Isa 39 (Part 3) Good is the Word of the Lord Which You Have Spoken - Discussion

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Isa 39 - Part 3 - Good Is The Word of The Lord Which You Have Spoken

In our last study we saw Hezekiah as a type of the Lord’s elect who are faithful to the end in spite of being just as weak and just as sinful as the Lord’s rejected elect, typified by King Saul and even Hezekiah’s father, Ahaz.

King Saul had been given a great victory over the Amalekites, but had not destroyed the spoil as he had been commanded. In spite of his disobedience, he had built a monument to himself and attempted to bamboozle Samuel into accepting his disobedience concerning the taking of the spoils as a desire to offer offerings to the Lord. That excuse for his blatant disobedience coming from King Saul was what prompted these words from Samuel:

1Sa 15:12  And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place [Hebrew: a monument], and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
1Sa 15:13  And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.
1Sa 15:14  And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
1Sa 15:15  And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
1Sa 15:16  Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
1Sa 15:17  And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?
1Sa 15:18  And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.
1Sa 15:19  Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?
1Sa 15:20  And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
1Sa 15:21  But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.
1Sa 15:22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
1Sa 15:23  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

The Lord took the kingdom away from King Saul because he did not listen closely to and obey His commandment, and he had made a monument to himself as if it were he, King Saul, who in and of himself had conquered the Amalekites.  King Saul wanted personal recognition for what the Lord had done. He was no longer “little in [his] own eyes”.

But when King David committed much greater sins than taking the spoil of the Amalekites​,​ the Lord did not take the kingdom away from him. Let’s look at the sins King David committed, for which the Lord had commanded the death penalty:

2Sa 12:1  And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
2Sa 12:2  The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:
2Sa 12:3  But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.
2Sa 12:4  And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
2Sa 12:5  And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:
2Sa 12:6  And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
2Sa 12:7  And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
2Sa 12:8  And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
2Sa 12:9  Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

Taking a man’s wife and then killing that man to cover up your adultery is a much greater sin than taking spoil you were told to destroy. The Lord did punish King David, but he did not take the kingdom from him. This is what the Lord did to King David, the Old Testament type of His elect.

2Sa 12:10  Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
2Sa 12:11  Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
2Sa 12:12  For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.
2Sa 12:13  And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
2Sa 12:14  Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

“The Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die.” Oh, how King Saul would have loved to hear those words! However, the Lord did not show His mercy to King Saul as He did to King David, an even greater sinner.

The same was true of Esau and Jacob. Esau, hungry and tired, sold to his conniving brother his birthright for a bowl of pottage. His conniving brother went from that self-serving trick to lying to his father and stealing Esau’s blessing. Jacob was forgiven for these sins, but look what we are told of Esau:

Heb 12:17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

We see the same principle at work here in the story of Hezekiah. Hezekiah subjected himself to the king of Assyria, just as his father before him. As his father before him, he disobeyed the Lord’s commandment to “stand and see the salvation of the Lord, [He] shall fight for you.”

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.

Nevertheless, the Lord forgave Hezekiah and sent His angel and slew 185,000 Assyrian soldiers and delivered Hezekiah from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria.

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.

This incredible victory was followed by the humbling experience of Hezekiah becoming “sick unto death", and when the Lord gave Hezekiah the humanly impossible sign of his healing of moving the shadow of the sundial back ten degrees, then even the nations around him begin to honor and respect him to such a degree that Hezekiah’s “heart was lifted up”, and just like King Saul before him, he took to himself the credit for all the Lord had done on his behalf.

2Ch 32:20  And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven.
2Ch 32:21  And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword.
2Ch 32:22  Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side.
2Ch 32:23  And many brought gifts unto the LORD to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah: so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from thenceforth.
2Ch 32:24  In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death, and prayed unto the LORD: and he spake unto him, and he gave him a sign.
2Ch 32:25  But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.
2Ch 32:26  Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

King Ahaz, Hezekiah’s father, took the Lord’s treasures and sent them to the king of Assyria, hoping to win his favor, but to no avail. Hezekiah was not any better than his father, and he did the exact same thing instead of depending on the Lord to deliver him.

So why was Jacob, a liar and a thief, shown mercy, while his brother, Esau, who was simply weak and hungry, was not shown the Lord’s mercy? Why was an adulterous, murderous, King David shown the Lord’s mercy while King Saul, who took the spoils of war, was not? Why was King Hezekiah shown mercy after twice taking to himself the Lord’s glory, while King Saul had the kingdom taken from him? Why was Hezekiah shown mercy after doing the same thing with the Lord’s treasures that his father had done?

The answer to all of those questions is the same. Jacob was favored over Esau for the same reason Esau “found no place of repentance though he sought it carefully with tears.”

Heb 12:17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

King David was given the kingdom of King Saul for the same reason King Saul had the kingdom taken from him. Hezekiah was forgiven for giving the Lord’s treasures to the king of Assyria for the same reason his father was not given to repent. The reason in every case is two-fold. The first reason is that the Lord is working all things after the counsel of His own will, and it was His will that those who symbolize His elect would be given “place for repentance” while those whose lives symbolized His rejected anointed would find no “place for repentance”. The second reason, Jacob’s greater sins against his brother Esau were forgiven, and King David’s greater sins against Uriah were forgiven, and the second reason why Hezekiah’s sins of taking the Lord’s glory to himself after committing the same sins of his father, was for the purpose of helping each of us to see clearly that we must have this view of ourselves:

1Ti 1:15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

That is one reason why the Lord showed mercy to Jacob, King David and King Hezekiah, but did not show His mercy to Esau, King Saul or King Ahaz, Hezekiah’s father.

Hezekiah himself, in his grateful song of praise and gratitude to his heavenly Father for his healing of his “sickness unto death”, made clear how the Lord would pass this knowledge down to all those who are given “place for repentance”:

Isa 38:19  The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.

"The Father to the children shall make known your truth" is another way of telling us that "[Christ] to [His children shall make known [His] Truth", because Isaiah calls Christ "the everlasting Father", and Christ tells us that He is sending us to do what His Father sent Him to do:

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.
Isa 9:7  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Joh​ ​20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

Following this “Father to the son” principle, it becomes clear that as Christ’s Father sent Him “even so [Christ as our Father is sending us that as His ambassadors] the world through Him might be saved”. It will be through the Christ of Christ, those He sends to do what His Father sent Him to accomplish, that the "manifold wisdom of God will be made known" and accomplished first within His elect and then through them to all the rest of mankind, past and future. But “the glory is [to be] of God and not of us”!

Eph 3:9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

If it is true that Christ will use the church to show all men the manifold wisdom of God, then it is of utmost importance that we know exactly what “the manifold wisdom of God” is which Christ's Father sent Him to “make known… to those who first trusted in Christ.”

Here is a critical part of “the manifold wisdom of God [which He has] made known to us”:

Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

So why did our heavenly Father send Christ into this world? What is this “inheritance” we have “obtained… in Christ”? Is this “inheritance” common to all men?  Is there no difference in the glory and reward given those “who first trusted in Christ”, and those who get their wages last?

The parable of the workers in the vineyard makes it abundantly clear that those workers who worked all day long and got the same wages as those who came to work at the last hour of the day, felt that a very great distinction had been made by the Lord and they did not like it one little bit.

Not only had those who worked just one hour been rewarded with the same wages, but they were also the first to receive their wages:

Mat 20:9  And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
Mat 20:10  But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
Mat 20:11  And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,
Mat 20:12  Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
Mat 20:13  But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
Mat 20:14  Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.
Mat 20:15  Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?

Now let us pose again the question: ‘Is there no difference in the glory and reward given those “who first trusted in Christ”, and those who get their wages last?’ One thing should be abundantly clear; those who worked all day and bore the heat of the day certainly thought there was a big difference. It seemed to them that those who came last received a day's wages for one hour of labor, and to them that is not fair.

So here is one big difference in answer to that very important question:

Mat​ ​19:30  But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

As we are about to see the very next verse of the 20^th chapter of Matthew clarifies for us the significance of “the last shall be first”. Such counterintuitive words manifest that there is truly an order in which the Lord is accomplishing His plan for mankind, and the Lord wants us to know that sequence of events which will take place “every man in his own order”. Before we look at the next verse of Matthew 20, let’s take note of what the scriptures reveal to be the order of the sequence of events the Lord is working in His creatures:

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the [harvest at the] end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
1Co 15:27  For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

That is the order of events which “[the Lord] is working after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11), and here now is the meaning of “the last shall be first” as explained in the very next verse of Matthew 20:

Mat 20:16  So the last shall be first, and the first last: for [G1063: ‘gar’ - because] many be called, but few chosen.

The last are first and the first are last “because” many are called at this time, but few are chosen “at this present time”:

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

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.
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

We are plainly told, “The world through Him [will] be saved”. If the Father first sent Christ to save the world, then it follows that He gave Christ to know how He plans to get that done, and in the same manner, Christ wants us to know His Father’s plan:

Joh 15:15  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

That is an incredible revelation. Christ “has made known to [us]… all things He has heard of His Father”, and that is why soon after His resurrection Christ expounds upon those words:

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

Christ has sent us to do just what His Father sent Him to do, and as we saw earlier, this is what His Father sent Him to do:

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

The Lord is working out a preordained plan in an orderly manner. Not everyone is being saved in this age. There are those “who first trusted in Christ” (Eph 1:12), there are “the last [who] shall be first” (Mat 19:30), and there are the last to be hired who are the first to be paid (Mat 20:8-16). What is most revealing is that there is a “firstfruits unto God and the Lamb” who are blessed above all men to be in “[that] blessed and holy… 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.

The fact is that very few indeed are being saved in this age. A “first resurrection” necessitates that there must also be a second resurrection at the “second death”. Those who have “the firstfruits of the spirit” necessitate that there are those who do not have “the firstfruits of the spirit”. “A better resurrection” requires that there is a less desirable resurrection, which is exactly what the Lord tells us is the case, and which Peter tells us is the case:

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?

Joh 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [Greek: κρίσις, krisis - judgment].

Heb 11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

The fact is that Christ tells us clearly that He is “at this time” in the process of blinding and preventing the masses of humanity from hearing and understanding “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven”:

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Verse 17 of John 3 is part of “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” which this world simply cannot see, hear or understand. This is what our heavenly Father sent His Son into this world to accomplish:

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Our heavenly Father sent Christ into this physical realm “that the world through Him might be saved”. The salvation of all men is not in question. That is what the Lord wants and desires, and what He desires, He does:

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

The Lord is at this time using the false doctrine of “free moral agency” to keep mankind blinded to the fact that He “will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth”.

1Ti 2:3  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

The purveyors of the false doctrine of 'free moral agency' always tell us that the word translated 'will' here means 'desires all men to be saved', to which I simply repeat the Lord's words… "What His soul desires, even that He does".

That is the message of scripture from Genesis to revelation. The Lord is sovereign over all things, and our will is not sovereign over anything, not even the evil in our lives:

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

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

Pro 16:33  The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.

Pro 20:24  Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?

There are many other such verses here in the book of Proverbs alone, and they all accord with what is taught throughout the Word of God. The Word of God always negates the will of mankind and emphasizes the sovereign will of our Creator "who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the Truth". Yes, [that sovereignty extends to] “even the wicked" deeds we all just naturally commit during our own "day of evil" (Pro 16:4).

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

Jeremiah certainly agrees with the rest of scripture:

Jer 10:23  O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.

Paul comes right out and says it:

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.

In even more explicit words, Paul tells 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.

When I was under the delusion of "free moral agency" I used to quote verse 12 to others as scriptural proof that we all have “free moral agency”, blithely unaware and blinded to the words of the very next verse… 'For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure', NOT of my fabled 'free will'!

The Father sent Christ to save the world, and what He was sent to do, He will accomplish through us.

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me ["that the world… might be saved" ( Joh 3:17)], even so send I you.

However, just as we are presently being judged and our old man is presently being condemned and is presently dying daily, so will all the rest of mankind have that same experience of being judged and dying to their own rebellious carnal-minded old man, “each in his own order” (1Co​ ​15:23):

Joh 3:18  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Joh 3:19  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Joh 3:20  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
Joh 3:21  But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

"His deeds… are wrought in God" means all our deeds, not just our good deeds which the Lord works in us. While it may seem Hezekiah simply isn't worried about what his actions have brought upon his children, the fact is that he is merely acknowledging the depth of the truth that even his actions are not really of his own will, and even his own evil deeds "are wrought in God" because this is the fact of both the good and the evil which are in this world:

Psa 139:12  Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

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

Act 17:28  For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

"Good is the word of the Lord" acknowledges the truth of Proverbs 16:4 and all other such verses of scripture which confirm that even when we sin "It is not [we] who do it, but sin which is in [our] members (Rom 7:17 and 20), and that the Lord is working all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11).

Isa 39:8  Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.

In summary Isaiah 39 has taught us four very important lessons: 1) that we are never to give, or even show, the Lord's treasures to His and our enemies, 2) that we cannot of ourselves remain humble under the weight of all the blessings we have been given, 3) that we should always see ourselves as “chief of sinners” and not put that distinction upon others, and number 4) that as Hezekiah was always delivered, and given “place for repentance”, we, too, will be kept humbled by the Lord and will be given “place for repentance”, and will not be permitted to fall away from His love for us as His first-fruits, if indeed we are the Lord's very elect, then we, too, must agree with the apostle Paul who reminds us:

Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. [Psa 44:22]
Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What wonderful words of comfort for those to whom they apply. What reassuring words for the Lord’s faithful elect.

This concludes our studies in Isaiah 39. Next week we will be examining the even more encouraging words which the Lord has written for our admonition in Isaiah 40:

Isa 40:1  Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Isa 40:2  Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins.
Isa 40:3  The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Isa 40:4  Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
Isa 40:5  And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Isa 40:6  The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
Isa 40:7  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
Isa 40:8  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
Isa 40:9  O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
Isa 40:10  Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.