The Beginning of the End

Transcription

1 NOVEMBER 9, 2014 THE STORY The Beginning of the End Scripture Lesson: Isaiah 37 Dr. Victor D. Pentz Senior Pastor If we stand tall like Hezekiah, God will prove faithful. No matter how insignificant or marginalized you may feel, or how mighty our culture s pressure, be strong. God is in control. During the election season, I was driving along listening to an interview with a historian on the radio. He said the United States has had only three great presidents: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The interviewer pressed him, saying, What about this president or this president, mentioning obviously gifted and excellent leaders. This historian acknowledged those other presidents were talented, but said that to have greatness you must have what he called the three C s. First you must have a crisis, and then a leader who steps in with character and competence. Into the crisis of our fledgling nation s life-or-death struggle for independence stepped George Washington. Into the crisis of our bloody civil war stepped Abraham Lincoln. Into the crisis of the Great Depression with the near starvation of thousands stepped Franklin Roosevelt.

2 2 The Story THE BEGINNING OF THE END This morning I want to reach into the Bible and lift out an obscure king that very few of you know anything about. I m going to argue that this king was greater than George Washington, greater than Abraham Lincoln, and greater than Franklin Roosevelt. Why? Because the crisis he faced was even greater than whether there would be a United States of America on the face of the earth. What was on the line when King Hezekiah faced his moment of truth was whether the God of the Bible would ever again be worshiped on this earth. Had Hezekiah blinked or cratered or waffled, you and I might not be here this morning. Now I m speaking here from a human point of view. God can bring about his purpose no matter what we do. But if Hezekiah hadn t stepped into that crisis with character and competence, the Story which is our series these days would have unraveled right there on the spot. You and I are about to see some real greatness this morning. Okay I ll admit it Hezekiah s my man. The other day my daughter said, Dad, you have kind of a man-crush on Hezekiah. What can I say? If you follow football you know John Madden has his All-Madden team, made up of gutsy players in the trenches who don t get the credit they deserve. When you really get into the X s and O s these are the guys who make things happen. Well, on my All-Pentz team of Bible heroes, at the top of my list would be Hezekiah. You say, Heze who? This morning I want to fix that. Caught in a Crisis It began with a crisis. Isn t it funny how when life is sailing along and it s all blue sky up above and everyone s in love, it s like, Who needs God? But then the bottom drops out, and we re in a crisis, suddenly we say, Where are you, God? Bruce Larson says, Life is the great evangelizer. When you meet someone who says, I don t need God, don t argue with them just wait. By the time life gets done with them, believe me, they ll need God. In fact the best test for any religion or philosophy I know is, How does it play at 2 a.m. in the ER? If it can t deliver then, it s worthless. Crises do come. I had a seminary professor who used to say, In every congregation a third of the people are in a crisis. Then he d pause and add, And a third of the people are coming out of a crisis, then he d pause for more effect and say, And a third of the people are about to go into a crisis. And that s everybody. Are you in a place of desperation this morning? We re about to see that while desperate places are agonizing, they are also the places where God unleashes his power in ways we cannot even imagine. Just watch Hezekiah. First the crisis: after the golden days of King David, everything went straight downhill. A healthy nation imploded. David s son Solomon was a disaster. He introduced foreign gods. Solomon s two sons Jeroboam and Rehoboam got into a war with each other and split the nation in two, so up north was the nation of Israel with ten tribes and down in the south was the little nation of Judah with two tribes. From there, bad became worse. Of the next 38 kings in the coming centuries, only 12 are good and of the rest, Scripture says, they did evil in the sight of the Lord. Just when you thought things couldn t get any worse, they did. Their neighboring nation Assyria rose to become the world s superpower. Do you know what that would be like today? Imagine ISIS had the role the United States has in the world today. Imagine ISIS as the world s superpower. In fact, the brutal atrocities we re seeing in the Middle East these days are

3 3 The Story THE BEGINNING OF THE END simply a throwback to the practices of the ancient Assyrians in that same part of the world. When Assyria conquered a new territory they took the leaders and hung their bodies on poles. Archeologists have even uncovered artwork showing Assyria s King Sennacherib lounging on his throne, being fed grapes by one of his wives, holding a goblet in his hand, while behind him in the trees hanging upside down are the headless bodies of his enemies. Even by standards of that day Assyria was the worst of the worst, and Assyria was on the move, gobbling up city after city. But here s the thing. Assyria could play nice. If you simply laid down your arms, took on the worship of their gods, followed their way of life and gave them what they wanted, you just might live to a ripe old age. That s just what the northern kingdom did. Now I m going to throw a date at you. In 722 BC 21 years before King Hezekiah (Remember in BC, you re counting backwards) the Assyrian king Sargon II invaded the northern kingdom of Israel. The northern kingdom looked out at all those Assyrians and said, Hey, this is not a problem. Whatever you want us to do, we ll do. You want us to worship your god Nisroch? Bring him on. We ll just add him to our worship of the Lord God of Israel. And so those northerners assimilated. They blended in. In doing so the northern kingdom of Israel disappeared without a trace from the face of the earth. It s from this disappearance of the northern kingdom that we hear about the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. The Mormons have the novel idea that one of those tribes, Manasseh, made its way to America and become the American Indians. Other strange theories abound. But those ten tribes of the north went poof melted into nothingness. That left behind only two tiny tribes down in the little nation of Judah the last few humans on earth still clinging to the worship of the Lord God Jehovah. What these southerners saw happen up north shook their faith to its foundations. It seemed God had failed to protect his people. Then not long after, the other shoe dropped. In 701 BC, twenty-one years after the fall of the northern kingdom, that mighty Assyrian army swung south and encircled the little city of Jerusalem. The same horror that befell the north was about to befall the south. When Jerusalem fell and fall it must to the greatest army on earth, the last vestige on earth of worship of the Lord God would disappear. Assyria s King Sennacherib sent word to King Hezekiah: This can be hard or this can be easy. Open your gates and lay down your arms and worship our gods and you will all live. We will relocate you and your families on farms and in homes much like the ones you are in now. Your families will remain intact. Of course you will worship our gods and take on our religion and way of life. Resist and you will be slaughtered. So what would you do, staring down the barrel of that Assyrian cannon? Character, Confidence, and Competence Incredibly King Hezekiah said, Wait, there is something bigger here than whether we live or die and that is, Who is God? Is God on the throne? Does our God answer prayer? His advisers said, B b-but King, look what happened up north. God was too weak to protect them. Hezekiah replied No, they dishonored God by adding other gods in their worship. God withdrew his hand from them. They missed their moment. We will not miss ours. You see? Into that crisis stepped a person of character. In your place of desperation this morning don t let go of what you believe. Hold fast to your core convictions. Instead of caving in, Hezekiah, like a poker

4 4 The Story THE BEGINNING OF THE END player, doubled down on Israel s God. He sent out soldiers to wipe out any shrines to any other gods in all of Judah. When word of Hezekiah s defiance gets back to the Assyrians, we see one more thing: they were masters of psychological warfare. Their field commander came and stood just outside the city gate and shouted in a loud voice the names of the 46 other cities the Assyrians have already conquered: Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, Hamath and you are next, Jerusalem. Now here I want to sneak in another C. Into that crisis stepped Hezekiah with character but then here came our secret weapon as believers: Confidence in God. With the names of those fallen cities ringing in his ears Hezekiah went into the Temple, dropped to his knees, and poured out his heart to God. He gave his crisis to God in a prayer recorded in Isaiah 37 and what a prayer it was! Verse 16: LORD Almighty, 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. 17 Give ear, LORD, and hear; open your eyes, LORD, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. 18 It is true, LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. 19 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. 20 Now, LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, LORD, are the only God. Can you imagine the chutzpa it took to pray that prayer at that moment? At the very moment when the worship of the Lord on earth seemed to be hanging by a thread, about to be snuffed out, Hezekiah wasn t just praying, O Lord save us. He was praying, Lord if you deliver weak little us against the mighty Assyrians then the explanation to the world will be that you did it. Listen to verse 20 again: Now, LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, LORD, are the only God. The very thing Hezekiah was praying for when his world was coming apart 3000 years ago is being answered in our worship this morning. We believe the Lord alone is God we along with three billion other Christians around the globe today. Here we are as answers to Hezekiah s prayer. All the nations of the earth have people who know the Lord is the only God. But to have that thought cross Hezekiah s mind in that set of circumstances is utterly amazing that all kingdoms on earth may know that you Lord are the only God. What a prayer! You know what? In a crisis confidence is contagious. Hezekiah told the people, Be strong. Be courageous. Do not be afraid. We read, And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said. (2 Chronicles 32:8) I have three little grandsons who just love Zoo Atlanta. There s something about little kids and their fascination with wild animals. There s a TV show right now called Wild Kratts and it s almost like a cult for little boys. But when you go to the zoo in real life those wild animals can get a little complicated. On the one hand, my little grandsons love tigers and get all tingly and excited when approaching the tiger cage. But once you get there the only thing separating you from these huge man-eating carnivores is a pane of glass. Once my daughter was there with then-three-year-old James, who rushed up and put up his face against the glass. Then right at eye level that huge tiger swung its head around that far away; there was saliva on the glass. And James was out of there back into his momma s arms. What she did eventually was take the boys back and put their hand up there and say, Now, remember the glass. Remember the

5 5 The Story THE BEGINNING OF THE END glass. With the Assyrian tiger snarling and pacing outside their city gate, Hezekiah said to his people, You are shielded by God s faithfulness. Remember the glass. Then suddenly the prophet Isaiah appeared and announced Hezekiah s prayer would be answered: The King of Assyria will not enter this city By the way that he came he will return, declares the LORD. Then it happened one of the great enigmas of history. The Assyrians gave up. It is documented in history that in 701 BC the Assyrian army just got up and went home and left Jerusalem standing. Verse 36: 36 Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning there were all the dead bodies! 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. So what happened? Let s go back to our formula. To have greatness there must be a crisis into which steps a person with character and I ve added confidence in God and what was the next one? Competence. Hezekiah was brilliant. He didn t just go around praying and sitting on his hands all day. He did some really smart stuff. In your place of desperation this morning there is no contradiction between trusting God and doing everything in your power to make things better. Now for Hezekiah s stroke of genius: he built a tunnel. If you ever go to Jerusalem you can walk in Hezekiah s tunnel. Hezekiah looked at that army out there and said, Why should I let them have fresh water while they are laying siege to our city? So Chronicles says, He sent his mighty men to stop the fountains. Hezekiah built a six-hundred-foot tunnel that siphoned off the water from the spring of Gihon so instead of that water flowing outside the city, the water circled back inside the city walls. Scholars believe that huge Assyrian army then had no source of fresh water and began drinking contaminated water and got poisoned. Many died and the others finally said, Who needs this? and away they went. Historian William H. McNeill of the University of Chicago calls this little battle the Greatest Might Have Been of All and says, No single human act has more shaped the outcome of future world events than Hezekiah s lonely stand against the Assyrians. Lessons from Hezekiah Oh, there are so many lessons here. For one it s so much better to be a southerner than to be a northerner. Do you see why? If Hezekiah had caved there wouldn t be ten lost tribes; all twelve tribes of Israel would have been lost and that would have effectively ended the worship of Israel s God on this earth. Now, of course, God would have found some other way to save the world. Otherwise there would be no Christianity, no church, no baptisms this morning, no Peachtree. Our story would be so different. But here we are today, 3 billion strong, all around the world people of all nations who know the Lord alone is God. It happened the way it did all because of my man Hezekiah. I hope you join me this morning in the King Hezekiah fan club. I ll be selling T shirts in the back after the service. Now let me get very serious. Today God still looks for Hezekiahs people who in a crisis will step in with character and confidence and competence. Whatever your place of desperation this morning the Lord is there with you.

6 6 The Story THE BEGINNING OF THE END He was here last week with one of our families who were in the worst kind of desperation. Imagine being told that the precious the baby growing inside you, whose birth you are so looking forward to, has been found to have such grave health issues that she will not live more than a few minutes outside the womb. She will likely die minutes after her birth. After considering all the options these Peachtree parents decided to embrace this little girl as God s gift, to have a natural birth and to hold her in their arms if only for a whisper in time. This mother went into labor last Sunday morning and this little girl wasn t born until the wee hours of Tuesday morning. It turned out she had passed away just moments before her birth. Her parents, Mark and Wendy, said goodbye to her in the hospital room. One of our pastors baptized her and prayed over her. A church friend came to take pictures so that they can remember her. The hospital took her tiny footprints as a keepsake. Her memorial service was here on Friday. Oh, yes, one more thing: what name do you give a little girl whose earthly life is over before it even begins? What do you call this little girl? There s really only one name to give a little girl like her when you think about it. You call her Hope. Her name is Hope, and as her big brother Charles explains, Hope stands for Heaven Opens Peace Everyday. Just over a week ago, knowing all this was going to happen, Charles was at our Praise Ringers children s handbell choir. In the prayer time he shared that his sister Hope would be born in a few days and would die soon after her birth. Another boy sitting near Charles in Praise Ringers, John, turned and said to Charles: Why, That s the same thing that happened to my brother. His name was Thomas. The mothers of these two boys, Charles and John, had been bringing them to Praise Ringers for some time, but the mothers had never met or talked. Afterwards the mothers did talk and one of them commented, Here we were, adults, avoiding getting into awkward and painful conversations. Meanwhile there were our sons saying excitedly, I ll bet my brother Thomas is up there just waiting to welcome your sister Hope into heaven. Yeah and they re going to be friends in heaven just like we are here on earth. This morning I have just one word for you. That word is hope. Don t give up hope. Like this family this past week, cling to hope. Because yes, desperate places are agonizing, but they are also the places where God unleashes his power in ways we cannot even imagine. So when your crisis comes, step into it with character and confidence and do your very best, and know that God will see you through.

7 7 The Story THE BEGINNING OF THE END Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for going deep into the darkness of our need first by becoming human, born in a manager, then by even going to a cross and, as our Creed says, descending into hell. Lord, meet us at our depths this morning and fill all that emptiness and all that loneliness with the knowledge of your love. Help us to go deep with one another even as you have gone deep into our depths. This week help us to sit at your feet. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.

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