Read 2 Kings 19
Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold
19 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”
5 When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’”
8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
9 Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush, was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”
Hezekiah’s Prayer
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.
17 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 19 Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”
Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall
20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:
“‘Virgin Daughter Zion
despises you and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
tosses her head as you flee.
22 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
23 By your messengers
you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
“With my many chariots
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest parts,
the finest of its forests.
24 I have dug wells in foreign lands
and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
25 “‘Have you not heard?
Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned it;
now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
into piles of stone.
26 Their people, drained of power,
are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
like tender green shoots,
like grass sprouting on the roof,
scorched before it grows up.
27 “‘But I know where you are
and when you come and go
and how you rage against me.
28 Because you rage against me
and because your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
by the way you came.’
29 “This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah:
“This year you will eat what grows by itself,
and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
30 Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
will take root below and bear fruit above.
31 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
“The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
32 “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:
“‘He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
or build a siege ramp against it.
33 By the way that he came he will return;
he will not enter this city,
declares the Lord.
34 I will defend this city and save it,
for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’”
35 That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.
Go Deeper
In 2 Kings 19, we see Hezekiah pray for God to save Jerusalem. But why would He when His people disobey Him repeatedly? Instinctually, you probably expect God to protect His chosen people because it feels like rescue aligns with God’s character and plan. But at the same time, you might feel like they deserve to be taken over. They have constantly been unfaithful to the Lord, and this cycle of turning from God might be exhausting for you to read. Whichever way you feel, know that both can be true at the same time!
This isn’t the chapter where we see God discipline His people, but we will know that will come later. Instead, there are three main reasons God reveals as to why He defends the city.
The first reason is that Hezekiah prays to the Lord in desperation as a response to Sennacherib’s letter (v. 20). Hezekiah takes all his fears and anxieties, coming humbly before the Lord for help. It is a beautiful example of how God desires for us to go before Him. First Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” God cares for the desires of our hearts and listens to us when we bring things to Him.
The second reason God defends Jerusalem is to bring glory to Himself. Verse 34 says, “For I will defend this city and save it, for my sake.” When God does the impossible, it reminds His people of His power and holiness. So often we need to be reminded of who He is and what God can do to take our eyes off ourselves and direct our focus back to Him. The other thing these miraculous works do is serve as a witness to the world of the clear existence of the Lord. For how could 185,000 people die simultaneously, if not by some supernatural power? Pastor and commentator David Guzik describes the act this way: “The unstoppable was stopped, the undefeated was defeated.” God puts Sennacherib in his place; even the greatest army is no match for God.
The third reason for this defense is “for the sake of David my servant” (v. 34b). Although the time of David is in the distant past, God keeps the promise He made in 2 Samuel 7:10-17. The same God who has kept His promise with David keeps His promises with us! He has given us a spot in eternity forever if we simply believe in Him- how sweet to know that we have a God who holds fast to His promises!
Questions
- What do you observe about Hezekiah’s prayer? How can you learn from it?
- What does this chapter teach you about dependency? Why is it essential in our faith?
- There is a lot about this passage that speaks on God’s wrath- if something here made you feel uncomfortable in this chapter, what was it? What other aspects of God’s character do you also see in this passage?
By the Way
2 Kings 19 and Isaiah 37 are identical, word for word. Most likely, since Isaiah was written before 2 Kings, the author used Isaiah as a reference of sorts.
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4 responses to “2 Kings 19”
19 Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”
The Bible keeps returning to this central truth . . . “You alone, Lord, are God”!
PS – I didn’t know that this chapter and Isaiah 37 are essentially the same!
“I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant” (v34).
God always has the final say, for he his sovereign and no scheme of man usurps his authority. Let’s be a praying, submissive people trusting him with our own affairs and the events of this world.
BUT GOD!!
When problems develop in your life, do you seek God’s Word first?
Pray is Hezekiah’s answer.
Pray without ceasing
God’s Word is a lamp to my feet and light to my path.
Seek first the Kingdom of God.
Do not fear. “Do not fear for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand . . . Do not fear, I will help you.” (Is. 41:10, 13).
This world is not all about you. We are fighting spiritual warfare at ALL times. Cover your family (all God’s people) in prayer. Here is how we can pray without ceasing.
Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.
God thank You for answered prayers. Thank You that I know the end of the story and You win. Your word holds so many words I can speak over myself and for my family. God thank You for promptings of Your Holy Spirit for who needs pray. Thank You for guiding me in those prayers. God I am amazed at all You did, are doing and will continue to do in the coming days. Thank You for my personal walk in seeking You first before I react to things around me.God give me kind words, building up, edifiying even if there needs to be confrontation. God let all that I do today in these minutes, be glory, honor and loving You in Jesus name amen
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
God’s Protection of His People
The miraculous defeat of the Assyrian army is a testament to God’s protection over His people. “Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians” (2 Kings 19:35). This dramatic intervention reminds us that God is our ultimate protector, capable of delivering us from any threat. (read from Bible Hub)
Our prayers for JP are asking God’s intervention to deliver him from the threat of demonic attack in his body. Keep praying church family.