The Assyrian

Transcript

all right so x um as I pointed out uh on Sunday x um x I I entitled this Conquering the x Assyrian but it's not it's not really us x who conquer the Assyrian uh in in the x the period that we're going to look at x it's really in many respects Hezekiah or x the Lord uh because of Hezekiah but x really in the end it's the Lord Jesus x Christ I'm going to talk about what that x means to to conquer these the Assyrian x we're worth known as the vanquished or x in Isaiah's uh terminology uh he would x refer to us as the redeemed or the x remnant who uses those words quite often x in his prophecy for those of you x um that have been following along with x me over the course of the last couple x years and that's probably none x um I've been spending an awful lot of x time x um taking a look at uh the Prophecies of x Isaiah walking through it my brother Ben x gave me a commission a few years ago to x uh although he didn't realize he was x doing it to uh get Isaiah under control x so I've been uh plugging away and I Came x Upon This section x um in Isaiah 36 and 37. it's the section x where x um rap Shaker comes before x um the walls of Jerusalem and makes the x pronouncements that he makes and then x they bring uh the pronouncements to x Hezekiah and he brings them uh before x the Lord so we're going to look at those x events take place and we'll look at uh x what rep Shaker represents or what's an x Acura represents because I think it's I x think it's an important lesson for all x of us especially in the time we're in x right now x uh the other thing I I was teasing uh x Butch on Sunday uh where you know a x seasonal about you know doing given x somebody else's education and I said x tonight's class was uh given by Brother x Harry Tennant uh that was a joke it's x not actually our attended class but it x is in some respects uh inspired by uh x something Harry Tennant once said x um that I was there for x um about 30 years ago we were at bible x school and Harry was there and Harry x gave an exhortation on David and Goliath x and he talked about Goliath as the x prototypical Philistine and he talked x about the Philistine as being a type of x character rather than just Goliath that x that yes Goliath had these certain x um attributes or whatever but he's x representative of what a Philistine is x um and this is the way Harry described a x Philistine based upon the story of David x and Goliath he said Philistine is big x and strong and ignorant I think he used x the term rockhead uh because obviously x David kills Goliath by hitting with a x rocking rock in the head but his point x was that you know when you when you x think of a Philistine or you think of x the Philistines this is what this is x what they represent x um and they don't just represent it in x the time of the Philistines we know uh x many Iraq had uh even to this even to x this day people that either refuse to x believe in God because of x um just they don't they don't want to or x they just don't think things through x that was really the point that that x Harry was making about the Philistine in x fact Harry pointed out that the rock x that David killed the Philistine with is x really representative to the word of God x uh it is it is the foundation The Rock I x remember when Peter says uh to Jesus x that he's the Christ and Peter says Upon x This Rock upon this Foundation of Truth x and so the point that Harry made was who x had a cop Philistine is by a basic x understanding of the word of God and if x you remember in the times of David and x and Goliath David referred to the x Goliath as the uncircumcised Philistine x he actually made the point several times x about how this uncircumcised Philistine x was not going to defeat the armies of x the Living God and so why does he focus x upon the idea of being uncircumcised you x know party who thinks well he didn't go x through the ceremonial x um Act of being circumcised but it's not x really about the act of being x circumcised when we consider the x Philistines a figure it's really about x the fact that he does not understand x um the will of the flesh x um you know the Philistine believes in x his power in his in his strength and he x doesn't really consider you know his own x frailties we're going to see the same x characteristic uh in in this in the x Assyria and so how do you defeat you x know the the this power of you know this x big Philistine remember everybody was x afraid of him except Dave and David x wasn't afraid of them because David x understood the word of God and x understood what this Philistine x Philistine represented and we're going x to find that's true with ourselves as x well when it comes to the Assyria and x yet we can be influenced by uh these x people because they can be so x overwhelming we're going to see that x actually in the story uh with rad x sheikha uh and we want to be sure that x we're strong enough to be able to deal x strong enough in our faith and strong x enough in our trust in God to be able to x deal with the Philistine or with the x Assyrian with Babylon as it's as it's x referred to so that's what we're going x to talk about today x tonight x um x this is the one I moved and I I wasn't x going to talk about it originally but x you know what it I I think it's an x important uh point to make given how x many people we know that are going x through such incredibly difficult uh x moments in their lives people that we x love and care for and people who we can x understand x uh might be struggling in their faith as x they see these incredible uh x difficulties x um coming into their lives and I want x you to consider what happens with these x three men this is the point where uh rap x shaker has made his his pronouncement x from the wall and we'll look at that a x little bit later and remember they bring x um x rap sheika's statements to uh Hezekiah x and notice what it says and notice first x of all the type of characters we're x talking about here it says then came x like him the son of hilkaya that was x over the household that is he was the x head of hezekiah's household x shebna described x that is that he was the recorder in x hezekiah's x um Kingdom x and joa the son of asaph so he was one x of the sons of ASAP the recorder which x means he was like the historian in x hezekiah's household and they bring it x to Hezekiah with their close rents and x told him the words of RAB Shaker and I x want you to consider the magnitude of x this moment first before we consider x what that means about with the close x rent x I mean Assyria at this point x had literally just destroyed everything x along its way x um it had wiped out Israel it had wiped x out all the other kingdoms nobody was x able to stand before it and and Assyria x is x um a people that that wipe it out for x their own purposes we'll even see that x in some of the some of the texts just x because they can x and they were they were uh unusually x cruel and unusually bitter and unusually x um x self-absorbed and so it was a terrifying x thing x to have the army of Assyria x sitting outside the walls of Jerusalem x and when you consider what they did here x I think there's two motivations that x that x um drove them to this point about x renting their clothes I think there's x two main motivations that would grab you x at A Moment Like This and they're x slightly different and I think one x dominated the other x and the two the two emotions are this x first of all there's anger you know x remember they even ask them to speak to x you know speak to us in our language in x your language because we can understand x that that's why we don't have to have x all these people here in it and Rabbi x Sheikh God said absolutely not x um x but so it would be understandable they x would be furious that this man would x come and make these threats and make x these x um benign offers of you know letting x them sit by their fine and fig tree and x give them a horse and all these kind of x stuff but certainly these men would know x would not be true that that's not what x it would be about at all that would be x very enticing to a people who were so x petrified by their existence and feeling x so walled in and so x um enclosed in this situation and of x course the other emotion would be fear x you could be extremely afraid of the x fact that the Assyrian was about to x attack your city x and I actually think that the x predominant emotion that they brought x before Hezekiah was fear and I'll tell x you why x because fear is slightly different than x anger x anger is uh intellectual x fear is guttural x and so when you are angry you you take x on what somebody says and you consider x it sometimes you consider it obviously x instantaneously or very very quickly and x other times you consider it slowly and x it starts to get you angry but when it x comes to fear x fear is instantaneous fear is is raw x emotion and I think that's exactly x what's being happening here and I'll x tell you why I feel that way it's not x just you know my opinion although I x think it is what it is but notice it x says that they came to write to Hezekiah x not in rent their clothes x but with their close rent x in other words they'd already torn up x their clothes x they had already responded I think in a x very guttural in a very emotional uh x moment of extreme fear x and x when we talk about what the Assyrian x represents x he's going to represent the way the will x way of the world or the will of The x Flash or the power of the flesh x depending on your perspective x and it can be petrifying x what happens with the flesh think about x our brothers and sisters right now going x through tremendous physical trial and x the fear that lies before them as they x think about you know you know they're x abandoning their family or going through x you know the Pains of surgery or the x Pains of of suffering and all that it x can be a terrifying terrifying x experience the flesh can be terrified x and we can understand that and and this x is in no way judging that fear is is not x sincere or shouldn't happen x but you and I brothers and sisters x have a remarkable Opportunity by the x grace of God x to overcome fear x or to or to or to x um ease the burden of fear if you will x in the last week I talked to three of x our brothers all three going through x tremendously difficult difficult trials x and all three of them said the same x thing I can't fathom what it would be to x go through these trials without my faith x and what they're talking about is it's x scary enough as it is x I can't I can't imagine what it would be x like x if I had no faith if I didn't understand x what the flesh was all about and I x didn't understand that there was x something Superior something greater x than the will of our own flesh or the x mortality x of our own flesh x and so and so the fear is real x and yet we are truly blessed x even those Among Us who are going x through the deepest and most difficult x of Trials x to know that there's something greater x than what this flesh provides and that's x exactly what happens when it comes to x conquering x um the Assyrian so so keep that in mind x as we um continue through this class x I want to talk a little bit about the x Assyrian in Isaiah x uh it's an interesting thing to look at x the at Assyria and the Assyrian in x Isaiah because he disappears The Country x disappears and the person disappears x um Assyria is mentioned over 40 times in x Isaiah of course Assyria is mentioned x you know in Kings and in Chronicles and x I mean yeah Syria is mentioned in x multiple places in the in the Old x Testament and yet it's never mentioned x by the way in the New Testament there x were some prophecies about the Assyrian x in the New Testament but a serious self x is never mentioned in the New Testament x and yet it's mentioned 40 times x in Isaiah x but it's never mentioned after Isaiah 38 x actually that's that's wrong it's never x mentioned after Isaiah 37. x um and it's and it's it's never x mentioned in the New Testament x so where does it go x that's an interesting process because x the Assyrian as as an individual x is long gone x but this hearing has a characteristic x um is not x and these the word Assyrian and this is x what sort of first captured my x imaginations I was looking at Isaiah at x least in the King James version it often x mentions this I think it's eight times x yeah mentions this person the Assyrian x and it's not talking about a specific x individual it's talking about a type of x individual I'll show you a passage that x shows that in just just a minute but x it's mentioned eight times in Isaiah x that's mentioned 13 times over time x overall all by the profits x but it's only mentioned once after x chapter 37. and in that case it's in the x past tense it's in Isaiah 52. I think I x have that slide coming up as well x so even the Assyrian disappears even x though his characteristics x um do not x it I mentioned there it says only one x time in uh is it mentioned after 37 x because 37 is where you know Hezekiah x brings x um you know the message before the Lord x uh to the Lord saying he's insulting you x and the Lord says I'm going to take care x of him actually he had Prof it had been x prophesied prior which we're going to x look at and then he does and when when x when web Shaker goes back and we're told x about you know sinach is killed by his x sons which we'll look at a little bit x later that's really the end of a series x you know Assyria is as soon after x conquered by the Babylonians and then x Assyria disappears and remarkably x disappears so much that for centuries x people didn't believe that Assyria x actually existed they thought it was a x it was a Biblical myth it wasn't until x centuries upon centuries later that they x started finding finding these um x archaeological finds of the country of x the nation of Assyria before many people x even believed it was really there they x thought the Bible had just made it up uh x for some reason but this is the passage x in Isaiah 52. x and this is where it shows that you're x talking about the Assyrian as a x characteristic and not as an individual x notice what it said x it says thus saith the Lord God my x people went down afford time into Egypt x and sojourned there x and the Assyrian oppressed them without x cause x well you can be assured it was not an x Assyrian or person from Assyria that x that passage is talking about I don't x think there are any Assyrians in Egypt x at the time that that the Israelites x were down in Egypt or if they were it x certainly wasn't going to be one person x for 430 years that was oppressing uh the x children of Israel it's talking about a x type of character that was oppressing x them in Egypt and you see this x connection actually between Egypt and x Assyria quite often in Isaiah's prophecy x and elsewhere and it's an interesting x connection both in its in its comparison x and in its contrast now I'll tell you x why I say that is it interesting x contrast between Assyria and Egypt and x the contrast is this Egypt has been is x and will always be there right Egypt x never moves it's one of the most ancient x civilizations of all time and despite x all the changes that take place over x centuries upon centuries upon centuries x but Egypt is still right there it never x goes anywhere x meanwhile Assyria was not there than it x was there then it was gone it was gone x for good x so there's a very big contrast between x Assyria and Egypt as far as a place x itself x and yet in characteristic they're very x very much the same and here's what the x two things represent and I'll hopefully x I'll be able to prove this more and more x as we go along before x we know what Egypt represents I know x I've made this point many times before x but we always know what Egypt represents x because what Egypt represents again has x always been there is still there and x will still be there for who knows how x long and that is Egypt represents the x power of the flesh or the will of the x flesh and you say What's the difference x well it the difference is how you look x at those pyramids x if you look at those pyramids and say x this is one of the Seven Wonders of the x World this is one of the great human x achievements of all time look what x Humanity can do then it's about the x power of the flesh x but if you look at those pyramids x and what you see is a real big gigantic x tomb x and it's about the will of Flesh because x in the end that's what happens to the x will of the flesh it dies and the x pyramids are a tribute to man's x mortality not man's greatness it all x depends on how you see it and maybe it's x a little bit of both in some ways x but most people that see the pyramid say x look what man can do x look what he can create x look what he can create and what does he x represent so that's what Egypt x represents it represents the power of x the will of the flesh x Assyria is almost exactly the Assyrian x is almost exactly the same thing and x this is why the word Assyrian is so x important by the way because what x Assyria represents x is the power or the will of the x individual x when you see Assyria represented as an x individual as the Assyrian or even a x Syrian self represented in the first x person or third person singular that's x because Syria is about the power of the x individual x that Brazen strong powerful mighty x individual x who has no respect for anything but x themselves and remember we live in or no x you know this we live in a world more x today than ever before x where the power of the individual is x glorified x not by you and I x because we understand the will of the x flesh x but by the world that's around us think x of the celebrities think of the the the x wealthy think of the politically x powerful the people I idealize even x though they are of no character to x idealize or even if they were you x wouldn't you wouldn't even know I'll x tell you an interesting story I x mentioned this once probably before but x we were at a wedding one time uh several x years ago x and Mark Wahlberg was at the wedding x now I don't know Mark Wahlberg he might x be a fine individual I have no idea x anything about him but I know he's a x famous person and I've seen some of his x movies x but there he was at the weather x one of our relatives was obsessed with x the fact that Mark Wahlberg was there he x couldn't let it go he's like where did x he go where did he move do you think x he's leaving and I'd be like I don't x care what he's doing nor does he care x what I'm doing but this relative just x couldn't handle the fact that somebody x like Mark Wahlberg would be in the same x building as them x that's that's the glorification of this x Assyrian I don't know that Marcus and x Syria he might be a beautiful guy I x don't know but that's the way we treat x people in this world today who have x power who have influence it doesn't x matter that they're the lowest form of x of human being if they get power and x they've been influenced we we worship x the ground or the society who lives and x works meets the ground that they walk on x so that's the similarity between the x Egyptian and the Assyrian in verse x chapter 10 it says this x oh notice one thing there on that Isaiah x 52. notice it says that he oppressed x them without cause x that's that that's an attribute of the x Assyrian is the Assyrian does what he x does because he can x there's no like there's no like moral x imperative driving them along that's x sort of the difference between the x Assyria and the Babylonian by the way x because the Babylonian will put out a a x an appearance of being civilized the x Assyrian doesn't care he oppressed them x without cause he did it because he could x and there are and we certainly know x there are people who are cruel just x because they can be cruel x and we certainly never want to be that x type of person so in in Isaiah 10 verse x 24 says this therefore thus saith the x Lord God opposed o my people that x dwellest in Zion be not afraid x of the Assyria x he shall smite thee with a rod and shall x lift up his staff against thee after the x manner of Egypt so the the connection is x very close between what an Assyrian is x all about in what Egypt is is all about x but notice he says it's it's an x interesting way that that Isaiah writes x this or the Lord presents it it says x don't be afraid of this year and he'll x Smite you and he'll he'll he'll uh lift x his staff against you don't be afraid of x that and so what does he say he said you x know what he's saying is you don't have x to be afraid of it because he's just x like the Egyptian and guess what you get x out of Egypt x the Lord took you out of Egypt the Lord x will take you away from the Assyria x that's what that that passage is talking x about so let's take a quick peek at x Assyria itself I just sort of want to x reiterate the fact that you know the x Assyrian is this proud boastful strong x uh self-absorbed we'll see it in some x passages in just a minute and yet for x most of its time it was just a tiny x little country x didn't really have anything wasn't x really anything special and then it Rose x to power as it Rose to power it x glorified it glorified uh itself or x himself if you will now I don't know x about the dates on this I just pulled x this off the internet but it's an x interesting comparison notice it says x from 1800 to 1600 it was that small x little dark green country in around x Nineveh uh Calhoun and Asher ashers was x their main god x and then in um 1244 to 1208 more or less x was the period of of the um well by x saying is Right TIG Las palisa I think x is how you pronounce it he was one of x the first great Kings of Assyria and he x started to expand x um Syrian dominance in and around the x Tigris and Euphrates and then it was for x centuries it was just that period of x time and then around the period of x sennache but I don't think 699 to 627 is x correct but it's not really all that x important what we're talking about we're x talking more about the Assyrian and the x country but then of course it expanded x itself came down x um x destroy Israel uh even went all the way x in into Egypt and became a much bigger x country and then by 627 of course the x Babylonians come in Wipe Out the x Assyrians and the Assyrians basically uh x fall off the map if you will they x basically just disappear from there x now this is what the Lord says about the x role of the Assyrian and notice Isaiah x writes this in Isaiah 7. so Isaiah 7 is x the one where he's speaking to ahaz x um remember when he tells ahaz don't x worry about x um Syria and Israel x um x they're out they're at the fullest field x and he says don't worry about them x they're they're not going to do anything x so so Israel is still is still around at x this point in time and yet Isaiah makes x this prophecy in Isaiah 7. look what he x says and he's speaking to he's speaking x to Judah but it's also true of uh Israel x as well in the norm he says the Lord x will bring upon you and upon your people x upon your father's house such days as x have not come since the days that x Ephraim departed from Judah the king of x Assyria in that day the Lord will x whistle for the fly that is at the end x of the streams of Egypt it's an x interesting way of saying he's going to x call the Egyptians up uh and for the bee x that is in the land of Assyria so he x gives the Egyptians x um sort of the um description of being x like a fly x which is an interesting description we x all know what flies are we know that x flies Buzz around your face and they're x irritating and they're in the way but x they don't really do anything right you x slap at them and they go away or you x slap at them and they die or whatever x but they're just an irritant x but Assyria he calls a b x and a b is different than a fly it might x still Buzz around you x but it's got a sting right a a fly uh x unless you're you got the green heads up x in its switch doesn't really bite uh but x the B does the B can sting in Assyria uh x definitely packed a Sting the Israelites x knew about it everybody knew about the x sting of Assyria it was a military uh x violent uh group of people x in chapter 8 he says he says this uh now x therefore behold the Lord bringeth upon x them the Waters of the river strong and x Men Mighty I strong and many even the x king of Assyria and All His glory that's x how he saw it which we're going to see x in a minute and he shall come up over x his channels and go over all his Banks x and he shall pass through Judah he shall x overflow and go over he shall reach even x to the neck and the stretching out of x his wings shall fill the breath of the x Land O Emmanuel there's so much uh x Wonder just in that passage alone we x have to whip through it quickly but x notice below the Lord or Isaiah is x saying that Assyria comes in like a x virtually like a flood right and it just x it just wipes out we're seeing the x floods in California and you just got to x get out of the way right and that's the x way Assyria was going to come in it was x going to flow over the channels and flow x over my neck and notice how it says it's x going to pass through Judah it shall x overflow and go over and reach even x to the net x not the head but right up to the neck x and that's just what happens with x Assyria and and Judah right when when x RAB Shaker comes he's right up to the x neck it's also by the way what happens x with the King of the North when he comes x upon Israel comes right up to the neck x and stretches out his wings and filled x the breath of the land that's exactly x what the northern kingdom uh the the x King of the North is going to do in in x the time of of the end x and notice but notice who he's speaking x to oh Emmanuel as the Lord Jesus Christ x one of the rare uses of that of that x phrase by the way x um it's only used two or three times and x it's used here x and that's because it is a manual x that conquers the Assyria gonna come x right up to the neck oh Emmanuel and you x are going to conquer them and that is x just what happens but that's not the way x the Assyrian x sees it right oh so first first the Lord x talks about Judah and it's Pride Isaiah x chapter 10 is an interesting chapter x because it covers first the pride of x Judah x and then the pride of the Assyrian x and then the remnant those those x redeemed people that had the Lord not x call the redeemed people we would have x nothing to talk about today truthfully x so first he talks about the pride of x Jude x and his complaint about the pride of x Judah x is repeated again and again and again x and again and again we see this all the x time notice what it says woe to those x who decree iniquitous decrees and the x writers who keep writing oppression to x turn aside the needy from Justice and to x rob the poor of my people of their right x that widows may be their spoil that they x may make uh the fatherless their prey x what will you do in the day of x punishment in the room that will come x from afar that is Assyria to whom will x you Flee for help and where will you x leave your wealth and the complaint that x the Lord has with Judah and with Israel x repeatedly is a lack of compassion x pride and a lack of compassion we see it x again and again and again in prophecies x we see it with the Lord Jesus Christ x talking to the people of his time you x have no compassion the Lord has blessed x you and yet you look at it as if somehow x you have accomplished something as x opposed to the Lord's blessing and you x don't share you don't protect you don't x care you're not humbled by What the Lord x Has Done done for you we must never x never be a compassionless people x compassion for our fellow man compassion x for our brothers and sisters we must be x first and foremost a compassionate x caring community and and in many x respects we are so often we are I x mentioned I spoke to Three Brothers last x week all three of them couldn't stop x talking about all the cards that they x received or the love that they've x received all the concern the money the x prayers they they couldn't be more x um overwhelmed with the response that x they've been receiving uh as they go x through their their trials and their x difficulty x and yet sometimes we can we can be so x built up ourselves x that we forget that the Lord hates the x fact that you can be given what we're x given and yet be proud and yet being x exclusive and yet be be x self-centered we we can never we can x never be that and we shouldn't that we x should never be that x is my speech x then he goes on verse 5 and he says this x now again he's saying this before any of x this takes place x and it's Isaiah's prophecy so it's x Isaiah is prophesying this in the time x and Isaiah wasn't prophesying in a x closet Isaiah was in the courts of x Jerusalem and what he was saying was x being heard and not even just by by the x Israelites right because RAB Shaker when x he comes in speech he knows what's been x going on in Israel he is very educated x in what's been going on in Israel and so x here's Isaiah in chapter 10 he says this x oh Assyrian x the rod of mine anger and uh and the x staff in their hand is my indignation I x will send him x against a hypocritical Nation that's x Judah and against the people of my wrath x will I give him a charge to take a spoil x and take a prey into tread drown like x the mire of the streets he says I'm x going to send them x and how do you know that it's true that x he's going to send them because they x can't x and so they themselves should have known x the Lord said you're going to come down x and you came down x and so you know that's me the center but x that's not what they do the very next x verse says this x but he does not so intend x and his heart does not so think x but in but it is in his heart x to destroy remember that verse earlier x about about uh how he was in Egypt x and to cut off all nations not a few for x he says x are not my commanders all Kings as my x hand has reached to the kingdoms of the x idols whose carved images were greater x than those of Jerusalem and Samaria x shall I not do to Jerusalem and to her x Idols as I had done to Samaria and her x images x for he says x by the strength of my hand x have I done x and by my wisdom x for I have understanding I remove the x boundaries of peoples and plunder their x Treasures like a bull I bring down those x who sit on Thrones and that's the x Assyrian x like a bull x I do it why because I'm bigger I'm x stronger I'm smarter I'm wiser x you can't stop me x and so I do it x and that's the Assyrian and that can be x petrifying sometimes x when you consider the Assyrian as the x way of the flesh when people are that x confident then that sure and that's x successful x and then all of a sudden there they are x before you x it can be scary that's the way the flesh x is x the flesh can be bold it can be x confident it can be sure and then there x it is standing before you but this is x what the Lord says x when the Lord this is not the rest of x them when the Lord has finished all of x his work on Mount Zion and not Jerusalem x he will punish the speech of the x Arrogant heart of the king of Assyria x and the boastful look in his eyes x therefore the Lord God of hosts will x send wasting sickness among his Stout x Warriors I love it and I'll tell you why x it's so it's so captivating because he x had this Assyrian represents all the x pride of the flesh that big strong guy x they they love to fight lions that was x their their Pastime was to go out and x fight and kill Lions that's the type of x character we got x and so what the Lord says is this is x what I'm going to x you big strong Assyrian x I'm gonna waste you away x that flesh that you are so proud of x I'm just gonna make you sick x and it's just going to wear the you away x and it's going to prove to you there is x no power in the flesh right so God will x say that wasting sickness among his x Stout Warriors and under his Gloria x burning will be kindled like the burning x of Fire x the light of Israel will become a fire x the light of Israel x will become a fire to the Assyrian x and His holy one aflame that's Christ x and it will burn and devour his thorns x and Briars that is that is his x wickedness and his remember the beasting x and all that x in one day x well that's interesting what day one day x what day we'll obviously look at what x that day is you probably already know x in verse 14 chapter 14 he says I will I x will break the Assyrian Isaiah 14 verse x 25. I will break the Assyrian in my land x upon my mountains tread him unto foot x then shall his yoke depart from often in x his burdened apart from off their x shoulders x so he's going to send Assyria down x and Assyria is going is going to Vex x Israel he sent them x but but he's going to take them away x he's not going to destroy through the x Assyrian x he says in verse 31 verse 8 then shall x the Assyrian fall notice this x fall with the storm with the sword x not of a Mighty Man x and the sword not of a mean man x shall devour him in other words I'm not x going to send something something bigger x than an Assyria to destroy the Assyrian x now the Babylonians destroyed the x syrians and they were bigger and strong x but we're not talking about Assyria x we're talking about the Assyrian we're x talking about that character in the x flesh x he says I'm not going to send I'm not x going to send a bigger stronger man x to be you know the next big great man to x defeat because then nothing is learned x then it's just who's the next big thing x it's like watching the Jurassic Park x movies every next movie the the monsters x the the dinosaur is going to be even x bigger than the last one and then he x eats the one from the last movie that's x not that's not the Lord God x he says he's not uh not a mighty man not x a mean man x Mighty and mean that's the Assyrian x that's not what I'll send x because he sends x the meekest of men x but he shall flee from The Sword and x these young men shall be discomforted x okay x so let's take a look at what happens in x chapter 30 36 in the few minutes we have x left x chapter 36 verse 1 says this x now it came to pass in the 14th year of x the king of Isaiah that's the natural x Kingdom of Sierra came against the x defense cities of Judah and took them so x you have you have that Assyrian wave uh x coming into into Israel and into Judah x and he takes everything around them and x starts splashing up against the walls of x Jerusalem x so he says so rap Shaker comes before x the walls of of x Jerusalem and he starts making his x pronouncement right he says say you now x to Hezekiah thus say the great king the x king of Assyria what conferences is x confidence is this wherein thou trust us x thou trust us in the staff of this x broken Reed on Egypt where if a man lean x it will go into his hand and Pierce it x so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that x trust in him and that's true that's true x every time you trust in in Egypt it x comes back to bite you because Egypt is x the way of the flesh x so that's what happens when you trust in x the way of the flesh that's what x happened when Abraham went down into x Egypt uh he got bit right that's that's x the way uh Egypt worked so what so what x um Bob Shaker what's in that group is x saying is true and so what what's what x they're going to do is going to say x these are all your arguments I'm gonna x just I'm going to dispel dismiss all x your arguments in a word why because I'm x the Assyrian that's why x he says this in verse 7. but if thou say x to me we trust in the Lord our God x is not he whose high places and whose x altars Hezekiah have taken away and said x to Judah and Jerusalem you shall worship x before this Altar and that's true too x he did take away the high places and x there were a lot of people that liked x the high places and Hezekiah took him x away x because Hezekiah did it x by the will of the Lord x but ramsheka the Assyrian he's going to x twist it around remember how upset you x were when he took the high places away x yeah that's the guy that did it and x you're gonna you're gonna put your trust x in him you know you didn't say he he's x um a representative of the Lord x you liked your high places x and your Altos x and he came in and he took them all away x I'm skipping through because we're short x on time I was going to the whole x chapter but x verse eight uh now therefore give x pledges this is this is x incredible the way he puts he puts this x because this is the Assyrian as well x promise the world and give nothing x now therefore give pledges I pray thee x to my master the king of Assyria and I x will give thee 2 000 horses if thou be x able to I parked a set right as upon x them and am I now come up without the x Lord against this land to destroy it the x Lord said to me go up against this land x in this and destroy it and see how x there's a little hint of Truth the Lord x did send Assyria see how much red x chicken knows about the way Israel Works x he knows about Hezekiah taken away by x places he knows about the prophecies x that Syria is to come down but he x got twist it just a little bit to take x it from the word of Truth to his own to x his own purposes that's the Assyrian and x we see it all the time x in the world we live in oftentimes in x religion sometimes even in ourselves x verse 16 how can not Hezekiah for thus x saith the king of Assyria make an x agreement with me by a present in Lord x give me a little something x and come out to me x and ye everyone and eat ye everyone of x his Vine and every one of his fig tree x listen this is perfectly fine you come x out give me a little something to to x keep me happy I'll let you eat for your x Vine and your fig tree and you can drink x from your own cistern until of course I x come and take you away to land like your x own it's just it's just like Iran is not x a big deal a land with corn and wine a x land of bread in the land of Vineyards x all perfectly reasonable x just like those Israelites that would x say in the wilderness we should go back x to Egypt we should go back you know we x had lentils and we had olive oil we x should go back x but you were in slavery and he's trying x to convince you to be a slave to the x Assyrian x beware lest Hezekiah persuade you and x saying the Lord will Deliver Us hath any x of the Gods of the Nations delivered his x land out of the land of the kingdom of x Syria so how can you trust in your God x all these other countries did too x and then that wonderful verse in verse x 21 where it says x but they held their peace and answered x him not not a word x for the king's commandment was saying x answer him not so Hezekiah had built up x enough of a reputation enough of a trust x enough uh Good Will with his people x enough understanding that he was truly x with the Lord even though rap Shaker was x was sitting in there call up calling x upon them nobody said a word x and of course then they bring x before Hezekiah x um what rap Sheikh had said and of x course we're x quickly paraphrasing that we know that x they go away and then they bring papers x of what he does and Hezekiah brings it x before the Lord but notice what happens x with Hezekiah after they come those x three x um Faithful Men x who are in such fear because of rap x Shaker in his words and because of the x power of the Assyrian x and it came to pass when King Hezekiah x heard it that he rent his clothes x say well is that fear I don't think it x is x because it says and covered himself with x sackcloth x and went into the house of the Lord x and of course they sent for Isaiah and x Isaiah says don't worry about it we'll x take care of this guy why because you x recognize x that I come first thus saith Hezekiah x this day is a day of trouble and a x rebuke could have blasphemy for the x children I come to the birth and there x is not strength to bring forth in other x words we're right there at the point of x faith and yet they're afraid that's that x that's what he's saying we're right x there x foreign x and so he brings and so he brings the x words into the temple and leaves them x before the Lord x and the Lord says you've done the right x thing Hezekiah x I'm going to drive out the Assyrian and x send him back x because you put your trust in me x and brothers and sisters I mentioned x that the Assyrian is about the power in x the will of the individual x and I mentioned that the individual is x the very one who conquered the Assyrian x because when the Lord Jesus Christ went x that day on that cross x he nailed the power and the will of the x flesh to the cross x he said even life itself x has no value without God x he crucified x that very will that very spirit x that very x self-centered willful passionate me x first perspective x was nailed fully and completely to the x cross and here's the beautiful thing x about it for you and I x brothers and sisters x we understand it x by the grace of God we understand x what was nailed to the cross that day x wasn't God nailed to the cross x it wasn't payment for God's Wrath x that was the will of the flesh that they x nailed to the cross x and as we go through our trials x and as we look at the difficulties x around us and we see the power of the x Assyria and all that he can do x you and I x recognize x that it's meaningless x that it's already been conquered x in our savior the Lord Jesus Christ x and just to prove how it was really all x about the Flesh in the first place in x Isaiah 37 verse 37 it says so that x snacker if king of Assyria Departed x and went and returned and dwelt at x Nineveh and it came to pass as he was x worshiping in the house of nishrash his x God that adrenalic and whatever his son x smote him with the sword x is there any more base x meaningless fleshless way to die x than your own Sons kill you x and they escaped into the land of x wherever and their other brother x took place x this is what a Mike Micah says Micah x mentioned the Assyrian and this is what x he says x and this man x shall be the peace x when the Assyrians shall come into our x land x the Lord Jesus Christ nailed the x Assyrian on the cross that's why he's x never mentioned in the New Testament x Hezekiah brought sennacher's words x before the Lord x and the Lord x eliminated the Assyrians x the Lord Jesus Christ inhaled the x Assyrian on the cross x and our challenge brothers and sisters x is not in the recognition of the Assyria x and it's certainly not in being x impressed by the in Syria I I I've never x met x any brother or sister that was impressed x by the world and what it has to offer x it's the influence x of the Assyrian that sometimes can grab x hold of us because fear is natural x it's understandable it's powerful x and sometimes we can find ourselves with x the influence of the world I certainly x have found it myself where I felt x trapped in a situation because the world x has put me in and I think Lord why am I x trapped I've never put it this way but x why am I trapped with the Assyrian x we never are x even if this life doesn't continue x you and I are never trapped by the x Assyria x because we believe in the man x that nailed the Assyrian to the cross x and we believe x that we will be raised in his name x in that day whether we die tomorrow next x year 10 years from now x whether we suffer persecutions whether x we go through hardships in our life x whatever they are x is there anything more x painful x than what brother Dan expressed when he x talked about seeing his son's heart stop x while he was looking at him x And yet when the moment happened all Dan x did was pray I mean he was petrified x but he prayed x that's the God we worship x that's the person we that's the the God x we believe in x and that's what our Christ Our Savior x has done for us x so we never have to be afraid of this x Theory just like it says None of the x passage don't be afraid yes mycha he'll x beat you x don't never defeat you because Christ is x already defeated him