I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
When King Hezekiah received the report of what the king of Assyria’s agents had said, he immediately sent word to Isaiah asking him to pray for the people. Isaiah replied that God Himself would respond to the blasphemous statement by the king of Assyria’s messengers. The king of Assyria would return home and be killed by the sword. Soon after this King Sennacherib received word that an Ethiopian army was approaching and he left Judah to fight them. Before he left, King Sennacherib sent a letter to Hezekiah stating that God could not protect Jerusalem from his armies. Hezekiah took this letter and spread it out before the altar and prayed for God’s deliverance. Through Isaiah God promises that Assyria will not attack Jerusalem nor lay siege to it. In Isaiah’s prophecy of how God will force King Sennacherib to leave Jerusalem alone is some great imagery of how God controls the behavior of those who choose to defy His will.
and my bit in your mouth.”
The imagery here is of how a man may control an animal that is much larger than himself and force it to go where he desires rather than where it would wish. The implication is not that God needs these devices to control someone more powerful than himself. Rather the implication is that resisting God’s will is futile, we can buck and fight, but in the end (and that end will not be long coming) we will be forced to do as God has decided. More than that, if we fight against that will we will suffer pain in the process of being turned to that path.
King Sennacherib is promptly forced to return to his capital. About this time, Hezekiah becomes ill and God sends Isaiah to tell Hezekiah that he will not recover. Hezekiah responded to this message by petitioning the Lord for healing. God sends Isaiah another message that He has heard Hezekiah’s prayer and will heal him. Hezekiah responded to being healed with a song of praise.
Paul here tells us that if someone falls into sin, we should humbly and gently lead them back into the path of righteousness. That certainly does not mean haranguing them about the sin. It does mean acknowledging that we also suffer temptations to sins just as bad as any that those we are attempting to correct are committing. It does mean acknowledging that we struggle with sin ourselves. Paul tells us to be careful not to fall prey to the same temptations that we are attempting to guide someone else away from. We should share one another’s burdens. We should not fool ourselves into thinking we are more important than we are.
Here we come upon an interesting statement by Paul. Just a couple sentences back, he told us that we should bear one another’s burdens, yet now he tells us that each person must bear their own burden. People may argue about what he means, but to me it seems obvious. We should do our best to help others, but we should not feel that others are obligated to help us. To phrase it another way; as Christians we are obligated to help others, others are not obligated to help us.
If we spend our resources satisfying our sinful nature, we will reap decay and death. If on the other hand we spend our resources doing the will of God we will reap everlasting life and blessings. We should take every opportunity to do good, especially for our fellow believers.
Finally Paul closes the letter by writing his own words. This suggests that some people had claimed that those who wrote some of his previous letters had put words into his mouth. He points out that those advocating that Gentiles become circumcised do not follow the whole law. Paul says that they are advocating circumcision in order to avoid persecution and in order to boast of those who follow their teachings. He says that he will only boast of the cross. It does not matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What matters is whether we have been transformed by God into a new creation. I pray every day that God continue to transform me into a new creation.
What a wonderful psalm of praise! God does answer our prayers. I sin time and again, relying on my own strength rather than turning to God. I, once more, dedicate myself to relying on God rather than myself. I know that God will once again forgive me this sin, just as He has my others. In many ways it shames me that I have so much experience with His forgiveness.
Children give your parents joy by seeking God’s wisdom.