Today a dip back into history. Having been concerned with the distant hopes of a better world, it’s back to the muck and grime of Judah’s struggle for survival.
Israel’s moral corruption
Micah 7:1-7
The Lord brings salvation
Micah 7:8-13
The Lord’s compassion
Micah 7:14-20
Sennacherib and Hezekiah
2 Chronicles 32:1, Isaiah 36:1, 2 Kings 18:13-16
Jerusalem’s defence prepared
2 Chronicles 32:288
Sennacherib threatens Jerusalem
2 Kings 18:17-27, 2 Chronicles 32:9-14, Isaiah 36:2-11
Rabshekah’s defence
2 Kings 18:27-35, 2 Chronicles 32:15-16, 18-19
A reminder from Micah that the moral state of the people was not great. As the prophets and other Bible writers saw it, lack of righteousness led directly to political and military threat.
That threat comes in the form of Sennacherib, king of Assyria. Hezekiah makes careful plans to meet the danger, trying both appeasement and fortification of his defences, but those preparations don’t include calling the people to repentance and prayer.
Sennacherib launches a propaganda offensive - criticising Hezekiah;s decision to remove the high places and insist that God is worshipped only in Jerusalem. He warns them not to trust in Egypt for help, nor in their own military might. Most tellingly, he reveals his understanding of the divine: all the other gods have bowed before mine, so don’t think that your god will be any different. As the Chronicler points out: “They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as they did about the gods of the other peoples of the world—the work of human hands.”
The new understanding of God is firmly in place - it remains to be seen whether events will strengthen this understanding in the minds of the people, or whether they will have to accept it on faith.
Israel’s moral corruption
Micah 7:1-7
The Lord brings salvation
Micah 7:8-13
The Lord’s compassion
Micah 7:14-20
Sennacherib and Hezekiah
2 Chronicles 32:1, Isaiah 36:1, 2 Kings 18:13-16
Jerusalem’s defence prepared
2 Chronicles 32:288
Sennacherib threatens Jerusalem
2 Kings 18:17-27, 2 Chronicles 32:9-14, Isaiah 36:2-11
Rabshekah’s defence
2 Kings 18:27-35, 2 Chronicles 32:15-16, 18-19
A reminder from Micah that the moral state of the people was not great. As the prophets and other Bible writers saw it, lack of righteousness led directly to political and military threat.
That threat comes in the form of Sennacherib, king of Assyria. Hezekiah makes careful plans to meet the danger, trying both appeasement and fortification of his defences, but those preparations don’t include calling the people to repentance and prayer.
Sennacherib launches a propaganda offensive - criticising Hezekiah;s decision to remove the high places and insist that God is worshipped only in Jerusalem. He warns them not to trust in Egypt for help, nor in their own military might. Most tellingly, he reveals his understanding of the divine: all the other gods have bowed before mine, so don’t think that your god will be any different. As the Chronicler points out: “They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as they did about the gods of the other peoples of the world—the work of human hands.”
The new understanding of God is firmly in place - it remains to be seen whether events will strengthen this understanding in the minds of the people, or whether they will have to accept it on faith.
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