Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

SATURDAY MARCH 5


FORWARD TO GOD

READ:
Give ear, LORD, and
hear; open your
eyes, LORD, and see.
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In the days before telephones, email, and mobile phones, the telegram was usually the fastest means of communication. But only important news was sent by telegram, and such news was usually bad. Hence the saying, “The telegram boy always brings bad news.”

It was wartime in ancient Israel when Heekiah was king of Judah. Sennacherib, King of Assyria, had invaded and captured the cities of Judah. He then sent a letter to his surrender. Hezekiah described the moment as “a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace” (2 Kings 19:3).

With taunts and scoffs, Sennacherib boasted of his past military campaigns, belittling the God of Israel and threatening mayem (vv. 11-13). In that dreadful moment, King Hezekiah did an unusual thing with the bad-news letter: “He went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord” (v. 14). Then he prayed earnestly, acknowledging the power of God over their gloomy situation (vv. 15-19). God intervened in a poweful way (vv. 35-36).

Bad news can reach us at any tme. In those moments, Hezekiah’s action is a good example to follow. spread out the news before the Lord in prayer and hear His reassurance: “I have heard your prayer” (v. 20).
__Lawrence Darmani

**Heavenly Father, when people attack us, we tend to react defensively.
Teach us to turn to You instead of taking matters into our own hands.
We trust You and love You. Defend us today.
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Prayer is the child’s helpless cry to the Father’s attentive ear.

*********************Today’s Bible Reading __ 2 kings 19:9-20***********************
9 Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the
king of Cush, was marching out to fight against him. So he
again sent messsengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 “ Say
to Hezekiah King of Judah: Do not let the god you depend
on decieve you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into
the hands of the king of Assyria.’ 11 Surely you have heard what
the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying
them completely. And will you be deliverd?...

14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and
read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread
it out before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD:
LORD, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim,
you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have
made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, LORD, and hear; open your
eyes, LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent
to ridicule the living God.

17 “It is true, LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste
these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods
into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only
wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 19 Now, LORD our
God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the
earth may know that you alone, LORD, are God.”

20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah:
This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard
your prayer concerning Sennacheib king of Assyria.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
The account of King Sennacherib’s siege
of Jerusalem and Hezekiah’s refusal to submit to him (2 Kings
18-19) is also recorded on the Taylor Prism__a six-sided baked clay
document that was discovered in 1830 in the ancient Assyrian
capital city of nineveh. King Hezekiah’s answered prayer for
deliverance (19:19) should underscore what we know but sometimes
forget__God hears our cries, He has sppoken to us through the
Scriptures, and whatever we face we can trust Him. ___Dennis Moles