On the Prophet Isaiah, and Texas Democrats....

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
Galatians 6:7 (KJV)

This morning, we read the following verse about the Assyrian assault during Hezekiah's time:

And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Surely I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”

Isaiah 37:6-7

In other words, God frequently brings a spirit of confusion upon those who mock Him.

Which, without dwelling on this website's greatest hit, got us thinking about this incident last summer:



Which was followed up, this past week, by this:

Texas Democrats are scrambling to can stop a controversial pro-impeachment, anti-ObamaCare candidate from advancing in their party’s Senate primary.

Winning the general election is long shot for any nominee. But with Democrats optimistic about a resurgence in the Lone Star State and their chances in the governor’s race, Lyndon LaRouche acolyte Kesha Rogers could damage those hopes if she even advances to a runoff on Tuesday.

Such a scenario once seemed like a long shot, but a University of Texas-Texas Tribune Internet-based survey late last month showed the controversial candidate outpolling two better-funded and well-endorsed opponents, dentist David Alameel and attorney Maxey Scherr.

The poll of the five-way Democratic race didn’t have any candidate topping the 50 percent threshold to avoid a May runoff. But Rogers was leading Alameel for the right to likely face Sen. John Cornyn (R), by a 35 percent to 27 percent margin. Scherr was third with 15 percent.

A follower of LaRouche’s, Rogers shares many of the Democratic activist’s fringe positions such as impeaching President Obama, repealing ObamaCare and “crushing Wall Street.” She also advocates the reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act to limit securities trading, and has a detailed plan for space exploration and harnessing thermonuclear fusion energy. In the past, she’s drawn Hitler mustaches on Obama posters and likened ObamaCare to practices of Nazi doctors.

....

Rogers’s campaign manager Ian Overton defended the LaRouche candidate, arguing voters have been positively responsive to her ideas.

“The Texas Democratic party 30 years ago was directly in line with what Kesha stands for,” Overton said. “We think the Democratic Party has been hijacked by Wall Street interests. Kesha is trying to bring it back to what it believed in.”

Still, the low-interest race remains unpredictable. If Rogers does advance to a runoff, expect Democrats to go all out to stop her there, afraid she could roil their chances in other contests.

....

“Unless you have a hotly contested primary race, the Democrats who go to polls are going to be well-motivated and well-informed,” Greenberg predicted. “I don’t think this one poll means she is going to win. It just means people have not been paying attention.”

She did win.  Now Texas Democrats are in the awkward position of having to unite behind a rich white guy to crush the dreams of a black woman.  That's never a good place for Democrats to be.

Returning to Isaiah and King Hezekiah, how did that invasion attempt work out for Assyria?!?

Sennacherib’s Defeat and Death

Then the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
Isaiah 37:36-38

The Assyrian empire crumbled a short time later; choose your next move wisely Texas Democrats....

2 Kings 19:29-31 and the United States in 2013

"This shall be a sign to you: You shall eat this year such as grows of itself, And in the second year what springs from the same; Also in the third year sow and reap, Plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them.  And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah Shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.  For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, And those who escape from Mount Zion.  The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this."  2 Kings 19:29-31

"God graciously gave Hezekiah a sign of His good intentions for His people.  Despite the fact that the Assyrian invasion had adversely affected the crops for that year and the next, by the time of the third year the fields would again yield a plentiful harvest.  Even as a natural growth would remain for the two years preceding the harvest of the third year, so God left in Israel a spiritual remnant that would in a future day swell into a mighty harvest of souls."  Commentary on Verse 29, Nelson Study Bible 

"The Lord's plan for your life will happen.  Some plans are not meant to come to pass overnight.  Sometimes the plan God has for you is a process that takes time to become reality."  Pastor John Hagee, Facebook, Earlier Today

I read that passage of scripture last week and it has stuck with me; I can't help wondering if we're witnessing something similar in the United States today.

Read in context, this passage describes God's deliverance of the Southern Kingdom, under King Hezekiah, shortly after the fall of Israel in 722 B.C.  God was in the process of rescuing Judah.  But the roots had to go down before the vineyards could produce fruit.

But when the time was right, the fruit came.  Under Hezekiah's godly leadership, Judah was blessed with a national revival that lasted decades.  But doing it right takes time.

Over the past few years, we've had some obvious setbacks, but we've also seen a lot of good.  On the surface, things look grim.  But there could be a lot going on under the surface that hasn't yet produced fruit.

Or maybe the United States is Israel, and Texas needs to prepare to be Judah; but that's a topic for another day.