Article August 18, 1951 Issue

DIVINE PRESERVATION

JAMES K. WESTOVER

The book of the prophet Isaiah details the teachings of one who was the counselor and friend of kings. Isaiah was a citizen of Jerusalem, a man of social position and of keen perception and judgment. On one occasion, when Sennacherib, king of Assyria, led his great army through Judah, capturing cities and villages and deporting many of their inhabitants, so that great fear seized the populace in besieged Jerusalem, it was Isaiah who furnished valuable counsel to King Hezekiah. The latter, afraid of the destruction which he expected Sennacherib would wreak upon his capital, had decided to depend upon his ally, Egypt, for aid. Isaiah argued strongly against this procedure.

Among Isaiah's assurances to the king and to the people of Jerusalem will be found this passage (31:5): "As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it." And so it proved. Isaiah's prayers were answered, and the city was spared. His words not to "go down to Egypt for help," but to look "unto the Holy One of Israel" (Isa. 31:1), were not uttered in vain. During the intervening eras, and today in the twentieth century, many have profited by Isaiah's promise and seen its fulfillment in their own immediate experience. Christian peoples in many lands are today placing radical reliance upon their understanding of God's willingness and ability to extricate them and their governments from threatening evils.

On page 589 of the textbook of Christian Science, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy defines Jerusalem in part as, "Home, heaven." And for those who believe their homes to be in danger there is help in her assurance (ibid., p. 134), "There is divine authority for believing in the superiority of spiritual power over material resistance." Surely, then, Christian Scientists are fully warranted in quelling their fears with the remembrance of Isaiah's promise. Of a certainty we may know that "as birds flying," the Lord of hosts will defend, deliver, and preserve our homes, our consciousness of harmony.

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EVERLASTING LIFE
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