Our Daily Bread Today- Isaiah 36 ++

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

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Isaiah 36:1-22
1In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria made war on all the fortress cities of Judah and took them. 2Then the king of Assyria sent his general, the "Rabshekah," accompanied by a huge army, from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah. The general stopped at the aqueduct where it empties into the upper pool on the road to the public laundry. 3Three men went out to meet him: Eliakim son of Hilkiah, in charge of the palace; Shebna the secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the official historian.
4The Rabshekah said to them, "Tell Hezekiah that the Great King, the king of Assyria, says this: "What kind of backing do you think you have against me? 5You're bluffing and I'm calling your bluff. Your words are no match for my weapons. What kind of backup do you have now that you've rebelled against me? 6Egypt? Don't make me laugh. Egypt is a rubber crutch. Lean on Egypt and you'll end up flat on your face. That's all Pharaoh king of Egypt is to anyone who leans on him. 7And if you try to tell me, "We're leaning on our GOD," isn't it a bit late? Hasn't Hezekiah just gotten rid of all the places of worship, telling you, "You've got to worship at this altar"?
8""Be reasonable. Face the facts: My master the king of Assyria will give you two thousand horses if you can put riders on them. 9You can't do it, can you? So how do you think, depending on flimsy Egypt's chariots and riders, you can stand up against even the lowest-ranking captain in my master's army?
10""And besides, do you think I came all this way to destroy this land without first getting GOD's blessing? It was your GOD who told me, Make war on this land. Destroy it.'"
11Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah answered the Rabshekah, "Please talk to us in Aramaic. We understand Aramaic. Don't talk to us in Hebrew within earshot of all the people gathered around."
12But the Rabshekah replied, "Do you think my master has sent me to give this message to your master and you but not also to the people clustered here? It's their fate that's at stake. They're the ones who are going to end up eating their own excrement and drinking their own urine."
13Then the Rabshekah stood up and called out loudly in Hebrew, the common language, "Listen to the message of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14Don't listen to Hezekiah's lies. He can't save you. 15And don't pay any attention to Hezekiah's pious sermons telling you to lean on GOD, telling you "GOD will save us, depend on it. GOD won't let this city fall to the king of Assyria.'
16"Don't listen to Hezekiah. Listen to the king of Assyria's offer: "Make peace with me. Come and join me. Everyone will end up with a good life, with plenty of land and water, 17and eventually something far better. I'll turn you loose in wide open spaces, with more than enough fertile and productive land for everyone.' 18Don't let Hezekiah mislead you with his lies, "GOD will save us.' Has that ever happened? Has any god in history ever gotten the best of the king of Assyria? 19Look around you. Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? The gods of Sepharvaim? Did the gods do anything for Samaria? 20Name one god that has ever saved its countries from me. So what makes you think that GOD could save Jerusalem from me?'"
21The three men were silent. They said nothing, for the king had already commanded, "Don't answer him."
22Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, tearing their clothes in defeat and despair, went back and reported what the Rabshekah had said to Hezekiah.


Copyright Statement: THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary LanguageThis edition issued by contractual arrangement with NavPress, a division of The Navigators, U.S.A.Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language Copyright © 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.

~ Lena’s Journalin’ - Today~
To me today, this scripture is ALL about the voices we listen to, believe in and act on.
The king of Assyria is a representative of any enemy we have, and his mocking is representative of any voice we hear that is contrary to God’s voice, the voice of God’s Word.
God’s Words are true, absolutely, positively true. The only way His words can be changed in my life, or rather ineffective in my life, is through unbelief. If I apply the truth of His words to my life, my life will change. I didn’t say there wouldn’t be any resistance to the change, I said If I apply it, it will change. As we see here there was great resistance to the “word of the Lord” and as you read through this you actually at times wonder who’s who, who’s winning, what god is being referred to etc. in the threatening of the stealing of the one word from God you have, the enemy tries to confuse you. This passage is full to overflowing with accusations, it is mostly about the words of the threat, but if you look very closely, even the enemy is reminding the people of the voice of God, the word they were given by God. He keeps taunting their God-given words, but exalting himself higher and higher, telling you of his mighty power, his authority, his outcomes, his promises. Tomorrow we’ll be reading the response, but I wonder today what our gut response would be? Discouragement or shrinking back, fear, doubt? Or will faith arise and conquer the enemy of our souls? Will we stand on the promises of God no matter what? No matter what we hear or what it looks like right now? The word of God stands true forever, it’s when we agree with it and stand firm on its promises, when we exalt it above the circumstance, when we refuse to believe any other reports, and when we look to and expect it’s mighty power to be unleashed in us that it becomes life to us each personally.
The word of God is like a treasure given us, we’ve spent some time digging for it, we found some and we’re all excited, not maybe realizing it can be taken away, we might be surprised to find out an enemy has been watching us get the treasure with determination that we will not keep it, if he has any say in it, so he tries to have a say, with his mass production of lies! It is a test of our faith in the words we have heard God say, the treasures we’ve been given. Do we really love God’s words, treasure them enough to keep them, forever? Or would we give them up to any stranger that asks of them? Would we relinquish them to the plans of another? One more things I’ve seen today in all of this is the enemy kept saying , who do you lean on? Man doesn’t that just hit the heart’s target? Them he keeps telling us who we should lean on, money, worldly goods, worldly ways, old thought patterns, god of the world, everything EXCEPT God’s original words to us! He mocked and said, don’t lean on God, He’ll fail you. There is a scripture that says He WILL NEVER leave or forsake us, yet the enemy lies to us in the same old way over and over again, telling us God has turned His back on us.
I beg you, get a word from God, any word, and stand on it!
“He will NEVER leave me or forsake me!”
Laurie H & Maria- “He was wounded for my transgression (rebellious against God - willful sins), He was bruised for my iniquity (every wrong I ever did, what was my fault, what I should have taken the guilt for, so now I surely know that there’s no taking of my promise, and my promise is-) by His stripes I AM healed!”
Maria, you’ve got to read all of Isaiah 53! It starts out, “Who’s report do we believe?”
Do we believe the threats (and that is all they are) of the king of Assyria?
“To whom is the arm of the Lord extended?”
He took all of my guilt, from the things I did that could have opened doors to sickness. He took that away.
So is there now any problem with receiving my healing, that He provided for me? Is there anything that stands in the way? Is there anything the enemy has in me to taunt me righteously? NO I stand before one judge and that judge is GOD, who has pardoned me from any and all sins, past present and future!


Proverbs 27:17-19
17 You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another. 18 If you care for your orchard, you'll enjoy its fruit; if you honor your boss, you'll be honored. 19 Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.
Psalm 122:1
1 When they said, "Let's go to the house of God," my heart leaped for joy.