Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week’s Study: Isaiah 40.1-2; Isaiah 40.3-8; Isaiah 40.9-11; Isa: 40:12-31. Memory Text: “Get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, you who bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!’ ” (Isaiah 40:9). World War II … Continue reading –>
Unexplainable Voice By Andrew Mcchesney, Adventist Mission Pavlodar, a city of 300,000 people in northern Kazakhstan, isn’t particularly large. But Valentina Shlee couldn’t seem to find the time to make the trip across town to deliver a gift from Germany. Valentina spent a lot of time caring for her three children. She also helped her … Continue reading –>
Further Study: “Only by the direct interposition of God could the shadow on the sundial be made to turn back ten degrees; and this was to be the sign to Hezekiah that the Lord had heard his prayer. Accordingly, ‘the prophet cried unto the Lord: and He brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which … Continue reading –>
Isaiah 38:1-39:8 The events of Isaiah 38 and 39 (2 Kings 20) took place very close to the time God delivered Hezekiah from Sennacherib, even though the deliverance, as depicted in Isaiah 37 (see also 2 Kings 19) had not yet occurred. Indeed, Isaiah 38:5-6 and 2 Kings 20:6 show that they still faced the Assyrian threat. “Satan was determined to bring about … Continue reading –>
Isa: 37:21-38. According to Sennacherib, as reported in his annals, he took forty-six fortified towns, besieged Jerusalem, and made Hezekiah the Jew “a prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage.” — James B. Pritchard, editor, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1969), p. … Continue reading –>
Isa: 36:21-37:20 How did the clever oratory of the rabshakeh affect Hezekiah and his officials? 2 Kings 18:37-19:4, Isa: 36:21-37:4. Shaken to the core and mourning in distress, Hezekiah turned to God, humbly seeking the intercession of Isaiah, the very prophet whose counsel his father had ignored. How did God encourage Hezekiah? Isa: 37:5-7. The message was brief, but it was enough. … Continue reading –>
Isa: 36:2-20 The rulers of Assyria were not only brutal, they were intelligent. Their goal was wealth and power, not simply destruction (compare Isaiah 10.13-14). Why use resources to take a city by force if you can persuade its inhabitants to surrender? So, while he was engaged in the siege of Lachish, Sennacherib sent his rabshakeh, a kind … Continue reading –>
Isa: 36:1 What happened to Judah? 2 Kings 18:13, 2 Chron: 32:1, Isa: 36:1. When faithless Ahaz died and his faithful son Hezekiah succeeded him, Hezekiah inherited a kingdom that had lost full independence. Having purchased Assyrian aid against the alliance of Syria and northern Israel, Judah was forced to continue paying “protection money” in the form of tribute … Continue reading –>
Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week’s Study: Isa: 36:1; Isa: 36:2-20; Isa: 36:21-37:20; Isa: 37:21-38; Isa: 38:1-22, Isa: 39:1-8. Memory Text: “O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth” (Isaiah 37:16). A gaunt man walks barefoot with … Continue reading –>
Missing Commandment By Andrew Mcchesney, Adventist Mission Valentina Shlee was astounded when her older sister, Galina, announced that they were not keeping all Ten Commandments in their hometown in northern Kazakhstan. Valentina opened her Bible and read through the commandments. When she reached the fourth, she stopped. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” … Continue reading –>
