Prophecy of Isaiah – Isa 36:1-11 On Whom do You Trust?
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Isa 36:1-11 On Whom Do You Trust?
Isa 36:1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.
Isa 36:2 And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field.
Isa 36:3 Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder.
Isa 36:4 And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
Isa 36:5 I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
Isa 36:6 Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.
Isa 36:7 But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?
Isa 36:8 Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
Isa 36:9 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 and for horsemen?
Isa 36:10 And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
Isa 36:11 Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
Chapters 36-38 tell us that Hezekiah was one of the best kings of Judah, and in these three chapters of Isaiah we are informed of his mistakes and his successes. We are also informed of how he trusted the Lord to deliver him and his people from the hand of the king of Assyria. "All these things happened unto [Judah], and they are written for our admonition..." (1Co 10:11). In these three chapters we will learn how we first fail to trust in the Lord for our safety. Then eventually, if and when the Lord wills, we learn to depend on Him even in the face of the very worst circumstances.
To learn these lessons we must first look back to Hezekiah's father's way of dealing with the threatening Assyrians, who are the same people as the people of Babylon. Hezekiah's father was Ahaz, and Ahaz was not a good king, and he did not trust in the Lord at all. This is what Hezekiah's father, Ahaz, did when he was facing an invasion by Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel:
2Ki 16:1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.
2Ki 16:2 Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father.
2Ki 16:3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.
2Ki 16:4 And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
2Ki 16:5 Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.
2Ki 16:6 At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.
2Ki 16:7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.
2Ki 16:8 And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.
2Ki 16:9 And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.
2Ki 16:10 And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.
2Ki 16:11 And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus.
Contemplate how pleased the Lord is with us when we show the confidence in Him which Ahaz shows to the king of Assyria, telling him "I am your son: come up and save me..."
2Ki 16:7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.
I cannot help but wonder how different things would have been had Ahaz shown the same faith in the Lord that he had in the powers of this world and of this age. But trusting in the Lord was not written in Ahaz's book. So let's continue with this story and see what we can learn:
2Ki 16:12 And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.
2Ki 16:13 And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar.
2Ki 16:14 And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the LORD, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of the altar.
2Ki 16:15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king's burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.
2Ki 16:16 Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.
2Ki 16:17 And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones.
2Ki 16:18 And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria.
2Ki 16:19 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
2Ki 16:20 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.
Just like King Saul before him when he returned from the slaughter of Amelek, King Ahaz was determined to serve the Lord wearing his own clothes and eating his own food (Isa 4:1). He just wanted to use the Lord's name to take away the shame of completely denying the name of the Lord before all. Such a complete denial will come in time, but it must come slowly so as to sweep away as many of the people as possible.
Hezekiah was not a perfect man, but he was far more faithful to the Lord than was his father, Ahaz. According to the first verse of this book of Isaiah, Hezekiah is the last king of Judah under whom Isaiah prophesied:
Isa 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
So it is in the reign of the last of these four kings, the reign of Hezekiah, that our story begins:
Isa 36:1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.
Isa 36:2 And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field.
More details concerning what is written about King Hezekiah "for our admonition" (1Co 10:11) are to be found in the book of 2nd Kings 18. Here we learn that as a type of us, Hezekiah's faith in the Lord wavered in the face of the armies of Assyria. His lack of faith causes him to repent of his rebellion against the king of Assyria, and to pay a huge fine for doing so.
2Kings 18 also tells us that Sennacherib had actually sent two other captains with Rabshakeh. He sent them from Lachish because he himself was at that moment besieging Lachish:
2Ki 18:1 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
2Ki 18:2 Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.
2Ki 18:3 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.
2Ki 18:4 He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.
2Ki 18:5 He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.
2Ki 18:6 For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.
2Ki 18:7 And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.
2Ki 18:8 He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
2Ki 18:9 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.
2Ki 18:10 And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.
2Ki 18:11 And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes:
2Ki 18:12 Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them.
2Ki 18:13 Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.
2Ki 18:14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
2Ki 18:15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house.
2Ki 18:16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
We will continue on to the next verse in this chapter in just a moment, but first let's consider what we just read. These are words of very high praise for Hezekiah within us. As the churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia within us, the Lord first tells us that He is aware of what positive things we have done. He has not yet spoken anything negative about Hezekiah. But we are told to "hear what the spirit says to [all] the churches", and we are also to listen to all the spirit has to say concerning King Hezekiah within us. To begin with, it is all very positive:
2Ki 18:3 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.
2Ki 18:4 He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. [Meaning "a copper thing"]
2Ki 18:5 He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.
2Ki 18:6 For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.
2Ki 18:7 And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.
2Ki 18:8 He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
So it is with all seven of the churches of Asia (Revelation 2-3). The Lord first tells us what we do that is right before He tells us that our persistent sins nullify all our 'righteousnesses':
Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Eze 18:24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
"He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him." In the same breath we are told "the Lord was with him... and he rebelled against the king of Assyria and served him not, [and] he smote the Philistines..." Wow! what faith Hezekiah had in the Lord's strength to protect him and to prosper him. He did not allow the sin of his father, Ahaz, to be his example to follow. Under siege from the northern kingdom of Israel, allied with Syria, Ahaz had voluntarily placed himself under the sovereignty and protection of the King of Assyria, and had given the Lord's treasures as a gift to him. He had even changed the construction of "the house of the Lord for the king of Assyria". Hezekiah, unlike his father, depended solely on the Lord to deliver him from the king of Assyria. At least he did so at first, and then after he stumbles, he again depends on the Lord.
Here again is what his father, Ahaz, did to protect himself when under siege:
2Ki 16:7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.
2Ki 16:8 And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.
2Ki 16:9 And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.2Ki 16:17 And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones.
2Ki 16:18 And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria.
Ahaz placed his faith in the king of Assyria. In other words, it was in the lies of Babylon, telling us the Lord's words cannot be trusted and the Lord answered Ahaz "according to the multitude of his idols" (Eze 14:1-9).
On the other hand, Hezekiah at first rebelled against his father's faithlessness, and he rebelled against depending upon Babylon and the Assyrians for his strength and for his protection.
It is only "through much tribulation" (Act 14:22), and only through "suffering with the Lord" (Rom 8:17 and 2Ti 2:12), that we must enter into the kingdom of heaven. For that very reason the Lord shows us this fiery trial of Hezekiah's faith. Let us now go back and continue reading in 2nd Kings 18, and resume where we left off:
2Ki 18:13 Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.
2Ki 18:14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
This is where we learn the meaning of "fiery trials" (1Pe 4:12), that "all things [really do] come alike to all" (Ecc 9:2). We will now learn through Hezekiah's example "that it is only through much tribulation that we must enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Act 14:22), and this is where we learn that it is the "trial of [our] faith" which is precious to God (1Pe 1:7), and that Hezekiah, as a type of us, at first "falls seven times" (Pro 24:16) before returning to the Lord and again depending solely upon Him for his protection from all the powers of Babylon which seek to destroy us.
Whenever we think we will never be so foolish as those before us we are shown that Hezekiah repeats the very same sins of his father, just as Isaac repeated the sin of his father Abraham in denying his wife (Gen 12:19 and 26:7):
2Ki 18:15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house.
2Ki 18:16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
As our old man demonstrates time after time, he is never satisfied with our momentary submission. Our submission must be completely either to the Lord or to the adversary. Neither will tolerate half-hearted, double-minded service as the scriptures make so very clear:
Luk 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Jas 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
Jas 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
With this principle in mind, notice how the king of Assyria shows his appreciation for the gift of repentance Hezekiah had sent him asking for his mercy. This is in the very next verse demonstrating for us how the adversary shows us his 'mercy' upon us, if we are the Lord's elect:
2Ki 18:17 And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field.
The king of Assyria, gladly took Hezekiah up on his offer to cave in and submit to him and obey his commandments, and he laid a heavy burden upon Hezekiah which Hezekiah was willing to pay, and yet Hezekiah's submission made absolutely no difference at all. Submitting to the lies of Babylon must be supported by even more lies, and those lies with even more lies. In time it becomes clear that there is no end to Babylon's demands upon us. But at the appointed time, if it is written in our books to be in the first resurrection, we will be crushed to powder and given to repent in this age and return to serving the Lord, and we will again rebel against the lies of Babylon, as did Hezekiah::
Isa 36:3 Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder.
Isa 36:4 And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
Isa 36:5 I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
Isa 36:6 Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.
This is the message of Rabshakeh, the message of Babylon, to each of us:
Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Rev 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
You and I are "His tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven". When anyone demands of us that we submit to their lies then it is they who are fulfilling these verses.
"Pharaoh king of Egypt" is our own flesh and our own will, which cannot make war against our beast and his father the devil (Joh 8:44). The adversary falsely accuses us of depending upon our own flesh to deliver us from their lies.
The Lord's elect are acutely aware that our enemy is much more than just our flesh. When we read: "We wrestle not against flesh and blood" we understand that this is like saying "it was not this man or his parents that sinned" (Joh 9:3). Of course that man sinned and so did His parents, and of course the carnal mind is enmity against God (Rom 8:7), but there is much more to the purpose for that man being born blind, and there is much more to our struggle than just our flesh and our carnal mind:
Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Here are some of the words of "the rulers of the darkness of this world, [and] spiritual wickedness in high places" to the new man within us:
Isa 36:7 But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?
Even when we are obedient to the Lord, the adversary is gifted at accusing us of being disobedient to the Lord. Hezekiah, as a type of us, was being obedient in refusing to let the people offer their offering just wheresoever they chose to do so. So also our obedience is cast as blasphemy against the Lord and as Lording it over the Lord's flock. But the truth remains that we are commanded to worship nowhere but at Jerusalem:
Deu 12:5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come: [1Co 3:16]
Deu 12:6 And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:
Deu 12:7 And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee.
Deu 12:8 Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.
The Lord's "Jerusalem" is now His body, and it is with His body alone we are now to worship, and certainly not with the false doctrines and lies of Korah and the false doctrines and lies of Babylon.
The adversary's spokesperson continues with his attempt to intimidate us:
Isa 36:8 Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
Isa 36:9 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 and for horsemen?
The first thing the adversary will do is to shout at us, and I quote word for word: "You have got to believe what we are saying, or you will be cast into the lake of fire."
Then "the rulers of the darkness of this world, [and] spiritual wickedness in high places" even claim to be speaking for the Lord Himself:
Isa 36:10 And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
Isa 36:11 Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
The adversary will always claim to be speaking for the Lord and indeed the Lord has told us this about the spiritual wickedness in our heavens:
Isa 10:5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
Isa 10:6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
Babylon and the Assyrians within us are our rebellious old man who really is indeed "the people of [the Lord's] wrath". Those who have 'examined themselves' in this life, and have 'judged themselves' in this life (1Co 11:31), and "have overcome the wicked one" in this life (1Jo 2:13-14), know that they have been the first to "fall into the ground and die" (Joh 12:24-25), and that they are "the first to trust in Christ" in this life (Eph 1:12); these know that they "shall not be hurt of the second death/lake of fire", and need never fear rejecting any and all of the lies of Rabshakeh, and the lies of Babylon.
1Co 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?1Co 11:31 For if we would judge ourselves [in this life], we should not be judged.
1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. [second death]1Jn 2:13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.
1Jn 2:14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.Rev 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil [meaning in this life, because the devil is not a factor during the thousand years, Rev 20:1] shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
Rev 2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh ["the wicked one"] shall not be hurt of the second death.Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Next week, Lord willing, we will continue to learn more about how we are to wage this life and death spiritual warfare "against spiritual wickedness in the heavens" of our hearts and our minds.
Here are the verses for our next study:
Isa 36:12 But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?
Isa 36:13 Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.
Isa 36:14 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you.
Isa 36:15 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
Isa 36:16 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;
Isa 36:17 Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
Isa 36:18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
Isa 36:19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
Isa 36:20 Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
Isa 36:21 But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
Isa 36:22 Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
Other related posts
- Prophecy of Isaiah - Isa 7:19-20 The Lord Shall Shave With A Razor That is Hired...By The King of Assyria (February 16, 2017)
- Prophecy of Isaiah - Isa 7:17 The Lord Shall Bring Upon Thee...The KIng of Assyria (February 4, 2017)
- Prophecy of Isaiah - Isa 36:1-11 On Whom do You Trust? (January 26, 2019)
- Prophecy of Isaiah - Isa 19:20-25 Blessed Be Egypt My People...Assyria...Israel (January 13, 2018)
- Prophecy of Isaiah - Isa 14:24-27 "I Will Break The Assyrian In My Land..." (September 16, 2017)
- Prophecy of Isaiah - Isa 11:1-8 He Shall Smite The Earth With The Rod (June 23, 2017)
- Prophecy of Isaiah - Isa 10:5-11 O Assyrian, The Rod of Mine Anger... (May 20, 2017)
- Prophecy of Isaiah - Isa 10:12-15 The Judgment of The King of Assyria (May 27, 2017)
- Ezekiel 32:17–32 A Lament Over Pharaoh and Egypt - Part II (September 23, 2024)