The Omaha guide., 1947-07-26
FACING NATIONAL PERILS


FACING NATIONAL PERMs
LESSON TExT-u Kings 1851. sz-37:
20:12-17. -
MEMORY SELECTION - For thus
said the Lord God. the Holy One Of
Israel: In returning and rest shall "
be saved: In quietness and In confidence
shall b your strength.-Isaiah 3o:l5.
Perilous times had come upon the
southern part Of the divided king
dom known as Judah. There had
been a period Of outward prosperity
under King Uzziah, but the inward
decay Of the people made It IN
empty thing.
Judah. like Israel was on the
downward path which was to lead
to ultimate captivity and judgment
The occasional reign Of good kings
seemed to stem the tide q bit: ID
fact. the great king Of whom We
study today. Hezekiah. gave Judah
Q fresh lease on Life and enabled
her to outlive her sister kingdom BY
nearly 4 century and . hall"
Judah experienced q rea revival
Of faith In God under Hezekiah (i
Kings ls:4-6: II chron- 2o:31). Tbs
temple was cleansed. the priesthood
renewed and reconsecrlted, and the
great feast Of the P~assover, kept
once more. This undoubtedly ex.
plains the new life which came to
Judah In an hour when the nation
seemed about { disintegrate.
1. The Enemy's Threat u9:5. 81.
For the background here one
must read the previous chapter
Hezekiah. having tried to throw on
the yoke OF Assyria. had eel Semi
nacherib and his armies sweep over
the land. Thinking to stop him and
to save Jerusalem. he sent a great,
gift amounting in value to millions
Of dollars. The gift was accepted.
and then S~ennacherib treacherously
seiged Jerusalem
Rabshakeh, Sennacherib's mes1
senger to Hezekiah. not only threat
ened the nation, but blasphemously
denied the power of God. Such was|
the awful situation Hezekiah faced
as he went to the temple. and sent
trusted servants to inquire of Isaiah
what he ought to do.
The response was prompt and
definite. We may learn frurn this In
cident that in an hour Of confusion
and danger i. is well to take time to-
and Out what the Lord has to saw
about things. He knows what to dol
II. Tho Lords Answer (l9:7. 81
Sd.
God has only to blow On the
mighty, clustering moharchs Of this
world and they come to their end,
definitely and conclusively. The
blast" Of the Lord ". y Is enough
to care for thati And remember, he
IS stn1 ready to act On behalf Of his
lpeoplei ,
On the plains Of Philistia the
mighty host Of Assyria met the
angel Of the Lord. and they never
iawoke from their sleep. The loss Of
1876, 900 men sent Sennacherib home
to Nineveh broken and fearful, and
there he met his own violent death.
How much we need the encour-
,agement Of such an event as this In
our own day when the mighty Of
this earth seem to speak 10 boldly
and confidently against the name Of
the Lord. His children must often
hear the blasphemcus threats Of I'M
believers and bear the burden Of
their scorn.
Let us remember that we do
serve a God who can with a glance
Of his eyes throw into confusion all
/ the enemies Of his mighty name.
Let us be strong to fight the victori-
GUS battle In his namel
Hezekiah knsw the sweetness Of
victory as he trusted in the Lord. IF
we could only rest the matter there.
But the weakness Of the flesh comes
to the fore as We sees
III. The Kings Folly (2o:12-1T.
Babylon. one of the great Gentle
enemies Of Assyria, wanted to cul-
tivate the friendship Of Hezekiah, SO
an embassy was sent to express Joy
at his recovery from a serious III,
ness.
1t was the Lord who had healed
him (see 2o:l-1l) ina miraculous
way, but now Hezekiah did the fool.
ish thing OF trying to Cultivate the
help Of men.
To impress these possible allies
from Babylon. he showed them all
his wealth. He evidently wanted
them to return to their ruler with a
story Of the might and glory Of
Judah.
Poor Hezekiaki He only madea
fool of himself prepared the way
for the ultimate taking Of his Dos.
sessions and his people BY the Baby.
icnians,
| The lesson to be learned here ID
not cnly that boasssg Is folly Cal
AcugA that is always tFue), but
alse that Il IS the height Of ;fsny to
pat cse's trsst IN &c srrn. q flesh.
DC mater how 'nssssty the ferses
q this Ussf6 mag be, e. boy vcra-
darsal i nisbs sssra 10 have their
faver tosafa f. sauss Of De
', eaNrch. Let Is be .sssar &at~it is ia
God nat We have essr shtsngsh-sud
y bin -ain4e,S
me essreA tsnd Individual Chris.
iafs too, has lest It's testimony and
- power VIA he s~eornnar1nsfsB wSaa.
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as wcstd IT hs$3 e. HuyorAN ~.
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