Second Kings 18:14

The Bible says in Second Kings 18:14-16, “And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.[15] And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house.[16] At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.” Hezekiah tries to get the king of Assyria to go away by paying tribute money. Hezekiah even takes gold from the temple for this payment. But it is not enough.

The Bible says in Second Kings 18:17-35, “And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rab-shakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field.[18] And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.[19] And Rab-shakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?[20] Thou sayest, (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?[21] Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharoah king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.[22] But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?[23] Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.[24] How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?[25] Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.[26] Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rab-shakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and talk not with us in the Jews' language in the ears of the people that are on the wall.[27] But Rab-shakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you.[28] Then Rab-shakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria:[29] Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand:[30] Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.[31] Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern:[32] Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The LORD will deliver us.[33] Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?[34] Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?[35] Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?” The king of Assyria was very confident. Up to this point everywhere that he went, he was victorious. Nothing stopped him. No one stopped him. None of the religions stopped him. The king of Assyria now mocked and despised any opposition, including King Hezekiah and King Hezekiah’s God, who just happened to be the one true God, the all-powerful God, the God who had given those victories to Assyria. There is a lot of mocking and a lot of boasting going on here, and God hears it all. Be careful, God hears your words too.

The Bible says in Second Kings 18:36-37, “But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.[37] Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rab-shakeh.” This is the point where King Hezekiah gets word of the threats from the king of Assyria. What do you do when you get bad news? Hezekiah went to the Lord as we shall see in the next verses.

The Bible says in Second Kings 19:1-5, “And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.[2] And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.[3] And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.[4] It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.[5] So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.” Notice Hezekiah’s reaction here. Hezekiah not only is going to pray, but he is going to ask other believers to pray. And Hezekiah thinks about God and one of God’s attributes. Hezekiah knows that the Assyrian king’s words were horrible and were words against the people of God and against God too. But God already knows the words of everyone. God is everywhere and God knows everything. If the Assyrian king’s words and plans are evil, then God already knows that. No one can tell something to God that He does not already know. The opposite is actually true. There is a lot that each of us do not know do not know that God could tell us. That is why He gave us His Word and is Spirit.

The Bible says in Second Kings 19:6-7, “And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.[7] Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.” God had already revealed to Isaiah what the outcome of all this would be. God would send a “blast” against the king of Assyria. The word “blast” is usually translated as Spirit or wind. God can do anything. God can change anything. Everyone’s life is in God’s hands. He gives life and He takes it. God is a jealous God, and He can react to people speaking against Him or against His people if He wants to. The blast in this case is probably referring to the death of a great number of the Assyrian soldiers that would happen in one night. And then once the King of Assyria returned to his own land, he was killed by his own sons. God knows the future. God decides the future. Do not worry about the crazy people of the world who hate Jesus and who have no wisdom. They are headed to their destiny. Their life is in God’s hands too. In the end everything will glorify the name of Christ.

The Bible says in Second Kings 19:8-13, “So Rab-shakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.[9] And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,[10] Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.[11] Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?[12] Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar?[13] Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?” Once again the king of Assyria sent his messenger to King Hezekiah to speak against the one true God, and to try and convince Hezekiah to give up and to surrender. But of course, Hezekiah was a believer with a life of trusting in the Lord, and so he knew what to do: once again go to the Lord in prayer.

The Bible says in Second Kings 19:14-19, “And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.[15] And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.[16] LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.[17] Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,[18] 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.[19] Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.” Hezekiah starts his prayer by recognizing that God can do anything. God is God. He rules over the whole earth, and He rules over every nation on this earth. God is the Creator. That which He has created, He controls. When Hezekiah prays in verse 16, “open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God,” Hezekiah means that he is asking that God does something about this terrible situation. Of course, God sees and hears all things. The question is: what is God going to do. One of the things that God is going to do is that He is going to answer the prayers of His children. One of the reasons that Hezekiah is praying is because of the strength of the king of Assyria. Hezekiah needs God. We are no different. We do not have the strength or ability to face our opposition in this spiritual battle. We need God too. We need to pray to Jesus about all of the things we face. We need His power. We need miracles from heaven. In verse nineteen Hezekiah mentions an important reason that God will answer our prayers: to glorify His name, and to manifest Himself to the world: “that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.” Jesus taught us to end our prayers, “thine be the glory.”

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