In The Word
Read: 2 Kings 19:8-37
Sennacherib Defies God
8 Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. 9 When he heard them say about Tirhakah king of Cush, “Behold, he has come out to fight you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “This is what you shall say to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, “Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 11 Behold, you yourself have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be saved? 12 Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed save them: Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”
Hezekiah’s Prayer
14 Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord.15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “Lord, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Incline Your ear, Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to taunt the living God. 17 It is true, Lord; the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18 and have hurled their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but only the work of human hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. 19 But now, Lord our God, please, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, Lord, are God.”
God’s Answer through Isaiah
20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard you.’ 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:
‘She, the virgin daughter of Zion, has shown contempt for you andmocked you;
She, the daughter of Jerusalem, has shaken her head behind you!
22 Whom have you taunted and blasphemed?
And against whom have you raised your voice,
And haughtily raised your eyes?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
23 Through your messengers you have taunted the Lord,
And you have said, “With my many chariots
I went up to the heights of the mountains,
To the remotest parts of Lebanon;
And I cut down its tall cedars and its choicest junipers.
And I entered its farthest resting place, its thickest forest.
24 I dug wells and drank foreign waters,
And with the soles of my feet I dried up
All the streams of Egypt.”
25 ‘Have you not heard?
Long ago I did it;
From ancient times I planned it.
Now I have brought it about,
That you would turn fortified cities into ruined heaps.
26 Therefore their inhabitants were powerless,
They were shattered and put to shame.
They were like the vegetation of the field and the green grass,
Like grass on the housetops that is scorched before it has grown.
27 But I know your sitting down,
Your going out, your coming in,
And your raging against Me.
28 Because of your raging against Me,
And because your complacency has come up to My ears,
I will put My hook in your nose,
And My bridle in your lips,
And I will turn you back by the way by which you came.
29 ‘Then this shall be the sign for you: you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what grows by itself, and in the third year sow, harvest, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 30 The survivors that are left of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem will go a remnant, and survivors out of Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord will perform this.
32 ‘Therefore this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: “He will not come to this city nor shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield nor heap up an assault ramp against it. 33 By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,”’ declares the Lord. 34 ‘For I will protect this city to save it for My own sake, and for My servant David’s sake.’”
35 Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when the rest got up early in the morning, behold, all of the 185,000 were dead. 36 So Sennacherib the king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at Nineveh. 37 Then it came about, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And his son Esarhaddon became king in his place.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
King Hezekiah received another threat from the enemy king, and he again did right by taking the matter before God. The response from God let all of the hearers know that He was not surprised by the enemy king’s actions, and that He would protect His people. God sends an angel to put to death 185,000 enemy soldiers and has the enemy king killed by his own sons. There is no issue too big for God!
Today’s verses remind us of two important promises of God. First, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8). Our wonderful Father God loves and cares for us so much that He already knows our needs before we pray. We may be surprised by situations that come our way, but God is not. He already has the solution prepared.
The second promise is that He hears and answers our prayers if we do things His way. In 1 John 5:14–15 it states, “If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” Simply ending our prayers, “in Jesus’ name,” will not get us whatever we want! According to 1 John 3:22 we must, “Keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.” This means that our lives matter to God, and that we cannot do whatever we want and expect God to grant our requests. Make sure your life and prayers line up with God’s commands and watch God move mightily on your behalf.