TO INSULT THE LIVING GOD – Louis Gervais
TO INSULT THE LIVING GOD
Hello and greetings in the Name of the Son of Him Who was Insulted, Jesus Christ!
In Isaiah 36, Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his field commander with an intimidating army to Jerusalem with a message for King Hezekiah and the Israelites. If you study his demonic dialogue verse by verse you will find that it is full of lies, half-truths and false accusations. His purpose was to discourage faith in the LORD, belittle the upright Hezekiah and insult the Living God by trying to attribute to Him equality with man-made idols. There were also many questions asked which were designed to cause doubt—the same tactic the devil used with the mother of all the living.
King Hezekiah put on sackcloth and sent men to ask Isaiah to pray to the LORD. “Isaiah said to them, ‘Tell your master, “This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Listen! I am going to put a spirit in him so that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.”’” –Isaiah 37:6-7
After the king of Assyria sent a letter containing more bullying tactics and arrogant blasphemies, Hezekiah did the right thing by spreading it out before the LORD in the temple. “Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.” –Isaiah 37:17
In God’s answer to Sennacherib, He said, “Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed? Against Whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! By your messengers your have heaped insults upon the Lord.” –Isaiah 37:23-24a . “But I know where you stay and when you come and go and how you rage against Me. Because you rage against Me and because your insolence has reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.” –Isaiah 37:28-29 . “Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp.” –Isaiah 37:36a . “One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword,” –Isaiah 37:38a .
I don’t think it was by mere coincidence that the LORD allowed him to be murdered at the precise moment that he was worshiping his false god. It is recorded in Scripture, and I think God thereby shows the world which object of worship was just an idol and Who was and is the Living God. Let every reader be warned therefore to honor the LORD and insult Him not—not by words, not by actions, not by thoughts or attitudes of the heart; that they may not share in the same fate of God’s enemies.
Thank you for praying for our year-end convention! It was truly a blessed time for me; I was blessed by His preached Word, by His presence in prayer, by His love in praise, by His glory in creation, by His kindness in His children and by His compassion indeed. Hallelujah! It was truly a blessing to spend so much time—alone and corporately—with the Lord, and to see so many of my old friends again and to pray regularly with a couple of them. Friday night we acted out a play, ‘The Door of Grace’ (‘Die Genadedeur’) in which a few of the actors entered by the narrow gate while others hardened their hearts, and then the door finally slammed shut, forever. The reality of this made a deep impression on some members of the audience. We filmed the play and will try to get it uploaded, but it is in Afrikaans.
We can pray for my grandmother, Mr. Van Niekerk, Mr. Kussman and their families; that God would grant a moment of realization and acceptance of the truth concerning His Risen Son. I have some time off now, so I get to work on projects that are otherwise neglected, like growing a beard. And then there’s running errands, a Gospel tract here and a Gospel tract there, reading further about Josephus, taking photos and so on. Please keep on praying for me: Sunday night circumstances suddenly forced me to make a particularly dangerous trip to the inner city of Johannesburg to fetch a Christian lady who would otherwise have had to spend the night at the bus station—something inadvisable.
May the Living God be glorified in our lives this week! And may we take all our troubles to Him. Amen.
–Louis Gervais
“How long will the enemy mock You, O God? Will the foe revile Your Name forever?” “Rise up, O God, and defend Your cause; remember how the fools mock You all day long. Do not ignore the clamor of Your adversaries, the uproar of Your enemies, which rises continually.” –Psalm 74:10, 22-23 NIV