Oxford Bible Church - Living in the Last Days (audio)

We start our study of Hezekiah, who began his reign over Judah when his father Ahaz died (no co-regency). He was a righteous king, who received many refugees from Israel, before it fell to Assyria. But in his 14th year, he was sick unto death and childless, so he prayed to God, who promised him through Isaiah that he would be raised up after 2 days and have another 15 years (so far he'd reigned 14 years + his accession year). When Hezekiah asked for a confirming Sign, God performed one of the most outstanding miracles in the Bible - the sun went back 10 hours in the sky, from it being 6pm (evening) to 8am (morning), signifying God was rewinding his clock, giving him a new day, a fresh start, a 2nd chance, another 15 years (this sign means that all eclipse calculations before 713 BC are unreliable, which has implications for Assyrian chronology). The next video will reveal the greater prophetic significance of this Sign in the Heavens (as well as Joshua's sign in the sky) for God's Plan of Redemption, for Hezekiah, being a king of Israel, is a type of Israel, so what God did for Hezekiah provides us with a prophetic picture of what God has done and will do for Israel.

Peter Hockley shares his dramatic testimony of salvation and deliverance from demonic powers after being involved with the occult through automatic handwriting. Hear how Jesus set Peter free from a deep demonic deception and possession. Peter's book 'Four nights with the devil' is available on Amazon.

In 745 BC, God promised king Ahaz of Judah that both of his enemies (Syria and Israel) will soon fall, and that he should trust in God, but instead he trusted in Assyria, which opened the door for Judah to come under increasing Assyrian oppression, along with Israel (Isaiah 7:1 - 8:10). But God also promised the House of David that it would not be destroyed by Assyria (as Israel would be), 'because of Immanuel' (Isaiah 7:14, 8:8,10), for the Messiah, son of David, who is 'God with us', had to come forth from the House of David. When Ahaz called upon Assyria's help, they invaded Syria and Israel. At this point, Hoshea rose up and killed Pekah, and Israel submitted to Assyria. At first, Hoshea ruled Israel as an overseer, with Ahaz appointed king of Israel by the Assyrians. Eventually Tiglath-Pilesar appointed Hoshea as king. When he died, he was replaced by Shalmaneser, who invaded Israel and beseiged her capital city, Samaria, for 3 years, when Hoshea stopped paying tribute. Shalmaneser died during the siege, and was replaced by Sargon. Samaria finally fell in 721 BC, which marked the end of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, so that Hoshea was the last of her kings. This took place when Hezekiah was king of Judah.

After Uzziah sinned, God struck him with leprosy (we explain why his sin was so serious to God), and his son Jotham reigned in his place as king of Judah. Jotham was a good king, but his son Ahaz was evil. In his reign, the kings of Syria and Israel attacked Judah to depose him (2Kings 16:5, Isaiah 7:4-6). This is the background to Isaiah 7 and the famous Immanuel Prophecy, where God promised to protect the House of David 'because of Immanuel' (Isaiah 7:14, 8:10). Isaiah predicted that the 2 kings attacking him would die soon (7:4,15,16), and the fall of the kingdom of Israel (7:7,8 ), and he called Ahaz to trust in God, in order to be established (7:9). But instead, Ahaz responded in unbelief (7:10-13), and turned to Assyria for help (2Kings 16:7). Seeing his stubborn unbelief, God predicted through Isaiah that the result of this would be that Judah would come under increasing Assyrian dominion and oppression (Isaiah 7:17).

We continue our study of the parallel kingdoms of Judah and Israel with the long reign of Uzziah (Azariah) over Judah, which ended when God struck him with leprosy in the Temple. So his son Jotham replaced him as king, while he was still alive. Meanwhile, Jereboam, Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah and Pekah reigned over Israel.

The central message of the Bible is the Good News of how we can receive Eternal Life in Heaven as a free gift, even though we are all sinners deserving of Hell. Derek shares how Jesus made it possible for us to be forgiven, and how we can receive salvation by faith. We only have this life to receive God's offer of life, because once we die it will be too late to turn to God.

Our study of the chronology of Judah and Israel continues with the reign of Amaziah over Judah, followed by an Interregnum, before Uzziah became king. Meanwhile, Jehoash reigned over Israel, followed by Jereboam II (the king during the time of Jonah). We prove that with Jehoash and Amaziah, both Israel and Judah moved to the Accession-Year System. After this, neither kingdom changed their System again.

We continue our study of the chronology of the kings of Judah and Israel, by looking at the reigns of Ahaziah, Athaliah and Joash over Judah, and Jehu, Jehoahaz and Jehoash over Israel. Evil queen Athaliah, daughter of Jezebel, represents the only disruption to the reign of the Davidic dynasty in Jerusalem.

Using many illustrations from the Bible, Peter shares what it is like to encounter Jesus, and how you can encounter Him also. Encountering Jesus is (1) PERSONAL, (2) POWERFUL, (3) PENETRATING, and (4) PERMANENT. He is the light of the world, able to change our darkness into the light of life (John 8:12).

Debate between Pastor Derek Walker and Dr. Michael Brown. Pastor Derek makes the case for the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, and Dr. Brown for the Post-Tribulation Rapture. Is the Church called to go through the future time of God's wrath? Is the Coming of Christ imminent, or will we face the antichrist first?