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Wednesday, 18 September 2019

Isaiah 37:4-9 - Do not be afraid

37:4
Despite the situation, Hezekiah has not lost all hope. His remaining hope is in the name of God. The Assyrian commander (the Rabshakeh, ESV) had mocked God. He knew that Lord had heard these words, and his hope was that God would respond to them by defeating the Assyrians for the sake of His Name. Therefore Hezekiah pleads with Isaiah to pray to the Lord for the sake of the remnant. He uses the term remnant because all the outlying cities had already been taken.

37:5,6
The king, officials and, presumably, the people are in a panic, but Isaiah remains calm. Remember that in chapter 8 he was told not to fear what they fear. Isaiah instructs them not to be afraid because of what they hear. We need to have the same attitude. We should not be afraid because of what we hear, not the anxious thoughts within our heads.

37:7-9

God, through Isaiah, tells them what He will do. God will cause him to return to his own land. He would hear a rumour and this would cause the Assyrians to leave. We are then told how this actually happened. We look at situations and think we fully understand what is happening and how things will work out. This usually means they will work out very badly. But we don't know everything, and God has plans that we do not know about. Why doesn't He tell us so we can save ourselves a lot of worry? Because He wants us to trust in Him for who He is, that is a far greater prize.

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