Category: God’s Sovereignty

Isaiah 37:36 (NKJV) 36 Then the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead.

Just as God had promised through the prophet Isaiah, He delivered the people of Judah from the Assyrian army and king Sennacherib, as illustrated in the verse above.

Also, just as He had promised, king Sennacherib left, returning home the same way he came.

Isaiah 37:37 (NKJV) 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh.

Further, God ended king Sennacherib’s life at the hands of two of his own sons.

Isaiah 37:38 (NKJV) 38 Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

With all that we have covered over the last few days, here is what we now know, based on the word of God.

In some situations, God will allow certain actions to be carried out by people who have given themselves over to evil.

God does not make them evil. They choose to do evil themselves. He does not condone evil. He hates it.

Due to their evil hearts and actions, God uses them to punish or chasten those who call themselves His children but repeatedly disobey Him and worship idols and false gods.

Make no mistake. Every evil act we see is not happening to punish someone. Most happen solely because the person carrying them out is darkened in their heart, following the influence of the evil one himself.

But no matter why these things are carried out, God will also hold those same evil people accountable for their actions when He sees fit to do so, in His timing.

They receive due punishment for their actions, either in the here and now or at their appointed time of judgment.

This is important for us to understand because we often question how or why evil people go unpunished.

What we fail to realize is that they ultimately do get punished  if they don’t repent. But it may not always be in the timing we think it should be in, or in the way we think is fitting.

That is where we need to trust God and His sovereignty.

It can be easy to see things happening and begin to question God’s ways. But that only leads us to getting into trouble.

He always knows what is best. His ways are higher than ours. He knows and understands the big picture.

We hope this has brought some understanding where you may have been struggling to find it.

These things are difficult to witness and to navigate with respect to our faith and our trust in God. And it is important that we do not get caught up in trying to figure it all out.

We must remember that we walk by faith, not by sight.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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2 Kings 18:28-30 (NKJV) 28 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and spoke, saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you from his hand; 30 nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ’

Welcome back. Let’s dig in and learn some more!

When we left off yesterday, king Sennacherib had demanded payment from king Hezekiah. And Hezekiah ultimately gave him what he had demanded.

But as we can see in the verses above, the diplomats of Assyria’s king Sennacherib antagonized Hezekiah and proclaimed to the people of Judah that their own king Hezekiah was misleading them by telling them to trust in God against further aggression by the military of Assyria.

In the verses leading up to and surrounding the ones above, king Sennacherib’s diplomats had further blasphemed God’s name and insulted His people for trusting in Him.

As Hezekiah realized the magnitude of the situation, he tore his clothing and covered himself with sackcloth, took his concerns before God, and sent some of his officials to consult with the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 37:1-2).

And Hezekiah’s servants returned with a powerful message from Isaiah, proclaiming the word of the Lord.

The prophetic message was lengthy, so we will examine only parts of it. But suffice it to say that God was prepared to end king Sennacherib’s military might, as well as his life.

It is important, though, to understand that God confirmed in Isaiah’s message that He had, in fact, been using king Sennacherib to punish other nations, including Israel and Judah, His own people.

Isaiah 37:26 (LSB) 26 Have you not heard? Long ago I did it; From days of old I formed it. Now I have brought it to pass, That you should devastate fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

And then God proclaimed the defeat of king Sennacherib, speaking these words to him:

Isaiah 37:28-29 (LSB) 28 But I know your sitting down And your going out and your coming in And your raging against Me. 29 Because of your raging against Me And because your presumptuousness has come up to My ears, Therefore I will put My hook in your nose And My bridle in your lips, And I will turn you back by the way which you came.

Please join us again tomorrow as we complete this series.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page. 

2 Kings 18:9-10 (NKJV) 9 Now it came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. 10 And at the end of three years they took it…

It is important to understand that Israel and Judah were two separate kingdoms. Hezekiah was the king of Judah.

In yesterday’s scripture, the prophet Isaiah had reassured king Hezekiah that he need not fear the king of Assyria, an ungodly nation, and the threats that he had made against Judah.

It must be noted that Hezekiah was a good king. He honored God in all he did.

2 Kings 18:5 (NKJV) 5 He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him.

In the opening verses, Assyria had marched against Samaria (in Israel), laying siege to the city. And after three years, they had overtaken that city and gained control of it.

Ultimately, Israel fell. And its people were exiled to Assyria.

God allowed this to happen because of Israel’s disobedience, which is referenced in these verses:

2 Kings 18:11-12 (NKJV) 11 Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away captive to Assyria, and put them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12 because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed His covenant and all that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded; and they would neither hear nor do them.

Approximately 14 years later, Sennacherib, the newest king of Assyria, came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took control of them.

Sennacherib then sent his diplomats to deliver a message to king Hezekiah, warning him not to resist further advances by Assyria’s army. And he assessed a levee against Hezekiah, demanding what was known as a tribute payment to prevent further military action against the nation of Judah.

We will continue tomorrow!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page. 

2 Kings 19:5-6 (NKJV) 5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.

Even though we are living under God’s grace, and the New Covenant, it is still good to spend time reading, studying, and learning in the Old Testament.

There is much that can be gleaned from these ancient writings when it comes to understanding who God is and how we got to where we are today when looking at the big picture.

As we witness current events, it is all tied to things of old. As Solomon stated, “there is nothing new under the sun.”

Ecclesiastes 1:9 (NKJV) 9 That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun.

There is no evil that God has not already seen or that is unique in the earth. The devil still uses the same tactics to deceive and enslave humanity.

And God is acutely aware of it all. Nothing escapes His eye.

Righteous people often watch evil being carried out and wonder why God does not immediately judge those by whom it is perpetrated.

And here is what the Old Testament teaches us about this.

In some situations, God will allow certain actions to be carried out by people who have given themselves over to evil. Let me explain.

As the Israelites frequently disobeyed God, He punished them in different ways for their blatant disobedience.

He would often use natural disasters such as plagues, fires, famines, etc.

But sometimes He would use evil kings and armies to inflict punishment upon those who called themselves His people yet worshiped false gods and idols made by man.

We will discuss this in more depth tomorrow.

We hope you will join us.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page. 

Genesis 1:3 (NKJV) 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

Sometimes we need to take our eyes off the heavy stuff that is happening around us and just focus on the One; our Creator and Redeemer.

With His words He spoke the worlds and everything in them into existence.

He did not require anyone to supply Him with materials. Why? Because He is.

He has been for eternity, and He will continue to be.

There is nothing made that was not made by Him.

He breathed life into the nostrils of Adam.

And that breath of life lives in every human being that is conceived in the womb of their mother.

It is in Him that we find our strength, our peace, and our solace.

It is in Him that we find mercy and compassion.

And it is because of that mercy that He made a way for us to be saved. It is a gift made available to all humanity.

We just need to reach out and take it.

Today, let us take a few minutes to stop and thank Him simply for who He is.

Give Him honor and glory. Tell Him how much you love Him.

It is what we are here for. And He is more than worthy!

Amen

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page.