The time has finally come to pick up the remainder of 2 Kings 18:13-37. The narrative of Isaiah 37 is paralleled in 2 Kings 19 so I’m covering that too, even though it’s technically not on the schedule for another week.

Recall that the Assyrians have already conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and deported all the inhabitants deep into other parts of their empire.

Now the Assyrians have begun doing the same thing in the territory of Judah.

Meet Sennacherib, King of Assyria.

😏 You mean King of the Unibrow. 😆

“In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.” 2 Kings‬ ‭18‬:‭13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

This was no empty threat. Entire cities in Judah are falling. Remember this bit of artwork from the post about King Uzziah’s “war machines?”

This is the Siege of Lachish in Judah as depicted on the walls of the palace in Nineveh. They didn’t make this art because they lost. Even with Uzziah’s shields for the archers and the “murder holes” the Assyrians still took the city. This prompts King Hezekiah to buy the tolerance of the Assyrians.

“And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear.” And the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.”
‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭18‬:‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

This is an astronomical sum. And there was only one place Hezekiah knew to get that much precious metal. The Temple.

Not only did Hezekiah bankrupt his own and the temple treasuries, he even strips the gold plating from the temple’s magnificent doors and pillars to be melted into additional coin.

I can’t imagine how demoralizing that must’ve been; especially for a king who has worked hard to restore worship and serve Yahweh with all his heart. The temple has stood for 200 years and, on his watch, Hezekiah has to see its glory is noticeably reduced.

But the Assyrian army doesn’t just take the money 💰 and go home. They move from Lachish to Jerusalem. This is definitely a frying pan 🍳 to fire 🔥 situation.

In verses 19-35 the representatives of Assyria speak with the representatives of Hezekiah. It reminds me a bit of this kind of thing:

They meet to talk smack.

Well, the Assyrian boss-man called “the Rabshackeh” talks smack. The Judeans basically just stand there and stare back.

After reading this I realized something. The Forces Of Evil still use this tactic. But, notice that most of what the Rabshackeh says to them is TRUE:

• Egypt truly WAS no longer the superpower it had once been. 18:21
• Judah’s military HAD been decimated. 18:23-24
• The Assyrians really DID resettle conquered people and allow them to live if they submitted. 18:31-32
• The Assyrians really HAD conquered all those nations. 18:33-35

This is how Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness. Technically, everything he said to Jesus was true. Jesus WAS the Son of God and could’ve turned the stones to bread. God really HAD given His angels charge over the saints to protect them. The kingdoms of the earth HAD been forfeited by man and given into Satan’s power at the Fall.

As I reflect on my own experiences, I suspect that some of the times I thought I was just thinking through a situation and “looking at the facts” and “being reasonable,” might’ve actually been spiritual warfare. And I lost.

😈 Satan’s “Rabshackeh”: You aren’t as young as you once were. And let’s face it, you were never “cool.” Those opportunities are for young, cool people.

Me: Well… that IS true…

😈 Satan’s “Rabshackeh”: You don’t know enough to attempt that. Where would you even start? Smarter, more talented people than you have tried and failed. What makes you think you would succeed? Who would even help you?

Me: That’s a valid point.

😈 Satan’s “Rabshackeh”: Every time you’ve attempted that, it has been a disaster. You clearly don’t know what you’re doing.

Me: Well… I can’t argue with that.

I don’t know, friend, if you can identify with any of that. Maybe not. But if you do, maybe we could start by copying the response of Hezekiah’s servants. I know that ultimately the goal is to be like Jesus and fight back with scripture (“It is written!”) but at the very least, next time, I plan to remain silent.

If I’m silent, at least I’m not coming into agreement with the Enemy; no matter how true or reasonable his arguments sound.

🪑☕️

Another interesting thing comes to light in this power-spat. The Rabshackeh betrays a common misunderstanding about Yahweh:

“But if you say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God,” is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem”?”
‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭18‬:‭22‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The Rabshackeh thinks that all those random altars and high places that Hezekiah had destroyed were for Yahweh. And many of the people had thought this way too.

👨🏻‍🌾 Jo-bob the Judean: I can just take my goat over to the local high place and kill it there. All gods live on high places. And this high place in Yahweh’s land so He MUST live there. It’s way closer than going all the way to Jerusalem. I’ll offer the liver on the fire for Yahweh. Never did like goat liver anyhow. I’m a good person and I worship Yahweh. Not like my neighbors who are into that weird culty stuff.

But here is what the Word of God said:

“But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety, then to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the Lord.

Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place that you see, but at the place that the Lord will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I am commanding you. “However, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your towns, as much as you desire, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you. The unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and as of the deer.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭12‬:‭10‬-‭11‬, ‭13‬-‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I suspect Israel had some “progressive” believers like the church today.

🧔‍♀️ Pekahiah the Progressive: “Well, Moses never actually NAMED the place where the sacrifices were supposed to be, and Yahweh’s first middle name is Compassionate, and He loves you no matter where you are. He’s more concerned that you sacrifice to Him than WHERE you sacrifice to Him. So as long as you say it’s for Yahweh in your heart that’s all that matters.”

We’re so steeped in this kind of compromised way of thinking that pretend Pekahiah’s progressive paraphrase probably sounds fairly reasonable.

It isn’t.

Go back and read what God commanded. Not a suggestion. Not “if it’s convenient.” It was an order.

God’s people were NOT to sacrifice anywhere they wanted. There was only ONE acceptable place and method. Period.

If you “customize” what God commanded to make it fit your preferences, it is no longer what God commanded.

🫳🏼🎤

But the corner Stop-n-Go altars had become such a part of the culture that even the foreign neighbors thought they were a legit part of Israel’s system of worship.

There is another theological assumption that the Rabshackeh lets slip in his “sales pitch” to the people of Jerusalem (who he is trying to persuade to give up without a fight).

“Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭36‬:‭18‬-‭20‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The obvious assumption is that each nation has a god. And it is that deity’s job to protect his nation. Human battles were seen as parallel to battles in the spiritual realm.

The Rabshackeh isn’t wrong. That’s the same view shared by Moses in Deut. 32:8. Paul hints at it in Acts 17:26. Where the Rabshackeh gets it wrong is in having no clue Who Yahweh actually is- THE Most High. It’s as if Yahweh is in an episode of Undercover Boss right now.

The Rabshakeh thinks Yahweh is just another one of the gods, but he’s about to become the poster child for “pride goes before a fall.”

Understandably, when Hezekiah gets the transcript of this conversation with the Ranshakeh delegation, he tears his clothes along with the rest of them, then puts on a plain rough robe and goes to the house of the Lord.

😏 Is that where the tradition of wearing uncomfortable clothes to church started?

Uh… ya know, you might be on to something.

Anyway, Hezekiah sends a group of men to Isaiah to ask him to pray. But the LORD has already given Isaiah a prophetic word in response. Basically: the king of Assyria is going to hear a rumor that will make him pack up and leave.

And he does. But before the Assyrians leave, they send a final note to Hezekiah that looks something like this:

So the threat hasn’t really gone away. It’s just being delayed a little.

Hezekiah takes the Terminator’s letter to the temple and ”spread it before the Lord.”

Hezekiah prays for rescue. And we should probably take a moment to study this prayer. It’s in Isaiah 37:16-20.

• “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made the heavens and the earth.”
  • He acknowledges WHO he is praying to and His supreme authority
• “Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God.”
  • He asks God to see and hear – not his personal worries for his family or nation – but how the Assyrians have mocked the LORD.
  • Hezekiah does not make himself the center of this prayer. He identifies the problem as God’s.
• “Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, 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 were destroyed.”
  • Hezekiah prays from the facts. The Assyrians really had done all the things they bragged about. He’s not walking around in sugar-coated-denial quoting “I’m too blessed to be stressed.” He is realistic. But he also knows that Yahweh is not a mere statue representing a second rate rebel entity.
• “So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”
  • Hezekiah asks for rescue, not for his personal benefit, but so that OTHERS will know the truth: Yahweh alone is the Most High. Again, he doesn’t make this about himself.

Maybe we could all work on this in our own prayers. Instead of making ourselves and our own concerns the center of our petitions, what if we take a moment to see how the LORD might be glorified in the situation and pray for that?

The LORD gives an answer to Hezekiah’s prayer through the prophet Isaiah. First, there is a message of doom for Sennacherib in 37:22-29. Then there is a message of hope for Jerusalem in verses 30-35.

In verses 26-27 of the message of doom, Yahweh corrects Sennacherib‘s faulty view. All those kingdoms he conquered? Yahweh LET him do that- just like with the northern kingdom of Israel. The LORD allowed Assyria to conquer Israel as punishment for their wickedness.

And just to show Sennacherib a bit of the power of the One he is dealing with, the Angel of the LORD kills 185,000 Assyrians before they can pack up the army and return home.

I for one would LOVE to know what that looked like! Was there thunder? ⛈️Lightening? ⚡️ Fire? 🔥 How did they KNOW it was the Angel of the LORD? Did people SEE Him??? 🗡️ Was there blood? 🩸 Or did the Assyrians just keel over? 💀 I want to know!

😏 I hope there’s a Q&A time in heaven for your sake. If there is, you’re gonna be there a while aren’t ya?

Yes.

I just love this whole story – the big bully army talking smack, Hezekiah spreading the threatening letter before the LORD, God sending messages through Isaiah, and finally an appearance of the Angel of the LORD. We haven’t seen Him since the time of Elijah; about 120 years ago. And this is one of His last appearances in the text.

Tomorrow we’ll read about a couple more incidents in Hezekiah’s life. One of them was so big, everyone on planet earth 🌏 was affected.