The Book Of Isaiah. Day 165, Hezekiah's Illness, Part One

In our last study session we learned about how the Lord delivered the city of Jerusalem from the nation of Assyria. He put to death 185,000 Assyrian soldiers who were camped outside the walls of Jerusalem where they were preparing to lay siege to the city. He also caused King Sennacherib of Assyria to return to his own country where, before he could mount a second expedition to Jerusalem, he was assassinated by two of his own sons.

We might expect smooth sailing now, but as so often happens in life after a great victory, a great trial comes. It's a common method of the enemy of our souls to strike out at us when we have just experienced a marvelous deliverance from a problem. I think that's because it's a tendency of humans to kind of sit back and take it easy (spiritually speaking) right after something wonderful happens. It's a time when we are more likely to let our guard down. If we think about it, we rarely let our guard down when we are in the thick of battle, do we? It's often during our worst trials that we spend the most time on our knees in prayer and the most time reading the word of God. Satan has more difficulty distracting us with temptations when we are praying or reading the word of God. But when we sit back and relax after a mighty deliverance---when we slack off on prayer and Bible study---our enemy sees a weak spot in our defenses. I would like to propose that, right after a major victory, we need to pray and read the Bible more than ever.

I am not saying Hezekiah slacked off in his spiritual life but I am saying that he likely did not see a particular trouble coming his way. "In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death." (Isaiah 38:1a) The Lord had rewarded the faith of Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem by turning the enemy away from their gates and sparing them from siege and the fall of the city and captivity. I can only imagine Hezekiah's shock when he contracts a deadly illness. The Lord has just done such a marvelous thing for him that I imagine he feels not only shock but also confusion, possibly bitterness and anger and hurt. I dare say he might even feel offended because I have felt offended by certain troubles that have come my way in life when I was living close to the Lord and trying to as obedient to Him as I knew how. Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt like you were living smack dab in the will of God and yet some terrible trial came into your life? 

Hezekiah is so sick that even the prophet Isaiah has no good news for him. Isaiah had good news for him in regard to the Assyrian threat but he has no good news for him in regard to this health threat. "The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, 'This is what the Lord says: 'Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.'" (Isaiah 38:1b)

We don't know what Hezekiah's physicians were telling him. Perhaps they were not being entirely truthful with him. Considering he is the king of Judah, they may be reluctant to let him or his family or the general populace know he is on his deathbed. The death of a national leader can be a threat to national security, for usurpers may see it as a time to rise up against the royal household or foreign enemies may view it as a time to attack. In addition, Hezekiah is a good king who loves the Lord and may be well-liked by his team of physicians. Perhaps they are reluctant to tell him the truth due to their affection for him. This reminds me of the day my sister and I had to give our mother the bad news that her tests had come back showing very advanced cancer. The day we took her for her first oncologist visit was even worse because he had to inform her that while chemo and radiation might extend her life for a few months, these treatments were not capable of saving her life. I can well understand it grieving the hearts of Hezekiah's physicians to come right out and say, "You are not going to recover."

I think it grieves Isaiah's heart too but he must do what the Lord tells him to do. The Lord tells him to go to the king and inform him, "You are going to die." Isaiah must tell him to get his house in order. It is important for Hezekiah to publicly name a successor to the throne prior to his death, just as King David named Solomon as his successor prior to his death, so the way forward is made clear. This will help to prevent civil unrest, with various factions within and without the royal family vying for the throne.

But the situation is going to turn around, as they sometimes do. Have you ever known anyone who was given a terminal diagnosis who overcame the illness? Here at the beginning of Chapter 38 the situation with Hezekiah's health appears hopeless. I've been in situations that appeared hopeless, haven't you? I can think of one in particular where people around me were telling me it was hopeless. They were telling me to give up and move on. The only reason I didn't take their advice is because I knew that the Lord was capable of turning it around. I didn't know if He would but I knew that He could. Hezekiah knows this too and that is why later in our chapter we find him calling out to the Lord to change his circumstances.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 164, The Lord's Message To Sennacherib Comes True

Our text today concludes the Lord's words of comfort for King Hezekiah and the news that what He predicted came to pass.

"Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: 'He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way he came he will return; he will not enter this city,' declares the Lord. 'I will defend this city and save it, for My sake and for the sake of David My servant!'" (Isaiah 37:33-35) 

The Lord defends the city for His sake (because the heathen king blasphemed His name) and defends it for David's sake (because of the promises He made to him). David has been dead for about three centuries by this time but that doesn't negate the promises the Lord made to him about remaining faithful to those who are faithful to Him. The Lord will allow the city to fall to an enemy a little over a century later due to how much idolatry the people will have fallen into by then, but during King Hezekiah's reign and during the reigns of some of the successive kings there has been a revival. The king and his people are looking to the Lord for help, not to idols for help. This is how David lived his life---looking to the Lord for help---and the people of Hezekiah's day have the same attitude. The Lord is going to reward their attitude of faith just as He rewarded David's attitude of faith.

We have already talked about how Sennacherib was forced to withdraw from nearby Lachish in order to fight at Libnah, likely due to an uprising there against him, and then he heard that the forces of Egypt were marching toward the southern border of Assyria and he had to go there to line up in battle array against them to defend his border. That is the fulfillment of the Lord's promise to send Sennacherib back by the way he came.

While Sennacherib is absent from the region of Judah, the Lord fulfills another portion of His promise---the portion that states no Assyrian arrow will fly into the city and that the Assyrians will not build a siege ramp against the wall. "Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning---there were all the dead bodies!" (Isaiah 37:36) We read about this event when we studied the kings of Israel and Judah. We don't know by what method the Lord put them to death but it happened as swiftly as the final plague of Egypt in which the firstborn of all the Egyptians and of all their livestock perished suddenly in the night. 

We don't know at what point Sennacherib broke camp at Lachish. We were told of him breaking camp earlier in our study as if it had already happened before the deaths of his soldiers but this next segment makes it sound as if he doesn't leave Lachish until 185,000 of his men perish. The chronology of these events is not entirely clear and I'm not certain that this next verse means he breaks camp after so many of his men die or whether it happened before. It could simply be that this verse is saying something like, "Thus was the Lord's word fulfilled that Sennacherib would depart. All these things happened as the Lord said they would."

"So Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there." (Isaiah 37:37) He returned to his palace in the capitol city of Nineveh, intending to come back later to lay siege to Jerusalem, but he was prevented from doing so, just as the Lord said. "One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Addrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king." (Isaiah 37:38) 

Sennacherib's death did not occur immediately upon his return to Nineveh. According to Assyrian records, about twenty years elapsed between his retreat and his death. He himself wrote some records in the annals of Assyrian history after he left the land of Judah. But during that period of time he did not make a second attempt of a siege upon Jerusalem, perhaps having too much fear in his heart after the supernatural slaughter of so many of his soldiers, perhaps having too many matters to attend to on the homefront and too many rebellions to quell in the areas he'd already conquered. Whatever the reason for his failure to return as he threatened, we know it was by the divine hand of God that he did not return. The Lord kept His promise to Hezekiah.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 163, The Lord's Message To Sennacherib, Part Three

The Lord has something to say against King Sennacherib of Assyria. We have been studying this message for the past two days and now we are going to look at the third section. The Lord gave this message through the prophet Isaiah to King Hezekiah of Judah. We do not know whether Sennacherib ever heard of it but the Lord has been speaking the words as if they are being spoken directly to that wicked king.

"Because you rage against Me and because your insolence has reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came." (Isaiah 37:29) Sennacherib thinks he is the master of his own destiny but that isn't so. The Lord uses imagery that is very familiar to the king, for it was the practice of the Assyrians to line captives up in a row and drive a hook through their noses or lips to connect them all to each other, then they would march them wherever they wanted them to go, all chained together in a line.

We know that Sennacherib returned to his own land because he heard that the Egyptian army was marching toward his southern border. After dealing with that matter, he resided at his palace in Nineveh for a time with the intention to put together a new army (having lost 185,000 of his soldiers outside of Jerusalem and having lost some soldiers in his fight against the Egyptians) to come back against Jerusalem. But two of his sons conspired together to assassinate him while he was bowing in the temple of one of his false gods.

Now the Lord turns his message toward King Hezekiah and provides him with a sign to look for. This sign is the proof that what He has said is going to come true. Sennacherib will not return to make another attempt at a siege of the city. 

"This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah: 'This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.'" (Isaiah 37:30) As we briefly discussed earlier in the book of Isaiah, the Assyrians had already invaded many regions of Judah. They had already destroyed several villages, towns, and cities. They had interrupted trade routes. They had interfered with agricultural pursuits. They would prevent people from tilling and planting, from reaping anything that had already been planted, from tending vineyards. They would run their horses and chariots over any crops that had already come up, thereby destroying them. These things are still going on in the countryside even though Sennacherib has had to postpone his siege of Jerusalem. 

The Lord will cause so many "volunteer plants" to come up this year and next year that the people will have plenty to eat even though they cannot go out to till and sow the fields or to do planting and pruning and tending of the vineyards. They will survive quite well by simply hunting and gathering. But by the third year the threat will be gone in the region of Jerusalem and they will be able to resume the normal cycles of planting and reaping. When the people have enough to eat this year and next year, and when they are able to go out and resume farming, Hezekiah will know that the Lord is not going to allow the Assyrian king to return.

Our text for today concludes like this: "Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this." (Isaiah 37:31-32) The Lord is going to protect the people of Jerusalem. They will not have to lift a finger against their enemy; He will do their fighting for them. 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 162, The Lord's Message To Sennacherib, Part Two

King Sennacherib of Assyria sent a threatening message to King Hezekiah of Judah, stating that after he quells the current rebellions against him in other regions he will return to lay siege to and eventually conquer Jerusalem. In yesterday's study we began looking at the Lord's message to Sennacherib. It could be said that this is a message about Sennacherib since we don't know whether he ever heard it. But the Lord provides these words to King Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah to encourage the king and the people of Jerusalem.

Sennacherib bragged about all the territories he and his predecessors have already conquered. While it's true that he has subjugated or even completely destroyed a number of cities, he did not do these things outside of the Lord's will or control, which the Lord points out in our first segment of text today.

"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 have turned fortified cities into piles of stone." (Isaiah 37:26) The kings of Assyria didn't do these things on their own. If the Lord had not allowed it, they could never have become a nation in the first place, much less have conquered other nations. As the Apostle Paul phrased it in Romans 13:1, "There is no authority except that which God has established." The prophet Daniel said the same thing about the Lord being in charge of kings and leaders: "He deposes kings and raises up others." (Daniel 2:21)

It has been the Lord's practice throughout history to administer correction or judgment upon nations by allowing other nations to trouble or conquer them. In the case of Assyria, for example, he allowed that heathen nation to be an instrument of judgment against other heathen nations. But in time He will allow another nation (the Neo-Babylonian Empire) to be an instrument of judgment upon Assyria. Next the Lord speaks of how these corrections and judgments have affected the idolatrous nations that have already fallen prey to the Assyrian Empire.

"Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched before it grows up." (Isaiah 37:27) The Lord compares these nations to weak and tender plants that cannot take the heat. In contrast, later in Chapter 37 the Lord will speak of how He intends to cause the people of King Hezekiah's nation to flourish.

The last segment we will study today is an ominous and very personal word for King Sennacherib himself. We know that he was obliged to break camp at nearby Lachish, first to quell an uprising at Libnah and then to meet the forces of Egypt that were coming against Assyria from the south. After that he will go home to his palace at Nineveh, intending to regroup and plan another campaign against Judah, for by then he will have lost a vast number of soldiers camped within the borders of Judah. If Sennacherib believes the God of the people of Judah is real at all, he no doubt thinks His arm is too short to reach him in Nineveh. It was common for ancient idolatrous cultures to believe that the various gods had authority over only certain regions or over certain aspects of nature. But the Lord can see Sennacherib in Nineveh just as easily as He can see him in Judah and He can reach him just as easily as He can reach him in Judah.

The Lord says: "But I know where you are and when you come and go and how you rage against Me." (Isaiah 37:28) If Sennacherib truly understood who he is dealing with, these words would have him shaking in his boots. 

Tomorrow's text will include another prophecy against Sennacherib before moving on to a message of hope for King Hezekiah. 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 161, The Lord's Message To Sennacherib, Part One

In Monday's study session King Hezekiah went to the temple and spread out before the Lord the letter from Sennacherib, king of Assyria. The Lord has a message for Sennacherib and we are going to study the first portion of it today.

The Lord gives the message through the prophet Isaiah. "Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: 'This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to Me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, this is the word the Lord has spoken against him: 'Virgin daughter Zion despises and mocks you. Daughter Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee.'" (Isaiah 37:21-22)

Most scholars believe that the reason the Lord refers to Jerusalem (rendered here as "Zion") as a virgin is because she has never been conquered and plundered by the enemy. Many other cities in that region of the world had already been conquered and plundered by Assyria and by other nations, but not Jerusalem.

Earlier in our study King Sennacherib used mocking words for Jerusalem, for her king, and for her God. In response the Lord says that the people of Jerusalem are mocking Sennacherib. Sennacherib can threaten all he wants but his plans against Jerusalem will not come to pass. The Lord is going to rise up against him and judge him for his blasphemy.

The Lord says to this Assyrian king: "Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! By your messengers you had ridiculed the Lord." (Isaiah 37:23-24a)

Sennacherib boasted of his many conquests earlier in our chapter and went so far as to state that not even the Lord would be able to stand against him. The Lord now quotes this king's boasting words back to him---words he will "eat" as the saying goes---because nothing at Jerusalem will turn out the way Sennacherib thinks it will.

"And you have said, 'With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of the junipers. I have reached its remotest heights, the finest of its forests. I have dug wells in foreign lands and drunk the water there. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.'" (Isaiah 37:24b-25) As was common with many pagan kings of ancient times, Sennacherib uses grand imagery for the things he has accomplished and in that imagery he goes farther than he actually went in real life, resorting to hyperbole when he states that the soles of his feet dried up all the streams of Egypt. If we should read the annals of various ancient nations, such as Egypt or Assyria or Babylon, we would find their kings making sweeping generalizations about the way they dealt with other nations and peoples. They claim to have wrought far more destruction than they actually did, in many cases. 

The Lord is going to make some very broad and sweeping claims when we continue on with His message this week but, in contrast to the words of Sennacherib, the Lord is able to do everything He says He is going to do. The Lord will point out that nothing which has ever happened on earth has ever been outside of His control and His purpose---and nothing ever will! He is going to state that He is in control of Sennacherib's army and is in control of Sennacherib himself. The king won't be able to protect his army from the angel of the Lord and the king won't be able to protect himself from a murderous conspiracy that forms within his own household.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 160, Hezekiah's Prayer

King Sennacherib of Assyria was obliged to break camp at Lachish, first to quell (presumably) an uprising at Libnah and then to meet the forces of Egypt as they came out against the southern portion of Assyria. But he sent a letter to King Hezekiah of Judah threatening to come back and take the city of Jerusalem. Today we see what Hezekiah does when he receives the letter.

"Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord." (Isaiah 37:14) This is one of my favorite scenes in the Bible! I picture him bowing down on his knees, spreading the letter out on the floor in the temple, and resting his forehead on the floor in front of the letter in a position of supplication and humility. 

Of course the Lord knows what's in the letter and Hezekiah doesn't have to open it up for Him. Of course Hezekiah could have prayed to the Lord from the royal palace. But sometimes, in seasons of deep distress, we feel better when we pray in the house of God, don't we? It's not as if the Lord can't hear our prayers anywhere else but there is just a sense of closeness when we are in His house. We might compare this to the difference between seeing our doctor in person and seeing our doctor by virtual visit; some conditions just seem to call for a personal visit. I believe Hezekiah feels better about talking to the Lord in the Lord's house than he does about talking to the Lord in his own house.

Spreading the letter out before the Lord symbolizes bringing the matter to the Lord. Hezekiah could simply bring the matter to the Lord in prayer at the palace but spreading the letter out in His house adds another layer of intimacy to this interaction. It is as if the two of them are reading the words together.

By the way, I highly recommend this method! I have prayed over bills in this manner by spreading them out before the Lord. I have prayed over family members in this manner by placing printed pictures of them on my floor and bowing down over them. I have prayed over written prayer lists in this manner. If you have never tried it, I guarantee it will add an extra layer of intimacy---and power!---to your interactions with the Lord. 

"And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: 'Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.'" (Isaiah 37:15-16) Hezekiah begins his prayer by reminding himself who God is. God is all powerful. Nothing in heaven or on earth is beyond His control. Reminding himself of this gives Hezekiah the confidence to ask the Lord to act on behalf of Jerusalem and the people of the city. He knows that the Creator of all things is more than able to handle the threats of the enemy.

"Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God." (Isaiah 37:17) When we studied this message yesterday we found Sennacherib ridiculing the Lord by comparing Him to the gods of the nations---gods that do not exist. Sennacherib announced that the God of Israel would be no more effective against his army than the gods of the other nations. Hezekiah is saying something like, "It's not only for our sake that we ask You to intervene. For Your own sake, intervene on behalf of Your reputation. This heathen king has blasphemed Your holy name and Your perfect character and Your unlimited power."

The king of Assyria was not lying when he bragged of all the nations he's conquered. Hezekiah is well aware of this. But he is also well aware that the gods of those nations could not protect those who worship them because those gods are false gods. "It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these people and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You, Lord, are the only God." (Isaiah 37:18-20) To paraphrase the king's words and intentions: "Put them to shame, Lord, who trust in false Gods! Prove to them that You are the only God! Then they will be afraid to attack those who have committed their hearts to you. Then some of them may even give their own hearts to You." 

When we remind ourselves who God is and how powerful He is and how much He loves us, the problems of this life fall into perspective. Our human enemies don't seem so powerful anymore. Our spiritual enemy (Satan) doesn't seem so scary anymore. The daily problems that plague us reduce in size in our eyes, just as Goliath was reduced in size in David's eyes when he visualized the Lord in his mind's eye. Take all those problems to the Lord, whether in your house or at a house of worship, and lay them at His feet. 

 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 159, Sennacherib's Threatening Message

In Friday's study we found King Hezekiah of Judah sending some of the top officials of Jerusalem to the house of Isaiah the prophet to relay to him the words of the field commander of King Sennacherib of Assyria. Isaiah had a message of good news for the king: the Lord will cause Sennacherib to return to his own country. In today's text we find this happening but, as a parting shot, Sennacherib sends a threatening message to the king of Judah.

King Sennacherib is not camped with the troops that are outside of Jerusalem but is camped at Lachish. The Assyrian records contain a depiction of Sennacherib seated on a throne at Lachish, backing up what Isaiah is saying in our passage today about the king of Assyria not headquartering himself outside of Jerusalem. Something happens at Libnah that causes the king to have to break camp and engage in a conflict there. When the field commander outside of Jerusalem hears about this conflict, he rushes to aid his master, which halts the activity that he was previously engaged in: threatening to lay siege to Jerusalem.

"When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah." (Isaiah 37:8) We don't know what is going on at Libnah but I presume it is some sort of rebellion against being subject to Assyria. The Assyrian government was forcing many villages, cities, and even some entire nations to pay tribute. 

In Friday's study the prophet Isaiah told King Hezekiah that the Lord was not only going to cause Sennacherib to leave off the imminent siege of Jerusalem but that He would cause Sennacherib to go all the way back to his home country. Next we find out why this happens.

"Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush, was marching out to fight against him." (Isaiah 37:9a) At this time in Egypt's history it was ruled over by the Cushites. In some versions of the Bible they are referred to as Ethiopians. Tirhakah was not actually Pharaoh of Egypt yet; he was the crown prince of Egypt and the general of the army, but by the time our passage was written down he may have ascended to the throne. Also it was typical for ancient writers to ascribe to a person the status they eventually achieved when writing about them, even if they had not yet achieved that status at the time of the event being described. Sennacherib hears that the Egyptian army is advancing toward his nation, causing him to have to temporarily abandon some of his military pursuits in other regions in order to meet this threat from the south. 

Earlier in the book of Isaiah we learned that the nation of Judah hoped that the nation of Egypt would be a helpful ally to them against their mutual enemy. The Lord warned the king of Judah through the prophet Isaiah that Egypt would not be able to neutralize this enemy. The Lord urged the king and his people to trust only in Him, not in an alliance with a pagan nation. Tirhakah meets the Assyrian forces north of Jerusalem in battle at a location called Eltekeh but, as we learned during our study of the kings, this was ineffective in preventing Assyria's advancement throughout the region and Assyria will later conquer the nation of Egypt.

Sennacherib doesn't want the people of Jerusalem to think he has given up on his intention to conquer the city. He sends a message that basically says, "I'll be back!" as he breaks camp upon hearing of the threat from  Egypt.

"When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 'Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, 'Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.' Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them---the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?'" (Isaiah 37:9b-13)

He is saying something like, "Your god, Hezekiah, is no more effective than any of the other gods who could not stand against me or against the kings who came before me. If you try to hold out against me, my troops will besiege your city until you are all about to die of thirst and starvation. Then, when our siege ramps are tall enough to go over your walls, we will pour in and slaughter everyone who has survived the siege. Why put yourself, your family, and your citizens through this? You've already brought trouble onto everyone by refusing to pay tribute to me any longer. Now your only choice is to surrender and be deported to foreign lands where you will live---or continue to rebel against me and die!"

The gods of the people on the list in verses 9b-13 truly were ineffective against the kings of Assyria because these gods do not exist. But the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob exists! And this is the God with whom Sennacherib is dealing. This is the God whose name Sennacherib has blasphemed. This is the God who will soon supernaturally destroy 185,000 Assyrian troops. This is the God who has already said that He will see to it that Sennacherib is struck down in his own country.