05/02/2023 - HOMEWORK

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These two things have come to you; who will be sorry for you? — Desolation and destruction, famine and sword— By whom will I comfort you?   Isaiah 51.19

Still prophesying about the future of God’s people, after leaving Babylon for the land the Lord had given them, the prophet showed why the Israelites were sent into captivity in the land of Bel, saying that two things happened to them through no fault of their own. Jeremiah cried in the streets of Jerusalem, warning that God’s people would be imprisoned, but nobody paid attention to him. Deceived by the devil, the rebels did not see how it would happen, but it did (Jeremiah 22.22).

Many people live contrary to the Bible, feeling powerful, and don’t believe that they will be condemned to the lake of fire and brimstone if they don’t repent. Now, although the Lord has said that various groups will never inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, many insist in saying that this was written as a joke, and in the end, everyone will enter the eternal rest for this or another reason (1 Corinthians 6.9,10; Galatians 5.19-21). Stay within the Word; then you will not despair at Jesus’ return.

The prophet Isaiah calls Judah’s attention to two calamities that struck her: desolation and destruction, famine and war. Now, what could have prevented this from afflicting the kingdom left to the house of David? This will be the result of the life of any child of God who gives himself to sin. So says the Word: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6.23).

A little over a century before Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem, the king of Assyria, which was the great empire of that time, came and besieged it, threatening to enter and destroy everything in the great King’s city. The situation seemed untenable until Hezekiah, king of Judah who served the Lord, and the prophet Isaiah – joined together in prayer. Then an angel was sent in one night and killed 185,000 of the best Assyrian soldiers, and the aggressor king returned home (2 Kings 19.35).

That is the difference that makes one be spared and another not. The Assyrian king came with all pomp, intimidating all the kings of the nations he wished to occupy. Those who didn’t surrender were soon destroyed by the sheer force of the invading king’s army. However, when he met the two servants of the Most High, Hezekiah and Isaiah, who cried out, he saw how much his arrogance cost him. The servant of the Almighty has the ability to pray and be answered!

As for Judah, there were people with the faith to get deliverance again. However, the king and the majority of the people did not live in the divine presence. As a result, the help promised in Psalm 46:1 did not come: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Why didn’t the last kings of God’s people serve Him as the Bible says? Why are there Christians who persist in doing wrong “little things”? The Lord helps His faithful ones (Psalm 18:16-25).

Who is left to have compassion on them or to comfort them? So, always examine yourself before God. That way, you will not be surprised on the Day of reckoning. Daniel said: Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever (Daniel 12.3). That is our homework!

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares