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Speaker 1: Life Audio. For more resources to help you in your

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Speaker 1: walk with Christ, please visit us at BibleStudyHeadquarters.com. You're listening

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Speaker 1: to the Chapter a Day Audio Bible. I'm John Stonge,

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Speaker 1: and today we're in Isaiah chapter 36, and we'll be

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Speaker 1: reading from the New Living Translation. In the fourteenth year

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Speaker 1: of King Hezekiah's reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria came to

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Speaker 1: attack the fortified towns of Judah and conquered them. Then

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Speaker 1: the king of Assyria sent his chief of staff from

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Speaker 1: Lachish with a huge army to confront King Hezekiah in Jerusalem.

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Speaker 1: The Assyrians took up a position beside the aqueduct that

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Speaker 1: feeds water into the upper pool near the road leading

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Speaker 1: to the field where cloth is washed. These are the

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Speaker 1: officials who went out to meet with them. Eliakim, son

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Speaker 1: of Hilkiah, the palace administrator, Shebna, the court secretary, and Joah,

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Speaker 1: son of Asaph, the royal historian. Then the Assyrian king's

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Speaker 1: chief of staff told them to give this message to Hezekiah.

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Speaker 1: This is what the great king of Assyria says. What

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Speaker 1: are you trusting in that makes you so confident? Do

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Speaker 1: you think that mere words can substitute for military skill

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Speaker 1: and strength? Who are you counting on that you have

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Speaker 1: rebelled against me? On Egypt? If you lean on Egypt,

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Speaker 1: it will be like a reed that splinters beneath your

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Speaker 1: weight and pierces your hand. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt,

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Speaker 1: is completely unreliable. But perhaps you will say to me,

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Speaker 1: we are trusting in the Lord our God. But isn't

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Speaker 1: he the one who was insulted by Hezekiah? Didn't Hezekiah

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Speaker 1: tear down his shrines and altars and make everyone in

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Speaker 1: Judah and Jerusalem worship only at the altar here in Jerusalem?

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Speaker 1: I'll tell you what. Strike a bargain with my master,

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Speaker 1: the king of Assyria. I will give you 2,000 horses

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Speaker 1: if you can find that many men to ride on them.

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Speaker 1: With your tiny army, how can you think of challenging

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Speaker 1: even the weakest contingent of my master's troops? even with

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Speaker 1: the help of Egypt's chariots and charioteers. What's more, do

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Speaker 1: you think we have invaded your land without the Lord's direction?

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Speaker 1: The Lord himself told us, attack this land and destroy it.

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Speaker 1: Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Assyrian chief

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Speaker 1: of staff, Please speak to us in Aramaic, for we

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Speaker 1: understand it well. Don't speak in Hebrew, for the people

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Speaker 1: on the wall will hear. But Sennacherib's chief of staff replied,

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Speaker 1: Do you think my master sent this message only to

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Speaker 1: you and your master? He wants all the people to

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Speaker 1: hear it, for when we put this city under siege,

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Speaker 1: they will suffer along with you. They will be so

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Speaker 1: hungry and thirsty that they will eat their own dung

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Speaker 1: and drink their own urine. Then the chief of staff

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Speaker 1: stood and shouted in Hebrew to the people on the wall,

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Speaker 1: Listen to this message from the great king of Assyria.

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Speaker 1: This is what the king says. Don't let Hezekiah deceive you.

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Speaker 1: He will never be able to rescue you. Don't let

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Speaker 1: him fool you into trusting in the Lord by saying,

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Speaker 1: The Lord will surely rescue us. This city will never

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Speaker 1: fall into the hands of the Assyrian king. Don't listen

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Speaker 1: to Hezekiah. These are the terms the king of Assyria

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Speaker 1: is offering. Make peace with me. Open the gates and

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Speaker 1: come out. Then each of you can continue eating from

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Speaker 1: your own grapevine and fig tree and drinking from your

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Speaker 1: own well. Then I will arrange to take you to

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Speaker 1: another land like this one, a land of grain and

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Speaker 1: new wine, bread and vineyards. Don't let Hezekiah mislead you

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Speaker 1: by saying, The Lord will rescue us. Have the gods

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Speaker 1: of any other nations ever saved their people from the

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Speaker 1: king of Assyria? What happened to the gods of Hamath

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Speaker 1: and Arpad? And what about the gods of Sepharvaim? Did

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Speaker 1: any god rescue Samaria from my power? What god of

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Speaker 1: any nation has ever been able to save its people

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Speaker 1: from my power? So what makes you think that the

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Speaker 1: Lord can rescue Jerusalem from me? But the people were

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Speaker 1: silent and did not utter a word because Hezekiah had

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Speaker 1: commanded them, Do not answer him. Then Eliakim, son of Hilkiah,

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Speaker 1: the palace administrator, Shebna, the court secretary, and Joah, son

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Speaker 1: of Asaph, the royal historian, went back to Hezekiah. They

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Speaker 1: tore their clothes in despair, and they went in to

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Speaker 1: see the king and told him what the Assyrian chief

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Speaker 1: of staff had said. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you

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Speaker 1: for your word, and we thank you for the privilege

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Speaker 1: of being able to look at this portion of scripture today.

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Speaker 1: And Lord, as we look at this scripture, it's easy

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Speaker 1: for us to feel an emotional connection with those who

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Speaker 1: are being attacked and insulted. Likewise, Lord, we see that

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Speaker 1: you were being mocked by the Assyrians. They didn't trust

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Speaker 1: in your power to save your people. Lord, we recognize

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Speaker 1: that as we follow you, we may deal with mockery

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Speaker 1: during the course of our earthly lives. And we know

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Speaker 1: that we would not be the first to experience that.

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Speaker 1: Believers of generations prior to us have experienced that. And

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Speaker 1: your son, Jesus Christ, was mocked as well during the

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Speaker 1: course of his ministry. But Lord, we know that you

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Speaker 1: can be relied on, that you are worthy to be trusted.

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Speaker 1: And we pray that in the midst of all circumstances,

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Speaker 1: you would help us to trust in you. We're grateful, Lord,

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Speaker 1: for the privilege to walk with you today. We commit

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Speaker 1: this day to you, and we thank you for all

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Speaker 1: of these things in Jesus' name. Amen.