Étiquette : neoclassical music

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FROM SATAN TO JESUS

Hello friends! first of all, I hope that you’re all doing good! I’m deeply grateful to God to share with you a new piece of music called « From Satan To Jesus ».

The contemplation is split into two layers. Regarding the first one and how the idea of the piece came: I was scrolling, searching for an artwork to buy for some pieces of music I’m working on. I suddenly came across that somber image, representing a sad, tormented woman in anime style. It wasn’t at all what I was searching for, but I could not get my eyes off that pic! It grabbed my attention in a particular manner, and right on, my heart wanted to start a new musical project — based on that art.

There was a rush in my heart to get my hands on the keyboard and play. As said many times, I truly belive that Music is a Gift from God, so, I asked God to compose through me, and by His Grace and Kindness, the first chords and notes came. I stopped the other musical projects to lean particularly on this one. The vision became sharper in me, I saw a woman deeply involved in the occult, completely immersed in Satanism, who was extremely tormented, who needed deliverance but was hopeless — without knowing where to go.

I genuinely believe that it comes from Christ and that this piece may have been created for that person. If you’re involved into the occult and are in torment, this music was certainly made for you, and your delivrance is none other than Christ. I hope this is your sign!

From Satan To Jesus

For the second layer of the contemplation, I wanted to take the occasion to share with you the story of Satan and his kingdom — from his origins, to his personality to his influence and activity upon the world and finally to share what God says about him — how to overcome the devil fully, and how to be saved. If you want to know more about being saved now, I have written an article on this specific subjet here : Are You Saved?

I believe that it is very important for the world, both believers and unbelievers to know what Jesus-Christ of Nazareth has to say about Satan. The Devil is not a little red creature with two little horns, a tail and a pitchfork. It’s not even an angel, but a cherub. Surely a complex creature with many detailed and intricate features (see as an example in the book of Ezekiel, chapter 10, verse 14). Perhaps the highest in the hierarchy of heavenly beings, seemingly even the closest to God.

He is not ugly but extremely beautiful, isn’t an atheist but a devout and hateful religious being. His influence is more effective and increases the best, when no one knows who he is, when no one knows his involvement in Heaven, on earth, and on humans. The Bible says it clearly. You and I have an invisible enemy to identify and to defeat.

If you’re new here — before to go further in the description — I’m a simple Bible believing Christian. It means that I only believe the Bible. I don’t belong to any kind of denomination, but only the Scriptures. There is a great deal of differences between the Bible and all the denominations out there — some more than others — so I encourage you to go and stay to the source, (The Bible) and be grounded in it. Fact-check everything with it, and you won’t have any confusions in your faith regarding false and stranger teachings, for they will be easy to spot and to avoid.

Satan’s Origin and activity before he rebelled: Jesus says that Satan was created in the very beginning of time, perhaps even before planet earth came into existence. Perhaps, he was even rejoicing among the complete corpus of celestial beings, when our planet came into being, as states the book of Job :

«Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know understanding, Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy? »

God — Book of Job, chapter 38 verse 4 to 7).

To clarify the context, God is replying to Job’s issues he had in his reasoning against God. To answer Job, God went back to the Creation Week, stating that the « Sons of God shouted for joy » when they saw the earth forming. The « Sons of God » are another recurrent expression to identify The celestial beings (see here and here). Based on that verse it is more likely that Satan was among them praising God. At that time, he did not fell and everything was made good, as God said.

His creation seems to be very special, as music was prepared for his service on the very day he came into existence. (It’s worth remembering that Satan is deeply connected to music, and seems to know it very well, furthermore, based on the King James Version, many think that music was even crafted in his very body). Moreover, The Scriptures tell us that he was covered with precious stones. We don’t know whether these stones were encrusted in his body or around him, but it says a lot about his stature. He was full of beauty, wisdom and authority. He was created free and good — full of integrity — until he rebelled against God. The Bible reveals two of his main geographical locations before he revolted. He was assigned to the very Mountain of God in Heaven, and was also assigned to the Garden of Eden on earth, to watch over it. He probably watched Adam and Eve from birth, and perhaps even « guarded » them, maybe even the flora and fauna. I’ve put the whole verse if you’d like to read it for yourself.

From Darkness To The Light
Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

— God, Book of Ezekiel, chapter 28

As said, he spend his early life as a good and faithful, but got seduced by its own beauty, stature, wisdom and power. He wanted more, it wasn’t enough. He then became violent. Not only he decided to rebel against God, but he wanted to become like the God of the Universe himself — placing his throne above God’s. (Book of Isaiah chapter 14, and here). In His rebellion against Him, he also seduced a large nombers of other angels (Which were also created good and free, but decided to follow the fallen cherub.)

After his fall he went to Eve to seduce her. Note that he did not come to Eve as a cherub in its true physical shape, but certainly put his spirit through an animal « the serpent » — (that had at the time many amazing intellectual features, even capable of language and reasoning (see here and here) — had a completely different physical shape from the one we see today (see here) and agreed with the devil. The very animal got punished right after. He then approached her. Adam and Eve rebelled against God, humanity was doomed, death entered the world, our relationship with God was broken.

How did Satan dommed mankind? by evil wisdom, by a sweet, and ear candy lie. No weapon, no force, only well crafted lie. He said to Eve to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to become… like God! (see here). (Note that it is still the same wicked desire Satan has, obsessed with the idea to become God. It worked for him enough to be doomed, so it must work for Adam and Eve!)

Satan’s Personality and Activiy :

1) Jesus says that Satan is the father of lies. Because he was the very first that lied in the creation, making him by default the father of liers. Each time we lie, we’re similar to Satan. He excels at lying, to the world, to you and me. He can make you believe that you are special on Monday, someone important — then make you believe that God cannot forgive you for you’re the worst sinner that ever walked planet earth, the very next day. Not all the voices you hear from within are from you, nor true or morals. Take into consideration the influence of Satan so that you won’t be fooled. Jesus explains how to defeat him, I’ll try to explain below. (God loves you very much, even in your lowest)

2) Jesus says that Satan is also a murderer since the beginning. It’s true that because of him and Adam, humanity, started to die, making him the worst murderer in history. Not only he killed in this way, but also through sickness, pain, diseases, and all sort of violence.

"He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."

— Jesus, book of John, chapter 8 verse 44

3) Jesus says that Satan is also a Stealer. When God created the earth, it was for Himself and for humans to rule over. Adam was meant to control the earth in a good and holy way. When we fell and got doomed, we lost our control upon it, and was given for a certain time to The Devil — making him the greatest thief of the history of the world. He stole earth from us, humans. Not only that, but he wants to steal your joy, your hope, your life, your career, everything you have.

4) Jesus says that Satan also destroys. Everything you’re trying to build, he will do his best to destroy it. If you walk with God and follow Jesus, He won’t be able to but he will try. Remember that without Jesus you cannot defeat Satan! (See here and here).

"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy"

— Jesus, book of John, chapter 10 verse 10

5) Jesus says that Satan is hatred. He hates you and me to the core. (See here). You might have noticed that secular entertainments, perhaps even philosophies likes to represent him as the victim or the « good guy ». It is his dream that anyone could believe this. His dream of dreams is to see you doomed with him, especially to see you suffer, in torment. He wants to see you loose all the things or people you love, including the smallest pet you cherish. As the proverbs states : «Misery likes company ».

"Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."

— Apostle Peter, first letter, chapter 5 verse 8

6) Satan is intensely religious. He knows the Bible better than any Bible scholar (see here). He tempted Jesus with the Bible. He seduced Eve with a distorted Bible (The very Spoken Word of God). They killed Jesus with the Bible. He is actively involved in religious affairs. He’s the creator of every religion on earth, he’s behind every idol you can imagine (see here and here), and he’s working hard in the Christian faith itself, to imitate, corrupt, confuse, disgust and destroy people from within. (See here, here and here). He does everything he can to keep mankind away from the Truth, Jesus-Christ, God in the flesh who came to die for us, to save us from our sins, to repear Adam’s fall, and who Rose Again. (See here). 

Then the devil took Him (Jesus) up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

Satan — Book of Matthew, chapter 4, verse 1.

Right above is an exemple of Satan, tempting Jesus with the very Bible, saying « For it is written ». Well known expression in Scriptures, meaning « Written in The Scriptures ». Have you noticed that the world is not anti-God, but anti-Jesus? Have you realized that the world takes the name « Jesus » as its curse word, but no other name from any other faith? Have you noticed that so-called Christians used the very name of Jesus to kill people? This is Satan, and he must be exposed. Jesus Himself said so.

Before to continue, it’s important to emphasize that — according to Jesus Christ of Nazareth Himself, there is no other way to Salvation, to God than through Himself. We can only enter Eternity through Christ. His Divinity, His Death and Resurrection for us. Even if a religion presents Jesus differently, saying even good things about Him, but not as the Scriptures said, you know who’s behind it. Satan. As long as you deviate a bit, and don’t trust the real Jesus — Satan rejoices, because he knows that without Christ’s Sacrifice, you and I will remain in sin, and that one day we’ll have to answer for it!

Jesus saith unto him, 

I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 

— Jesus, book of John, chapter 10 verse 10

7) The Bible teaches that Satan still has access to heaven. (See here, here, there and there). For some reasons we don’t understand fully, Satan has still access to God. As surprising as it may sound, Satan is more in heaven than on earth. So what does he do there? He accuses us. Day and night, he accuses us before God. He makes sure to remember God our sins, wrong doing, to solicit God’s Wrath and Justice upon us — so that we can get legally hit. (that is why it’s very important to always repent, so that the devil can’t have anything to bring to God). The following passage, talks about Satan’s future when he will be fully thrown on earth, then in hell:

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: 

For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. 
Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."

— God - Book of Revelation, chapter 12 verse 10

8) Jesus says that world dominion has been temporary given to Satan

As we saw above, Satan has dominion over the earth for a certain period of time. (See Matthew chapter 4 verse 8 to 11). Clearly, the world we see today is in chaos. Some countries are worse than others. Satan can’t be everywhere at once. He has a well-articulated and coordinated kingdom, in which he reigns at the highest level.

The Bible breaks down the layers of Satan’s kingdom. As we said earlier, Satan seems to be more in heaven than on earth. Just below Satan, are the Principalities. What are they? Importants fallen angels who resides in heaven and influences regions, even countries or kingdoms, to evil, wickedness, through politics, and all possible spheres (see here).

« For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.»

— Apostle Paul, book of Ephesians, chapter 6 verse 12

Then, on earth, Satan has his demons, who are also fallen angels but who’ve lost their bodies. That’s why a demon absolutely wants to live in a human, for he has no rest otherwise. We can’t estimate the number of demons roaming the earth, but we can be sure — given the high number of people tortured — that it’s in the millions, if not billions (I’m not affirming anything, it’s a purely subjective statement).

These demons all specialize in something. They cause mental illness, skyzophrenia and many other physical diseases. A person can be also possessed by several demons simultaneously (see here). When Jesus healed and delivered people from demons, He often called them by their specialty. See an example here: 

He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again.”

Jesus — Book of Mark chapter 9 verse 25
From Satan To Jesus

How to overcome Satan?

Jesus is God become human. Since the human race was condemned, Jesus came to save it and thus became man. When we rebelled against God, it is written that « sin » entered humanity. Sin is a law, living within us, which makes us live a life opposed to God, which makes us God’s enemy, which makes it impossible for us to please God. Furthermore, sins and all evil will have to be punished at some point, otherwise God wouldn’t be Just.

However, God loved us so much that instead of punishing you and me for our evil deeds, He punished Himself. When Jesus died on the Cross, He was punished in our place, so that you and I could be cleansed and saved from our sins and eternal punishment.

Your sins and mine were transferred to His Body. When Jesus died, our sins died too. When He rose from the dead, He proved that He was who He claimed to be — God.

If you believe that Jesus loves you, that He came and Died to save you from your sins, if you believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, you are now saved. And that’s how you defeated Satan. (See here).

Jesus gives us authority and power over demons and all Satan’s forces of evil. Demons can be cast out of people. Some may resist, but they will still be cast out through prayer and fasting (see here and here and here).

A demon enters when you open a door for it. It could be magic, tarot cards, new-age stuff, ouja boards, consulting mediums, invoking spirits, witchcraft, depravity, alcohol, drugs, sin in general, etc. Not everyone is possessed, though.

I was tormented by a demon for 7 months straight, day and night, until I gave my life to Jesus and was saved. I was delivered shortly after I started following Christ.

There are so many things and details to say about Satan. This is already a long article. Forgive me, it’s far from perfect! I hope you’ll catch the main points. I encourage you to give your heart to Jesus, and to follow Him through the Scriptures. He Loves You. I would like to conclude by a quote from Jesus, that gave the music its title (He is talking to Paul the Aposlte) : 

 I'am sending you to them, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

— Jesus, book of Acts chapter 26, verse 18
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HE PRAYS FOR HER

He Prays For Her - Efisio Cross

Hello everyone,

I hope that you are all fine! I’m deeply grateful to God to share with you a new piece of music called « He Prays For Her ». It’s a masculine response to the previous orchestration named « She Prays For Him » which focused on the role of the woman in research for her husband.

The present music has two main contemplations: :

1 -) The first is to encourage every man to be saved and to become a sincere man of God.

2 -) The second one is to focus on how to prepare yourself to meet your future wife.

As my music is for everyone both believers and un-believers, I will try to stay as simple and basic as possible. If you’re a man and if you have never heard about The Love Jesus has for you, I encourage you to read this article I wrote here : Are You Saved?. You may have heard of Jesus but don’t know Him, or maybe you have been disappointed with people proclaiming to be Christians and ended up being hurt, I encourage you to go way above this.

The real Jesus, the One from Biblical Scriptures Loves you and I wish you with all my heart to meet Him in your personal life. It’s not about churches, clergy, denominations, it’s about Jesus’s Heart and Yours. You will never be the same after encountering Him.

Simply put, God created the world. God created mankind. Mankind decided to rebel against God and death entered the world. Our mistakes, sins and wickedness severed our relationship with Him. We can’t save ourselves, so God decided to become a man (since it’s the human race that must be saved) and came down on Earth. He then lived a morally and spiritually perfect life (the one we all should have lived) — without sinning once, and finally offered His Life in our place on The Cross. The third day, He Resurrected, proving who He claimed to be : God.

In order for us to be purified and brought back to our Creator, Jesus had to die, so that our sins would be transferred to His body to die as well. He paid the legal price of our sins, being a substitute. Jesus says that if you believe He died and rose for you, and accept His gift of Salvation, you are now a saved person. You won’t have to answer for your own sins on Judgment Day, because you’ve believed that God paid the penalty for them to bring you back to Him. You will also be offered Eternal Life. As we said earlier, we were not created to die.

Living now for Christ will be decisive, you’re a brand new person, the past is gone, so are your mistakes, just like your old identity that made you do bad things (big or small).

What does it mean to become a man? What is a man?

If we don’t have an ultimate foundation on what constitute masculinity, all is left to us is complete subjectivism, more or less shaped by culture. It won’t ever be stable, for culture and philosophies change all the time. If we believe Jesus, then our reference regarding masculinity won’t change at all. It might not be popular — often regarded as counter cultural — but at least, you can be sure that it won’t be shaken.

If you want to become a man, and embrace Biblical masculinity, simply observe Jesus-Christ of Nazareth and imitate Him. I will try to split the contemplation into different layers and stay focused on the big lines.

1 ) — The Spirital
2 ) — Your Character
3 ) — Holiness

4 ) — Work
5) — The Physical
6) — Sexuality

The Spiritual is pivotal. You have a spirit, and your spirit needs to receive Jesus’s Spirit, which is called « The Holy Spirit ». When you receive it, It will guide you to all truth and change you from the inside to the outside. It will comforts you and help you in all possible way to become like Christ.

Your Character : God shapes you through patience and waiting. Sometimes this comes at the price of a certain number of trials and difficulties. He lovingly erases the bad traits and wrong inclinations of heart that you and I have. He purifies you, removes evil and puts virtue inside. He makes you strong and prepares you for your future, to make it easier and smoother. The sooner we take care of our character and personality, the better for the future, and the fewer problems we’ll have. If we soften our hearts and accept God to change us according to His will, it will even come faster. Most of the problems society has today are problems caused by unprocessed character, simply because that we did not take it seriously. (divorce, violence, addictions, you name them etc.).

You can be 18 or 50, there’s no age limit to become a man of God and see your character transformed. Use what you have at hand to train yourself. If you live with your mother, father or both parents, train yourself now, look after them, love them, help them, show them you’ve changed. Become a true gentleman, even in the little things. Clean the house, cut the grass if you have any, do the groceries, never be ashamed to say you’re sorry if you’ve done something wrong. Destroy your ego, don’t let it ruin your life. You need to become Christ-like and shine in your ecosystem. Truly fall in love with the process. You may be the only light they’ll ever have, seize this opportunity to change their lives too. Your opponent is yourself in the ring. Don’t lie. Destroy anger at all costs. Embrace patience and humility. Jesus died for you and me, so we must adopt the virtue of sacrifice in our lives too. Remember that if God gives you a wife and family, their shield will be Him, of course — but so will you. You will be their protection and their roof. God has called you and me to protect and watch over them. Women and children are vulnerable; if you’re not there for them, imagine the ruins! Don’t be discouraged if you fall along the way; it happens to all of us. Get up and keep pushing, always ask God to forgive you, and push through.

Remember that God loves you and is touched to see you walk in His way. Never be discouraged or pay attention to what the devil may say to your heart to destroy you. We are all sinners. Don't go back to your old life, even if you think it was easier. It's really depressing not to make progress —  and our lives, before knowing God was like this. Keep pushing, and you'll rejoice to see yourself so different by God's Grace and Spirit.

Holiness : Jesus says that God is Holy, which means pure, so we too must become Holy. Identify and neutralize all the bad influences in your life that promote a sinful lifestyle — stealing, lying, drugs, alcohol, violence, sex outside marriage (God isn’t against sex but has His own directions for it), pornography, swearing, gossiping, jealousy, hatred, idolatry, any kind of esoterism —and turn your back on these things. From friends to the media you consume, bad movies, bad series or bad music, whatever the field, kindly avoid them. Do your research and choose only the good things that push you forward. Good movies, good music, good books, good videos to watch. Clean up your instagram or social networks, follow only good content. The Spirit of Christ in you will make the process so much easier. Again, I encourage you to fall in love with the process. And, as I said above, if you fall in course, don’t get discouraged, ask for forgiveness and get back up, we all fall short.

Pray all the time, talk to God all the time, in your mind or out loud. Read the Scriptures as much as you can, as often as you can. If you don’t understand a passage, google some commentaries. (I use the Bible Hub app). Be patient with yourself too. The Bible is sufficient, put nothing beside it or above it, for it will be your absolute foundation in life.

Work: Ask God for a job you love. If you’d rather become an entrepreneur and run a business, ask God for wisdom and direction to create one that’s fully suited to God and your life. A business that gives you plenty of time to work for God and your family. Be clean in your money, don’t scam anyone, nor the person nor the goverment. Select the main passions you have, and think about how you can turn one of them into work. If you prefer salaried work, it’s the same thing, ask God to find the best solution for you, that can leave you plenty of time to work for Christ and care for your loved ones. Make yourself a good heart, be generous, to the poor and whoever one in need, God will reward you being like this. Be patient in the process too, all good things take time!

The physical : God created us a body, demonstrating that both spirit and body are important. Jesus says it is God’s Temple, telling us how we should treat it. Optimize your waiting period to work on it! It’s good to eat well, exercise and have good hygiene. Become the best version of yourself for God and your future wife (although God will always love you, even at your lowest). Aim for elegance; The Temple of God was the pinnacle of Elegance! You don’t need fancy things to be well dressed. You can find beautiful clothes without spending a lot of money. Find good references on Pinterest, whatever suits you best, from hair to shoe take your time and ask God what whould fit you well. Did you know that Jesus Himself wore perfume?

Sexuality : This is a very important area to consider, as we live in an over-sexualized world. Note that sexuality is extremely beautiful and is a gift from God. God is for sexuality, not against it (He created it). He structures and protects it through Marriage and commitment. In the Bible, there’s an entire book about love and sexuality written in an erotic setting called « The Song of Songs », which encourages us to develop a fulfilling and consistent sexuality throughout our lives. God steers us away from counterfeit sexuality, such as fornication or pornography. The very act of making love is about being one with the person you truly love — it’s highly sacred. We can’t be one person with many people.

It’s not perfect, but I’ve tried to be as transparent as possible in sharing the Biblical Worldview with you! I’ll try to add more content below, both in the form of books and videos if you’re interested in deepening your faith! I love you all very much! Thank you so much for being here! God bless you!

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NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST ME SHALL PROSPER

No Weapons Forged Against Me Shall Proposer - Efisio Cross

Hello everyone,

I hope that you’re all doing great! I’m deeply grateful to God to share with you a new neoclassical piece called «No Weapon Formed Against Me Shall Prosper.» The title of the music comes directly from the book of the Hebrew prophet called Isaiah, wrote circa 700 years before the birth of Jesus-Christ. (chapter 54, verse 17). The music has multiple contemplations and many messages I want to share with you. As you all comes from different backgrounds, I will try to stay as simple as possible.

Here is a resume of the different layers of contemplations:

1) — The Fear of God

2) — God’s Protection

3)— The Story of Hezekiah and Sennacherib

4)— The application in our everyday life

Let’s start by the Story of Hezekiah and Sennacherib, as it will open and present all the other layers of meaning.

Around 2700 years ago, the biggest empire of that time was the Assyrian one. Their main capitals cities are known under the names of : Nineveh and Assur — Based in modern Iraq. Their Empire was huge. They ruled from south modern Turkey, to Egypt, from Israel to Babylon.

In red: the heart of Assyria with the main Assyrian cities. Orange: the Assyrian empire
Assyrian empire at its territorial peak during the reign of Assurbanipal (668-627
BC. J.-C.). Source

They were famous for their cruelty and  brutality. Known to be merciless, country after country, region after region, town after town, they all fell into the Assyrian’s Dominion. Expect one little city called Jerusalem. They had mighty kings that you might already know. To cite some of the names: Ashurnasirpal II, Shalmaneser, Sargon II, Sennacherib. Let’s zoom in and focus on Sennacherib as he is one of the main character of the message of the music.

Sennacherib was fighting rebels within the empire. The Egyptians, the Babylonians, Phenicians and Israelies to name a few. He did well except In Israel — in Judea —, particualry in the city of Jerusalem. Here was a mighty king named Hezekiah. He refused to pay the yearly and heavy tribute to Sennacherib. It was a common practise back then, to pay heavy taxes to the most powerful ruler their time. But Hezekiah refused and rebelled. He is the second main character of the music.

Cast of a rock relief of Sennacherib from the foot of Cudi Dağı, near Cizre. The cast is exhibited in Landshut, Germany. Source

When Sennacherib heard that Hezekiah rebelled, he went furious and decided to attack Jerusalem. Lakish, one of the most important city of Judea fell into his hands. Next step was Jerusalem. It’s important to underline that our Biblical passage is confirmed by archeology and sources from outside the Bible.

Wall relief found in Sennacherib’s palace describing the siege of Lakish. Source

Before to attack Jerusalem, he sent his messengers and spoke through them with extreme arrogance. Here is some of the words he said, preserved in The Bible:

"Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands at all able to deliver their lands out of my hand? Who among all the gods of those nations that my fathers devoted to destruction was able to deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand? Now, therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you in this fashion, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you out of my hand!" 

— Second Book of Chronicles, chapter 32, verse 13 to 15.

Sennacherib in his pride, thought that all of his achievements was coming from him. It reached a point of no return when he even blasphemed the God of Hezekiah, as related in the Bible passage above. Shortly after the assyrian ruler sent insulting letters to the king, in the same fashion.

Hezekiah was terrified. His kingdom was already extremely weakened by previous wars, and half of it was already deported to divergent Assyrian cities. In his fear, he even wanted to pay the tribute again to Sennacherib, in which Sennacherib accepted but nevertheless decided to attack Jerusalem.

Isaiah, the prophet we mentioned in the debut of the article, was a contemporary of Hezekiah. He was respected by the king for he knew that God was with him. He knew that Isaiah’s prophecies were true, for Hezekiah himself saw many of them fullfiled during his life time. In his despair, he did two pivotal things :

1) – He asked Isaiah to pray, Isaiah did, and God responded.

2)- He went himself in Solomon’s Temple and show one of the letter from Sennacherib to God and started to pray as well. God heard and responded a second time.

Allow me to share with you few passages of the Bible that describe Hezechiah’s reaction, and how amazing they were.

And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying, “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who dwellest between the cherubims, Thou art the God, even Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; Thou hast made heaven and earth.

Incline Thine ear, O Lord, and hear; open Thine eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to reproach the living God. In truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their countries, and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they have destroyed them.

Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou art the Lord, even Thou only.”

— Book of Isaiah, chapter 37 verse 14

Some of God’s response, the third and key character of the music :

"But I know your sitting down, your going out and coming in, and your raging against Me. Because your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way you came.’... 

— Book of Isaiah, chapter 37 verse 28.

Sennacherib triggered God’s Wrath. In the night, God sent an angel against his army. The angel arrived and destroyed 185.000 Assyrian soldiers. Sennacherib, learning his defeat, went directly back to Ninevah and died here killed by his chlidren.

"And that night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies." 

— Second Book of Kings, chapter 19 verse 35.

What does this historical event teaches us? So many things that are well embodied in our two characters figures., opening the second layer and message of the music : The Fear of God.

Hezekiah had the fear of God in himself. Sennacherib did not. What does it mean? It means reverence, respect and submission to God through Love and respect — Knowing that He has all authority and power upon everything. It does not mean, to be « scared » of him in the way that you want to hide from him. No, but the opposite, you want to give it all to Him. You want to trust Him. You want Him in your life. You want to surrender to Him because He created you and loves you so so much.

Observe that Hezekiah develloped The fear of God very soon in His life. He trusted God and God rescued Him. He could have called help from the Egyptians, or others military forces but He didn’t. He chose God and waited on Him, and God honored the Hebrew King.

If you want to know God, to be saved by Him, to have a relationship with Him based on Love, I have written an article and a music called « Are You Saved », that explains how to get to know God and to live for Him. So, The Fear of God is well embodied in our historical King Hezekiah.

Now, when we observe Sennacherib, rebellion, arrogance, self-sufficiency, pride is completely embodied in him. The more we contemplate Sennacherib, the more we can realize our own arrogance as well. It acts like a moral mirror and it’s good. It really helps to introspect ourselves, to identify our flaws and sins faster — The sooner the better, so that we can end it with God’s Love.

We can be arrogant thinking that we can handle everything, or that we are our own gods. We can be prideful thinking that our past victories or achievements in life are the proof that we don’t need God to achieve anything. Sennacherib was full of victories, and he got all of it wrong. He didn’t know that God allowed him to have them for God’s own purpose. Look what God says to the Assyrian king :

« Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it; in days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble… » 

— Book of Isaiah, chapter 37 verse 26.

Sennacherib’s end teaches us that pride, arrogance and self-sufficiency leads to a path of shame and destruction, while Hezechiah opens the door for a good life in front of God’s Eyes. A small city, with few habitants, smote the biggest empire of their time without any military actions only through prayer.

Now, the last later and message: God’s Protection.

I used to live without asking God’s Protection in my life, because I simply did not know who He really was. I was exactly like Sennacherib without realizing it. It added so much pain and sorrow to my life. So much suffering that could have been avoided. In my 19’s God sent me a trial that humbled me completely, and since, I gave Him my life. I ask Him to always live under His Protection, and encourage you to do the same, only God loves you and I perfectly. He is worthy of everything.

As you know, we are extremely fragile. We can die at any moment. What path do we want to follow in life? That of Sennacherib, or that of Hezekiah?

Hezekiah, by His devotion to God, not only save himself, but thousand and thousand of lives and family and his kingdom. He was blessed by God’s Protection. You can as well, without maybe realizing now save your family, friends and thousand if not millions of lives by simply following and trusting God. Sennacherib, by his arrogance, got 185.000 of his army killed. When we follow a wrong path, it affects not only us, but everyone around.