Pam Padgett ... teacher
During the reign of king Hezekiah, the king of Assyria sent
Rabshakeh to Jerusalem trying to cause the Jews to
trust in and turn to the king of Assyria ...
Isaiah 36:13 Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in
the Jews 'language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the
king of Assyria. 14 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you:
for he shall not be able to deliver you. 15 Neither let Hezekiah make
you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us: this
city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. 16
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 eat ye every one
of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the
waters of his own cistern; 17 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.
It stood out to me that the king of Assyria tried to entice the Jews to
turn to him by saying he would take them to a land like their own land. But their own land was the land God had given to them. I thought of how
people often try to get others to follow them by promising that they can
and will give provision or protection ... but no man can provide the
provision, protection, wisdom, and help that God provides for His
people. The power and promises of man often fall short and fail, but the power and promises of God will never fail.
The king of Assyria thought he had great power because he had overcome
other nations which had gods. But, as king Hezekiah spoke when he laid
everything out before God, the gods of the other nations were made by
man and were not gods ...
Isaiah 37:18 Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid
waste all the nations, and their countries, 19 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.
The word God gave to the prophet Isaiah told what God would do to the king of Assyria and that He would defend the city so the king of Assyria would not come into it ...
Isaiah 37:33 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 shields, nor cast a bank against it. 34 By the way
that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this
city, saith the Lord. 35 For I will defend this city to save it for
mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
And God brought to pass what HE spoke concerning the king of Assyria and concerning defending Jerusalem. The angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrians in their camp, and the
king returned to Nineveh without entering Jerusalem. In addition, the king of Assyria was killed by his sons as he
worshiped in the house of his god ...
Isaiah 37:36 Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in
the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and
when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead
corpses. 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and
returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. 38 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.
Although the king of Assyria boasted of having great power, he could not stand before the power and will of God.