7. II Chronicles 32
10 Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem?
16 And his servants spake yet more against the Lord God, and against his servant Hezekiah.
20 And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven.
21 And the Lord sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword.
When I read about Isaiah and Hezekiah praying and crying to heaven this morning, I was reminded of a flag that was shown in the miniseries “John Adams” which had the phrase “Appeal to Heaven.” It apparently came from what John Locke wrote in 1690: “And where the body of the people, or any single man, is deprived of their right, or is under the exercise of a power without right, and have no appeal on earth, then they have a liberty to appeal to heaven, whenever they judge the cause of sufficient moment.”
This is a thought that feels very much in line with what I have learned here, which is the fact that we don’t need to meet mortal mind on its own battlefield, but rather see that it has no place in Truth, Life, and Love. Such an “Appeal to Heaven” will serve to turn error – that “power without right” – on itself, even as it did in the time of Isaiah and Hezekiah.
I was just about to post this, and then I realized it was my own “Appeal to Heaven” that brought me to Plainfield. In the midst of all I was facing, my call to God for help is what changed everything for me. I am so grateful to learn that God is always there for us!
Thank you!