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Thursday 23 February 2012

Isaiah 37:9-38 - Hezekiah's response (2) - using his own faith

Assyria duly received word that there was an attack being launched again them by Cush. So they withdrew. However, Sennacherib, the Assyrian leader, sent a message to Hezekiah warning him not to think that all his troubles were over. he again reminded Hezekiah that the gods of many other nations had proved hopeless at protecting them.

This time Hezekiah reacts differently from the previous time. Instead of going to Isaiah, he goes directly to God and prays to Him. He sets out the situation to the Lord, praises the Lord, and declares his faith in God. He knows that the "gods" of other nations were not gods at all. 

So we see here a pattern we should learn from. Sometimes we do not have faith ourselves to handle a situation and may need to go to some other godly person for help. If we do not have faith ourselves, this is a sensible thing to do, but we are not to stay in this situation. We should seek to grow in our own faith, and learn to live out of our own faith. This is what Hezekiah did.

Then Isaiah sent Hezekiah a message. So when we live out of own faith, we will still receive help from others. However, because Hezekiah had exercised his own faith, he received a deeper revelation from God. This time instead of a partial relief from the situation, full salvation comes. The Lord reveals more of Himself and His plans to Hezekiah. We need to learn to build up our own faith.

Accordingly the angel of the Lord killed the Assyrian army, and then Sennacherib himself was killed.

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