The Power of Prayer Isaiah 36-39 Rodolfo Rodríguez Struck June 4, 2017 Good morning my dear friends. We ve been studying Isaiah, which has mostly been tough times for Judah under the leadership of three bad kings, surrounded by powerful enemies and separated from Israel in two kingdoms. Even worse times are announced by Isaiah, our author, who was chosen by God to deliver His message, which basically is condemnation for the people s sinful lives and for looking to other gods. War and captivity are ahead. But in the midst of all this a great king ruled over Judah, Hezekiah. Before talking about him, let me bring up the two most known Kings of Israel, David and Solomon. A lot is said about King David, who in spite of his many sins, always repented, came back to God, prayed and trusted God. For this reason, his Lord, our Lord, promised to him that the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, would be a descendant of David. A lot is also said of his son Solomon, who is known to be the wisest of all kings and who finished the works of David and brought the wealthiest times for Israel. Solomon started very well and did magnificent things for God and the people he ruled in obedience of his father David. But then he went the bad way and there were consequences. Let me bring up a couple of things: 1 Kings 11 1-4 (KJV) But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods. Solomon clung to these in love. And had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; 1
and his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. Isaiah 11 11-12 (KJV) Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen. Sure enough, Solomon was the last king for Israel, after him Juda and Israel parted ways and became two kingdoms. Very likely Solomon was not wise enough to keep the reign united and happy. But let us go back to the wisdom of having seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines of various nationalities and religious beliefs raising up your numerous kids, one of which will become the King after you. I m going to start with some humor, a joke to awaken your imagination. 2
Brothers and sisters, now that your mind is relaxed and ready, I need you to pay attention and then answer a few questions. We won t think or talk in terms of wives but in terms of spouses instead, so both of us, men and women, can all see the issue and understand it clearly. Today, June 4, 2017, living in times of tolerance and open mindness and of so many rights that are wrong Please tell me: Is dealing with your spouse easy? How much time and effort do you put into the relationship? How much time do you spend with him or her every day? Your spouse is most likely of your same nationality and beliefs. But even If he or she is not a fellow citizen or a Christian or neither, it s obvious that at least you are both respectful enough to be together, regardless. Now we ll let our imagination go wild for a moment, in order to put the problem into perspective and get a feel of its implications. Can you picture yourself living with five spouses, with five different nationalities, five different religious beliefs, etc.? Let s say one is from Asia, another from Africa, one more from Europe, another from South America and, last but not least, another one from an Arab country. Choose any birthplace from each region, I ll give you that freedom. How easy would it be to deal with them every day? How to distribute your time and attention among them? What to eat and drink with each of them? And how about leaving them together in your house while you are the president of you country? And leaving your kids in their hands to be influenced by them? Remember that one is going to be the next president of your country? Oh, and by the way, which of the kids is going to be the chosen one? What may the other kids and spouses think about you choosing that one from that spouse? How wise is that? Anyway, let s go back to ancient times and be filled with hope and much better thoughts For starters, let us remember 3
2 Chronicles 29 1-2 Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty nine years in Jerusalem. His mother s name was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done. By the way, Hezekiah started reigning 256 years after David left the throne to his son Solomon. Now let s read what is said in 2 Kings about Hezekiah s performance as king: 2 Kings 18: 5 He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. Wow, can you imagine that being said of you as a student or employee or parent or president of your country? And the following two verses allow us to understand why: 2 kings 18: 6-7 For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. The Lord was with him; he prospered wherever he went. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. He subdued the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city. If you are more of a visual person, here is a blueprint of Jerusalem s growth in the times of Hezekiah: 4
So now that we have presented Hezekiah s credentials, let me point out two events in his life that we can learn a lot from. The chapters are long so I ll include the most significant verses. Isaiah 36 1-3 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. Then the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem and he stood by the aqueduct from upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller s Field. And Eliakim the son of Hilkia, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him. So in today s terms, an army has taken the cities of your country and has come to the capital (call it Ottawa, Washington, Mexico City, London or whatever yours is) and stopped on the city limits. The Secretary of State (or its equivalent) and two other important guys go out to meet and speak with the invading army s General. The Rabshakeh delivers a long message which is resumed as follows, when he is asked not to talk on Hebrew, but in Aramaic, so the people on the wall wouldn t understand: 5
Isaiah 36: 13-20 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and said, Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! Thus says the king: do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you; nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, this city will not be given into the hand of Assyria. Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern; until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you saying, The Lord will deliver us. Has any one of the Gods of the nations delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? Who among the gods of these lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand? The key action: Isaiah 37 1-2 And so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. Then he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah, the prophet, the son of Amoz. Isaiah 37 6-7 And Isaiah said to them, Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Surely I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. 6
More threatening words came in a letter from Assyria and more prayers went up from Hezekiah to the Lord, and at the end: Isaiah 37:36-38 Then the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses all dead. So Sennacherib king of Asyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place. Last but not least, let s read the other thing that was prayed for by Hezekiah: Isaiah 38: 1-6 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, Thus says the Lord: set your house in order, for you shall die and not live. Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, and said, Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight. And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, Go and tell Hezekiah, Thus it says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city. Can you imagine praying in your deathbed and receiving 15 more years from God? And on top of that peace with your enemies? 7
Hard not to become arrogant for a while, no? Hezekiah became more devout to the Lord and was a good king in bad times, had peace in times of war and cleaned Jerusalem from the idols. When Hezekiah healed, the King of Babylon sent him letters and a present. Hezekiah s sin was parading his wealth before the envoys. A century later, his descendants and his people would be taken captive, as prophesized. The ultimate reason for the captivity, however was the corrupt leadership of Manasseh, Hezekiah s son, who among other things had the author of this book, Isaiah, cut in two with a wooden saw but that is another story So, dear brothers and sisters, in closing, and back to the power of prayer: In times when our principles and beliefs are challenged, in times of conflict, war and persecution, in times when sin is not only allowed, but openly promoted and advertised, like the times we are living in today all around the world, prayer is even more valuable and effective than in good times, when we might not have as desperate a need for our God and thus the resulting fervor in our prayers. Prayer is not the idle activity of retired people, it is very powerful stuff! One of the most effective ways of solving our problems. An ancient king is showing us how powerful prayers are when we do them with fervor and trusting our God. We ought to pray more and better. Also, the closeness with our Lord that comes with prayer, can only bring direction and blessings to our lives Let s pray. God bless you all! 8