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Wednesday 22 February 2012

Isaiah 37:1-8 - Hezekiah's response (1) - using other people's faith

Hezekiah was greatly troubled by the news. In one way he reacted badly, namely in thinking that this was a day of disaster. He probably feared that this was the Lord's judgement coming to pass on the nation. He would think this because he knew of the sins of the nation, and he had heard Isaiah's words. 
On the other hand he reacted well in sending his officials to the man of God, Isaiah. Even though he was very distraught, he still turned to God in his weakness. Ideally we would always respond with great faith to whatever circumstances we encounter, but being realistic we will not always manage to do this. So, it is vital that when we feel distraught we still turn to God, rather than panicking or turning to some other "source" of help. 
Hezekiah also recognised that the Assyrian Commander had blasphemed God and was unlikely to get away with this.
On receiving the news Isaiah reacted with calmness and authority. We are not to be alarmed at words that seek to instil fear. Isaiah told Hezekiah what would happen. Remember that Isaiah had prophesied that things would work out this way. The army would be called to go back to their own country and would be destroyed there.

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