Readings:
Isaiah 36-39
Romans 7:7- 25

Isaiah 36-39

The king of Assyria sends his army commander to taunt the people of Jerusalem and encourage them to surrender. He does this by undermining their confidence in their kings and their God, and he falsely claims to have been sent by the God of Israel with a conflicting message to the one that the prophet Isaiah has personally delivered. This is one of the tell tale signs of a false apparition or false prophet, and in this case a lying emissary. They say things that conflict with God’s words and law, and their own messages often contradict each other. Most of these few chapters of Isaiah are covered in 2 Kings and can be found between days 159, Day 160 and 161 of this course we’re on.

King Hezekiah is ill but recovers after praying for deliverance and is so thankful that he sings this song of praise. The Babylonians send an envoy to congratulate Hezekiah when they hear of his recovery, and he takes them on a tour of his capital.

Being a righteous king doesn’t necessarily make one a wise king. The Babylonians weren’t the Assyrians, but they also weren’t the most upstanding of people, and he essentially invited the foxes into the henhouse.

Romans 7:7-25

Paul asks another question here; is the law sin? Of course it isn’t. The law isn’t bad, it’s actually good to know what we have to do and the bar we are trying to reach, but at the same time it’s an unreachable bar and the law does nothing to help us along, it just shows us where we’ve failed.

It’s not the law that brings death, but sin. The law isn’t evil, but we have a disposition to do evil since the fall and the law is like a flashlight pointing to the sin in the dark. Paul himself even struggles with this and is constantly waring against sin and only by the grace of God can he resist his flesh and live by the spirit.

Tomorrow’s Readings:
Isaiah 40-41
Proverbs 16
Romans 8:1-17