Isa 39:1-8 There Was Nothing in His House, Nor in His Dominion, That Hezekiah Showed Them Not - Part 1 - Discussion

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Isa 39:1-8 There Was Nothing In His House, Nor In His Dominion, That Hezekiah Showed Them Not – Part 1

Isa 39:1  At that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.
Isa 39:2  And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.
Isa 39:3  Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon.
Isa 39:4  Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.
Isa 39:5  Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts:
Isa 39:6  Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.
Isa 39:7  And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
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.

This chapter records events that occurred shortly after Hezekiah was healed of his "sickness unto death". Hezekiah, instead of being humbled by all the blessings the Lord bestowed upon him, rather became “lifted up” and proud as if the Lord did all these things for and through him because he, Hezekiah, was of himself just that good, just that special and just that deserving of the Lord’s special attention.

The admonition for  us in this story is three-fold:

The first lesson we will learn in the admonitions of this chapter is to give the Lord the credit for “all things”, and to take credit to ourselves for nothing at all. Not even our own sins are ours, as we will see.

The second lesson we will learn is how to apply the principle revealed in the Lord's instructions to His priests, which priests we are, if Christ is truly dwelling within us. We must strive to avoid making the mistake Hezekiah made of showing the house of God to those who are not part of His house.

The third lesson we will learn is that because of all the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon us, we as the anti-type, the reality which Hezekiah represents and symbolizes, will appropriate to ourselves the glory that is due only to Christ and His Father. It comes as naturally as breathing to appropriate the glory for all the blessings of God to ourselves and not to the very person who is working all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11), and is “working in [us] both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Php 2:12-13). We learn in this chapter that we just naturally appropriate His glory to ourselves, and we learn in this chapter how the Lord deals with this proud spirit within all of us.

Our first admonition is to give our Maker all the credit for everything He works. Notice how Hezekiah fails to credit his God with any of the things He did for Hezekiah when he met with the men who came from Babylon to congratulate Hezekiah for all that had recently happened to him:

Isa 39:1  At that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.
Isa 39:2  And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.

Here is the second lesson which Hezekiah, a type of us, had to learn to apply in his own life: In type and shadow, the Levites and the camp of Israel were forbidden from even looking upon the holy things of the tabernacle; the reason being that the Levites who were not the sons of Aaron, and any Levite who was not a son of Aaron, as well as the camp of Israel, signifies Babylon and the world. Here is a link to an in-depth study of the spiritual meaning of these Biblical types and shadows:

The Camp, The Court, and the Tabernacle

The priesthood only, the sons of Aaron only, were permitted to look upon and handle the holy things of the house of God. Those who were not of the sons of Aaron, were condemned to death if they even looked upon the holy things of the tabernacle:

Num 4:17  And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
Num 4:18  Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites:
Num 4:19  But thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden:
Num 4:20  But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.

The severity of these words is demonstrated in the story of the Philistines taking possession of the ark of the Lord upon the death of Eli and the curses that fell upon their whole nation (1Samuel 5). We are not given the number of Philistines who died while the ark of God was in their possession. However, we are told that the Lord destroyed 50,070 men of Israel in and about Bethshemensh when the Philistines returned the ark to Israel (1Samuel 6).  A couple of decades later the Lord also slew Uzzah, who simply reached out to steady the ark while it was illegally being drawn by oxen on a cart instead of it being on the shoulders of the Levites as was legally mandated by the Lord (Num 4:15):

Num 4:15  And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.

1Sa 5:10  Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.
1Sa 5:11  So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.
1Sa 5:12  And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

1Sa 6:19  And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.
1Sa 6:20  And the men of Bethshemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? and to whom shall he go up from us?
1Sa 6:21  And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjathjearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the LORD; come ye down, and fetch it up to you.

2Sa 6:6  And when they came to Nachon's threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it.
2Sa 6:7  And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.

Uzzah died because he touched the holy ark of God when he was not qualified to do so. The men of Bethshemesh died "because they had looked into the ark of the Lord", when they were not qualified to do so, and the Philistines died for possessing the ark when they were not qualified to do so. None of these deaths were the type of death that "[brought forth much fruit"] as symbols of the death of our old man:

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

These men all died in their sins. "God smote [them] there for [their] error" (2Sa 6:7), and "these things all happened to them and they are written for our admonition…" (1Co 10:11).

So what is it we are being admonished to do or not to do? What is so important for us to know that the Lord slew so many Philistines in all five of their cities? What is so important for us to know that He slew 50,070 Israelites, for looking into  the ark? Why did He slay Uzzah for simply attempting to steady the ark, while being transported in a manner contrary to His Words?

Again, ‘all of these things happened, and they are written for our admonition’ to tell us that the Lord insists upon having a people who want to pay very close attention to what He tells us to do and how we're to conduct ourselves as His wife and His representatives and His ambassadors to this world.

He tells us clearly that He will take up His residence in no one else but those who pay very close attention to His Word to the extent that they “tremble at [His] words”.

Isa 66:1  Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look [as My temple, My house, and the place of My rest], even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

The Lord wants us to know that He expects us to fear and tremble at His every word, not just some of it which we might happen to like or agree with, as King Saul did when He was sent to destroy the Amalekites and all of their possessions. The Lord prizes obedience over sacrifice, as Samuel informed King Saul and all of us. Instead of destroying all of the Amalekites along with all of their possessions as he had been instructed to do by the Lord, Saul decided to keep alive King Agag and "the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them" (1Sa 15:8). When we do not listen closely and do not tremble at the very thought of not getting it right, we are in practice being rebellious and idolatrous in the eyes of our Lord.

This story is also "for our admonition" so we will know what is within us, and so we will learn to pay close attention to what the Lord tells us:

1Sa 15:2  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
1Sa 15:3  Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
1Sa 15:4  And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
1Sa 15:5  And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.
1Sa 15:6  And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
1Sa 15:7  And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.
1Sa 15:8  And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
1Sa 15:9  But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
1Sa 15:10  Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,
1Sa 15:11  It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.
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, 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.

Not one person who allows "the people" to lead him to disobey the Lord's commandments will be given a crown of life to rule over the kingdoms of this world and to judge those who are cast into the symbolic lake of fire.

The Lord insists that we put His commandments and every word He speaks above our own way of thinking. It made no sense at all to King Saul and his people to destroy all those perfectly good 'sheep and oxen and fatlings and lambs'. The Lord's commandment to destroy all those perfectly good livestock along with all the people of the Amalekites was illogical to the natural mind, and therefore was rejected by King Saul, an Old Testament type of our 'rejected… anointed… old man’. Yet King Saul, a type of us, insisted that he had been obedient to the Lord:

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 15:20  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.

The Truth, of course, is that he had done nothing of the kind, and had instead rebelled against what the Lord had commanded him to do just because the Lord’s commandment made no sense to the natural man within Saul as it would within all of us.

It is to this spirit within all of us that Christ poses this question:

Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
Luk 6:47  Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
Luk 6:48  He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
Luk 6:49  But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

Is Hezekiah showing the princes of Babylon all of his treasures any different than King Saul saving the best of the sheep and oxen after being told to destroy them? No, it is not. The reason it is the same as King Saul is because King Hezekiah ignored the spirit of the commandment telling us that we are not to even show the holy things to the princes of the Babylonian system who may appear to express some semblance of concern for our welfare. The Truth is that they cannot really be concerned for that which is the exact opposite to everything they stand for.

Judah's treasures being shown to outsiders are gifts which the Lord has given Judah, and the uncircumcised Babylonians were not qualified to so much as look upon those gifts.

Babylon stands in defiance of all the commandments of our Lord. "The whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water" has been taken away from "that great city wherein our Lord was crucified" (Isa 3:1-2 and Rev 11:8).

This whole story is typical of us, and it is written down for our admonition (1Co 10:6 and 11). The main lesson for us from this story of Hezekiah showing all his armaments and his treasures to the princes of Babylon, is that we are not to make that mistake with the Lord's treasures. To do so is to ignore and to rebel against these words of our Lord:

Mat 7:6  Give not [show not] that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye [show ye] your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

"Turn again and rend you" is exactly what the kingdom of Babylon did to the nation of Judah just a few short years later, as Isaiah prophesied:

Isa 39:3  Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon.
Isa 39:4  Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.
Isa 39:5  Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts:
Isa 39:6  Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.
Isa 39:7  And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

This is what 2Chronicles 32 informs us of how the Lord viewed Hezekiah's actions in response to these visitors from Babylon:

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.

Once again, we must remember, ‘These words are written for our admonition because they are types of us’ (1Co 10:6 and 11).

1Co 10:6 Now these things became types of us, for us not to be lusters after evil things, (CVL)

1Co 10:11 Now all this befalls them typically. Yet it was written for our admonition, to whom the consummations of the eons have attained."

Ask yourself, "What is it that we fail to 'render… again' to the Lord for the benefits rendered to us?" Obviously, what we all at first fail to render again to the Lord is to be sure to give the Lord all the credit for all He does and for all of His works. And what are His 'works'? The scriptures are overwhelmingly clear, and yet our flesh refuses to acknowledge this Truth:

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

It is we who "render not again according to the benefit done unto [us]". It is we who take pride in our own accomplishments and who refuse to give all the glory to Him without whom we "can do nothing", and in whom we "live and move and have our being", as we are clearly informed both of our Lord Himself and of the apostle Paul:

Speaking to the pagan Athenians, the apostle Paul made this revealing statement:

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.

Let's be specific. What exactly are the works of the Lord for which He wants us to "render… again [honor unto the Lord] according to the benefit done unto [us by the Lord]?"

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.

To be specific about that for which the Lord wants us to credit Him, here it is:

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.

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:

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

There we have it as clear as the Lord can tell us. "Yes, even the wicked" are made by the Lord "for the day of evil" in all of us. We can take credit for nothing. Not even our sins.

The third lesson for us contained in this 39^th chapter of Isaiah is that Hezekiah and all of his people, as "types of us" (1Co 10:6), have been favored of God before all men, and we simply are not of ourselves equipped to deal humbly with so much blessing and honor, and we learn how the Lord works with us to overcome that inherent flaw in our composition.

Hezekiah had been miraculously delivered from the armies of the Assyrians, and immediately following that deliverance, Hezekiah was stricken with a "sickness unto death". The natural fruit of such an affliction immediately following such a great victory would be to keep Hezekiah humble. When Hezekiah humbled himself and cried to the Lord for mercy, he was again miraculously delivered along with being given the miraculous sign of returning the shadow on the sundial by ten degrees. These are unfathomable miracles of mercy and favor shown by the Lord unto Hezekiah. Yet when those men came to him from Babylon "[because Merodachbaladan] had heard [Hezekiah] had been sick and was recovered", Hezekiah took all the credit to himself, and instead of using this opportunity to witness for the power of His God, Hezekiah, as a type of us, gloried in all of his possessions and took unto himself all the glory for all the victories the Lord had given him.

That is what we are told:

Isa 39:2  And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.

Isaiah tells  us "Hezekiah was glad of them", but notice how this is worded in 2nd Kings 20:

2Ki 20:13  And Hezekiah hearkened unto them [H8085: shama, 'listened to'], and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.

Hezekiah was persuaded by these men to show them all he possessed, and instead of using this opportunity to explain how the Lord, his God, had destroyed the Assyrian army, and how his God had turned back the sun and how his God had healed him of his deadly disease, he instead used all these blessings from the Lord to fuel his own glory in all of his possessions which the Lord had given him. Hezekiah had been given the destruction of the armies of Assyria, he had been sick unto death, and he was given a miraculous sign of the turning back of the sundial to assure him that he would receive a miraculous healing, and on the third day his healing was completed. Besides all of these miraculous blessings, he is now being recognized and honored by other nations for his victory over the Assyrian armies, and for all the blessings which the Lord Himself had actually accomplished and with which Hezekiah himself had absolutely nothing to do. However, our old man and the world will always glorify men instead of glorying in the Lord.

We will stop here for now, and next week we will continue to examine how Hezekiah as a type of who we are, just naturally appropriates the Lord’s glory to Himself, and then we will also learn how the Lord deals with that fault within us all.

Isa 38:1-11 I Have Heard Your Prayer, I Have Seen Your Tears - Discussion

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Isa 38:1-11  I Have Heard Your Prayer, I Have Seen Your Tears

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.

This chapter is the story of King Hezekiah's sickness "unto death", and how the Lord first tells Hezekiah that his death is certain and that he  must "set [his] house in order". Upon hearing these words from Isaiah, the Lord's prophet, Hezekiah is understandably grief-stricken, and he cries out to the Lord and reminds the Lord that he has "walked before thee in Truth, and with a perfect heart, and [has] done that which is good in Thy sight", and Hezekiah weeps sorely before the Lord.

It appears to our natural mind that Hezekiah's prayer causes the Lord to simply change His mind, and He decides to heal the king and add 15 years to Hezekiah's life. Let's read another version of what happened here and get some more details from the account of this same story as it is recorded for our admonition in 2nd Kings:

2Ki 20:1  In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
2Ki 20:2  Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying,
2Ki 20:3  I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now 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.

To this point this account is almost word for word the same as what we just read in Isaiah 38. However, now we have some details which are not recorded in Isaiah. This apparent change of the Lord's heart was an immediate thing according to the account here in 2nd Kings, and the Lord promises that in three days Hezekiah will "go up unto the house of the Lord". These details are not mentioned in Isaiah's account. The Lord tells Hezekiah that He is giving him 15 more years of life and that during those fifteen years the king of Assyria will not be permitted to take the city of Jerusalem.

2Ki 20:4  And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
2Ki 20:5  Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.
2Ki 20:6  And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.

Here in 2nd Kings we are even given the kind of disease afflicting King Hezekiah and the cure by which the Lord heals him:

2Ki 20:7  And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

In 2nd Kings 20 we also learn that King Hezekiah, typifying us and our lack of faith, requests a sign of the Lord that the Lord will heal him. The Lord even gives Hezekiah a choice of whether the shadow on the sun dial will go forward or backward by ten degrees.

2Ki 20:8  And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day?
2Ki 20:9  And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?

And this is what Hezekiah chose:

2Ki 20:10  And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.
2Ki 20:11  And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.

These things all happened to King Hezekiah, and they are all written down for our admonition upon whom the ends of the eons (aions) have come:

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world [Greek: ages] are come.

With that principle in mind, let's look at these two accounts of the same story and see what the Lord's signified words are telling us. We will examine this story in a harmony of Isaiah and 2nd Kings fashion, and we will ask the Lord to open our spiritual eyes to see the spiritual lessons in this true story:

This Account According to Isaiah

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.

The Same Account According to 2nd Kings

2Ki 20:1  In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
2Ki 20:2  Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying,
2Ki 20:3  I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now 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.

These three verses in both books contain the exact same message. The message for us is that the Lord is trying the king's faith by telling Hezekiah that he will die of this affliction and that he needs to set his house in order. Upon hearing these words coming from the Lord's prophet, King Hezekiah is brought to his wits' end, and he cries out to the Lord for His mercies.

Hezekiah typifies us. Each of us from time to time find ourselves in very dire circumstances. At times those can be life or death circumstances, and the last thing any of us should ever do when we find our brother or sister in such a trial is to become one of Job's "miserable comforters" who think that all of our trials are given to demonstrate just how sinful a person is. There are books written based upon that very premise, quoting this verse in Proverbs 26 as proof that we bring all of our afflictions upon ourselves:

Pro 26:2  As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.

All that the modern-day 'Job's miserable comforters' can see is the last part of that verse, as they point three fingers at themselves while wagging one finger at the poor suffering elect of God who are being judged in this age. Nowhere does Proverb 26:2 state that we are responsible for our own trials and sins. The self-righteous Pharisees among us overlook the first part of that verse which reads, "As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come." The bird's wandering and the swallow's flight patterns are both the work of the Lord's hand as are "all things". This same writer told us these very words ten chapters earlier:

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

Job's trials were also the Work of the Lord's hand, and for Job's miserable comforters to look down on him as more cursed of God than themselves is nothing less that the insidious sin of self-righteousness.

Job 1:11  But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 1:12  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

Job 2:5  But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 2:6  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.

Even the adversary and all of his "legions" are nothing more than the Lord's hand. He does only what he is sent to do - nothing more and nothing less.

The Lord Himself gives us a grave warning against judging anyone's standing with the Lord based upon the things which happen to them with these words:

Luk 13:1  There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
Luk 13:2  And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
Luk 13:3  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Luk 13:4  Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
Luk 13:5  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Did the men who died at the hand of Pilate do something that made them greater sinners than others? Christ tells us they were not "sinners above all the Galileanas". Were the men who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them worse than anyone else in Jerusalem? Again, Christ tells us they were not. Nothing is further from the truth, as the story of Christ healing of the man who was born blind demonstrates:

Joh 9:1  And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
Joh 9:2  And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
Joh 9:3  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

Christ is not saying that this man and his parents are the only people in the history of the world who never once sinned. What He is telling us is that this man's sins were in no way whatsoever connected to or involved with this man's blindness "from his birth".

In the same manner, Hezekiah's affliction, as a type of the Lord's elect, was not because of his or his parents' sins. It was simply "that the works of God should be made manifest in him... for [our] admonition" (1Co 10:11).

None of this is meant to make all sins equal, as some falsely claim. Stealing a loaf of bread to feed your family is not the same as malicious, premeditated murder.

Exo 22:1  If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.

Stealing an ox is stealing a man's way of making a living and was a greater crime than stealing a sheep.

The Lord inspired Solomon to tell us:

Pro 6:30  Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
Pro 6:31  But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.

Whereas the punishment for murder is far more severe:

Num 35:31  Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death.

Christ Himself made this statement when He stood before Pilate:

Joh 19:11  Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

Finally, we are even told this concerning the Lord's judgments of our works:

Pro 24:11  If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain;
Pro 24:12  If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?

The New Testament stresses this same principle:

Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

If all sins were equal in the Lord's sight, then Christ would never have told us:

Mat 16:27  For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

Punishment for sins is dealt out in accordance with the degree of one's knowledge:

Luk 12:47  And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
Luk 12:48  But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

Our judgment accords with our works. That is a Biblically demonstrated principle. But that fact does not mean that all of our trials are punishments for our sins, as the Lord's words concerning the deaths of the Galileans at the hand of Pilate and the healing of the man was born blind prove. Some trials are indeed punishments, but many of our trials are simply "that the works of the Lord might be made manifested in [us]" (Joh 9:3).

One of the "works of the Lord" manifested in the lives of every believer is "the trial of [our] faith":

1Pe 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

This is what the Lord is doing with Hezekiah as a type of His elect. Let us all be careful not to look down upon each other because of the various afflictions the Lord places upon us.

Hezekiah is stricken with a disease which is "unto death" and then the Lord sends His prophet to tell the king to set his house in order because his death is imminent. This affliction and the sentence of death have worked their purpose and "the works of the Lord [continue to] be made manifested in [Hezekiah's life]". "The works of the Lord" have brought Hezekiah to his wits' end, and he has cried out to the Lord 'to deliver him from death and he is heard in that he feared the Lord'.

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Hezekiah had eventually feared the Lord more than he feared the great king of Assyria, and in time he had come to place his trust in the Lord for deliverance. Hezekiah's healing from his "sickness unto death" typifies our resurrection from the dead as our reward for fearing the Lord more than we fear men, and for depending on Him for our salvation and our deliverance from our enemies and from all the false doctrines which enslaved us. These are all symbolized here by the king of Assyria.

This story demonstrates that the Lord rewards the tried faithfulness He gives us:

Luk 6:22  Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.
Luk 6:23  Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

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.

So there is a great reward for our fidelity. It is the reward of life from death, "the resurrection of life", which Hezekiah, as a type of us, experienced.

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.

Here is the 2nd Kings 20 version of these five verses of Isaiah 38. It takes two additional verses to include the extra details:

2Ki 20:5  Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.
2Ki 20:6  And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
2Ki 20:7  And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
2Ki 20:8  And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day?
2Ki 20:9  And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?
2Ki 20:10  And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.
2Ki 20:11  And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.

The fact that Hezekiah asked for a sign of his healing, and the lump of figs as the cure of the boil is alluded to only at the very end of Isiah 38.

Isa 38:20  The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD.
Isa 38:21  For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.
Isa 38:22  Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?

There is no mention of "three days" in Isaiah 38. That is how it is supposed to be because "the sum of thy word is truth", and the Truth is only gleaned "line upon line and precept upon precept":

Psa 119:160  The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances endureth for ever. (ASV)

Isa 28:9  Whom will he teach knowledge? and whom will he make to understand the message? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts?
Isa 28:10  For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little.
Isa 28:11  Nay, but by men of strange lips and with another tongue will he speak to this people;
Isa 28:12  to whom he said, This is the rest, give ye rest to him that is weary; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
Isa 28:13  Therefore shall the word of Jehovah be unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. (ASV)

So all the lessons of this story are "precept upon precept [and] line upon line". Not for the purpose of making the meaning clear, but rather for the fact that "it is not given to [the multitudes of Christendom] to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven":

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto [the multitudes] 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.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15  For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

This story of the healing of Judah's most righteous king from a sickness "unto death" is just such a parable. Hezekiah symbolizes the Lord's elect whose salvation from death, from "the wages of sin", comes to them only "through death":

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through [the death of] Jesus Christ our Lord.

Col 1:22  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Heb 2:14  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

Hezekiah's healing from his 'sickness unto death' typifies our own healing from the death penalty under which we are conceived and under which we are all born:

Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

The "three days" Hezekiah had to wait for his healing typifies the process we all must endure as we are being judged in this age, leading up to our own death and resurrection with our Lord "on the third day".

Mat 16:21  From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

Mat 17:23  And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.

Mat 20:19  And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

This story is a prophecy of these verses in Matthew and all the verses on the subject of the resurrection of Christ in the other gospels, such as these words of our Lord:

Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

Perfection and life come only through death and resurrection "on the  third day", after 'patience has had its perfect work' through the process of being judged in this life. Here is the URL for the in depth study on the spiritual significance of the number three:
Three: The Process of Spiritual Completion Through Judgment

The fifteen years added to Hezekiah's life signify nothing less than the process of our salvation "by grace through faith... of Jesus Christ" in us.

Rom 3:22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

Gal 2:16  Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Gal 3:22  But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

Fifteen is the product of three fives, signifying that Christ's chastening grace and His faith working within us are also a process which takes place within our lives, requiring the trying of our faith and the development of patience in each and every saint of God.

Therefore we are instructed:

Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

An impatient, unmerciful person is not fit to be a ruler and to reign with Christ because that person is not yet perfected:

Jas 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Jas 1:4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Faith requires patience because our faith must be tried, and trials require time, and our flesh wants what it wants now!

1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1Pe 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Here is the URL to an in-depth study on the spiritual significance of the number five.

Hezekiah asking for a sign that the Lord would indeed heal him on the third day, typifies all of us as we struggle to take the Lord at His word while the circumstances of life tell us we simply cannot do that.

Mat 12:39  But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:

Mar 9:20  And they brought [the epileptic young man] unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
Mar 9:21  And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
Mar 9:22  And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
Mar 9:23  Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Mar 9:24  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Mar 9:25  When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
Mar 9:26  And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.
Mar 9:27  But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Hezekiah was at his wits' end, and he, too, in effect cried out, "Lord I believe; help Thou mine unbelief." It is "through Christ" that any of us are given the Lord's grace through the Lord's faith to be saved from death:

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.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship,created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Hezekiah tells us clearly that this affliction, this "sickness unto death" was something he had been enduring for some time:

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.

This story of Hezekiah's sickness unto death is part of what the Lord has chosen to show us He is doing in our lives (1Co 10:11). We must be brought to our wits' end before we will cry out to the Lord. When that is accomplished, then the Lord will deliver us in our time of trouble:

Psa 37:39  But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.

Psa 46:1  To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Psa 107:25 For he [the Lord Himself] commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.

Next week the Lord will use Hezekiah to show us the depth of the troubles of our flesh, and the hopelessness of our flesh to deliver us from death. We will all identify and empathize with Hezekiah. We will also see and rejoice in being raised with Christ in newness of life (Rom 6:1-4).

Isa 38:12  Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
Isa 38:13  I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
Isa 38:14  Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.
Isa 38:15  What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
Isa 38:16  O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.
Isa 38:17  Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
Isa 38:18  For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
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.
Isa 38:20  The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD.
Isa 38:21  For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.
Isa 38:22  Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?

Isa 36:1-11 On Whom do You Trust? - Discussion

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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.

Isa 22:9-14 The Lord...Did...Call To Weeping...and Behold Gladness...Let Us Eat and Drink; For Tomorrow We Shall Die

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Isa 22:9-14 The Lord... Did... Call To Weeping... And Behold Gladness... Let Us Eat And Drink; For Tomorrow We Shall Die.

Isa 22:9  Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
Isa 22:10  And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.
Isa 22:11  Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago.
Isa 22:12  And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
Isa 22:13  And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.
Isa 22:14  And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

Remember that the Lord's punishments are always given to us freely out of His love for us.

Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth [Greek, paideuo], and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

You and I are blessed to know that the channel for God's chastening and scourging is His grace:

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching [paideuo: chastening] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Like any loving father, the Lord does not charge us for the discipline and chastening when He takes the time to administer His chastening grace:

Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the [free] gift of God:

This principle had been in the Lord's heart from the very beginning of His work with mankind. Notice why and how Adam was punished for eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil:

Gen 3:17  And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Gen 3:18  Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
Gen 3:19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

If we are "taken... out of... the ground", then we are the "earth, earth, earth" of:

Jer 22:29  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

Eve symbolizes the church, and Adam was, in effect, more interested in church doctrine than the Word of God. For Adam's sake the Lord cursed the ground.  "Whom the Lord loves He chastens and scourges..."

What this tells us is that we are the ground which is "cursed for [our] sake". The 'bread' which we eat is the fruit of the thorns and thistles, which we produce by the sweat of our face, symbolizes the fruit of the false doctrines, which are the idols of our own hearts (Eze 14:1-9). It is by these lies and false doctrines that we are spiritually fed, all the while living in rebellion against our Lord. "The sweat of [our] face" symbolizes our own efforts. We think we are responsible for both our own sins and our own righteousness. However, the Truth is that "all things are of God", whether they are good or evil:

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

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

2Co 4:15  For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

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:

Therefore, the "ground" of which we are composed is cursed "for [our] sake" because "the Lord... chastens... every son He receives."  We are being shown in this burden against Jerusalem, how Jerusalem, the Old Testament type of us as we live out our part as the great harlot of Revelation 17-18, having witnessed the wrath of the Lord on her neighbors, inexplicably continues on in her unfaithful harlotry against her own marriage covenant with Her husband, our Lord.

Isa 1:8  And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
Isa 1:9  Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
Isa 1:10  Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

I say "inexplicably" because that is the way it seems to us at that time. While the faithful city has become an harlot, we are being fed with the thorns and thistles produced by the sweat of our face. Thorns and thistles are not the fruit of the true Words of Christ. "Thorns and thistles" certainly include the false doctrine of "free moral agency".

Isa 42:22  But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.
Isa 42:23  Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come?
Isa 42:24  Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law.
Isa 42:25  Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.

Look at those words: "[The Lord] poured out upon him the fury of His anger and the strength of battle: and it has set him on fire round about, yet he knew it not; and it burned him yet he laid it not to heart." Which of us has not done just that? We knew we were doing wrong, just as Eve knew she was disobeying the Lord's commandment, and she did it anyway because she was tempted by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life (1Jo 2:16).

We have seen that all these words are words which each of us must "live by", and we must acknowledge these words as an excellent description of what we as this harlot do against our husband, Christ. This 'harlot' is our own rebellious old man whom we all eventually come to see in his full blossom, just before his utter destruction at the merciful, but painful, coming of Christ into our lives:

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth [Greek: restrains] that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let [Greek: restrains], until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they [we] received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Today we will continue to see this revelation of the love of our loving heavenly Father as He punishes and destroys the kingdom of our old man, and the essential part this "scourging" plays in bringing us to know the mind of Christ.  What we are learning is that it is the destruction of the kingdom of our old man within us which is expedient to bring forth the birth of our new man who, Lord willing, we are becoming "day by day".

2Co 4:16  For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

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.

This is what is required to "put off... the old man", and in so doing brings forth and "put[s] on the new man" within us:

Isa 22:9  Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
Isa 22:10  And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.

Oh yes, we have seen the breaches of the city of David, and our city has been breached many times by our own wickedness which we, as any harlot, have caused to be breached. Yet we refuse to acknowledge our unfaithful, rebellious and adulterous ways:

Pro 30:20  Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

But the fact still remains that we will reap what we sow:

Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Gal 6:8  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Jeremiah says the same thing in another way:

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.

The doctrine of the great whore is "the doctrine of that woman Jezebel". Her doctrine is "things sacrificed to idols", which seduces us and convinces us to disobey our Lord and break our marriage covenant.

Rev 2:20  Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

Our fornication against our Lord brings His chastening upon us in many and various ways, but as we have seen we don't even realize or acknowledge it, and we carry on in our own strength in our own wicked ways, unable to change our own marred heart and our own rebellious, carnal mind, until "a great falling away" occurs in our lives. Only then are we made to see our old man as the dying creature he is:

Isa 22:11  Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago.

King Hezekiah had gone to great lengths to bring water through a tunnel into the city and at the same time deprive any invaders of easily accessible water.

2Ch 32:1  After these things, and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself.
2Ch 32:2  And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem,
2Ch 32:3  He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city: and they did help him.
2Ch 32:4  So there was gathered much people together, who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?
2Ch 32:5  Also he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and repaired Millo in the city of David, and made darts and shields in abundance.

2Ch 32:30  This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.
2Ch 32:31  Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.

What was in Hezekiah's heart?

We struggle to internalize words like:

2Ch 32:4  So there was gathered much people together, who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?

The next verse should help us to apply these words personally:

2Ch 32:5  Also he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and repaired Millo in the city of David, and made darts and shields in abundance.

The spiritual lesson is that we do all in our own power and in our own strength to prepare fortifications against God's judgment upon our old man and his rebellious ways. We can do all that is in our power to "gather much people together" to provide life-giving water to ourselves, but when we work in our own strength, this is what the Lord tells us of the effectiveness of depending upon ourselves and our own ways, including our own righteousnesses:

Psa 127:1  A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Rom 1:21  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Rom 1:22  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

"They" is speaking of us! It is we who work hard to preserve our kingdom, and the Lord gives us to prosper in this world. We may even be given, like Job, to be a benefactor to many others in this life. It seems the Lord is smiling on all we do, when in reality He is simply answering us according to the idols of our heart.

Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;
Eze 14:5  That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

As the story of Job demonstrates for us, one of the most insidious 'idols of [our] hearts' is self-righteously seeing ourselves as God's gift to mankind. That was the point of verse 11. Just like Hezekiah, we celebrate our own self-righteousness accomplishments and our productivity under our own power:

Isa 22:11  Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago.

When we do this, the Lord calls us to repentance:

Isa 22:12  And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:

Like King Hezekiah we mistake believing that the Lord answering us according to the idols of our hearts is proof of the Lord blessing our self-righteousness.

Isa 22:9  Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
Isa 22:10  And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.

We have made great sacrifices to fortify the wall of our city and to  provide water for our kingdom "but [we] have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago." So we celebrate our carnal blessings instead of obeying the Lord's commandment to "weep [and] mourn". Instead:

Isa 22:13  And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a God who gives us over to our own desires, even as we know the penalty of our sinful ways. When that is made to happen there is but one solution to that state of our old man and His kingdom, and this is that one solution:

Isa 22:14  And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

Now we know why the Lord destroys our old man with the brightness of His coming:

2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, while I was yet with you, these very things, I was telling you?
2Th 2:6  And, what now restraineth, ye know, to the end he may be revealed in his own fitting time;
2Th 2:7  For, the secret, of lawlessness, already, is inwardly working itself, only, until, he that restraineth at present, shall be gone, out of the midst:
2Th 2:8  And, then, shall be revealed the lawless one, whom, the Lord Jesus, will slay with the Spirit of his mouth, and paralyse with the forthshining of his Presence: (REV)

Against our own carnal will, the Lord will show us what we are in these clay vessels, and He will bring us to true repentance, and in doing so He will slay our old man with the spirit of His mouth, which tells us this about our old man and His kingdom:

Heb 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
Heb 6:7  For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
Heb 6:8  But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
Heb 6:9  But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.

There are "those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, [who] fall away, [and] crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame" in this age. We have witnessed this time and again as the apostles did themselves:

1Ti 1:19  Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
1Ti 1:20  Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

2Ti 1:15  This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.

2Ti 4:14  Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
2Ti 4:15  Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.
2Ti 4:16  At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.

3Jn 1:9  I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
3Jn 1:10  Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

It is the end of our old man "to be burned" by the "fire", and that 'fire' is the Word of God which will judge us in that day:

Joh 12:47  And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
Joh 12:48  He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

1Co 3:13  Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

What separated King David from King Saul is that when David was judged for his sins, he threw himself on the Lord's mercy, and he was willing to accept the Lord's judgment. This is what King David was well aware had been written:

Lev 26:40  If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;
Lev 26:41  And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:
Lev 26:42  Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.
Lev 26:43  The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes.

The almost universally accepted false doctrine of a "substitutionary atonement", which teaches that Christ died in our stead, flies in the face of all the scriptures which teach that Christ died to sin so He could repeat that process within each of us, and we can now be "crucified with Him, [and] die daily [with Him, and] suffer with Him":

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Rom 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

2Ti 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

Because "Christ lives in me" when I "suffer with Him", I am filling up in my body what is behind of His afflictions, "for His body's sake, which is the church". Here now is a verse of scripture which is avoided like the plague by all those who teach the false doctrine of a substitutionary atonement:

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25  Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Isaiah tells us:

Isa 22:12  And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
Isa 22:13  And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.
Isa 22:14  And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

It is obvious to those who have been given the mind of Christ, that if "Christ [is] in [you]", you are being "crucified with [Him], and filling up in [your] flesh the afflictions of [the] Christ for His body's sake, which is the church." There is no greater calling, and in that we all rejoice, and if that is our joy, then "this iniquity [is being] purged [because we are blessed to be given to "die daily... [now] for His body's sake which is the church".

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will cover these verses here in Isaiah 22:

Isa 22:15  Thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and say,
Isa 22:16  What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock?
Isa 22:17  Behold, the LORD will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee.
Isa 22:18  He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord's house.
Isa 22:19  And I will drive thee from thy station, and from thy state shall he pull thee down.