the point is and this isn't a local aberration because this there's other parts of the passage that indicate this was characteristic in the region but let's go ahead here in those days in the King James and in those days Hezekiah was sick unto death and Isaiah the prophet came to him and said on him let's say the Lord set thine house in order for thou shalt die and not live and his guide turned his face to the wall and praying the Lord said remember Lord I proceed see how I walked before the in truth in perfect heart it's pretty straightforward just as he has and under that which is good they cite and Hezekiah wept sore sorry and you know they came to where the Lord to Isaiah saying go and say to his guide let's say the Lord God the God of David my father I have heard thy prayer I have seen thy tears behold I will add to thy days 15 years and I will deliver thee from the city and out of the hand of the king of Syria and I will defend the city and and so by the way it's obvious that Hezekiah got his request but I might point out to you frankly they were not good years some scholars point out that this particular sickness may have been they suspected a sign of displeasure and there's other passages that you can draw to take come to that view and this shall be a sign of a from the Lord that the Lord will do this thing is spoken I will bring again the shadow of the degrees which is gone down in the son of a sundial of a has 10 degrees backwards so the Sun we turned 10 degrees by which degrees it has gone down and that gives the course a lot of skeptics smile at that because they see that as being impossible and so when you look at the same passage in second chronicles it's the parallel account notice that they requested he God gave him his choice go backward or forward and he said backward because he felt that was a bigger thing and it is I guess so that's that's a detail that's unique in the Chronicles passage but still it's the same thing see these years the 15 years he's going to get is gonna bring nothing but grief because two years later Manasseh is born and when Hezekiah dies he takes over at the age of 22 age of 12 he put up idols in all the high places and according to Talmudic sources and vanessa is the guy that saw i say on half where the wooden saw and that's allude to in Hebrews 11 too by the way but the successors after Hezekiah does die seaman else had not been yet been born and he turns out to be the most wicked king of all and he ultimately repents when he's fifty but that's neither that's extra when as his son Ammon was a son that takes over then it's also bad and Josiah of course who then follows brought a great revival and that was all that's all background that was essential for you understanding that chapter eighteen when we were in that because that lays the background for getting the Ark of the Covenant out of the country but let's go back here and look at a few things I want to insert something here a speculative tutorial insert because most of us the students that I'm a go at this with perhaps not enough background in some other things so bear with me here a little bit as we stand back and put this all in perspective if you make a careful study of the catastrophes that are recorded in the Bible you'll discover that there's something very interesting about them of course we have the flood of Noah in Genesis 6 we have the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 we have the Sodom and Gomorrah thing in Genesis 19 we have the exodus of Egypt Exodus 12 the long day of Joshua and Joshua 10 we have Cicero's defeat in Judges 5 we have Gideon's victory in Judges 7 we have the Philistine defeat of 1st Samuel 7 we have the Davidic catastrophe and second sangil 22 we have the Mount Carmel episode we all remember that with Elijah and all that in 1st Kings 18 we have the Jonah Joel and Amos allusions to something rather dramatic even in their days and now we have this particular episode which for lack of another label I'm just going to call it so neck ribs long night now most of you that have been with us in our study of Joshua and the long day of Joshua may see an echo of all of this and what we're headed to here and you do a careful study of the underpinnings of these cycles here and the fact that there's a fit almost at fifty four year cycle or a double of that a hundred Nate a cycle laying behind this this begins to suggest there's something maybe having to do with orbital resonances that's operating here and they involve the planet Mars sometimes is this with from Jupiter and Saturn here's the observation a long day of Joshu apparently occurred on the 1080 at the anniversary of the flood of Noah some and I was this on the anniversary and so I also on the five hundred and fortieth anniversary of the Tower of Babel the point is in these we notice a hundred and four year one hundred and eight hundred eight year unit a digital unit behind it the confrontation of Mount Carmel occurred on the five hundred and fortieth anniversary of the long day of Joshua why why are all these things on the anniversary of the of one another if you will and some people who are expert in orbital residents have studied this and they note that the near past buys of the planet Mars may be behind all of these and that when we studied Joshua and Joshua chapter 10 we discovered something all ancient calendars and I mean at least fourteen of them they're a Syria Babylonia China Egypt Greece Hebrews India Japan Mexico Persia ruin all are built on three hundred and sixty day years all of them are but all of them end up having to be revised at about 700 m bc something happened on the planet earth we discover all these calendars which were three hundred and sixty they count up till then start getting revised and different cultures addressed the thing different the roman answer was to add five a quarter days the hebrew answer was to add a month every once in a while but the so we also discover when you do your homework that mars was worshipped by the ancient cultures that mars was calling areas call it baile cultures were terrified of the planet mars that's where we have it still in our language today when we speak of martial arts mars represents war why we live in an enlightened age i don't think if one of you had your life depended on going out tonight and pointing out mars could the ancient cultures were they knew where it was and they were terrified of it why the answer is it because it interfered in their lives at predictable intervals that's the other thing when Sennacherib was attacking jerusalem his astrologers and the seers told him it was the ideal time because they knew that there was going to be this episode some kind of episode coming with the planet Mars and the Nira bypass hypothesis has amazing support to it apparently earth and mars originally were on resonant orbits the earth on 360 days and the mars on twice that they weren't resident orbits that was a great relationship that caused them to pass near each other once every hundred and eight years and that would account for the catastrophic events on the planet Earth on occasions in history that are recorded in the memory of man in our ancient records in 701 BC they apparently had an energy transfer that stabilized that relationship so there was from that day on it didn't happen anymore and by the way all you need to have a long day is a change in precession if the if the planet wobbles on its spin it has the day of the lengthening or shortening the day if you will and so now let's take a look at this in the earth has a elliptical orbit with the Sun at one of its foci Mars has an elliptical orbit with the Sun at its suicide but it's it's it had twice the period that your earth did earth was 360 days Mars 720 but it passes by there the orbits are resident the orbits are like a tuning fork in other words they're in resonance within one another but in this there's occasions every hundred and eight years in the spring where they would pass near each other and that would involve so close that there would be an energy transfer earth would gain a little Mars would lose a little and then in the fall when some of these are springtime sometimes a fall times and this has all been modeled by the way quite elegantly since the since the original publications came out but in any case there's a spring occasions fall occasions the main point is in 701 BC that there's an energy transfer such that they stabilize they no longer will cross like they did and the earth gets goes down to 365 and a quarter days it slows down a little bit and Mars's speeds up a little bit instead of 720 days it's down to 687 but it's but those are stable they don't crisscross but the long day of Joshua 1/3 of a million men word beth horon that day on october 25th of 1404 bc mars was on a polar pass at about 70,000 miles which terrifyingly close and this was by the way also written by Immanuel Velikovsky but he thought it was Venus not Mars that's a hole but his perceptions were pretty unmarked otherwise Mars visualized it rising that night fifty times the size of the moon if you can visualize that there would be and be company with severe earthquakes land tides we think of water ties there's no this was a social with land tides I'll come back to that before we're through and also lightning the formal term is flux tubes electro Matic tubes of electrical energy would be raking the the the horizon a polar shift of about five degrees would lengthen the day by the way and that's also a matter of record in that planet Earth meteors would follow two to three hours later about thirty thousand miles an hour that's what they're being bombarded with now these backgrounds are included by the way in other ancient legends that correspond with all this in folklore in fact there's a long night in China that may surprise you but it makes sense if you follow me ok let's move on here one of the things I want you to be sensitive to is the early telescope technology most of us know that Galileo made history in 1610 by inventing a telescope to discover the four moons of Jupiter and Saturn's rings no surprise you've probably done that with a pair of binoculars in 1781 Herschel by then it improved enough that he discovered the planet Uranus and made history in 1787 Herschel discovers the two moons of Uranus made history 1789 Herschel with all this time the telescope's are improving if you will two more moons of Uranus now in 1846 leviair discovers Neptune with one of its moons now here's the interesting thing I want you to be aware of in 1877 Asaph Hall using a brand new telescope at the US Naval Observatory makes history by discovering that Mars has two moons the astronomy world didn't know that why because they're very small they're almost black and the two moons of Mars ace of Hollis famous for discovering they called him Deimos and Phobos fear and panic and fit Mars being the God of War Deimos turns at about 30 hours and 18 minutes and its orbit is almost synchronous Phobos goes that is faster about 7 hours and 39 minutes period but it's the only thing in the in the solar system that goes eastward backwards and it's only eight miles in diameter and it has an albedo of only 3% in other words it's almost black it's so small and almost that's why it never was discovered until 1877 weighs Asaph Hall was equipped with what was then the the land the the cutting edge of optics if you will so that's the issue there now what's why am i getting why am I wasting your time when I said I want to show you one thing that you may find interesting there is a corroboration on your library shelf by the way you might find interesting most of us are familiar with Jonathan Swift and he wrote an Irish political parody called Gulliver's Travels we regard as a children's story but his original motive was a tongue-in-cheek parody against London politics he published Gulliver's Travels in 1726 and most of us are familiar with his for the first voyage of Culliver with the little tiny people in his third voyage he reaches a land called Laputa were the astronomers in Laputa brag that they know about the two moons of Mars and the astronomers in London don't and in the narrative I've checked this is amazing they detailed the size the revolution on the orbits of the two moons of Mars and the ones going backwards and I say okay that's interesting why is that so weird because this was published a hundred and fifty-one years before they were discovered by the astronomers the astronomers did not have the technology did not we're not aware of new moons of Mars now how did Jonathan Swift come up with that I don't think anyone seriously thinks he guessed knowing things that was just a lucky guess it's too precise for that but they also don't believe he obviously it didn't go he wasn't taking advantage of current he was in fact for the purpose of his parody he wanted to use something that was science fiction so to speak he was drawing apparently on a legend that he didn't realize was a record of an eyewitness account long before and so okay so that strangely enough the Johnson swift thing is one of the many men that the this whole idea of the Mars passed by is has a great deal of scientific support no it's it's a very interesting provocative but I want to acquaint you with something else you need to know if you're going to get into this area there's a thing called the Roche limit and what is that it's the distance within which a celestial body which is held together by its own gravity will disintegrate due to two things the second celestial bodies tidal forces exceeding the first body's gravitational self attraction let me explain early ends inside the Roche limit the orbiting material will tend to disperse and form rains while outside the limit the material will coalesce let me try to show you that if you have a body and there's a body approaching a larger body there's a place called the Roche limit and that can be calculated mathematically because as that body gets closer and closer the gravity of the big body will start to tear it apart and there's a point at which the gravity of the big body will overrule the gravity of the body itself which causes it causes it then to disintegrate because it's typically in motion that disintegration typically will result in a ring that's where satin gets its rings and there's also some rings around Mars that most people are not aware of and so that's that's what we call penetrating the Roche limit there is a widely held understanding among cosmologists that there may have been a planet that's not in our present plant list that entered somebody's Roche limit and disintegrated to become the asteroids that populate our solar system there's a whole cluster of asteroids and you can watch the meteor showers there Scott you can tell on the calendar when we go through that area and you see the the shooting stars the asteroids it is there's a strange mystery of the planet Mars because when you examine it carefully there's clearly there's huge erosion that's taking place but there's no water to cause the erosion and one of the and there's something else that's strange about the planet Mars 91% of the craters on planet Mars are in one hemisphere they were all hit at one time apparently the speculation is they may have been ice fragments that melted to become water on the planet it did not have the gravity to hang on to it's only having one tenth the gravity of the gravity world so that may have provided the water that was once on Mars and there's a speculation that had that a number of cosmologists suspect may have been part of the flood of Noah that the Mars may have had a participation that certainly a near pass by would fit the model of the that they've laid out mathematically so so anyway that's just a little bit of background but something else I want to highlight that is something you and I don't think of and that's called interplanetary lightning if you watch through a telescope you can watch lightning occur between Jupiter and it's innermost moon called Isle and the suggestion is is that this may it be one of the factors that eliminated one hundred eighty-five thousand Syrians why because they were proud of their iron chariots and their iron weaponry one of the disadvantages of the jillian's as they had only leather and wood and more primitive weapons the Philistines and the Assyrians boasted the iron weaponry and iron iron implements if you will so were the iron weapons of the chariots a distinctive factor in the demise could be that maybe another descent discriminating thing we also know from this row medical editor that when Seneca Sennacherib went home he was very badly burned his clothes were not his face was that's recorded in the independent again that's suggestive of this what we call a flash burn or you know five to things so the main point I want to leave with you isn't over you spend all our time on these speculations but I want you to recognize that catastrophism as the field of study is tragically overlooked uniformitarianism which is an assumed perspective we think that things were always the way they were uniformitarianism ignores observable evidence everything I've shown you here isn't necessarily conclusive but there's very strong evidence to support it and our solar system was once at one time a very rough neighborhood its history is surprisingly well documented in the ancient records you start going through the ancient records and it's astonishing to see traces all through them of these very issues it clearly emerges from behind the biblical record and illuminates the realities of both the macrocosm and microcosm Zinn cosmologies and that's one of the things we plan to to pursue a little bit and develop some materials that might be supportive of our Bible studies in fact I'll give you a reading list of things that you look into if you're interested many of these are available on the internet by the way but let's just wrap this up to get to complete the unit here Hezekiah Sprayer composition by Hezekiah the king of Judah following his illness and cover he said I must I leave the prime of my life must I be consigned to the control of show bitter are my ears I said I won't see the Lord in the hand of the Living and I'll no longer observe human beings among the denizens of the grave my house has been plucked up and vanishes from me like a shepherd's tent like a weaver I've taken the town of my life he cuts me off from the loom day and night you make an end of me I've been swept bare until morning just like a lion he breaks all my bones day and night you make an end of me like a swallow or a crane I jerk I moan like a dove my eyes look weakly upward Oh Lord I am oppressed so stand up for me what can I say so I tell myself since he has done this to me I will walk slowly all my years because of my soul's anguish my Lord is against them yet they live and among all of them who live is this is it spirit now you have restored me to health so let me live yes it was for my own good I suffered extreme anguish but I in love in love you have held back my life from the pit in which it was confined you have tossed all my sins behind your back I like that for she all cannot thank you for death cannot sing your praise for those who go down in the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness the living yes the living they thank you just as I am doing today father's will tell their children about your faithfulness the Lord will save me and will play my music on strings all the days of our lives and the Lord's temple now Isaiah had said let them prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil so that they he may recover as a guy also had asked what will be the sign for me to go up to the Lord's temple and so on so picking this up in the King James the writing the king of Hezekiah the king of Judah when he had been sick was recovered of his sickness I said in the cutting up off of my days I shall go to the gates of the grave I am deprived of the residue of my ears I said I shall not see the Lord even the Lord in the land of the living I shall behold man no more with the inhabits of the world my name is departed and is removed from me as the Shepherd's tent I have cut off like a weaver my life he will cut me off with pining sickness from day even to night without make an end of me I reckoned till morning that as a lion so will he break all my bones from day even tonight will thou make an end of me like a crane or swallow so did I chatter I did mourn like Ezard of mine eyes fail looking upward Oh Lord I am oppressed to undertake for me what shall I say he hath both spoken unto me and himself has done it I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul and Oh Lord by these things men live and in all these things and the life of this my spirit so if I recover me and make me to live behold for peace I had great bitterness but without haste in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back for the grave cannot praise thee the death cannot celebrate thee that the day that go down to the pit cannot hope for my truth the living the living he shall praise thee as I do this day the father to the children shall make known the truth the Lord was ready to save me therefore will I sing my songs and to the stringed instruments all the days of my life in the house of the Lord for for Isaiah and said let them make a lump of figs and lay in for a plaster upon the oil and he this implies by the way that he was suffering from an illness that was fatal exemplified by the boil simmer what job was facing Hezekiah also had said what is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord so this is in their just a very short little final chapter here in chapter 39 at that time mara deck ballad on the son of balidaan king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah when he heard that he had been sick and had survived and understands the babylon starting to be on the rise here the Assyrian Empire is on the decline Hezekiah was delighted with him and showed them everything now notice something here they sent him letters and he didn't do what he should have done if he had done what he did with the first letter he would have laid it in front of the Lord and got an instruction instead he makes a major major error here he was being flattered you see so in verse 2 Hezekiah was delighted with them and showed them everything in his treasure houses the silver the gold the spices the precious oils his entire armory and everything found in his Treasuries there was nothing in his palace or his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them stupid stupid stupid you know and so see there's two important letters we saw the first was Syrian that's we took the God in prayer and God answered that prayer and delivered his people the second letter from the king of Babylon flattered Hezekiah which he did not take the Lord in prayer because all it led to his undoing boy I hope we are never guilty of doing the equivalent of that that's what he verse 3 then then the prophet Isaiah came to Hezekiah and asked him what did these men have to say and from where did they come to you Hezekiah replied from a distant land they came to me from Babylon what did they see in Europe yes they saw everything in my palace has a guy replied there's nothing in my Treasuries that I did not show them then Isaiah told Hezekiah listen to this message from the lord of the heaven armies the days are surely coming with everything in your palace and all that your ancestors have stored up to this day will be carried off to Babylon they will come in and nothing will be left says the Lord that's not a speculation that's Isaiah conveying what the Lord said then some of your own sons who will come from your loins whom you will father will be taken away to become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon and that one included Daniel by the way we move on the message from the Lord that you have spoken is good Hezekiah replied to Isaiah since he was thinking at least there will be peace and security in my lifetime Wow well the King James is pretty much the same pattern here the letters come from murdered x-bow John the son of the king of Helen and because a guy was glad of them showed them the house of his precious thing silver and gold spices precious ointment and all the hopes of his armor and all that was found in his treasures there was nothing in his house nor in all his Dominion that Hezekiah showed them none and then came the Isaiah the prophet what said these men from whence came they unto thee as I said they are come from a far country unto me even from babblin see you can see he's a flattered by the attention then said he what have they seen in that house this is everything oh this is my house everything they've seen there's nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them then said Isaiah to Hezekiah hear the word of the Lord of Hosts behold the days come that all this in the house and which their fathers have laid up in store until this day shall be carried to Babel and nothing shall be left saith the Lord and thy son shall issue from the woodstove shall be good shall they take away and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of King pebble and they said as a qaeda is a good as the word of the Lord which Tao spoken he said moreover there shall be peace in my days so that closes our lesson this time but we're now going from this closes what we call unit 1 we'll make that a package as such but we'll continue next time with chapters 40 and onward to the end of 66 and as we do you will quickly understand why so many people feel that this was really a separate Isaiah the style is so different it would seem to son that's erroneous of course in John 12 is one example but there many others that clearly is one Isaiah so don't don't don't let me confuse you about that and I'm gonna suggest I didn't give you specific assignments I'm just going to encourage you to go ahead and read ahead I don't think you'll be able to stop just reading one chapter at a time it's so in Kat and so engaging so go ahead and read as far as your time allows feast your souls will take in a chapter at a time starting and the next thing so let's bow our heads for a word of Prayer

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Published: Wed Apr 29 2020