The part left out is where the Assyrians are in their arrogance and pride exalted above all nations, and ultimately above the God of Israel, above the Most High, through contempt and war against His people. The rulers of the Assyrians expressed the convictions of their insolent warriors, who would not repent, in fact they were spiritually dead.
The Lord miraculously answers them through prophecy and then through an angel who destroys 185,000 soldiers in one night. I must say, this is a huge number, you need to destroy (kill) about ten people per second (one person in about the blink of an eye). But it is shown what power angels have when necessary.
This is a warning to all who act as (against) God fighters.
At the same time, we see here that the Lord protects His people even from great human power, which is worthless compared to God (or rather, one of God’s vast number of angels).
Continuing the theme, the Lord shows that prayer is able to change
God’s judgments. Here we need to dwell in more detail. King Hezekiah was
righteous, though not blameless. His prayer was heard
, but as New
Testament people we understand and know that before Hezekiah prayed, the
Lord had prompted him to such a prayer. Because everything good that a
person has, he / she receives from the Lord, from the Father of
lights
, as the apostle James writes.
And the whole story serves as both instruction and a sign for
Hezekiah himself and others, that the Lord’s will is not something
static
, immovable
, but the Lord always cares about people. He allows
them this or that, so that they turn with a sincere heart, completely to
Him.
Therefore, the Lord knew that Hezekiah would pray sincerely, with
tears, He knew that will heal him and give him a good life later (by the
standards of the time, to live 15 years after recovering from a fatal
illness is a very long time), He knew that the example of Hezekiah would
serve for many, that is why He encouraged him (although he was somewhat
lazy
) to prayers with threatening words.
It also shows that the Lord is not a tyrant, but also a protector and deliverer.
Abram and Lot separated and began to live separately, in different areas, due to a disagreement between their herdsmen. There were many people and not all of them were distinguished by virtue, so disputes arose between the servants.
Abram, out of love as Lot’s uncle, agreed with him that they should live separately.
It is worth noting that Abram took care of his servants (like also Lot). Both were righteous and did God’s will.
I will also note that Lot chose his place of residence not according
to the condition of the people of that land, but for geographical
reasons – there was a good area, rich and fertile, so that he could
manage his farm well. He did not expect what would happen next, he was,
therefore, short-sighted (and perhaps a little naive, he trusted people
too much, since he himself was righteous and good, so he wanted to see
this in others as well).
Right here, in the reading, it is emphasized that people of that area were evil and very sinful. There should be more reading on this topic later.
Abram received a new promise from the Lord regarding descendants.
Dust of the land
— generally speaking, it is better translation
than rather spread one as sand of the earth
. By the way, back in the
days of Archimedes (before Christmas), the latter wrote a mathematical
treatise on the number of grains of sea sand. But the Lord is not
talking about sand, but about dust, the loose part of the soil. It is
really difficult to count
due to the fact that it is difficult to
distinguish it as separate elements.
Dust consists of powders, which are randomly connected to each other in such a way that a loose mixture of connected elements is formed, which is difficult to distinguish individually.
These words of God refer to the Church of Christ and are a prophecy
about the mystical Body of Christ, where the faithful are united with
each other in a mysterious way in One Body. It is also a prophecy that
it is difficult to determine the human’s part (God’s final decision
about her future at God’s Last Judgment), and therefore among the
children of Abraham
there will be even those who did not expect it at
all.
The oak of Abraham (a Mamvrian oak, because it belonged to a man named Mamvre) near Hebron still exists. O God, grant us me to write about it later.
Again, the Greek and Hebrew texts differ greatly.
The general theme of the reading is similar to the previous ones, about the meaning of wisdom and righteousness, about the decay of sinners, about how to behave.
I will pay attention to the verses of Proverbs XV, 1 – even
intelligent people, but who do not have the virtue of meekness and
self-control, sometimes succumb to anger. And then their mind
disappears. A soft (gentle, tender
) response to provocation reduces
tension, and a sharp response raises
(increases) indignation, anger,
wrath.
Also, Proverbs XV, 3 is a parallel with the New Testament words about
love for enemies – The heavenly Father sends the sun on the evil and on
the good.
There is a good essay about the latter at the link:
https://www.facebook.com/Oleksandr.S.Zhabenko/
Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!