Prophecy of Isaiah – Isa 37:29-38 I Will Put my Hook in Your Nose and my Bridle in Your Lips

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Isa 37:29-38- I Will Put My Hook in Your Nose and My Bridle in Your Lips

Isa 37:29  Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
Isa 37:30  And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
Isa 37:31  And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
Isa 37:32  For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.
Isa 37:33  Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.
Isa 37:34  By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.
Isa 37:35  For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
Isa 37:36  Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
Isa 37:37  So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
Isa 37:38  And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

If we apply the principle of these verses...:

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

...We will see that this story, and every story in the scriptures, centers around these two men, "The first man Adam, [and] the last Adam". These same two men are referred to elsewhere in Paul's epistles as "the new man [and] the old man".

Eph 4:22  That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
Eph 4:23  And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Eph 4:24  And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

If we apply the principle revealed to us in these verses to this account of what the Lord is doing with King Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and King Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, then we will see King Hezekiah and his people, after being judged, as an Old Testament type of "the last Adam... the new man... the Lord and His Christ... hated of all men".

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Rev 12:10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night

If we apply this principle to Sennacherib, we will also see him and his people as "the first man Adam... our old man, [crying], Away with Him, crucify Him... we have no king but [Sennacharib] Caesar".

Both of these man, as we just read, are doing nothing more or less than: "whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done" (Act 4:28).

We were even told earlier in this prophecy that the King of Assyria has been appointed by the Lord to be "the rod of [His] anger, and... indignation":

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.

Like Pharaoh before him, the king of Assyria was used by the Lord to demonstrate that the Lord's will is always being done. "Even wicked [men] for the day of evil" are fulfilling "what [the Lord's] hand determined before to be done" (Act 4:28).

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Dan 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

Assyria typifies the oppression which the churches of Babylon exercise upon us while we are carried away captive into that harlot system. Hezekiah, as a type of us who are coming out of that system, is threatened with the wrath of that system. First, we are in that self-righteous, carnal-minded and rebellious system, and then, if we are blessed of the Lord, we are corrected by our own wickedness in this age, and we become those who are being brought out of that system of rebellion against the Lord. Not realizing the Lord's sovereignty over even the evil of this life, we rage against those who are rejecting our influence as an unfaithful harlot, over the kings of this world within us, and at that point we are giving the Lord the occasion He is seeking for the destruction of that harlot system within us.

So we read:

Isa 37:29  Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.

"Because thy rage against me, and your tumult, is come up into my ears" is what we do simply because the Lord hardens our hearts against His words as He did to Pharaoh many years earlier:

Rom 9:15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Having a heart 'hardened' by the Lord is the same as being told, "Therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest."

So much for the Babylonian false doctrine of "free moral agency", which is so appealing to our inward 'beast' which demands our worship.

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?

"I [will] put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou came" is also another way of telling us:

Jer 2:19  Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

We rebel against the Lord with our carnal mind, and "by the way which we" rebel, we will also learn not to continue in our rebellion. 'Our own wickedness will correct  us and our backslidings will reprove us.'

It was the remembering of what they had done to Joseph which tormented his brothers:

Gen 42:17  And [Joseph] put them all together into ward three days.
Gen 42:18  And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God:
Gen 42:19  If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:
Gen 42:20  But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.
Gen 42:21  And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.
Gen 42:22  And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.
Gen 42:23  And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.

As his called-out ones we, too, are corrected by our own wickedness, and we are reproved by our own backsliding. However, we are being judged in this present age, at "this present time", so we can be in Joseph's shoes typically, and not in the shoes of his ten brothers in type.

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. [As Joseph was manifested to his brothers]

"The sufferings of this present time" is our judgment which is even now 'beginning at the house of God".

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

If we are so blessed of the Lord to be part of "the house of God" from which 'the time is come for judgment to first begin' then we are told:

Isa 37:30  And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
Isa 37:31  And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
Isa 37:32  For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.

"That which grows of itself" the first year, that which springs of the same, the second year, and what we reap of what we sow the third year, are one and all accomplished by this one means, and by this means only: "...the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this".

The fact that it takes place over three years signifies the process which is taking place within us. Our salvation in this age is known only to the Lord. We must never ever assume that we have attained or "apprehended that for which we are apprehended".

Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Php 3:15  Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

In this same epistle we are told to 'work out our own salvation and to tremble before the word of God' as if our salvation depended upon our own works, while at the same time acknowledging that in the final analysis The Truth is: "it is the Lord that works in [us] both to will and to do of His good pleasure... the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this".

It was the apostle Paul who was inspired to reveal this Truth to us:

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

If we given to want to work out our own salvation, the the fact of that matter is: "it is God which works in [us]" to do so. And if we are granted to actually do so, "it is God which works in [us] both to will and to do of His good pleasure."

If we are given the faith to believe in the Lord's sovereignty to the degree that we do not depend upon ourselves or our efforts, that is a great gift from the Lord, and He will deliver us from all the fear and from the the threats of men and false brothers sent against us from the adversary:

2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2Co 11:15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

2Pe 2:1  But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Rev 16:13  And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

If  we are granted the faith to know Truth when we hear it, then we need not fear what men can do to us. The spiritual Truth is... "They that be with us are more than they that be with [our enemies]".

This is what the Lord revealed to Elisha and his servant Benghazi just a few years before the reign of King Hezekiah:

2Ki 6:8  Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.
2Ki 6:9  And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down.
2Ki 6:10  And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.
2Ki 6:11  Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel?
2Ki 6:12  And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.
2Ki 6:13  And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.
2Ki 6:14  Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.
2Ki 6:15  And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?
2Ki 6:16  And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
2Ki 6:17  And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
2Ki 6:18  And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

This great mercy was shown to wicked King Jehoram, the son of wicked King Ahab, king of Israel. How much more would the Lord hear and answer the king who typifies His obedient elect. It is good for us to notice how merciful the Lord was to Ahab and to Ahab's son Jehoram. It brings us to understand His mercies in dealing with us and even His mercies in dealing with our adversaries at times.

Hezekiah has shown the Lord the blasphemy of Sennacherib, and has repented of depending on his own strength and on the non-existent mercies of the king of Assyria. Hezekiah as a type of us has been brought to his wits' end and has come to the Lord and to the Lord's prophet, and the Lord, in essence, tells us to simply stand and see the Lord's salvation.

Hezekiah typifies this remnant:

Isa 37:32  For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.

The holy spirit applies this word 'remnant' to the Lord's elect of "this present time" (Rom 8:18).

Rom 9:27  Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:

Rom 11:5  Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

Hezekiah didn't even have to ask for the Lord to smite his enemies with blindness, as did Elisha. The Lord Himself simply destroyed them all:

Isa 37:33  Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.
Isa 37:34  By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.
Isa 37:35  For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
Isa 37:36  Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

One hundred and eighty five thousand slain in one night without Hezekiah or his armies having to lift a finger is a mighty number. All they had to do was to be quiet, stand and see the salvation of their God, as the Lord told Israel when He destroyed the armies of Egypt in the Red Sea:

Exo 14:10  And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD.
Exo 14:11  And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
Exo 14:12  Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.
Exo 14:13  And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
Exo 14:14  The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

"Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians", is the same spirit that led Hezekiah and his father Ahaz to give the Lord's gold and silver to the king of Assyria. It is the same spirit which tells us "Who can make war with the beast", just give up and submit to him.

There is no end to the speculation on the part of scholars as to how the Lord went about slaying 185,000 soldiers in one night, but it is best simply to believe what we are told, "...the angel of the Lord... smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty five thousand... they were all dead corpses".

There were, no doubt, far more slain than 185,000 when Egypt suffered the death of the firstborn in every single family.

Exo 12:29  And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.
Exo 12:30  And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

The destruction of the firstborn and the armies of Egypt may be the greatest number of people ever sacrificed for the Lord's symbolic elect, but the death of 185,000 Assyrians is also a very great deliverance. Apparently there were just enough survivors to take word back testifying to the power of the God of Israel to deliver His people by any means He wishes to employ:

Isa 37:37  So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

The Lord is very thorough in all He does though, and just as He destroyed Pharaoh with His armies, He also destroys "Sennacherib, king of Assyria".

Isa 37:38  And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

Hezekiah was delivered from Sennacherib's threats when he went into the temple and spread Sennacherib's threats before his Lord. Sennacherib was slain while "he was worshipping in the house of [his god]", and the Lord used his own sons, his own flesh, to destroy Sennacherib.

This is the message for us today:

Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Rev 17:17  For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
Rev 17:18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

This "woman" is the great harlot "which reigns over the kings of the earth" as any unfaithful wife does over those she seduces. She is "one flesh" with her carnal lovers, just as Sennacherib is one flesh with his sons who turned on him and destroyed him.

1Co 6:15  Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
1Co 6:16  What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

In the scriptures we must realize that 'sons' and 'wives' are often the same. We are Christ's spiritual sons:

Isa 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

We in turn are called 'a chaste virgin... espoused unto one husband... to Christ':

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

The fact that it was his own sons who "smote him with the sword" means it was his own flesh which turned on him and killed him. This is the message for us in verse 38:

Jer 2:17  Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?
Jer 2:18  And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?
Jer 2:19  Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
Jer 2:20  For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.

Or as the holy spirit inspired the apostle Paul to instruct us:

Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

The wonderful truth is that there is a great recompense of reward for trusting in the Lord and not in ourselves or anyone or anything in this world.

Rth 2:12  The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

Our next study will demonstrate how the Lord can and does extend our life as He sees fit and as it fits into "the counsel of His own will" (Eph 1:11).

Isa 38:1  In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.
Isa 38:2  Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD,
Isa 38:3  And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
Isa 38:4  Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying,
Isa 38:5  Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.
Isa 38:6  And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.
Isa 38:7  And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken;
Isa 38:8  Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.
Isa 38:9  The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:
Isa 38:10  I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
Isa 38:11  I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.

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