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In 701 BC Sennacharib, King of Assyria, threw the full force of the Assyrian empire against the small kingdom of Judah, ruled by King Hezekiah. City after city throughout Judah was taken till the only one remaining was Jerusalem. 185,000 Assyrian soldiers prepared to lay siege to Jerusalem as Hezekiah, the King went into the temple of the Lord and cried unto the Lord for help. Isaiah the Prophet was sent by the Lord to comfort Hezekiah and the men standing on the walls of Jerusalem in its defense. He foretold, now one Assyrian arrow would fall into the city. God would defend His people. That night, the Angel of the Lord struck down the whole Assyrian army. Not one man survived.
Herodotus (c. 435 B.C), called by historians, the Father of History, wrote about this episode. He had not learned it from the Bible. He had learned it from Egyptians when he traveled throughout Egypt. You see, the Egyptian Ambassador was in Jerusalem at the time the Assyrians surrounded the city of Jerusalem. He apparently took this story back to Egypt.
Herodotus did not know the cause of the death of the Assyrians and ascribed it to field mice who gnawed on the wooden weapons (an irrational, nonsensical explanation). Modern Historians mock the explanation given by Herodotus and well they should. Neither modern historians, nor Herodotus, or anyone else who does not use the Scriptural account can explain what occurred, which is exactly what Solomon tells us in Chapter 1 and 2 of Ecclesiastes.
Fallen man cannot explain the world around him when it comes to the MEANING and PURPOSE of the world and of history. Again, as stated last week, the world is like a stage set with props ready for the enactment of some play. But the playwright, the one responsible for writing the script, alone tells you why the props are set on the stage the way they are. Fallen man attempts to explain the stage and its layout by writing his own script and therefore ends up confused.
Solomon explains the world is vain without apparent meaning or purpose. He studies the purpose of laughter, labor, the pleasures of life, and finds they also are empty and devoid of ultimate meaning.
Fallen man, unable to explain his own existence, pursues substitutes, such as quality of life, pleasure, career, etc. in place of sound counsel.
In the parable of the Sower, our Lord warned us, that pursuing the cares and pleasures of this world will choke the Word of God within us (Matthew 13.) That is exactly the position America finds herself today, and as a result, the Word being choked from our culture and that of the churches in part, brings us to the brink of judgment.
Is there hope? Yes. This message gives the church her “marching orders” … and a call to faithfulness in Jesus Christ.
Picture of the Wall Hezekiah built in Jerusalem Photo Credit
