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The Cradle of Civilization from Space

The Cradle of Civilization from Space. Assyrian Empire. Israel. ISAIAH. CH 38-9 701 BC. Green-shaded areas = “Assyria” c. 1000-600 BC. Assyria Timeline. 701 BC Assyrian Invasion. Four kings of Judah are included: Uzziah (good), Jotham (OK), Ahaz (horrible), and Hezekiah (good)

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The Cradle of Civilization from Space

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  1. The Cradle of Civilization from Space Assyrian Empire Israel

  2. ISAIAH CH 38-9 701 BC

  3. Green-shaded areas = “Assyria” c. 1000-600 BC

  4. Assyria Timeline 701 BC Assyrian Invasion Four kings of Judah are included: Uzziah (good), Jotham (OK), Ahaz (horrible), and Hezekiah (good) We are talking about Hezekiah. He was good, but flawed (like we all are).

  5. Isaiah 37 When threatened, Hezekiah did what we all should do:

  6. Isaiah 37 In the end, God did what He promised He would. Don’t you just love happy endings?

  7. Isaiah 38 In this chapter, we will see inside the soul of a good man, a great king – one of Judah’s best ever. Good as he was, we are all equal when faced with the specter of death. Look at Steve Jobs. Do you think he might have wanted an extra 15 years? Or maybe he really believed that hokie-pokie reincarnation stuff. Look at Elvis, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, James Dean, Jean Harlow, JFK, RFK, Lou Gehrig, Princess Diana, Patrick Swayze, John Candy, Gilda Radner – any of them. They all left much undone, unseen, unsaid. I know that imminent death would hit me like a ton of bricks, a devastating body-blow. I would immediately go to God and make an appeal of my death sentence. Wouldn’t you? Hezekiah did. And it’s in the Bible for our benefit.

  8. Isaiah 38 1In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live. “In those days…” follows on the closing verses of Chapter 37, where God put the Syrian army to rout. That was 701 BC, in the 15th year of Hezekiah’s full reign (which had followed 10 years in which he had co-reigned with his knucklehead father, Ahaz). So Hezekiah had had a pretty good run; but it was at a crucial time, and he probably felt there was much more to do. Don’t we all? If asked, “Since you’re gonna die someday, why not today?” – wouldn’t most of us say, “No! Too much unfinished business! Too many are counting on me! Some other time! It’s not that I’m scared of dying; just not right now! Go away!”

  9. Isaiah 38 And truly in Hezekiah’s case, Israel was really hanging in the balance. Revival, temple worship restored, Passover restored, idols destroyed, civil engineering, threats from other invaders… Hezekiah must have been thinking: “When I’m gone, will Israel be again at the mercy of enemies on all sides, and the Baal-worshippers from within?” 2Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, 3And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. When I’ve had similar bad news, I’ve felt my world drop into the pit of my stomach with a thud, my face turn hot and reddish, my mind looking for ways to deny it. I didn’t want to talk to anybody, or anybody to talk to me; but I DID want to talk to God. That’s the right thing to do at a time like that.

  10. Isaiah 38 And that’s what Hezekiah did, just like before when invaded: 2Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, 3And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

  11. Isaiah 38 The anguish we see here reveals the soul of a man who, like Job, saw himself as one who did a lot of good for people. It seemed to him that there were plenty of bad apples for God to cull and throw away. Why do they get to go on in their wicked ways while he gets flushed? This is how we think; and it is normal. But God is faithful and just. He knows things we just can’t know. God knew that the next seed out of Hezekiah’s loins would give conception to the most wicked and long-lived king in the history of Judah – Manasseh. And so, Hezekiah prayed long and hard.

  12. Isaiah 38 4Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying, 5Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. 6And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city. Ezekiel 36:36-7 God is eager to hear from us and to intervene. Hebrews 4:16; 5:7-9 This is a glimpse into God’s grace and mercy, and how He is touched by our hurts, and our tears (Psalm 56:8). God lets Hezekiah live. He also promises to continue to keep Jerusalem safe from the Syrians and everyone else. Well, plop! Plop! Fizz! Fizz! (oh, what a relief it is!)!

  13. Isaiah 38 2 Kings 20:7-11 Remember that Hezekiah’s father, Ahaz, the nitwit, had refused God’s sign; so God gave one to all the rest of us! Well, Hezekiah is one acorn that fell quite a ways from the tree. He wasn’t about to refuse God’s sign. He asked for a neon billboard. And God gave him one of the most miraculous signs in the history of the world – He made the sundial backtrack part of the day. 7And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken; 8Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.

  14. Isaiah 38 9The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness: 10I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years. 11I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world. Here King Hezekiah records his memory of his despair, his prayers and what God did. It is good to write these things down. It’s especially good if the Holy Spirit guides you in a very moving poem! Life is hard sometimes; but when you think of what it really means not to have it any more, it is very sobering. Lights out, and there’s no reset button. Ouch! I am personally touched by the feelings of this king.

  15. Isaiah 38 12Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. I thought I was old; but I wasn’t THAT old; and now I never will be. A shepherd’s tent is so temporary. Here today, then gone. A life ended untimely is like an incomplete Navajo rug. Something’s missing; something seems tragically not right. 13I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. Among our more morbid thoughts are those about what happens to our bodies after we die. In the grave, we decay; on the surface, we’ve all seen bones strewn from a kill by a mountain lion. In human terms, we don’t like the thought of turning back into dirt.

  16. Isaiah 38 14Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me. 15What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul. The whole creation cries out wanting to survive, and live on; and now the Gracious God has given me NEW LIFE (hear the Gospel in that?); and I’m going to live it and walk humbly with my God with this gift He has given me. 16O LORD, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live. 17Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. Compare James 5:14-15 This portion of Isaiah is very New Testament.

  17. Isaiah 38 18For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. 19The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth. 20The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD. It’s amazing what a little gratitude will do for our attitude!

  18. Isaiah 38 1a Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty, He makes it waste

  19. Isaiah 37 1a Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty, He makes it waste

  20. Isaiah 37 1a Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty, He makes it waste

  21. Isaiah 37 1a Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty, He makes it waste

  22. Isaiah 37 1a Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty, He makes it waste

  23. Isaiah 37 1a Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty, He makes it waste

  24. Isaiah 37 1a Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty, He makes it waste

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