2 Kings 19:20-37 Sennacherib Falls
While Hezekiah prays God speaks to Isaiah. Sennacherib hasn’t just insulted Judah he has blasphemed against God. And he WILL pay for his arrogance!
Let’s do a quick recap before we jump into today’s story. Sennacherib, the king of Assyria is determined to take down Judah. He has already succeeded in taking several cities but he wants Jerusalem too. Israel was carried away by Assyria while under the rule of Shalmaneser. They were carried off because of their sin. Judah is all that is left of God’s people. Hezekiah, king of Judah has tried to appease the king of Assyria with a tribute. All that did was drain the ‘bank account’ of Judah. Sennacherib has twice now told Judah to get ready for conquest and most importantly that their God would not be able to save them from him. Boy does he have something to learn!
♥ ♦ ♥
God was listening as Sennacherib spoke his words to his messenger. He watched as Hezekiah broke the seal with his thumbnail. He heard as Hezekiah poured out his heart before Him. And He spoke concerning the arrogance and blasphemy of Sennacherib.
“Isaiah.”
“Speak Lord, Your servant is listening.”
“Sennacherib has gone too far. He has blasphemed my name one time too many. He has reached the end of my patience. And My servant Hezekiah has asked for My help.”
“This isn’t the first time he had done so my Lord.”
“No. But this is the first time he has fallen on his face before me personally.”
“What would You have me do my Lord?”
“I would have you send him My message.”
“What is it You wish me to say to him?”
“I would have you tell him that I have seen his distress. That Sennacherib, in challenging Judah has challenged Me. And I don’t take that challenge lightly. Sennacherib will find out what a REAL God can do. He claims he has overcome gods before but he has only faced man made gods. Gods of wood and stone who can neither hear nor act. I can do both and he will see this for himself.”
Isaiah smiles as he hears the righteous indignation in the words the Lord is speaking. Sennacherib is in for a rude awakening!
God spoke to Isaiah the words he wanted brought to Hezekiah’s ears. Isaiah takes his cloak and staff and makes his way towards the Temple. The Lord has told him that this is where Hezekiah waits.
Isaiah quietly enters the Temple and sees his king lying on the floor. He softly walks over to him, kneels next to him and touches him on the shoulder.
Hezekiah’s eyes spring open and he sees Isaiah kneeling by his side. Isaiah’s eyes are soft and full of compassion. Hezekiah quickly sits up but before he can stand Isaiah speaks softly to him.
“The Lord has heard your prayer and sent you an answer.”
Tears flow from Hezekiah’s eyes like the Jordan at flood stage. Isaiah moves back just a little to allow Hezekiah to weep in peace. After a few minutes the fountain of tears begins to dry and Hezekiah speaks.
“You have brought word from the Lord?”
Isaiah nods. “From the mouth of God through the tongue of Isaiah. He has sent you comfort.”
“I want to hear EVERY word the Lord has spoken! But Judah needs to hear it as well. The throne room is the place this message should be shared. A place where it can be copied and shared with ALL of Judah.”
Isaiah smiles at the wisdom of Hezekiah. “That is a very wise idea my king.”
The two men rise from the Temple floor and make their way back to the palace. Hezekiah stops to wash his face before taking his seat on the throne.
Isaiah stands in the center of the room ready to read the words of God through the prophet Isaiah. Hezekiah takes a deep breath and speaks what his heart is longing for.
“Speak the words of the Lord to His people, Judah.”
The Spirit of the Lord settled upon Isaiah and he began to speak the words of the Lord.
“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel:…” Isaiah places his hand over his heart as he shares the words the Lord has specifically for Hezekiah. “…Your prayer to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:…” Isaiah draws his hands out as if encompassing the entire room or the entire nation to give them comfort. “…‘She despises you, she scorns you – the virgin daughter of Zion; she wags her head behind you – the daughter of Jerusalem…’” Isaiah’s face hardens and he speaks God’s words of anger against Sennacherib’s arrogance. “…Whom have you mocked and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes to the heights? Against the Holy One of Israel!…” Isaiah points his finger as if addressing Sennacherib himself face to face. “…By your messengers you have mocked the Lord, and you have said…” Adopting a proud stance Isaiah takes on the persona of Sennacherib. “…‘With my many chariots I have gone up the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon; I felled its tallest cedars, its choicest cypresses; I entered its farthest lodging place, its most fruitful forest. I dug wells and drank foreign waters, and I dried up with the sole of my foot all the streams of Egypt.’”
Isaiah’s stance changes again as he speaks to the arrogance of Sennacherib. The arrogance that had him believe he had done all this. Isaiah points towards Heaven with every ‘I’ he delivers. “Have you not heard that I determined it long ago? I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass, that you should turn fortified cities into heaps of ruins, while their inhabitants, shorn of strength, are dismayed and confounded, and have become like plants of the field and like tender grass, like grass on the housetops, blighted before it is grown…”
Isaiah’s face takes on a look of scrutiny as if looking into the very place where Sennacherib now sits. “…But I know your sitting down and your going out and coming in, and your raging against me. Because you have raged against me and your complacency has come into my ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came.”
Isaiah’s face softens as he speaks again to Hezekiah with a promise of a sign to seal a promise yet to be shared. “…And this shall be the sign for you; this year eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs of the same. Then in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The seal of the Lord will do this…”
The sternness returns to Isaiah’s voice and he gives the absolute promise of God. “…Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into the city, declares the Lord. For I will defend this city to save it, for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David” (verses 20-34, emphasis added by me).
Isaiah is spent by the time he finishes speaking. There is not a dry eye or a downcast face in the room. All are rejoicing. The scribes have been carefully recording the words so they can be sent out to the districts in the city for all to hear. Once they had written the final word the head scribe handed the parchment to Isaiah to look over for mistakes or missed words.
Isaiah carefully read the scroll. Once he was satisfied that these were indeed the very words of God he rolls it up and hands it to the king. Hezekiah looks down at the scroll he holds and is grateful for what it contains. The very words of God, tangible proof that He heard his prayer. He will revisit these words many times over the rest of his life. Isaiah politely bows and leaves the throne room. His mission is complete.
The people of Jerusalem receive the same words from the Lord at the hands of messengers Hezekiah dispatched. They need their faith bolstered as much as he did. The people hold fast to this promise, even though Assyria approaches their walls this very day. God has promised to fight for them. They will wait and see how He accomplishes His word.
Night falls and the sounds of the great army of Assyria arriving can be heard within the walls of Jerusalem. Sounds of soldiers laughing and talking amongst themselves. Men who believe they have nothing to fear and are destined for victory. The smell of their campfires and the food being prepared fills the night air.
As the night wears on the people on both sides of the wall fall into an excited sleep. Assyria because they believe they will be victorious come sunrise and Jerusalem because they know that the Lord their God is about to do a mighty work.
The first rays of the morning make their way across the sky. The priests begin preparation for the morning sacrifice. They relight the lamps in the Temple and replace the showbread with fresh loaves. The people begin to rise from their beds to begin their morning routines. And a few men begin to stir in the camp outside the walls of Jerusalem.
Morning brings more activity in the city but the camp remains eerily quiet. Those inside the walls know nothing about this silence until it is broken by screams that punctuate the morning. The watchman turns his full attention to a handful of soldiers running from tent to tent.
The running soldiers are checking on their comrades. Instead of waking their fellows to join them in their morning meal they are finding them dead, lying on their beds as if still reposed in sleep yet with their eyes wide open. From tent to tent this small group of men race, panic increasing with each tent visited.
The commotion makes its way to the area where the king is camped. He rouses from his sleep to see what is going on. He is surprised that the Tartan and the Rab-saris have not risen yet.
“Attend me and report!” barks Sennacherib to anyone within the sound of his voice.
One of the men who had been racing from tent to tent approaches the king. Fear is evident in every pour of his body as he falls before the king.
“What is going on!” demands Sennacherib.
“The men! They are all dead!”
“What are you talking about? Stand up and face me!”
“We were on guard for the last watch of the night. When no one came to relieve us a couple of scouts were sent to check on our replacements. They reported back that no one was stirring in the camp. A few more men were sent to rouse our replacements but when they entered the tents they found everyone inside dead! We have been searching since then for signs of life anywhere.”
“And what have you found?”
“Other than a handful of men, and yourself my king, all are dead.”
“This can’t be true. I will see this for myself.”
Sennacherib went straight to the tent of the Tartan. He pulled back the flap and thrust his head inside. Just as the soldier had stated, the Tartan lay on his bed lifeless. Sennacherib quickly pulled his head back and dropped the tent flap. He moved quickly around the circle of his encampment and found only a servant still living. Even the Rabshakeh lay lifeless on his bed.
“This has to be the work of their God” exclaimed Sennacherib. “Muster the men that remain! We leave immediately!”
A trumpet was sounded for the men in the camp to assemble. The ranks of men were seriously depleted as they took their customary spots. Mere hundreds stood where tens of thousands had stood the previous night. What men remained stood before their king trembling with fear.
“We leave NOW! Gather nothing for their God may have cursed even our food.”
The remaining men quickly closed ranks and began following their king. Their pace was closer to running than marching as they made their way out of the valley.
The people within the city had been alerted to the Assyrian’s distress and had gathered along the top of the walls to observe them. They watched them as they mustered for retreat. They cheered as they fled back to their own land. And they rushed out the gates to gather some of the spoils once what was left of the Assyrian army had fled from sight.
Hezekiah appointed men to dispose of the bodies. One hundred and eighty five thousand men lay dead that morning. Their bodies were both burned and buried by the men appointed by Hezekiah. It took a month to complete the task and rid the valley of the stench of decay.
Hezekaih appointed others to gather the spoils that remained after the people had seen to their own needs. The Assyrians left enough behind to provide for the people of Jerusalem for quite some time. This would allow the land to heal from the damage the Assyrians had caused. The Lord promised that it would be ready to replant in two years. The spoils gathered would be made to last, until the land yielded its bounty again, without difficulty.
Hezekiah heard later that Sennacherib had fled back to his home in Nineveh. Sennacherib was a broken man after this. He not only feared the God of Israel but all other gods. He would not strike out again for conquest. Two of his sons, Asram-melech and Sharezer, in an effort to expunge their father’s shame struck him down with a sword as he worshiped in the house of his god Nisroch. His son Esarhaddon would rule in his place while his brothers escaped to the land of Ararat to avoid any supporters of Sennacherib who might try to avenge his death.
(to be continued)
♥ ♦ ♥
When Sennacherib began his rant against God I KNEW there would be trouble. I bet Hezekiah felt the same way. He didn’t appeal to God on behalf of Judah’s righteousness or even his own. He appealed to Him on the basis of His name sake alone. God had made a promise regarding His people and Hezekiah trusted Him to keep it.
So much of Israel had already fallen because of their sin. Hezekiah was trying to bring the people back in line with God’s Law. He knew he was not perfect but he also knew he was a child of God’s promise. And so were the rest of the people of Judah.
NO MORE would they put their trust in man’s promises {Sennacherib’s promise not to attack after receiving payment}, nor would they put their trust in military might {they couldn’t even muster an army because of their depleted numbers}. Their ONLY hope lay in God.
He is our ONLY hope too. He is our hope for a sure future. A future beyond this world. He is also our hope while in this world. He doesn’t promise us only good times and victory. There WILL be trials. We will have problems to overcome. But He promises to be with us EVERY step of the way. And He will meet us in person when we leave this world; however we leave it.
Father God, I SO GRATEFUL that You hear my prayers. I may not always get the confirmation of that like Hezekiah did that day, but I have YOUR word on it. Even Jesus Himself said so while He walked this earth. There is no room for doubt on this fact! I know You don’t always answer my prayers the same way I think You should but that DOES NOT mean You weren’t listening. It simply means Your plans are better than mine. Remind me of that fact when I start to wonder again.
