DBG - May 2 - II Kings 18-19

In this chapter we have the rise of Hezekiah and his relations with Assyria.

vs. 1-8 – Hezekiah was a good king, to be ranked among the very best that reigned over Israel. He did much to restore true worship and to expand the authority of his kingdom. We will see in greater detail in II Chronicles of his religious reforms. Part of his purging of idolatry was the destruction of Moses’s brazen serpent that they worshipped and called Nehushtan (“a thing of brass”).

vs. 9-12 – The fall of Israel is repeated as time marker in the reign of Hezekiah.

vs. 13-37 - The Assyrian king Sennacherib (“sin, the moon, increases brothers”) sets his sights on Judah, likely because of Hezekiah’s rebellion against him (vs. 7). Sennacherib exacts tribute of 300 talents of silver ($8,023,567) and 30 talents of gold  ($64,443,475.20). Hezekiah is forced to spoil the palace and Temple of their riches in order to meet the demand.  Sennacherib is not satisfied.  He is marching south against Egypt and wants to eliminate any threat behind him.  He sends three military ambassadors to demand complete surrender.  Hezekiah responds to Sennacherib sending three envoys by sending his own three envoys. Had he responded himself it would have shown his subservience to the Assyrian king.  Rabshakeh addresses the people of Jerusalem in the Hebrew tongue.  He gives six arguments for the surrender of Jerusalem: (1) Egypt could not be trusted to help – vs. 21, (2) Hezekiah had removed their idols – vs. 22, (3) the Assyrian might – vs. 23-24, (4) claim of Jehovah’s blessing upon the Assyrian endeavor – vs. 25, (5) surrender would lead to prospering in captivity – vs. 31-32, and (6) Jehovah would not deliver them just as the gods of their neighbors had also failed – vs. 33-35.

In this chapter God delivers Hezekiah and Judah from the Assyrian threat.

vs. 1-7 – Hezekiah humbles himself and seeks the Lord.  The prophet Isaiah is sought who declares that God will deliver Judah from the Assyrians. 

vs. 8-13 – Sennacherib is forced to change tactics with a new threat rising in Tirhakah of Ethiopia. He sends a threatening letter to Hezekiah to press him to surrender so he can focus on this new threat.

vs. 14-19 –  Hezekiah literally lays out his problem before the Lord by taking the letter to the Temple to pray for guidance and aid.

vs. 20-34 – Isaiah prophesies of the deliverance of Jerusalem and the downfall of Sennacherib.

vs. 35-37 – The death of 185,000 Assyrians  in vs. 35 is a common target of skeptics.  II Chronicles does not give number but Isaiah 37:36 does, adding credibility to the account.  The Greek historian Herodotus wrote about an infestation of mice in the Assyrian camp, leading some to believe it was bubonic plague behind the death.  Sennacherib’s own monuments are strangely silent regarding what happened, pointing to a potential coverup.  The defeat, which the Bible is honestly the best explanation for, so weakened Assyria that it was over ten years before they made another military campaign into the Holy Land.  Sennacherib himself died around that same time. 

It is hard to fathom just how close the Kingdom of Judah came to fall like the Kingdom of Israel. God raised up Hezekiah for this time, standing against Assyria and showing great faith in God. In the darkest of times there is still light to be found, and in so many of those it is the person that God had prepared, as Esther will put it, “for such a time as this”. Believe it or not, sometimes that person is us. We must be faithful and ready for when that time arrives.

Our hymn today, “’Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus”, was written by Louisa M. R. Stead in 1882.  It echoes the trust that Hezekiah’s trust in God that is displayed in 18:5-6.

Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
And to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”

Refrain:
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er;
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
Oh, for grace to trust Him more!

Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
And in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.

I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.