2 Kings 19:1-37
Q.1. Why did King Hezekiah send his servants to Isaiah, the Prophet? What answer did Isaiah give to Hezekiah? – (2 Kgs.19:1-7)
Hezekiah recognized Isaiah as a Prophet who had devoted himself to God, and who had a special relationship with Him (c.f. Isa.6:1-8). Israel was under serious threat from the Assyrians. Hezekiah and his leaders had humbled themselves before God in the temple (2 Kgs.19:1). The king hoped that God had taken notice of Rabshakeh’s taunts. He urged Isaiah to – offer a prayer for the remnant that is left (2 Kgs.19:4). God swiftly gave an encouraging answer through Isaiah – 6 … Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. 7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumour and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land (2 Kgs.19:6-7).
Q.2. How did Hezekiah respond to the renewed threat from Assyria? What motive did Hezekiah reveal in his prayer petitions? – (2 Kgs.19:8-19)
God could have immediately saved Hezekiah and Israel. However, He allowed a renewed threat to come from Assyria (2 Kgs.19:8-13). Hezekiah could have become complacent because God had promised to deliver them. However, here we see the measure of the king. He returned to the house of the Lord and spread the ‘poison letter’ out before his God (2 Kgs.19:14). Hezekiah revealed that he had a high view of the Lord – O Lord, the God of Israel, You who are enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone of all the kingdoms of the earth (2 Kgs.19:15). Sennacherib’s words were an affront to God, so Hezekiah prayed – Now, O Lord our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God (2 Kgs.19:19). He was concerned about the honour of God’s name.
Q.3. How did God reward the arrogance of the Assyrian king? What assurance did God give Hezekiah? How dependable was God’s promise? – (2 Kgs.19:20-37)
Hezekiah’s prayers had registered with God. Sennacherib had merely been a puppet in God’s hand, as He was growing Israel’s faith. God sent Isaiah with a reassuring message – Have you not heard? Long ago I did it; From ancient times I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, That you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps (2 Kgs.19:25). God not only keeps track of His own children, but also of all the wicked (2 Kgs.19:27 c.f. Ps.139:1-12). God gave King Hezekiah and the nation a sign, so that they recognised that He had saved them – 29Then this shall be the sign for you: you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what springs from the same, and in year three you shall sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 30 The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant, and out of Mount Zion survivors. The zeal of the Lord will perform this (2 Kgs.19:29-31). That very night the avenging angel of God struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians, and Sennacherib was assassinated on his return to Nineveh (2 Kgs.19:35-37). God will not be mocked, and He will reward those who are concerned about the honour of His name, as Hezekiah had been.