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We are in Isaiah chapter 31 and we are continuing our study through the book of Isaiah and this chapter is really dealing with Assyria and basically what's going to be coming up in chapter 36 and 37 and so basically if you know the way the book of Isaiah works, chapter 36 through 39 is dealing all about Hezekiah and it's really kind of repeating what was said in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles because Isaiah the prophet was there at that time and so it chronicles that and this is going to be talking about the fact that God is telling them do not flee into Egypt, do not go to Egypt for help is what he's saying. So this really kind of shows you that when you're reading those passages in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, you see that, well we're going to be getting to that as far as Rapture Key and just you know basically the idea that they could go to Egypt, right? But you see they don't and so they're heeding this prophecy or heeding this command of God to say don't go to Egypt, don't go to them for help. So notice in verse 1 here of chapter 31 and this is a short chapter and it really is pretty much to the point as far as not trusting in the arm of flesh of Egypt but the trust in God to deliver you, okay? And in verse 1 here it says, woe to them that go down to Egypt for help and stay on horses and trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong. They look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord. And so there's going to be a reason why they're even looking to Egypt for help, they need help, right? The idea is that if they didn't need help they wouldn't be looking to Egypt. Later on we're going to see about the King of Assyria that's being mentioned in this chapter but go to Psalm chapter 20 because notice that it's saying don't go down to Egypt for help or stay on horses or trust in chariots, okay? And there's a very famous verse in Psalm 20 but I want to read the whole Psalm, it's only nine verses anyway but just to get some context here but the idea is not to trust and the arms of men or the trust in the armies of men and I can't think of how more relevant it could be right now, okay? Because the idea is that, you know, there's an election coming up and it's all about, you know, well, you know, this is the most important election, it's always the most important election. Isn't that the case? Like every single stupid election it's always the most important election of our time, you know? And it just never changes. But the idea of just everybody's just, you know, nervous about it or, you know, worried about it and really we need to not be worried about it. When it comes to the people of God, listen, we're not controlling that realm anyway when it comes to that or, you know, if I told you all to go out and vote you think that's going to change the cost of tea in China right now? But all I have to say is that we shouldn't be worried about it because if we're fearing God, loving God, it doesn't matter who's the president. It doesn't matter who's in Congress. It doesn't matter who's in the Supreme Court justices. It doesn't matter because God will take care of his people and, you know, I serve God, he's my king and we don't need to be worried about, you know, looking for them for help, okay? And so in Psalm 20 in verse 1 here it says, the Lord hear thee in the day of trouble. The name of the God of Jacob defend thee. Defend the help from the sanctuary and strengthen thee out of Zion. Remember all thy offerings and accept thy burnt sacrifice, Selah. And so he's basically calling out and saying, you know, Lord, you know, hear this person, you know, when they call on you and when they need your help. And the idea is that these people are giving offerings. It's not like you're just dealing with people that are just calling out to God, right? Because the idea is that God is going to hear those that love him and that are trying to, you know, serve him and the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open unto the prayer. But his face is against them to do evil, okay? And the idea is that, you know, we're dealing with the fact that, hey, if you're godly, you're living godly and you're trying to serve the Lord, you know, God's going to hear your prayer. He's going to hear when you're crying out to him and, you know, you don't need to worry about anything. You don't need to fear what man is going to do unto you. Notice in verse 4, it says, grant thee according to thine own heart and fulfill all thy counsel. We will rejoice in thy salvation in the name of our God. We will set up our banners. The Lord fulfill all thy petitions. Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed. He will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They are brought down and fallen, but we are risen and stand upright. Save, Lord, let the king hear us when we call. So notice that he's saying, you know, what is Isaiah 31 saying? It's saying don't go to Egypt for help or stay on horses or trust in chariots, you know. Don't do that. He said, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God, okay, because if God be for us, who can be against us? And you know what, Hezekiah and the people of Judah end up taking God up on this and they end up winning because of that. And we went through all the kings not too long ago and isn't that the thing that we saw every single time they would just put it on the Lord, he came through. And every single time they didn't, they would suffer loss. And it's time and time again if you'll just put it into the Lord's hand, you know, casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you and the idea is that you just need to put it on Him, you know, and how much more is He going to help His children and how much more is He going to help His children that are serving Him, loving Him, and trying to do right, okay? Now go to Psalm 33, Psalm 33 on the same token there, just another verse to back this up. And listen, America is, you know, the powerhouse of the world. I mean, when it comes to a military force, no one comes close to America and so we are in that country and so when you look for, you know, safety, security, see that's what people end up, what they end up doing is they give up liberty for that security. And it comes down to this is that the government becomes their God. Whoever you're trusting for salvation, for safety, for security ends up being your God and isn't that the case today when it comes to America? Listen, these elections, it's like we're voting in a king or something like that. I thought it was a balance of powers, I thought it didn't matter if the president was a lunatic because they can't pass laws and they can't determine whether those laws are constitutional. They can only execute judgments or laws that are passed. But see now it's become like basically a dictatorship and these elections are basically like we're putting in a new dictator, you know? That's what it's turned into. But the idea here is that people are worried and they're looking for someone and all these stupid town halls and all this other garbage where they're asking, they're like, what are you going to do about this? They'll be like, it's not his job, why are you asking that question? You know, it's come down to this that supposedly the president is supposed to just fix poverty, fix sickness, fix everything, right? But last I checked in the Constitution, that wasn't his job, okay? But today what is everybody looking to? They're looking to the government, they're looking to a nation to fix all their problems. They want a nation to say no more death. You know, we have like all this, you know, the lockdowns and everything that we have for COVID. And listen, you know, at the beginning we didn't know how bad it was going to be, didn't know if it was going to be like the next Spanish flu, you didn't know people were just going to be starting to drop off like flies. You don't know at the beginning how bad it's going to be. But after it runs its course to a certain extent, you realize, okay, the death rate isn't what they thought it was going to be, it's not as bad as they thought it was going to be. And now it's just, you know, the government is going to fix it all, the government is going to save you, and it's all about the government doing this, this, and this. Why don't you trust in God to save you from this? And listen, I've never trusted the government to ever help me in this whole situation. And listen, by the way, I never lost a wink of sleep about COVID, okay? I'm not saying that it couldn't have been serious, or let's say it was the next Spanish flu, you think I'm worried about it? I'm not worried at all, okay? Because if God's going to protect somebody, and if it is the judgment of God, then He knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation. He knoweth how to deliver the just from His wrath that's being poured out. We see that from Noah, we see that from Lot, and even in Lot's case, he wasn't even the best Christian out there, right? But he still saved them out of judgment. And so we need to trust in the Lord. Now in Psalm 33 and verse 17, kind of the same thing as far as what was said in Psalm 20, it says, And you know what, if America just goes down to the seventh pit of hell when it comes to the politics and the laws and all that stuff that's going on, God will be with us. And God will protect us, and let the will of the Lord be so. And so I'm not worried about this election, I care less who gets voted in, they're all a bunch of derelicts. You look at this and you're like, go home, America, you're drunk. It is the most ridiculous, I mean, have we just lost all sanity, have we lost all intelligence in the world, that we have two geezers that are running for president, and I know one of them is already president, but we have two geezers that are running for president and they can't even make a coherent sentence half the time. One has dementia, the other guy's a narcissistic blowhard, and the idea is that we're supposed to be trusting in them to save us from this, and it's hilarious. But what I want to get across here is that you should not be worried. As Christians that love the Lord, you shouldn't be worried. Listen, I watch it for comedic value, okay? So if you're watching it, I'm not against you, but if you're watching it and you're just like, oh man, I hope we get that, I hope we, man, I hope we, you know, Trump wins it, you know? Listen, I'm not a Trump supporter. There's so many things about Trump that I don't like and that I cannot support, there's no way I can pull the lever for Trump, you know? I don't care who's running against them, and that's another sermon for another day. But go to Isaiah chapter 31 because the idea in this is that, listen, when you need help or you're afraid that you're going to be taken out or destroyed or killed, listen, you don't go to a government to save you, you go to God, okay? Now in Isaiah 31, Isaiah 31 and verse 2 here, he's telling them, obviously don't go down to Egypt, and what he's going to state here, he's like, if you go down to Egypt, I will destroy both Egypt and you, right? I'll destroy the person that's trying to help you and you, okay? So notice what he says here, it says, yet he also is wise and will bring evil. So we're talking about the Lord, he will not call back his words but will arise against the house of the evildoers and against the help of them that were iniquity. Now notice who he's talking about, he's talking about Egypt, right? And he's basically saying he will bring evil against them, he will be against the house of evildoers, and who is that? Against the help of them that work iniquity, meaning that the help that you're trying to get are people that work iniquity and they're a house of evildoers. So you're going to a bunch of wicked people trying to look for salvation, trying to look for help from another wicked nation, okay? And we as God's people should never be doing that. You'd be like, well, they're in power, yeah, okay, same situation here. Egypt has power, Assyria has power, they're both wicked, and you don't go to either one for help. Obviously Assyria's coming against them. But the idea though is that you need to be waiting on the Lord. Now notice in verse 3 there it says, now the Egyptians are men and not God, and their horses flesh and not spirit. When the Lord shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is hoping shall fall down, and they all shall fall together. So notice what he's saying here. He's saying, both he that helpeth shall fall. So who's that? Egypt. And those that are hoping, that's just an old way of saying that, okay? Hoping just means they're helped, okay? Those that are helped or, you know, just another way of saying it. And he that is hoping shall fall down, and they all shall fall together. So he's basically saying, don't go to Egypt for help, and if you do, I'm going to destroy them and you, okay? Now go to Isaiah chapter 36, because it's interesting, because Rapture Key, we know the story, and we're going to be getting to that when we get into those chapters, but Rapture Key is basically saying, hey, are you going to trust in Egypt? And so you don't see Hezekiah, you know, basically saying, hey, let's go to Egypt, okay? Because this prophecy, I believe Hezekiah's like, I know I shouldn't go to Egypt. I know that's not what we should be doing, okay? But you see Rapture Key basically saying, well, who are you going to go to? Who's going to help you, Egypt? And so he's kind of mocking them because of that. In verse 4, Isaiah 36 and verse 4, it says, And Rapture Key said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah thus saith the great king of Assyria, What confidence is there wherein thou trustest? I say, Sayest thou? But they are vain words. I have counsel and strength for war. Now on whom dost thou trust that thou rebellest against me? Lo thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed on Egypt, wherein if a man lean, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him. So listen, Rapture Key knows that Egypt can't help them, okay? But God is saying, listen, if you go to Egypt to help, I'll destroy him. But he may just use Assyria to destroy him, okay? He'll destroy them and Jerusalem if they do that. And so God already told him that. So Rapture Key, he's just a big blowhard up here. He's just making up stuff and he's basically saying, the Lord said go down and, you know, like he's basically just making up stuff that God said, he didn't say it. But notice what he says in verse 7, it says, But if thou say to me, We trust in the Lord our God, is it not he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away? And said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar? Yeah, that's exactly what they did, right? What's the problem? Yeah. And so it's always funny here because Rapture Key's like, gotcha, you know, you're trusting the Lord but you took down his high places. They weren't his high places, you big dumb animal. So you know, we win. So but it's spoken by a true unsaved person and this happens all the time. Unsaved people don't understand the Bible. Unsaved people are constantly using straw man arguments and that's a straw man argument. They're basically saying, you know, you don't, you're not Christ-like because Jesus loved everybody. It's like, oh really? Then why did Jesus say if you don't hate your father and mother and your wife and your sister and brother then you can't be a disciple? Which in context is talking about if they were to be like a hater of God or reprobate. So tell me again that Jesus loved everybody. Does he love the people that are in hell that he cast into hell? Is he loving them right now because that doesn't seem like love? But you know, people say that type of stuff and they're just like, gotcha. It's like, well, he didn't say that. All sin is equal. Jesus said, he that delivered you unto me or delivered me unto you have the greater sin and they're going to have the greater damnation. So you know, you still didn't win. But this is a typical unsaved person, just blowing off the mouth, has no idea what they're even talking about. And they don't even realize that they got right with God. And so Rafshaki is just kind of blowing off the mouth here as far as what's going on there. But it's interesting because if you think about this in a spiritual aspect, he's saying don't go down to Egypt for help. What does Egypt represent? Now Egypt, in some places, will be represented as the iron furnace. So you can obviously see how they were taken out of the iron furnace, kind of like were snatched from hell, like the branch that was plucked out and all that stuff. Some say with fear, hating even the garments bought by the flesh. And so the idea is that definitely that applies, but how about that Egypt a lot of times will apply to the world, right? And go to Galatians chapter 4, Galatians chapter 4, and this idea that after you get saved, you shouldn't be going back to the world for salvation or help in anything, right? Because really the world is weak compared to God. And it takes faith to believe that though because on the surface what do you see? You see strength. You see physical strength because people are physical, the world is physical, God's invisible. But ultimately God is more powerful than them all. He created everything. He could snap his fingers and they're gone. So we need to have faith in this. But notice in Galatians chapter 4 and verse 8 it says, Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Now would anybody doubt that Egypt was bondage, okay? If you looked at Israel, they were in bondage, then they had the Passover, right? And then they went out, they were baptized underneath the sea, you know, through the Red Sea. And, you know, that's what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Then they go into the wilderness, which is like the Christian life of trying to get through, and then you have the Promised Land, you know, rest, okay? So you can definitely see that picture of coming out of bondage, going into that. But what did Israel always want to keep doing? They're like, let's go back to Israel. I mean, go back to Egypt, right? We had it better back there. And they're just constantly wanting to go back to Egypt, and that is a constant battle that God is telling them, don't go back to Egypt, don't go back to Egypt, don't go back to Egypt. And they're constantly wanting to go back there. Why? Because they have strength, because it's comfortable, because there's security. And that's what it always comes down to, is that trusting in the arm of flesh is like, you want security, you want safety. But you know what? With liberty, you know, you have to give up some safety, okay? Or you have to give up the illusion of safety, if that makes sense. Because obviously in the Lord, listen, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. The Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But you know what? That liberty and security that you can have, both at the same time, takes faith. It takes faith that God is going to protect you. It takes faith that God who is invisible, that's not in front of you, that you can't tangibly see, is going to bring you through. But this is where trust comes in, okay? Don't trust in horses or chariots, trust in the Lord our God. We're going to remember the name of the Lord our God. Go to Proverbs chapter 3, Proverbs chapter 3, very famous verse. But this is a, you know, this is one of those things where this warning right here was actually heeded. See, a lot of times you read these and you're like, man, they never heed it, right? There are always these warnings, you're like, you're going to be destroyed, this is going to happen, and you're like, it happens, and it comes through. But in this case, the judgment of them being destroyed with Egypt doesn't happen because they don't go that route. They actually go the right route where God saves them. And so we need to know that, hey, it's pretty simple. Trust in the Lord and He'll protect you. But that takes trust, it takes faith, okay? And verse 5 of chapter 3, it says, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thine navel and merit to thy bones. And you say, well, that's simple, right? Trust in the Lord. It's simple until you're there, until you're at that crossroads as far as when are you going to do it, and are you going to actually do it at that time, okay? And we're not talking about eternal salvation here, we're not talking about heaven and hell, we're talking about life as a Christian. Are you going to trust in the Lord to protect you, or are you going to trust in the arm of man? Are you going to trust in flesh, are you going to trust in some president or some legislator or some judge somewhere, or are you going to trust in the Lord? And you know, it's very clear here that, you know what, we need to not lean on our own understanding. When you're thinking about Assyria coming against Judah, we're reading about it, we're not seeing it, okay? But imagine, Assyria is the powerhouse of that day. The only one that trumped them was Babylon, okay? Babylon ended up taking out Assyria, but at that time Assyria was the superpower, okay? They were the empire, and Noah, you think Rapski was just blowing, I mean, he was blowing off the mouth, but do you think he was just making up all those places they destroyed? You know, Arpad, Sipharbaem, you know, like all those places? They actually took those places out, okay, and he's basically just listing off their rolodex of conquests, and imagine you're in those shoes, what in your mind would make logical sense? Let's go down to a nation that's more powerful than us to try to protect us. Logically, that's what makes sense, right? Let's go down to Egypt, we'll make an affinity with them, and he'll help us out, and we'll just fight this battle together, you know? We need someone to help us, but in the end, you need to just trust in the Lord. Don't lean on your own understanding. There's a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death, and what you think seems right and what you think would actually give you safety in a lot of cases will give you death. Now go to 2 Chronicles chapter 32, 2 Chronicles chapter 32. Notice Hezekiah's response to Rapshaki and what he had to say. And to Zennacherib. Zennacherib is the king, Rapshaki was just basically someone that was the messenger. But Hezekiah is a great king, okay? Now he had some faults, just like everybody else does, but notice what he says here in verse 6, he says, and he set captains of war over the people and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city and spake comfortably to them saying, be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him. Notice this right here, for there be more with us than with him. 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. Now there's a leader right there, but there's a leader that's following God's lead, okay? You know, like Paul says, follow me as I follow Christ. Listen, if we had a president, if we had a leader in our country that was actually a born again Christian that was following God, then I'd be like, all right, you know, let's follow him as he follows Christ, but that's not what we got, okay? And the idea here is, though, there's more with us than with him. Do you remember Elisha and how they were bringing all these men against them and he had his servant there, I believe it was Gehazi, and basically he was afraid, and Elisha says, you know, open this young man's eyes. And what did he see? The chariots of fire going up and down the mountains, okay? You know, we have a spiritual force behind us. We have God, okay? If God be for us, who can be against us? And I know, you know, that sounds cliché, but that's a Bible verse. That is as true as the day is long. If God be for us, who can be against us? And think about it, even when, you know, one of God's children, you know, was martyred, Stephen, Jesus didn't take that sitting down. No pun intended, he was standing at the right hand of the Father when he was killed. That God is there, he knows what's going on, and even in a case where he allows one of his people to, you know, suffer a martyr's death or even suffer physically, he is there. He sees it and, you know, if he wanted Stephen to live, he would have allowed him to live. And he could have just snapped his fingers and they would have all died. Just like he did with Nabal and made it, you know, and just smote Nabal and his heart became as a stone, you know, he could do that any time he wants. And so we need to remember who we serve. We serve a great king. We serve a great God and, you know what, no one can touch him when it comes to power. He is omnipotent. He is all powerful and, you know what, we just need to just trust and put ourselves under his wings. You know, like Ruth, you remember how Boaz, I preached on Ruth, and Boaz was talking about Ruth and how, you know, whose wings thou hast come under to trust, and I'm paraphrasing that, but it's basically talking about how she has come under the Lord's wings to basically trust in him. And that's what we need to do as Christians. Listen, you've already done that as a born-again Christian, right? When you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, put your faith in him and eternal life, you know, boom, you put your trust in him and you are secure as can be and safe as can be when it comes to your soul and your spirit. But physically speaking, this is a day-to-day thing that you have to constantly be saying, hey, Lord, I'm going to trust in what your – your safety, I'm going to trust in your security, I'm going to trust in this physically, okay? Now go to Isaiah chapter 31 again. Now what you have to understand here is that when God does destroy the Assyrians and basically he defends Jerusalem from the Assyrians, there's a big reason why, because if you remember, you know, he's going to help those that fear him, that love him, that are waiting for him, and Hezekiah and the Lord get the people ready before that happens. Before that showdown with the Assyrians, there's this whole cleansing and sanctification that happens to Judah and a lot of Israel, okay? Because when that happens with Hezekiah, northern Israel is taken out already, okay? The Assyrians take out Israel, take them captive. So when you're reading about this, it's basically talking about Israel like, hey, you know, don't be like them, you know, because Assyria took them out and now they're coming down to Judah, okay? Now in verse 31 here, in verse 4, it says, For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me. Latke is the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him. He will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them. So shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion and for the hill thereof. So he's basically saying, you know, he's going to come like a lion, you know, he's not going to be afraid of anybody that's roaring against him or anything like that, okay? It says, As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem, defending also he will deliver it, and passing over he will preserve it. Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold which your own hands have made unto you for a sin. So here's the key here. He says that he's going to deliver it, and then he's talking about how they're going to cast away all their idols, okay? This actually happens before a zenachar tries to take out Judah, okay? Now go to 2 Chronicles chapter 29, I just want to give you a short little abridged version of Hezekiah and how he cleanses, you know, basically cleans up Judah, okay? Because if you remember Ahaz was his father, and Ahaz was a wicked king, okay? Ahaz was a wicked king, and basically he broke up the house of the Lord, he put some abominable stuff in the house of the Lord, and, you know, basically everything was disarray, you know? Hezekiah inherited a mess, okay, when it came to when he started reigning, but Hezekiah, you know, the first thing he said, or that his first order of business was to clean up the house of God. And notice what it says in verse 18 of chapter 29, so 2 Chronicles chapter 29 verse 18, it says, Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, and the altar of burnt offering, and all the vessels thereof, and the showbread table with all the vessels thereof. Moreover, all the vessels which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and behold, they are before the altar of the Lord, okay? So, you know, this is basically when it's all getting done, it's all getting cleansed and cleaned up. In verse 36 of the chapter there, it says, And Hezekiah rejoiced in all the people that God had prepared, that God had prepared the people, for the thing was done suddenly, okay? So basically he starts reigning and he's just like, house of the Lord, that's the first thing that he's fixed. The next thing he does is he's going to do the Passover. And when he does the Passover, basically he's talking about this Passover, it's like this hasn't been done, you know, like since the days of David, you know, it's just been lacking. But he sends out posts, you know, like the postman, they sent out a post or, you know, a letter, and he sends it from, you know, from Dan to Beersheba, which is from the northern most portion of Israel to the southernmost portion, and he sends it out basically saying, come down and keep this feast, okay? So let's read about this real quick in chapter 30 and verse 5, because I want you to see, you know, what set up to God delivering Judah. It wasn't just like, you know, completely unmerited. Now obviously it's God's mercy and grace. He didn't have to do it. But at the same time, you had a people that was humbling themselves before the Lord, they were starting to serve themselves, they were getting things cleaned up, and notice that it started in the house of God. It didn't start outside of that, and notice what it says in verse 5. It says, so they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel from Beersheba even to Dan, and that they should come to keep the Passover unto the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem, for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written. So the post went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria. And be not like your fathers and like your brethren, which trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see. Now be ye not stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you. For if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land, for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you if you return unto him. So notice that we're talking about Assyria, right? And he's basically saying, you just need to come to the Lord, serve him, and if you come to him, draw an eye to God, and he will draw an eye to you. That's a biblical principle from the Old Testament to New Testament, and as you keep reading here in verse 10, it says, So the post passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even unto Zebulun, but they laughed them to scorn and mock them. Nevertheless, divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. Also in Judah, the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes by the word of the Lord. And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very great congregation. And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars, for incense, took they away and cast them into the brook Caidron. So we see that not only Judah came down to this feast, but there were divers of these other people in the northern portion that came down to do this, but a lot mocked, right? A lot of northern Israel, you know, they were just mocking and didn't come down, okay? But they came down, and the first thing that was cleansed was all, you know, they cast out all these altars and all this stuff, and now we're obviously talking about altars to like false gods and all this stuff, they cast those out of Jerusalem. Now notice what it says in chapter 31, verse 1. So that happens in Jerusalem. And if you know the story, and again, I'm trying to give you the abridged version for sake of time here, but he's preaching the Word of God to them, and the Levites are preaching, they're doing all this, and basically it's this revival that happens down in Jerusalem. You know, they keep the Passover, everybody's excited, they're praising God, and there's this great revival, and in verse 1 here, it says, Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah and break the images and pieces, and cut down the groves and threw down the high places and the altars, out of all Judah and Benjamin and Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all, then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities. So not just Judah, but those people that came down and served the Lord, they went back to Manasseh and Ephraim and destroyed all of the idols and altars there too. So notice how it's fixed from within. You say, well where's the hope of America? In the house of God, the pillar and ground of the truth, the church of the living God. That's where it's going to be fixed. But you know what, you can get the best people in government, but listen, if all of America as people are delinquent and wicked, it's not going to help. You know, you need a righteous people, and even the founding fathers knew this, that this would only work if you have a righteous people that are wanting to keep these laws and wanting to do this by and large. And it's going to fall if it's just, you know, well we just need to get a righteous person. Well, who are you going to get them from? If everybody's wicked, if you just have a whole bunch of wicked people and you're pulling all the leaders out of the wicked people, how's that going to happen? But how about we preach the gospel to every creature, how about we turn around the hearts of men, you know, the hearts of the fathers to the sons to the fathers, and how about we turn their hearts to God, and then maybe some righteous people will stand up and actually lead this country. But as of right now, we have a bunch of wicked people that are leading our country and not doing jack squat to actually further the cause of Christ, and they're always bending the knee to bail and all the wickedness that's out here, and I'm not going to kowtow to this garbage and these leaders that we have today. And you know what, well, it's the lesser of two evils. Listen, if I have to choose between the false prophet and the antichrist, I'm going to choose none. Okay? You're like, well, it's not that extremely of a close count. I don't care, okay? But this idea of lesser of two evils, it's just stupidity, okay? But what I wanted you to see there is that, you know, there was something leading up to the fact that God was going to deliver Jerusalem, okay? Now, let's say they did all of that, okay? Let's say they cleansed and got rid of all the idols and they started serving God, but then they went down to Egypt for help, they would have been destroyed, okay? But I want you to see that there was a lot of stuff leading up to this and to the point that why do you think they did make that choice to trust in God? It's not a light bulb that people just turn on. It's like people are like, well, you know, when I see the end coming, that's when I'm going to really start serving God. I'm going to really start, you know, I'm just going to go out there and preach the gospel until they kill me. It's like if you can't preach the gospel when you're just worried about a dog biting you or someone being mean to you, then you're not going to do it when they're saying they're going to behead you, okay? And it really comes down to this, that you need to be serving God and just living for God because when that real trial comes, you're not going to be strong enough for it. You're not going to make the right choice if you're not actually serving God before that, okay? Because if they were still worshiping their idols, who do you think they would have chose? They're going to go to the nation that serves a bunch of idols, okay? They'd be like, what's the difference between Egypt and us? Not much. So you've got to understand that there is stuff leading up to that decision they end up making, and they made the right decision, okay? So I go to Isaiah chapter 31 and verse 8, and God delivers Judah from Assyria. But you know what the great thing about when God delivers you is you don't have to lift a finger most of the time. And sometimes you're like, man, I wish I could have fought, though. You look at the battle of Armageddon, and he like destroys them with a sword that proceeds out of his mouth and be like, I kind of hope we do something there, too, you know? I know that he can do it, you know, but you're kind of hoping that, hey, do I get to slay somebody, you know? Or, you know, we're going to be down there with two-edged swords in our hands, too. And I'm kind of joking there a little bit, but at the same time, when God delivers you a lot of times, most all the time, you don't have to do anything. And sometimes you do, you know, like Jericho, they had to walk, you know, so they had to do something. They had to walk around, you know, and then it fell, and they had to take it eventually, you know? A lot of times, and in this case, they didn't do anything, they just had to watch and see the salvation of the Lord, you know, sit still and just watch God work. And that's the beauty of the Lord when it comes to that, and you're like, well, how's this going to happen? Just let the Lord take care of it. Just sit back, get some popcorn, and watch the show. And notice in Isaiah 31, verse 8 here, it says, Then shall the Assyrian fall with a sword, not of a mighty man, and the sword not of a mean man shall devour him. But he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited, and he shall pass over to his stronghold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, said the Lord, whose fire is in Zion and his furnace in Jerusalem. Now this is interesting because he's basically saying, you know, he's going to fall with a sword, not of a mighty man, though, and not of a mean man. Okay, it's like, well, who then, right? They're like a mighty man and not a mean man. A mean man's like an average, right, person, and a mighty man's like a valiant, like, really skilled person, okay? So he's basically saying, they're not going to be destroyed of this mighty man, but they're not going to be destroyed of a mean man either, but they're going to be destroyed by the sword. Okay? Well, let's see how he does it. Go to 2 Chronicles Chapter 32, 2 Chronicles Chapter 32, and I know I'm already getting to what we're going to be getting to in Isaiah 36 and 37, but to be honest with you, a lot of this stuff is going to be leading up to that, and you know what, we're going to be getting to that and hitting on that again when we get there. And 2 Chronicles 32 and verse 20, it says in verse 20, and for this cause, Hezekiah the king and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amos, prayed and cried to heaven. And the Lord sent an angel. So here's how he takes care of it, okay? So they're praying, you know, to the Lord to deliver them, and it says, and the Lord sent an angel which cut off all the mighty men of valor and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame a face to his own land. Sound familiar with what was said in Isaiah 31? He said they're going to return to his stronghold for fear, right? They're basically tuck tailing and run, you know, they're going back to where they came from. And when he was coming to the house of his God, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword. Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacher of the king of Assyria, from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side. So did Hezekiah or any of the armies of Judah have to do anything? No, he just sent his angel, took him out, right? Now just to give you a little more clarity as far as what went down when this angel went in, because you kind of just read it and be like he took out the valiant men and the captains, go to 2 Kings chapter 19, 2 Kings chapter 19 is a parallel passage, it's going to give you a little more detail as far as how many people died and who killed Zanacharib. Zanacharib was killed with the sword of his own family, okay, it says of his own bowels in 2 Chronicles, but notice in 2 Kings chapter 19 verse 35, it says, and it came to pass that night, so they're praying, and it says like that night he sends out an angel. It says that the angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians and 100, four score, and 5,000, and when they arose early in the morning, behold they were all dead corpses, that's 185,000, that is intense. Now historians will tell you, well they didn't really have that many people, I don't give a rip what you think historically happened, this is the Bible, and 185,000 people died that night, and they were all dead corpses. That's a huge number that were just destroyed like that, and Judah didn't have to lift a finger, but you can also think about, those were valiant, mighty captains and all that stuff that were killed, imagine how many other people they had, he basically took out all their leaders, you know, and that's how God works, and this happens over and over and over again. Keep reading there, it says, so Zanacharib king of Assyria departed and went and returned and dwelt at Nineveh, and it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nizrock his god, that Adremelech and Shearizor, his sons smote him with the sword and they escaped into the land of Arminia, and Esarhaddon, his son, reigned in his stead. So we see that his two sons end up killing him, so that's how Zanacharib goes down in history right there when it comes to this battle and trying to take out Judah. Now even history will tell you that Assyria couldn't take out Judah, you know, I remember I was watching this documentary on it, now they were trying to say, well, you know, it says 185,000, but you know, we don't think they had that many people in their army at that time, it's like, I don't care what you think, that's what the Bible says, the Bible's right, you're wrong, but they will say, yes, something happened, they won't say an angel came down and destroyed them, but they're like, something happened to make the king of Assyria go back, isn't that interesting, that even all the other historical accounts will be like, yeah, they couldn't take out Judah, you know, what, was Judah that strong, was it just that big of a stronghold, or was it God that was strong and fought for Judah, because God fights for his people, and you know what, you need to remember this story, when it comes to the safety that's in the Lord, you're like, well, how's he gonna do it, you know, we can't physically take him on, you know, and all this stuff, it's like, we don't need to, and listen, I'm all about having guns and being prepared and, you know, like protecting ourselves from people and all that stuff, listen, I'm not one to just be like, go out there and just, you know, like, trust in the Lord, kids, trust in the Lord, don't put a helmet on when you ride your bicycle or, you know, stuff like that, no, that's not what I'm talking about, but when it comes to things that you know that you can't win, great tribulation, you know who can do that, God, and God is promising us in a lot of cases saying, hey, listen, just serve me and I will take care of you, he says that to Jeremiah, and they try to kill Jeremiah, and guess what, Jeremiah in the end is a landowner and can go wherever he wants, and you see this happen time and time again with the prophets that they just end up coming out on top, because they're serving God, love God, wait for him, and, but you have to have faith to do that, okay, when that time comes, when it comes down to saying, hey, am I going to serve God, or am I going to, you know, try to trust in man, you need to always choose God, and this is a great story to show, hey, listen, don't trust in Egypt, you know what, you know what, Egypt is going to have bondage, you know what, a little security and safety will give you a bunch of bondage, you know that famous quote that he that will sacrifice liberty for security will have neither and deserve none, or lose both, I forget how it goes, so don't quote me on that, I'm butchering that, but the idea is obviously if you give up, if you give up freedom for security, you're going to lose both of them, okay, and so that's Isaiah chapter 31, short chapter, but definitely some interesting stuff in there that we can take and apply to our lives for sure, so let's end with a word of prayer today, how many Father we thank you for today, and we thank you for your word, we thank you for this passage in Isaiah, and as we go through here, as we get into other passages dealing with Hezekiah, Lord just pray that you would help us to learn from those experiences, learn from those passages and apply them to our lives, and Lord just pray to be with us throughout the rest of this week as we go to work, and Lord just bring us back at the point in time, Lord we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name, Amen.