Reading for June 13th

Read Isaiah 39.1-8. In 39.1-8: The visit of the Babylonian emissaries. The book of Isaiah is built around the belief in God's concern with the Davidic dynasty of kings and the city of Jerusalem where God's Temple stood. The contrast between the late dynasty and the city in 701 BCE, when Isaiah was active as a prophet, and events a century later when the Babylonian forces confronted Jerusalem (in 598 and again in 587 BCE), effectively divides the book between two main periods- the Assyrian and the Babylonian epochs. The visit of Babyloniian emissaries to Hezekiah when Sennacherib threatened the king and his city forms a bridge between these two main sections. The events of vv. 6-7 occurred in 598 BCE when Jehoiachin was removed from the throne and taken prisoner to Babylon, with most of his immediate household (2 Kings 24.10-17). God's protection of Jerusalem and its Davidic dynasty was not unconditional, but depended upon the obedience and submission of each ruler. The comment of Hezekiah, The will be peace and secuirty in my days (v. 8), is not selfish complacency but submissive acceptance of the conditions under which God's promise was conferred. More than this could not be given. Comments or Question..