Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Jul 22 2019 - 2 Kings 19:20-37 – Isaiah prophesies the fall of Sennacherib

We left Hezekiah having laid out Sennacherib's parting threat before the Lord in the temple, praying that the Lord will show himself to be the living God and glorify his name before the nations of the world. The Lord heard Hezekiah's prayer and sent his response through the prophet Isaiah.

Sennacherib had intended to divert his forces temporarily from Jerusalem to see off the threat from the forces of Cush. It would not be long before he would be back. Boasting of his own prowess in battle and in conquest, he is confident of his ability to crush this little nation (vv.23-24). But this time he has overstepped the mark for he has raised his voice "against the Holy One of Israel", and in his pride has "ridiculed and blasphemed" the living God (v.22). He has failed to realise that the future is not his to control.

Through Isaiah the Lord declares that history is in his hands. He is the one who planned long ago that Sennacherib would be used to turn "fortified cities into piles of stone" and drain their people of power (vv. 25-26). It was God's plan to allow Sennacherib to wipe away the northern kingdom of Israel because of their unfaithfulness. And now it is time for Sennacherib's pride to be brought low and for him and his empire to be drained of power. The Lord declares:

I know where you are and when you come and go and how you rage against me.
Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return by the way you came. (vv.27-28)

The Lord tells Hezekiah that he and the people of Jerusalem and of Judah will be free from threat and will enjoy the harvests of their own land (v.29). Sennacherib will not enter the city but will return to his own land (vv. 32-33). God has large purposes for his people, purposes to bless them and make them a blessing (vv. 30-31 – these verses, and v.34 have Messianic overtones).

Sennacherib's army of 185,000 men, were struck down by a mysterious plague in the night. Sennacherib returned to his capital in Nineveh. We then read, "One day, while he was worshipping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword" (v.37). This fulfilled the word that God had declared to Hezekiah through Isaiah, "I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword" (19:7).

It is easy for us to think that we are the masters of our own fate and to believe that we can determine our own future. Sennacherib was rebuked for his own pride and shown in the most dramatic fashion that his life and breath were in the hands of the living God. James, the brother of the Lord Jesus, warns Christians against boasting of their elaborate plans for future success and prosperity saying: "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’" (James 4:14-15).

We who have come to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ are glad to remember that our days are in God's hands. God declared of Sennacherib, "I know where you are and when you come and go" (v.27), but it is with a sense of awe and thankful wonder that we say with David, "You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways… All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be" (Psalm 139:2-3,16).

Father God, we thank you that our times are in your hands. There are so many things going on in the world around us that disturb us and fill us with fear for ourselves and for those we love. In the midst of it all we thank you that we can trust you and know that you are at work for our good – our eternal good. Help me to trust you today and to rejoice in your care.

Jul 22 2020 - Mark 4:26-5:20 – Who is this?

The disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee in a boat when a sudden storm blew up. Waves were breaking over the side of the boat which was about to be swamped. Jesus, however, was asleep in the stern of the boat. When the disciples woke him up and, in their terror, accused Jesus of lack of care for their lives, Jesus "rebuked the wind and said to the waves, 'Quiet! Be still!' Then the wind died down and it was completely calm" (Mark 4:39). I love the Greek here which says that there was "a great calm" – the silence of a storm that is no more and the threatening waves tamed to become the surface of a millpond. None of this, however, reduces the terror of the disciples; it merely gives it a new focus. Now it is Jesus' himself who terrifies them as they ask, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

And this remains the key question; "Who is this man?" He is the one through whom all things were first created. He is the one who first tamed the great deep and created the dry land. He is the one who will make wars to cease and will bring peace to the world.

God is our refuge and strength,
   an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
   and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
   and the mountains quake with their surging.

The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come and see what the LORD has done,
   the desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease
   to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
   he burns the shields with fire.
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth.”

The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress. (Psalm 46:1-3, 7-11)

Did the disciples think of this Psalm as they thought in wonder and terror of the power of the one who rebuked the storm and commanded peace? There, in the person of Jesus, the Lord Almighty was with them; the God of Jacob had come to be their refuge – their ever-present help in time of trouble.

Cnut was king of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden. He was a man who possessed great power and authority not only over lands but over the sea. But, wishing to teach his nobles about the limits of human power, Cnut set his throne by the sea shore and commanded the tide to halt and not wet his feet and robes; but the tide failed to stop. According to Henry of Huntingdon, a 12th century chronicler, Cnut leapt backwards and said "Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings, for there is none worthy of the name, but He whom heaven, earth, and sea obey by eternal laws." He then hung his gold crown on a crucifix, and never wore it again.

The storms of life can be the very occasions when we are brought to recognise the limits of our own power and our need of the Lord Jesus. How sad that the Gerasenes thought that they could manage their lives much better without him.

Lord Jesus, help me to recognise my own great need and your great power, that I may both be humbled yet also filled with a quiet confidence that comes from the knowledge that the living God is with me.

Peter Misselbrook