A Threatened Virgin
The virgin pictured is Solomon s Shulamite.
The virgin pictured is the church of God.
Flatter How Do Men Ruin Virgins? Promise Mock Force
Wise adults know in detail how virginity is stolen. The Bible is much more graphic than we are here. Consider plain chapters like Ezekiel 16 and 23. Think popular, powerful H.S. guy asks virgin out. His conquests include all the other girls in school.
Glory of God Why this Study? Glory of Church God s Protection Lessons
Threatening a Virgin
The Consequences of Threatening a Virgin
The Consequences of Threatening a Virgin When the Virgin Is God s Church
Does God call His church a virgin?
Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow. Jeremiah 14:17
What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee? Lamentations 2:13
3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. 4 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry. Jeremiah 31:3-4
For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. II Corinthians 11:2
Why does God call His church a virgin?
Loyalty Adultery Jealousy
Loyalty Adultery Jealousy
Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway. Deuteronomy 11:1
Loyalty Adultery Jealousy
The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. Jeremiah 3:6
Loyalty Adultery Jealousy
For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. Zechariah 2:8
Loyalty Adultery Jealousy
A loving man would protect his virgin with merciless fury.
Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. Song of Solomon 8:6
34 For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. 35 He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts. Proverbs 6:34-35
The Consequences of Threatening a Virgin When the Virgin Is God s Church
You know this story about Hezekiah.
But the details are seldom told.
God loves this story for His glory!
This Story Is in the Bible 7+ Times II Kings 18-19 II Chronicles 32 Isaiah 36-37 Isaiah 10 Ezekiel 31 Nahum 1 Isaiah 22
Hezekiah the King King at 25 Might of Jehovah Nehushtan! #1 in trust Samaria (6 th Yr) Jerusalem (14 th Yr) Sick (14 th Yr)
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. 6 For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses. 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. II Kings 18:5-7
King Sennacherib Assyrian Empire Ruled the World Cruel, harsh empire Insatiable pride Sent Rabshakeh Sent Letter Crushed!
Sennacherib vs. Hezekiah King s revival Judah still sinful Assyria comes Hezekiah pays Hezekiah arms Hezekiah prays Victory!
Sennacherib took the fenced cities of Judah.
Rabshakeh led a great host to besiege Jerusalem.
#1 Things Hezekiah did in defense of Jerusalem.
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. 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? II Chronicles 32:3-4
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. II Chronicles 32:5
#2 Things Hezekiah said to those in Jerusalem.
7 Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him: 8 With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. II Chronicles 32:7-8
#3 Things Sennacherib said against Israel.
Flatter How Do Men Ruin Virgins? Promise Mock Force
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. Isaiah 36:10
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; 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. Isaiah 36:16-17
33 Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand? II Kings 18:33-34
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. 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? Isaiah 36:8-9
9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? isnot Samaria as Damascus? 10 As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria; 11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols? Isaiah 10:9-11
But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you? II Kings 18:27
#4 How Hezekiah prayed about Sennacherib.
And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. Isaiah 37:1
And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. Isaiah 37:3
And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. II Kings 19:15
Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only. II Kings 19:19
#5 Things God said against Sennacherib.
This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. II Kings 19:21
My virgin church has despised you!
My virgin church has laughed you to scorn!
My virgin church has shaken her head at you!
The Shulamite laughs hard at a proposition by Assyrian scum!
Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. II Kings 19:22
Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps. II Kings 19:25
Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. II Kings 19:28
For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this. II Kings 19:31
32 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. 33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. 34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David s sake. II Kings 19:32-34
#6 Things God did against Sennacherib.
And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. II Kings 19:35
So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. II Kings 19:36
And it came to pass, as hewas worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. II Kings 19:37
And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword. II Chronicles 32:21
22 Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side. 23 And many brought gifts unto the LORD to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah: so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from thenceforth. II Chronicles 32:22-23
#7 God summarized the event in Isaiah 10.
5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. 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. Isaiah 10:5-6
God sovereignly used Assyria to chasten Israel.
He was no more than a puppet to do God s will!
Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few. Isaiah 10:7
Sennacherib had different intentions God used anyway.
Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. Isaiah 10:12
God used him, but punished him for pride and cruelty.
15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood. Isaiah 10:15
This is God s ridicule about earth s kings under His rule.
16 Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning ofa fire. 17 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day; 18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth. 19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them. Isaiah 10:16-19
This was God s revenge on the Assyrians and Sennacherib.
33 Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled. 34 And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one. Isaiah 10:33-34
#8 Things we should learn from the story.
Trials can come during the best of obedience.
Close peers may fall while you are saved.
God can save even from overwhelming circumstances.
Do reasonable best to help or protect yourself.
God pities weak faith if mostly strong.
Pray as if it all depends on God.
Reason with God how His response will get Him glory.
God can save in ways you cannot see.
God laughs last and best at His & our enemies.
God loves His church so haters play with fire.
God is jealous, so flirting with the world is adultery.
Do not play games with God s church. (Acts 5:1-11; I Cor 3:17; 11:30; Gal 5:12)
Did God Do This at Other Times? Egypt Amalek Nineveh Babylon Edom Jerusalem Rome (P&P)
Has God saved His N.T. church like this?
13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. Revelation 12:13-14
Are you a chaste virgin God will protect?
Is our church a chaste virgin God will protect?
Let us carefully do all we can to obey and please Him.
My virgin church has despised you!
My virgin church has laughed you to scorn!
My virgin church has shaken her head at you!
Love and jealousy are powerful emotions and God has both for us! Hallelujah!
For Further Study Hezekiah http://www.letgodbetrue.com/pdf/hezekiah-lessons.pdf King of kings http://www.letgodbetrue.com/pdf/king-of-kings.pdf Famous Last Words http://www.letgodbetrue.com/pdf/famous-last-words.pdf Nebuchadnezzar http://www.letgodbetrue.com/pdf/nebuchadnezzar.pdf Witness of 70 AD http://www.letgodbetrue.com/sermons/prophecy/70ad/sermon.php Dominion of God http://www.letgodbetrue.com/sermons/god/dominion-of-god/sermon.php Psalm 45 http://www.letgodbetrue.com/sermons/christ/psalm45/sermon.php Spiritual Adultery http://www.letgodbetrue.com/pdf/spiritual-adultery.pdf Nahum http://www.letgodbetrue.com/sermons/exposition/nahum/sermon.php Zephaniah http://www.letgodbetrue.com/pdf/zephaniah.pdf Christian & Politics http://www.letgodbetrue.com/pdf/christian-and-politics-2.pdf Remedies for Political Fear http://www.letgodbetrue.com/pdf/remedies-for-political-fear.pdf www.letgodbetrue.com