Day of trouble, rebuke, and blaspheme.

Isaiah 37:1-7

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

• Hezekiah receives the message sent from Sennacherib.
• Hezekiah sent his representatives to consult with Isaiah.

Hezekiah receives the message sent from Sennacherib.

“And so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.” Isaiah 37:1

The representatives of Hezekiah just delivered to him the message that was sent from Sennacherib, the king of Assyria. The message was a demand for Hezekiah’s unconditional surrender and of expressing contempt for the ability of the Lord to bring the Israelites of Judah deliverance. That is described in the post on Isaiah 36:8-17 and Isaiah 36:18-22 Today, the beast that has power over physiology to give people what to say, do, think, and feel demands that we welcome it to speak and live through us. All around the world, through the culture of the beast, the beast blasphemes God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and all of Heaven, as described in Revelations 13:6-8.

Our Lord Jesus says, “Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.: John 16:20 

When Hezekiah heard the message, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth. That symbolizes anguish and mourning. His response was to go into the house of the Lord, to draw near to Him. As followers of Jesus Christ, our response to the opposition towards us, our belief in God, our faith in Christ Jesus, and our walking in the Holy Spirit is to go into the house of the Lord. We are the house of the Lord as the temple of the Holy Spirit, and that is the place where we always want to be in these times of hostility to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We want to live in the presence of the Holy Spirit, our Comforter and Helper. “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16

Hezekiah sent his representatives to consult with Isaiah.

“Then he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.” Isaiah 37:2

Hezekiah desired to live by the light of the word of God and to do as the Lord would want him to do in response to Sennacherib’s message from a place of spiritual darkness. That desire to please the Lord led Hezekiah to seek the counsel of Isaiah the prophet. As followers of Jesus Christ, we see the message sent to us by today’s culture, which is to conform to the beast that gives what to say, do, think, and feel. That beast is the power of darkness that gives breath/life to the image of the beast to speak by speaking and living through people. Our response to that message is to seek counsel from the prophets of the Lord, from the word of God, through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn and confirmed that I will keep Your righteous judgments. I am afflicted very much; Revive me, O Lord, according to Your word.” Psalms 119:105-107

Eliakim was the chief-of-staff of Hezekiah’s administration, which is like our Lord Jesus being the Chief-of-Staff of the Lord’s Kingdom. Shebna was a scribe who was responsible for writing, copying, and preserving the Law, or the Scriptures. That is like all of us followers of Jesus Christ who have the word of God written on our heart. Our born-again experience is the Gospel of Christ written on our heart. Joah was a recorder responsible for writing notes of day-to-day events, similar to a person who records notes or the “minutes” within a meeting. As followers of Jesus Christ, we consult the word of God through Jesus Christ, with the Gospel written on our heart, and with the experience of day-to-day events. With all of that working in combination within our heart, soul, and mind, we know to walk in the way of the Cross, which leads us home into the eternal New Jerusalem.

The way of the cross leads home. The way of the cross leads home…
I must needs go home in the blood-sprinkled way, the path that the Savior trod…
Then I bid farewell to the way of the world, to walk in it nevermore;
for the Lord says, “Come,” and I seek my home where He waits at the open door.
[Way of the Cross Leads Home]

“And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: ‘This day is a day of trouble and rebuke and blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth.” Isaiah 37:3

Hezekiah was faithful to the word of God as He embraced the Ten Commandments and the animal sacrifices to atone for sin. When he received the message sent from Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, he sent Isaiah a message calling it, “…a day of trouble and rebuke and blasphemy…”. As followers of Jesus Christ, we have heard the message of the government of the beast, which calls us to surrender our faith to our Lord Jesus to live for the beast that gives what to say, do, think, and feel. This is a time of trouble and rebuke and blasphemy.

The message from Sennacherib meant trouble for the Israelites of Judah. They were forced to make a decision to submit to the military force of the Assyrians or to stand faithful to the word of God. By surrendering, the Israelites would be forced to live by the dictates of a nation that held contempt for God and His people. Today, the government of the beast and its global culture mean trouble for the way of Jesus Christ. They hold contempt for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and intend to drive Christianity into extinction, as described in the post on Revelations 12.  “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Revelations 13:8 We must choose to stand for Christ Jesus and shun the beast that dictates what to feel, think, say, and do.

The message from Sennacherib was seen by Hezekiah as a rebuke of the Living God. Hezekiah was returning the Israelites of Judah to the word of God, the Ten Commandments, and the animal sacrifices to atone for sin. But Sennacherib criticized that and had vehement disapproval of serving the Living God, as quoted, “Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you; nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us;” Isaiah 36:14-15 Today, the culture of the beast is living by the power of darkness that gives them what to say and do, and they rebuke the children of Light. The global culture rebukes belief in God the Creator, rebukes the need for the forgiveness of unbelief through Jesus Christ, and rebukes living in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The message from Sennacherib was seen by Hezekiah as a day of blasphemy because the ambassador of Sennacherib said, “Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us…Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’” Isiaah 36:18, 20 Today’s culture lives by the beast that gives them what to say and do, and that beast is the one who has, “…opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Revelations 13:6-8

Hezekiah removed the idols from the land of Judah, and the Israelites of Judah were coming to birth as being a nation living faithfully to the word of God. With the dark shadow of Sennacherib looming over the kingdom of Judah, there would be no strength to repel the force of the Assyrians and to bring maturity to the Israelites’ faithfulness to God. Today, the intent of the global government of the beast and its global culture is to put an end to Christian births, as described in the post on Revelations 12. “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelations 12:17 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name…Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God,” Revelations 3:8, 11-12 Click for a post on the Church of Philadelphia.

Also, bringing children to birth but not having strength to bring them forth refers to the killing of unborn children. The wrath of the Lord is stirred up by abortions. Children are brought to life within the womb, but in today’s culture of the beast, there is no strength to bring those children forth. The killing of unborn children has become normalized within the hearts and minds of the global population. Also, the beast that has power over physiology captures children as their possession from the womb. Children are under the influence of the beast that controls their movements, sounds, how they perceive the world around them, and whether they smile or cry. Our Lord Jesus says, “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” Matthew 18:6

“It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’” Isaiah 37:4

In Hezekiah’s message to Isaiah, his prayer is that the Living God would hear the blasphemous words of Sennacherib and would rebuke Sennacherib. Hezekiah asks that Isaiah lift up his prayer for the remnant that remains of the faithful to the Lord. The remnant at the time were those who survived Sennacherib’s initial invasion when he occupied important cities within the kingdom of Judah. The remnant we who are faithful to our Lord Jesus includes everyone who holds to His testimony to the end of the earth. The remnant of the Jewish people is described in the post on the “Day After” the Battle of Armageddon from Ezekiel 39.

Today, the Lord assures us that He does hear our prayers and that He vows to bring rebuke to the government of the beast and its global culture. There are golden bowls in heaven filled with the prayers of everyone who has ever being faithful to God. The answers to those prayers come by the fire thrown down from heaven onto the earth to unleash the wrath of God’s judgment, click for post on Revelations 8. The remnant of we who are faithful to the testimony of Jesus Christ will have the seal of God on our forehead before the start of the events of the Seven Trumpets, click for post on Revelations 7.

“Then I saw another angel ascending from the east…saying, ‘Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads‘…Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.” Revelations 7:2-3, Revelations 8:3-6 Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.

“So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you will say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Surely I will send a spirit upon him, and he will hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”’” Isaiah 37:5-7

Isaiah replied to the message of king Hezekiah by saying to him not to be afraid of the blasphemous words spoken by the ambassador of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria. That is the message that God sends to us through His Son Jesus Christ, “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me…But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 15:20, John 14:26-27

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and will not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” John 5:24

Isaiah prophesied that the Lord would cause Sennacherib to fall by the sword in his own land. That is the promise that the Lord makes to us through His Son Jesus Christ, that He will overcome the power of darkness through which the beast blasphemously sets itself up as God within the temple of God, our body. “…the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.” 2 Thessalonians 2:8 Click for a post on the “lawless one”.

The Lord sent a spirit upon him who sought to overcome those faithful to the Lord among the Israelites of the land of Judah. That was the spirit of a rumor that caused Sennacherib to turn his focus on his own homeland of Assyria. Apparently, that was a rumor of social unrest and chaos. When he returned to Assyria, Sennacherib was assassinated by his two sons. Today, that is exactly the way the global government meets its end. The power center of the beast is plunged into darkness in the Fifth Plague of Revelations 16:10-11. That leaves the global government powerless, leading to global chaos, social unrest, economic collapse, rebellion, and violence. That leads to the Battle of Armageddon of the Sixth Plague of Revelations 16:12-16. After that, our lord Jesus returns as King of kings.

The prophesy of Isaiah concerning the death of Sennacherib was fulfilled as described in Isaiah 37:36-38, “Then the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.”

^“If anyone has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity will go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” revelations 13:9-10

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1