_Hezekiah. .. rent his clothes. .. and went into the house of the Lord_ THE DISTRESS, OF HEZEKIAH Hezekiah was probably weak in body, and therefore had lost true courage of soul. (_J. Parker, D. D._) PERIL SHOULD DRIVE THE SOUL TO GOD The best way to baffle the malicious designs of our enemies... [ Continue Reading ]
_This day is a day of trouble_ HEZEKIAH’S DAY OF TROUBLE Ahaz the father and immediate predecessor of Hezekiah on the throne of Judah, engaged himself, and virtually his successors, to pay tribute to the kings of Assyria. Such a state of vassalage Hezekiah no doubt rightly though hazardously decl... [ Continue Reading ]
_Lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left_ EFFICACIOUS PRAYER I. THE PERSON WHO WAS TO ENGAGE IN THE WORK OF INTERCESSION Was one of great eminence in the Church and commonwealth, a great and good man, a prophet of the Lord, and one who was indulged with peculiar nearness to Him. Persons of... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee_ A PIECE OF SATANIC ADVICE I. LET US WEIGH THIS PIECE OF SATANIC ADVICE. It is a very dangerous temptation for three reasons. 1. Because it appeals to the natural pride of the heart. There is a universal instinct which makes a man abhor the id... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Hezekiah received the letter. .. and read it. .. and spread it before the Lord_ HEZEKIAH’S PRAYER AND DELIVERANCE In the struggles, defeats, and final triumph of the ancient people of God in their conflicts with the surrounding nations, we have a key to the purposes of God in respect to the k... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed?_ ISAIAH’S SAVING IDEA OF GOD Isaiah in his day saved Jerusalem by teaching the people a better idea of their God. For forty years he had been witnessing to a truer thought of God, and at last the crisis and the triumph of his religious statesmanship came.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The remnant_ THE ROOT AND FRUIT OF CHRISTIANITY I. THE REMNANT THAT ARE SAID TO HAVE ESCAPED. Truly this is a description of the Lord s Church in every age. Strait is the gate, &c. Even so now also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.” This remnan that is left is in great distre... [ Continue Reading ]
_He shall not come into this city_ THE MOMENTOUS ISSUES INVOLVED IN SENNACHERIB’S DEFEAT We do not, perhaps, realise the magnitude of the crisis, not alone in the life and fortunes of Isaiah, but in the history of the Jews, and, inbreed, of the world at large. It is not too much to say that if Se... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then the angel of the Lord went forth_ THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB’S ARMY The narrative does not say here (but see Isaiah 30:30) what secondary means, if any, were used.it does not exclude the use of secondary means. As Dean Plumptre remarks, a modern historian would dwell on the details of th... [ Continue Reading ]
_His sons smote him with the sword_ SENNACHERIB’S IGNOMINY The sacred history would seem to imply that this disastrous end came at once; but here twenty years of ignominy count for nothing. “The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind to powder.” Sennacherib died in 681 B.C., some twelve years... [ Continue Reading ]