Our thought today follows on from yesterday’s. King Hezekiah’s prayer and Isaiah’s prophecy are recorded in 2 Kings 19. The boasting Assyrians would evaporate like the morning mist. Hezekiah’s prayer (verses 14-19) shows his faith and commitment to the one true God. He is an example to all who are in dark situations. In some parts of the world today the situation is dark for Bible believers. Hezekiah prays earnestly, saying “LORD the God of Israel … you have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear O LORD and hear …Save us … from his hand (the Assyrian King) that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone” (verses 15,16,19).

Isaiah sends a message to Hezekiah that his prayer has been heard. His message includes a latter day reference, “The surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD will do this” (verses 30,31). A remnant has survived through many centuries and has taken root again. We look for the time when they will bear fruit for God, when “all the kingdoms of the world” will realize there is one true Creator God.

Our Ezekiel reading (chapter 9) is about the time when God’s anger overflowed against Jerusalem. There was no good king like Hezekiah on the throne; but as Ezekiel’s book unfolds we will come to remarkable prophecies which are being fulfilled in our days. Those who read God’s word build their faith on such prophecies.