Isaiah 31: God Or Egypt?

The people of Judah have a choice.  Who will they look to for help against the Assyrians?  The chariots of Egypt - or the hand of God?

Isaiah 30: The More Things Change

"Go now, write it before them on a tablet and inscribe it in a book, so that it may be for a time to come as a witness forever.  For they are a rebellious people, faithless children, children who will not hear the instruction of the Lord; who say to the seers, 'Do not see'; and to the prophets, 'Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions, leave the way, turn aside from the path, let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel" (vs. 8-11).

Isaiah 29: Spiritual Automatic Pilot

One danger in our relationship with the Lord is that of slipping into taking Him for granted.  I believe this threat is especially possible for those who have spent many years in the faith, or been raised in the Church from an early age.  The problem of coasting on "spiritual automatic pilot" is very real, and very perilous.

Isaiah 28: A Cornerstone Scripture

Honestly, I am not sure what to make of much of the material in Isaiah 28.  Some of it seems to be referring to things of which only Isaiah's original audience may have been aware.  Amid the confusion, there is one verse, however, which later resonated throughout the New Testament.  It became a cornerstone scripture which itself speaks of a "cornerstone."

II Kings 19: God Is In Control

Just when it looked like the Bible would be ending prematurely at this point, what with the northern kingdom of Israel wiped out and Sennacherib's Assyrian army threatening to do the exact same to the southern kingdom of Judah, God reveals that He is still in control.  Jerusalem slips through the Assyrians' fingers.  The nation lives, and Sennacherib dies.

II Kings 18: The Assyrian Challenge

Things certainly look bleak for Judah in II Kings 18.  King Hezekiah, a good ruler, refuses to bend his knee to the Assyrian king Sennacherib.  Instead, he cleanses the countryside of pagan idols and urges his people to return to the Lord.  However, Judah's northern neighbor, Israel, falls to the Assyrians and its Jewish identity is extinguished through a policy of forced relocation and exile.  Now the Assyrian army has taken over the fortified cities of Judah and is massing against Jerusalem herself.  Who can possibly save her?

II Kings 17: Syncretism In Samaria

Syn-cre-tism: The amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought.