Welcome

1. Welcome Adult II Couples Class 2013 discoverjoy.com

2. What activity do you enjoy doing WITHOUT your spouse? Question of the Day

3. Prayer Requests John Harris Haraway Family Heils in Brazil -Xukari tribe Lauren and Matt Evans-pregnancy Kevin Young & Paul Wilman SS Classes Morning Service

4. Events Calendar Class Events Church Events • REAP Visitation (E) • Benevolence Fund • Monthly Fellowships • 20 July-Farrars • August-Woffords • September • Dinner Out Friday (26 July) • 5th Sunday Breakfast (29 Sept) • Quarterly Service Project • Judea??? • Crochet Classes (10am Saturdays) • Eye Glasses Donation for Zimbabwe • Creation Museum Trip (18-20 July) • Olive Grove Terrace Visitation (28 July) • Mexico Mission Trip (30 Aug-6 Sep)

5. What activity do you enjoy doing WITHOUT your spouse? Question of the Day

6. Chronological Bible DiscipleshipIva May & Dr. Stan May Week No. 28 2 Chronicles 2 Kings Micah Isaiah Psalms

7. End Times Missions Chronological Bible DiscipleshipIva May & Dr. Stan May Church Gospel Silent You are here Return Captivity Div. Kingdom Kingdom Judges Conquest Exodus Patriarch Creation

8. Review Creation: God reveals His goodness through creation and His mercy in response to sin. Patriarchs: God reveals His response to the faithfulness of men (Job, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph). Exodus: God liberates Israel, and leads them to the Pro-misedLand and shapes them into a nation holy to Himself. Conquest:Joshua, relying on God’s presence and power, leads Israel to possess and settle the Promised Land. Judges: Every man does what is right in his own eyes, and Israel falls into a cycle of disobedience, judgment, oppres-sion and deliverance (the sin cycle).

9. Review Kingdom: Israel asks for a king and God raises up a succes-sion of kings (Saul, David and Solomon) who rule over a united Israel.

10. Divided Kingdom • After the death of King Solomon, ten of the tribes of Israel rebel against the rule of the house of David and set up their own king, and their own form of worship in the Northern Kingdom (Isreal) • The remaining two tribes (Judah and Benjamin) remained loyal to the throne of David and continued to generally worship God in accordance with His law in the Southern Kingdom (Judah) • Both kingdoms eventually stray completely from God, falling into idol worship and social disintegration even as God sends His prophets to urge them to repent and return to Him • Each would be carried into captivity and cease to exist as a nation

11. Context • It is the time of the reign of good King Hezekiah in Judah • Inherits the throne from his father, Ahaz, who did evil in the sight of the LORD • Last king the prophet Isaiah serves • In Hezekiah’s 6th year, Samaria, the capital of Israel, falls to Assyria • Israel is taken away into captivity (2 Kings 17) • They soon cease to exist as a nation as judg-ment for their disobedience to God • Assyria’s king Sennacherib turns his attention to Judah • Begins to lay siege to their cities • It is early in Hezekiah’s 29 year reign • Hezekiah faces a national crisis

12. Assyrian Empire in Hezekiah’s Day

13. Overview • God hates sin because of its destructive consequences • His grief over sin is magnified by His perfect knowledge of the holy potential its corrupting influence denies of every soul • Sin’s consequences bring trials and burdens into men’s lives that God never intended, yet God uses these trials to accomplish His purposes • Hezekiah is faced with the enormous trial of dealing with a real threat from brutal Assyrian invaders • He did not have an army that could fight off the Assyrians • He could not depend on any outside help (Egypt) • Hezekiah was turning Judah’s heart back to God • 2 Kings 18:4-6 ~ He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah…He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel…For he clung to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. • Hezekiah, in an exhibition of true faith, humbles himself before God • He expresses his fears plainly and God hears Hezekiah’s heart and answers his prayer

14. People need leaders who will not acquiesce to the enemy in fear but will humble themselves and seek the LORD

15. Divided Kingdom Era Isaiah 36 & 37 A King Experiences Deliverance Assyria’s Arrogance Hezekiah’s Humility God’s Deliverance

16. Assyria’s Arrogance Isaiah 36:4-10, 13-20

17. Assyria’s Arrogance • Assyria’s Brutality and Cruelty was Legendary • They were merciless • Displaced whole nations • Ripped open pregnant women • Flayed (skinned) nobles alive • Cut off the noses, ears and hands of soldiers • They were overwhelming • Fielded large powerful armies • Used them to loot and displace whole nations • Sennacherib Sweeps Across Israel and into Judah • Sends Rabshakeh with a large army to surround Jerusalem • Rabshakeh calls for a meeting with three of Hezekiah’s ministers to try to intimidate Judah into surrendering

18. Assyria’s Arrogance • Rabshakeh tries to Destroy the People’s Confidence • In the ability of their leadership (Isa 36:4-6, 8-9) • Refuses to address Hezekiah as king • Demeans their army and plans for defense • Ridicules their alliance with Egypt as a source of aid against Assyria • In the faithfulness of the LORD (Isa 36:7,10) • He accuses Hezekiah of provoking God’s wrath by removing the high places of worship, “forcing” them to bring their sacrifices to the temple • Plants a seed of doubt by claiming to be sent by God to destroy Judah • Rabshakeh Tempts the People to Trust his Pagan King over God’s Faithful King (Isa 36:13-20) • Everyone who surrenders will be guaranteed peace and prosperity • Depending on Hezekiah’s promise of deliverance by God will lead to the same ruin experienced those nations who had trusted in their own gods

19. DISCUSSION What tactics did Rabshakeh use in his efforts to demoralize Judah? Made them equivalent to every other nation they had conquered by ridiculing their military strength Tried to destroy their faith in God by comparing Him to the gods of all the nations they had already conquered Offered an easy path to sure survival and even new prosperity What parallels do we see in the way Rabshakeh tried to shake the people’s faith in God and how secular philosophy operates today to achieve the same goal?

20. Hezekiah’s Humility Isaiah 37:14-20

21. Hezekiah’s Humility • Hezekiah’s Heart before God (Isa 37:1) • He tore his clothes to demonstrate a broken heart • He put on sackcloth to show his humility • He did not turn to his own wisdom but went immediately into the temple to seek God’s wisdom • Hezekiah’s Personal Approach to God (14-15) • He goes into the temple and lays the problem before God • He was spiritually ready to go to God (prayed up) • He took the object of his need with him (Rabshakeh’s letter) to help him focus the point of his prayer • He makes a personal plea directly to God • He prayed himself for that which he also sought the prayers of others

22. Hezekiah’s Humility • Hezekiah’s Prayer to God (16-20) • He begins his prayer with praise • Acknowledges God’s position as sole authority over heaven and earth • Confesses that He is “the God...alone” who created everything • He presents the problem from his point of view • Sennacherib insulted You • He is enjoying success • But those successes have been against nations who have no real god • Finally, he makes an exact request of God for a holy purpose • “deliver us from his hand” • “that all kingdoms of earth may know that You alone, LORD, are God.” • Hezekiah’s Personal Approach to God (14-15) • He goes into the temple and lays the problem before God • He was spiritually ready to go to God (prayed up) • He took the object of his need with him (Rabshakeh’s letter) to help him focus the point of his prayer • He makes a personal plea directly to God • He prayed himself for that which he also sought the prayers of others

23. DISCUSSION Why is it important to begin prayer with praise? Acknowledges God’s position of authority Acknowledges our position of inferiority Sets the stage for recognizing our need in the presence of the One who has the ability to meet that need What truths in Hezekiah’s prayer may have begun to give him hope even as he voiced them before God? Sennacherib’s destruction of other gods just proved that they were worthless Judah had the opportunity to become God’s vehicle for demonstrating His power

24. God’s Deliverance Isaiah 37:36-38

25. God’s Deliverance • The Angel of the LORD Kills 185,000 Assyrian Soldier in One Night • God defends His people • God defends His city • God protects the line of David • Sennacherib Returns to Nineveh • He is shamed by his great defeat • He is killed by his own sons while worshipping his god

26. DISCUSSION Why does God allow evil people to taunt His children? What might God be prompting us to do by allowing the evil we see in society today? Were the people of Judah more or less devoted to God after witnessing this whole affair with Assyria? How did Hezekiah respond when his faith was threatened and belittled? How should we respond? How do we respond?

27. Conclusions • Our enemies’ pride leads them to think they have unlimited power, but in reality, they can only do what the Lord permits. • God is often at work in our enemy’s camp to disorient them and defeat them. • God sometimes uses our enemies to get our attention so that we will cry out to Him and exercise faith in His promises. • The enemy will say anything to boost his credibility and to deceive God’s people. • God will deal with the enemy in His time.

28. Bible Trivia Test Micah, Isaiah, 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles(1pts) • According to Isaiah, in the last days the nations will, “beat their swords into __________ and their spears into _______ _____”. • “And they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruninghooks.” (Isaiah 2:4) • Where did Hezekiah get the gold demanded of him as tribute by Sennacherib? • “At that time Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.” (2 Kings 18:16) • What did God do to the foreigners that Assyria brought in to occupy Israel after their defeat, because they did not fear the LORD? • “At the beginning of their living there, they did not fear the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them which killed some of them.” (2 Kings 17:25)

29. Bible Trivia Test Bonus Questions (2pts) • What ancient Biblical warrior’s name is also associated with the nation of Assyria? • “They will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, the land of Nimrod at its entrances...” (Micah 5:6) • Name one of the four things Hezekiah ordered done to prepare Jerusalem for defense against the invading Assyrian army. • “…he decided…to cut off the supply of water from the springs which were outside the city…and rebuilt all the wall that had been broken…and built another outside wall…and made weapons and shields in great number.” (2 Chron 32:2-7)

30. Isaiah 6, 7, 9, 52 & 53 A Prophet Sees a King Next week….. Adult II Couples Class discoverjoy.com