Pam Padgett ... teacher
Hezekiah, king of Judah, did what was right in the sight of God, and God
was with him and he prospered. But, in the fourteenth year of
Hezekiah's reign, the king of Assyria took all the fenced cities of Judah and sent
Targan, Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh with a great host against Jerusalem. Rabshakeh
spoke first to Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah, then to all the people,
trying to turn them from God and from Hezekiah and to the king of
Assyria ...
2 Kings 18:28 Then Rabshakeh 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?
36 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 Rabshakeh.
When Hezekiah heard what the Assyrian said, he humbled himself before God and sent to Isaiah to inquire of God ...
2 Kings 19:1 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. ..... 6 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.
The king of Assyria also sent a letter to Hezekiah, speaking against God
being able to deliver Jerusalem from the Assyrians. Hezekiah again
turned to God ...
2 Kings 19:14 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.
Isaiah sent to Hezekiah, telling what God had said about the king of Assyria and what God would do, including the following ...
2 Kings 19:32 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of
Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor
come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. 33 By the way
that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this
city, saith the LORD. 34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for
mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
As God had said, the king of Assyria returned without doing
anything to Jerusalem after an angel killed 185,000 Assyrians in their
camp, and the king of Assyria was killed by the sword in his own land ...
35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out,
and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five
thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were
all dead corpses. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went
and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. 37 And it came to pass, as he was
worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and
Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the
land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
While reading this account, it stood out to me that Hezekiah didn't assume that everything would be ok. Each time the king of Assyria sent messengers, Hezekiah sought to hear what God would say about the matter.
Turning to God and hearing from Him is what is important. When we
have heard from God on the matter, then we can have faith based on what
God has said.
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.