Cornerstone Newsletter

Battling The Alleged Incurable Diseases And Pandemics: God Is The Solution
Learning Through The Lens Of Solomon's Prayer And The Battle Between Hezekiah and Sennacherib

By Greg DesVoignes

¹² And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.  ¹³ If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;  ¹⁴ If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.  ¹⁵ Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. 2 Chronicles 7:12-15

Photo source:  Perfect Word Ministries

The above words and promises we see in the verses above are part of the response God gave to King Solomon after he finished building the first Temple to God.  Solomon had just finished building the temple and praying to God as seen in 2 Chronicles 6.  Knowing what sin Israel may do in the future, Solomon brings up a number of sins of forsaking God that would cause judgments upon them.  2 Chronicles 7 is the response God gave to Solomon's prayer.  Below is just part of what Solomon had asked in 2 Chronicles 6.

²⁸ If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillars; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be:  ²⁹ Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house:  ³⁰ Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:)  ³¹ That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

³⁸ If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name:

³⁹ Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.

⁴⁰ Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. ⁴¹ Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.  ⁴² O Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.

So, God honored the prayer of Solomon as seen in 2 Chronicles 7.  But there were conditions to answering the prayer of deliverance for these issues Solomon brought up.  We can see them in the words "If"  and "Then".  God's people are addressed here, not others.  They would be the one's with the problem of turning away from him.  So he says to his own people, "If" they (we also today), humble themselves, recognize our sin of not acknowledging God but other ways and other sins,  and "If" we pray, and "if" we seek his face, and "if" we repent and turn from what we are doing that brings these adverse things about, "Then" God will "be attentive" to our prayers and answer them.

I find it interesting, sad, but not surprising that we do not find God being mentioned in the media as the One to go to for the answer to the COVID-19 virus, which is of a world wide issue.  While a Christian will see this as a prophetic wake up call to the Church to start really paying attention to God's truth and the false teachings and apostasy the church is in,  and speaking the word of God in TRUTH to the non-believer, the world outside this can't even see God as a solution.

Here are two examples of this just from the last two days (I am writing this on April 1, 2020)

This morning I watched New York Governor Cuomo give a news conference on the Coronavirus and it's effect on New York.  He said some interesting things, had some interesting solutions, but they were all man centered as the solution, which is no solution. 

He said, in part,

"If you get up, how do you get up?  We are in control of that…. What do we do if something like this happens again?"  He mentioned floods, hurricanes (which we all should see as part of the wakeup call when seen together).  He said that we cant figure it out how to deal with these things on the fly.  He said we have to learn lessons from this.  He asked Why weren’t we better at medicine, medical supplies.  Why are we shopping in China for supplies.  He noted that workforce responders getting sick.

But at the same time he said that they can't tell everyone to go home and order take out.  He said America is not built to be isolated for long periods of time.  This is the next challenge we have to think about, he said.

He said they are "Preparing for the battle on the mountain", saying that they have to succeed at it.  He quotes Churchill who said,  "It is no use saying we are doing our best.  You have  got to succeed in doing what is necessary."

Everything was man centered and God as the solution was not even an option.  What is interesting to see is the effect this pandemic is having on man's solutions.  The medical system is being overwhelmed, according to the media nurses do not have proper protection and some are afraid and do not want to work, and as of today about 5,000 New York police officers (15%) are out sick.  There is a scramble to come up with what the experts feel will be the medical solutions and logistic solutions to this pandemic.  But again, God is ignored.

I find it interesting that even the military is not immune.  Even though we have a great military presence and President Trump has rebuilt it up, we can see that with the aircraft carrier that has 200 infected sailors, God can make null all this power too.  God did this many times as seen in the Old Testament.  While the Captain of this big vessel wants to evacuate the sick, the military leaders say that cannot happen because of all the weapons, planes, and nuclear power on board that must be maintained and not left.  God can put a nation to it's knees in a minute.  Actually God can, and will in the future, put the world to it's knees.  The only option is to follow the advise as seen in the conversation between Solomon and God.

Aside from this, we can see the bad effect it is having on our economy; basically bring it to an almost halt and at this time we are hostages in our own homes; afraid of the unseen enemy outside.

But we can see the obstinacy against God in the recent mocking of the My Pillow owner, Mike Lindell.  He attended one of the President's virus briefings and spoke there with the need of God in this.  He was mocked by a number of mainstream media "personalities".  CNN even broke away from the briefing while he was talking. Source:  "Mainstream Media Mocks White House Appearance of "My Pillow Guy" Mike Lindell Despite Contribution To Virus Fight" https://www.foxnews.com/media/mainstream-media-mocks-wh-appearance-of-my-pillow-guy-mike-lindell-despite-contribution-to-virus-fight

Quite foolish and it will come back on them as this warning says in Galatians 6:7 and as seen in an example later.  They need prayer.

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

But even the most conservative media who would be religious looking at times, also fails to see these things.  I have heard one person talk about how smart Americans are in the realm of medicine and other things, and that, as we have always been, will again save the world.

This is called, Pride.  It is a bad thing to have.  For whatever we have good, or have been allowed to do good, came from God and not our own ingenuity.  Pride was the beginning of the end of many countries, their leaders; and even Satan.

God said in Isaiah 42:8
"I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images."

God can, and maybe we are seeing a preview warning of this; take away the ability to do anything apart from him.

We can see the priorities too in what is important in the minds of some leaders.  In my state, like many now, we have a "Stay at Home, Stay Safe" order.  In that only "essential businesses" can stay open and only "essential activities" activities are allowed.  Washington, Governor Inslee's view of "essential businesses" includes keeping Marijuana stores open.  His travel restrictions are only for "essential activities", and buying this demonic drug is part of it.  Yet at the same time, he just closed fishing and hunting seasons and up until a few days ago did not consider churches "essential".  Marijuana was made legal in Washington a few years ago and is bringing in a lot of tax revenue.

While it is hard to do, we are called to pray for people such as these.  Sometimes I feel like Jonah when God told him to go warn the most evil city of Nineveh that unless they repented, he would destroy them.  No way, not going to pray for them!  We know how that turned out for Jonah.  All of us were there like Nineveh at one time.

In a similar manner we see Jesus in Luke 9 rebuking his disciples James and John for asking Jesus if he would be calling fire down from heaven to consume some people who rejected him.  Jesus told them,

"⁵⁴ And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?  ⁵⁵ But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.  ⁵⁶ For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

In Mark 3 we see that Jesus may have indicated what manner of spirit this was when he put upon them a name.  And it does not appear that it is a good thing as we frequently hear.  It says;

¹⁷ And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder"

"Thunder" in Strong's Concordance is "brontē".  In the Greek religion, Bronte, along with Astrape was one of twin goddesses of lightening and thunder and were the shield bearers of the thunder god Zeus.  They were his lightening bolt bearers.  Not good to be associated with one of his sons.  Wrong angry spirit.

We can see this same thinking today as what was going on back then.  The Romans occupied Israel and were hated.  There were those among the Jews that were anti-government and activly fought against them; insurrectionists, like Barabas.  And when it came down to choosing who to let free between Barabas and Jesus, they chose Barabas because Jesus did not live up to the expectations of who the Messiah was supposed to be; their deliverer from the occupation.  But as Jesus told John and James, he came to deliver, not to destroy.  Look what he did for an enemy and how that ministered to him and those other Romans as well as the message it gave to the Jews.!

We Suffer From Blindness

As a society in general, and even with the Church, we fail to see things wrong that we just accept as a normal part of our country.  Most people do not see that we have something called "The Capitol" that houses part of our government, that was, when it was built, was called "The Temple of Liberty" and its design was based upon pagan temples housing pagan gods.  Most do not know that on the top of the dome is a goddess we call "Lady Liberty" who is given credit for protecting this country.  Yet on the inside of the Library of Congress she is shown as Minerva, the goddess of war, who is also given credit for protecting America.  Most don't understand that the mural on the ceiling inside the dome under the goddess is a symbol of Zeus in the form of George Washington along with his family of gods who are given credit for winning the Revolutionary War.  The mural is called, "The Apotheosis of Washington" which means the rise to godhood.   The largest idol in Washington D.C. is just down the mall from this temple.  It is the Washington Monument that has nothing to do with him.  It is really an Egyptian ziggurat (idol) made to honor the Egyptian gods Osiris and his savior son Horus.  I am not making this up, these things are easily found in the Library of Congress on-line.  It is also discussed in the article, "In God We Trust?  The Pagan God's of Washington D.C."

Yet even while God said in Isaiah that he would not give his praise to graven images, as a nation by our own idols and images does this very thing!  That is just in the "secular" side that even Christians don't seem to grasp or notice.  While God told Israel to destroy the idols, images, and the ways of their gods, there are those churches that pray to images and idols which God prohibited.  There are others who give honor to images and idols, even putting them on the top of their temples - churches.

The terms "Church", "Christian", and "God" are all relative and do not mean what they mean anymore according to God's word.  We have churches that tolerate false teachers, and teachings that lead people astray.  We have a church that wants to so much be like the culture, the culture has buried the church into silence and submitting willingly to the culture through deception.  The "Church", which is not what it started out as 2000 years ago, is accepting homosexuality and the transgender stuff as normal and God approved.  It is not God approved; but they do not know the Word.  Many people think they are "Christian" because they belong to a particular denomination, or follow a particular person, or go to church on Sunday or are just "good people".

People say they believe in God; but what does that mean?  The Bible says that demons believe in God too; but even they tremble.  But demons follow Satan instead of God (James 2:19).

Others are into the false prosperity doctrines, the signs and wonders on the demonic side that come out of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR).  These NAR philosophy churches are part of the old "Dominion", "Kingdom Now" theologies.  We have the seeking of false spirits as seen in the New Apostolic Reformation churches like Bethel and associates who manifest demonic things purported to be of God.  Churches are into witchcraft under the guise of "science" with Guided Imagery / Visualization and associated "breathing exercises" as seen in Saddleback and Willow Creek and others who follow their deception.

Yoga has come into many churches as well as other sorts of things from pagan religions that are opposed to God.  At Bethel they even attribute power to a painting by one of their "prophetical artists" that causes people to fall down and they claim heals people. There are those other many celebrity pastors like "Prosperity Doctrine" teachers, Joel Olsteen, (many more) that say there is more than one way to God, in total opposition to him. I won't go into anymore here.  You can read more about these things in some of the other articles on this site.  These need to be prayed for to return to truth, so they can teach truth to those whom they have deceived.  For some, there is no truth to "return to" because we have a generation or two who grew up under the falsehoods they think is "normal". Unfortunately there will be many who will not understand. They do not know the Word.

The "Arts" have become popular in the church, just like they are in the world.  The "Arts" are being used to deceive people in the secular world just as now they are in the church.  People do not know that the "National Endowment for the Arts" has joined with the U.S. Department of Health to use "Art" for healing.  Bethel sure is into this with their Prophet Artists department.  Is it no wonder that the Democratic Congress slid in 25,000,000 bailout to the Kennedy Center For Performing Arts?  Even President Trump agreed with it.  (see "Kennedy Center defends $25M in coronavirus bailout money as it fuloughs staff" https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2020/04/01/kennedy-center-defends-25m-in-coronavirusbailout.html

Why is this so important over other things?

Jesus warned about these as seen in Matthew 7 where he said

¹³ Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

¹⁴ Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

¹⁵ Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves...

...²¹ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

²² Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

²³ And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

I don't want to be part of those Jesus is talking about.  When we look at the book of Revelation and see Jesus' message to the "Seven Churches", it should also be a warning to us to take a look at ourselves.  Out of these seven, five had issues of false doctrines, tolerating them, complacency, compromise, and pride.  Only one church had no criticism from Jesus.  This church was the church of Philadelphia.  It was the only church that God said he would spare from the Tribulation Period because they had not "denied my name", just a remnant (see the article on The Rapture) .  The others he gave a warning to repent of what he said they were doing or things would not go well (Revelation 2 and 3).

Pastors need to vet those they allow in to teach, resource and "perform" as well as the programs they bring in.  We need to vet the things that come before us too.  Check out the teacher you listen to, the guy on TV, the writer of a book, the music we listen to.  It is easy to do if we take the time.  John said to test the spirits saying in 1 John 4, "but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.".  If there were "many" 2000 years ago, how many more today. Too many today are not of the truth anymore and end up bringing in polluted teachings and cause the false to be trusted because of endorsements (2 John 9-11)

The point is, we need to take what is going on with this virus as a warning, and that we really need to see what we are doing many times today in in what is called the "Church", is in opposition to God's Word.  No one is immune from deception and should not be complacent about it.  Christians need to know the word of God.  We cannot even see what we may be doing that is not helping us; unless we do.  This is what God was telling Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7. We have to have God's Spirit to reveal this to us; if, in fact, we have the Spirit of God in us.  It is a message to his people!  It was then with Israel; it is now.

War Against Spiritual Forces

Paul told us in Ephesians 6:12

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

Having said that, we have to understand that man does not have the power to stop any of these forces which bring (among other things) disease, including those that God allows for his purposes.

Paul shows us how we fight against these things when he said in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

³ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:  ⁴ (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)  ⁵ Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

He expounds on this in Ephesians 6 when he says in verses 10-13;

¹⁰ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.  ¹¹ Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  ¹² For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

¹³ Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Paul then reveals what this armor is and the need to know it, which comes from knowing the word of God and obeying it.   These weapons are; truth (God's truth), righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith in His Word, helmet of salvation to guard our mind, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (in truth).

This brings us to an example of taking heed to what God told Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7.  We can see it in the circumstances of a battle of our minds, faith in God, and obedience to his word as seen in the confrontation between Judah's King Hezekiah, and the Assyrian King Sennacherib.

God Destroys An Impossible Enemy Apart From Man: A Look At A Battle In View Of Diseases

Assyrian King Sennacherib and his god Nisroch

The temple had not been used for years; God was out of the picture within Judah, but the false gods of the nations were not.  2 Chronicles 29:3-10 says,

³ He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them.  ⁴ And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street,  ⁵ And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.

⁶ For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs.  ⁷ Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel.

⁸ Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.

⁹ For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.  ¹⁰ Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.

And so he did.  He cleaned out the temple of the false gods, reinstated the Passover, and tore down all the idols and images set up in Judah (2 Chronicles 31:1)  We find him saying in chapter 30

⁷ And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see.

⁸ Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.

⁹ For if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.

But like today, just like we see now during this virus, some did not take this seriously; but only a few.  For it continues;

¹⁰ So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them.  ¹¹ Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.  ¹² Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the Lord.

But for those who did as Hezekiah told them, and reinstated the Passover, things were different.  For it says in chapter 30;

²⁶ So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem.  ²⁷ Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven.

Isn't this what God had promised Solomon that would happen if they came to their senses and turned back to him?  Yes!  And there were some twelve Kings between he and Solomon some 235 years since this promise.  That is a long time for not having great joy.

2 Chronicles 31:20-21 says,

²⁰ And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the Lord his God.  ²¹ And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.

But Hezekiah, like us, was not always a man of great faith.  In 2 Chronicles 32 and 2 Kings 18, we see that Shalmaneser, King of Assyria came up against Israel, captured them, as well as some of the cities of Judah; except Jerusalem.  2 Kings 18 says,

¹¹ And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes:  ¹² Because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them.

Now Shalmaneser's son, Sennacherib had succeeded him and came up against Jerusalem because they would not submit to his bondage and pay his tax.  Jerusalem was the last stronghold in Judah.  It was where God set his dwelling place.  And this is where we see in 2 Kings 18 (but not in 2 Chronicles) that King Hezekiah had a moment of lacking faith against this seemingly unstoppable demon following force (yet understand that they were an instrument of God).  This is what happened initially as seen in 2 Kings 18.

¹³ Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.  ¹⁴ And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

¹⁵ And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house.  ¹⁶ At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

Oh how sad!  He had just did what his father had done when he was King; taken the things that belonged to God and gave them to this demonic King!  But for Sennacherib this tribute was not enough.  He wanted Hezekiah to surrender himself and all Jerusalem to him.  This was the turning point for Hezekiah.

Spiritual Warfare Begins: Viewing The Assyrian Army As A Disease

Sennacherib sends his demonic army and messenger, Rabshakeh, in the manner of Satan, to besiege Jerusalem.  Hezekiah says this in 2 Chronicles 32 as this is playing out.

⁷ Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him:  ⁸ With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

COVID-19 (Coronavirus) -  Source: CDC

We do not war according to the flesh, not even when our flesh is the target.  Satan can come at us with a disease ("arm" or fleshly power) that affects our flesh with some unseen living creature we call a "germ", a thing of substance (see photo); but God has power over that.  This is readily seen in all the healings Jesus and his disciples did.  We have things we cannot control, nor fight against of ourselves.  But like verse 8 says, it is God who fights our battles, not we of ourselves.  Even the Roman Centurion (Rome was the enemy of Israel) who came to Jesus and asked him to heal his servant recognized this.  This Centurion said in Luke 7:7-10,

⁷ Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. ⁸ For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ⁹ When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” ¹⁰ And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

This man who was part of the occupying nation, recognized that Jesus has power over all things to use as he wills, and all things are under his authority and are subject to his commands; even an "arm of the flesh" like a germ to go or come.  Right now, COVID-19 is the army that comes against us.  But it can be applied to any disease.  God has control over this and he just might be waiting for us to respond to what he said in 2 Chronicles 7 so he can say "go" as the Centurion recognized Jesus can do.

Like Satan did with Paul (2 Corinthians 12:7) and does with us, he sends his messengers to cause us problems. And in this instance we see with Hezekiah, he puts doubt in our minds.  This demonic messenger of Sennacherib said to the people inside Jerusalem

¹⁰ Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem?  ¹¹ Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The Lord our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?  ¹² Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it?

¹³ Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of mine hand?  ¹⁴ Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand?  ¹⁵ Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand?

¹⁶ And his servants spake yet more against the Lord God, and against his servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷ He wrote also letters to rail on the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand.

¹⁸ Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews' speech unto the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble them; that they might take the city.  ¹⁹ And they spake against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, which were the work of the hands of man.

How Satan is this way with us when some disease comes upon us, and perhaps this COVID-19 plague.  Here this messenger is trying to cause fear and doubt and mocks trusting God.  He tries to tell the people that if you don't submit to him and his bondage, they are going to die from famine.  They, like we are today, were in lockdown.  Unable to come and go, work the land, they would eventually have no means to eat or drink.

This messenger blames Hezekiah for removing the gods (which were false gods) from Judah to trust in the true God instead.  Actually it was God, through the obedience of Hezekiah, that caused the removal of the false gods.  It is kind of like today when we see man and his establishments trying to scramble for ways to combat the COVID-19 apart from God.  That ability is not doing to well right now as people are getting sick, dying, and the economy is floundering while we are, like Jerusalem; "under siege".  This is really world-wide. Understand that if God brought it, there is no way man can stop it unless God says, "go".

This messenger from Satan reminds Hezekiah and the people that no other god of any nation has been able to stop the Assyrian army, so there is no remedy.  And this messenger was right!  Assyria had captured most of Judah and now they were going to capture Jerusalem.  Such is the results of apostasy, turning away from God to trusting other things, like man.  God was in control of this too. God said in Jeremiah 17:5-8

 ⁵ Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.  ⁶ For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.

⁷ Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.  ⁸ For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

What this messenger of Satan said was right about no one being able to defeat Assyria (the disease), but only for those who have turned from God and do not know his power.  But in this virus and other "no remedy" diseases, Satan does the same tactics on us.  There is no cure, no god (which God says are the works of man's hand) has ever been able to defeat this disease, and neither will your God.

I have a form of bone cancer which the medical experts say is not curable, only "manageable" through man's medicine.  This is just another Rabshakeh talking.  And when you bring up God to some of in the medical field I have seen, you can tell God is not even part of the equation.

Rabshakeh mocked God and railed against him and Hezekiah even more as seen in 2 Chronicles 32:16.  How we see this being done today with this virus.  The liberal media mocked My Pillow owner Mike Lindell for saying at one of the President's virus news conferences that we need to read the Bible and pray to God.  Some stations broke away from the conference while he was speaking, preferring to listen to man's "arm of the flesh".  They have no idea what they do to themselves when they do this.  Mocking God does not have good results, as we will see with Rabshakeh and the King of Assyria.

I am going to switch to this account from 2 Chronicles to 2 Kings because it will give more detail for us to see.  We pick up in 2 Kings 18:33-36 below on Rabshakeh' rant against God.

³³ Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?  ³⁴ Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?  ³⁵ Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?

³⁶ But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.

This is what we are called to do; not respond to the taunts, the lies, the fears that Satan brings to us in any disease, and this virus.  God had a different scenario.  When Hezekiah heard the taunts, the truths of Satan's victories, but the lies against God,  It says in 2 Kings 19:1-4

And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.

² And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.  ³ And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.

⁴ It may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.

So Hezekiah turns to God in this and goes to Isaiah the prophet to get some answer from God.  It continues,

⁶ And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.  ⁷ Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

This army left, but only for a short time and returned with the same threats in a letter; Your God can't defeat us (your God has no power over disease, give into and trust the system of man and you will be alright.)  Man's way is not working too well now.  With my disease, the medicine is almost as debilitating as the disease and causes other damages.  I would rather trust in God and be like that tree planted by the waters of God and have green leaves.

Now that this messenger of Satan has returned and repeated his rant against God and boasts his power, (his disease) is unbeatable, see what Hezekiah does in 2 Kings 19:14-19

¹⁴ And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.  ¹⁵ And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.

¹⁶ Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, Lord, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.  ¹⁷ Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,  ¹⁸ And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.

¹⁹ Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only.

Hezekiah's prayer is like that of Solomon's.  What we need to see in this when we are confronted with the diseases and lies of Satan is what Hezekiah did.  Hezekiah goes before God and spreads out before him the problem that exists.  He admits it is true that, up until now, no one has been able to defeat Assyria (just as there is no defeat for many diseases and even Corona with the "works of man's hands".  But Hezekiah asks God to do a work so that ALL the nations, who followed the other gods (work of mans hands) and were defeated, that they would see the power of the true God.  He wanted God to show the world their ways are futile, but trusting in the only true God was the way.  He tells us the same thing in this, and in this he is glorified.

Because Hezekiah brought his problem before God, humbled himself and prayed, acknowledged God as being the only way and brought to him the mocking and approach that God can't help, God answered him just as he promised Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7.  God said in 2 Kings 19:20-22,31-37 (you need to read the details before this too)

¹⁹ Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only.  ²⁰ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard....

God rebukes Sennacherib and his messenger.  He says in verses 21-22

²¹ This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.

²² Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.

This should be a lesson to those today that mock those who put their trust in God; they mock God when they do this.  God goes on to tell Hezekiah that the time will come when Judah will go into captivity into Babylon for their future apostasy, but this is not the time (perhaps today is not the time for the world to see the full judgment either, but a time of grace).  God tells him

^...31 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.  ³² Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.  ³³ By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord.

³⁴ For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.

³⁵ And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. ³⁶ So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.  ³⁷ And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

This was again the fulfillment of this promise to Solomon.  As the seemingly impossible-to-defeat 185,000 army of the demonic Assyrians came against Judah, so the seemingly never defeated diseases and their germs come against us, including this COVID-19 virus, which is new, and has besieged us in the same way.  BUT, to those who trust in God and not listen to the words of man that their is no remedy, nor rely upon his institutions for solutions, and really take it to heart that this pandemic is most likely a warning and God's grace; we will listen and respond as God promised in 2 Chronicles 7.  Did you notice God spoke only of a "remnant" here, and that Jesus did the same when he said of his Kingdom there would be "few" that would enter, and only one of seven churches were spared the tribulation?  This should be sobering to us.

What did Judah have to do?  Recognize their sins, Get rid of all the false gods, humble themselves, and that when the armies of Satan come perhaps God is speaking, pray to God; and he will hear.  Then, like God did with the Assyrians, he will destroy the disease himself as well as the messenger who brought it; for we have no power over it without God.  Thus, perhaps this nation will see, as will others, that there is a true God.  But the message of God is to whom?  His people.

Listen again to what God told Solomon

¹⁰ And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people away into their tents, glad and merry in heart for the goodness that the Lord had shewed unto David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.

¹¹ Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord, and the king's house: and all that came into Solomon's heart to make in the house of the Lord, and in his own house, he prosperously effected. 

¹² And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.

¹³ If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;  ¹⁴ If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

¹⁵ Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.  ¹⁶ For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

And that is the way it was for Hezekiah and Judah, and it can be the way for his true Church today.  "IF"...

But God also gave Solomon a warning not to degenerate from following God that we need to listen to because it did come to pass with Israel as God told Hezekiah and we see today.  We are somewhat this way now in following the world and incorporating their gods and ways.  This why we need to take to heart the first promises in verse 14.

¹⁹ But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them  ²⁰ Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.

²¹ And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and unto this house?

²² And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.

Of interest is that when God delivered Israel out of Egypt and gave them all manner of blessings, including freedom from the diseases of Egypt, he warned them in Deuteronomy 28 that, while giving them many blessings for following him, there would be many curses and diseases if they did not (Read it).  But he says something interesting that man does not understand or get.  He warned,

²⁷ The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.  Exodus 28:27

Sounds like today, doesn't  it?  But we still try to find solutions to some things there are no man made solutions for.  Probably a good time to listen because God does not want this for us either.

Winning A Battle Without God Is Losing The War

Can man win battles against enemies like the COVID19 and still lose the war against it?  Yes; possibly, for now; a perceived victory.  Throughout our medical history of coming up with medicines for diseases this is the way it has been.  But, they are not gone, just managed or "mitigated" as is the term used for dealing with COVID19.  But if we look, the diseases are not really gone and man's vaccines are the way they are managed.  But, they keep coming back.  And even recently with the flu vaccines, it is guesswork to find the right vaccine for whatever flu comes back each season.  And many times they get it wrong; so people die even though they may take the vaccine.  For instance we see this from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) site

"CDC estimates that influenza was associated with more than 35.5 million illnesses, more than 16.5 million medical visits, 490,600 hospitalizations, and 34,200 deaths during the 2018–2019 influenza season. This burden was similar to estimated burden during the 2012–2013 influenza season". https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/2018-2019.html

The 2019-2020 flu season CDC stats show even higher "guessed" numbers because the CDC does not have accurate data to draw upon.  However, their "estimates" from October 2019 to March 28, 2020 are:
39 to 55 million flu cases, 18 million to 26 million medical visits, 400 thousand to 700 thousand hospital stays, 24 thousand to 63 thousand deaths. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/preliminary-in-season-estimates.htm

So this is the mindset with this current pandemic; manage it with vaccines and other medicines that take away the symptoms.  But, it will come back.

So let us learn our final example in this article from the Bible (yet there are many) by which we can see that winning a battle apart from God does not bring victory, just continual hardships

In 2 Chronicles 14 we see Asa became King of Judah.  At the beginning  he "did good and right in the sight of the Lord".  It says he removed the idols that were still there, the foreign alters (we have a lot of them today in the church), the images, sacred pillars, and the sacred images called the Asherim (images to the Queen of Heaven, the mother goddess).  Because he did this, Judah had rest from it's enemies until the Ethiopians came against him.

In verse 11 we see Asa crying out to God in prayer concerning this.  He said

¹¹ And Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let no man prevail against thee.  ¹² So the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.

We see in verses 13 and 14 that

¹³ And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before the Lord, and before his host; and they carried away very much spoil.  ¹⁴ And they smote all the cities round about Gerar; for the fear of the Lord came upon them: and they spoiled all the cities; for there was exceeding much spoil in them.

Numbers of the enemy are of no consequence to God.  The Ethiopians had an army of about 1 million, whereas Asa had about half that. When Asa relied upon God and cried out to him in prayer, God gave victory and complete victory that this demonic army could not recover.  Lesson 1 with this disease.  Not mitigation, but eradication so it can't come back.  It takes trusting in God, not man who does not acknowledge him, but should.

But later Asa failed in this.

During this time, Israel was split into two factions.  There were the apostate ten tribes of Israel, and the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin of which Asa was King of.  In 2 Chronicles 16 we see that Israel, Judah's former brothers in the Lord came against Judah.  But for some unknown reason, Asa did not bring this before God like he did when the Ethiopians came against them.  This time Asa went to an ally of Israel for help, King Ben-Hadad of Aram, instead.

Asa bribed Ben-Hadad to defect from helping Israel to siding with Judah.  So we see in 2 Chronicles 16 that this political force together seemingly defeated Israel.  But we do not see Asa defeating Israel's army, for is says in verse 5

⁵ And it came to pass, when Baasha heard it, that he left off building of Ramah, and let his work cease.

Baasha just left, and Asa picked up what he had left behind, but did not even go after the army.  So it still remained to come back.

This was a mistake for Asa and one that is made today because we do not rely upon God.  So we see a prophet by the name of Hanani speaking to Asa as seen in verses 7-9.

⁷ And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand.

⁸ Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the Lord, he delivered them into thine hand.  ⁹ For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.

Asa did not like this truth, and we see that Asa put this prophet in prison and oppressed some of the people at this time.  Asa displayed a problem that Israel had then, and we have now,  Isaiah brought this out in Isaiah 30:9-13+ when he said,

⁹ That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord:  ¹⁰ Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:  ¹¹ Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.

¹² Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:  ¹³ Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.

And this is man today (Lesson 2).  Unless we rely on God to fight against this virus and even others, so that God will remove them and not mitigate them, they will still be around.  We man win a temporary battle, but lose the war God intends us to win.  Like the prophet told Asa, you will surely have wars because you relied on man and not God, like we will still have these diseases because we have done the same.

Hopefully some will understand this and we will be like God told Asa,

 ⁹ For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.