Spreading The Case Before The Lord. 2 Kings 19:14-24
The Decline and Fall of Israel and Judah
INTRODUCTION
The Second Book of Kings is a continuation of the First. It records the reigns of fifteen kings in Judah and of eleven kings in Israel. In Judah the dynasty of David continued to the end, while in Israel there were nine changes of dynasty.
The northern kingdom maintained an unbroken course of idolatry, until the nation was ripe for destruction. The end came in 722 B.C., when Samaria was taken by the Assyrians. Judah continued her course for nearly 150 years longer. But in spite of the efforts of prophets and good kings, the tide of idolatry could not be stayed, and Jerusalem fell before the Babylonians, 586 B.C. Nothing but the Exile could avail to purify the nation and restore the spirit of true worship.
II. FROM THE FALL OF SAMARIA TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM, II Kings 18-25
1. The Reign of Hezekiah, II Kings 18:1-8, 13-37; 19-20
45. What was the answer to Sennacherib’s challenge?
SPREADING THE CASE BEFORE THE LORD
HEZEKIAH’S PRAYER
Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the house (temple) of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. [Isa_37:14-20]
Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim [of the ark in the temple], You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made the heavens and the earth.
O LORD, bend down Your ear and hear; LORD, open Your eyes and see; hear the [taunting] words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to taunt and defy the living God.
It is true, LORD, that the Assyrian kings have devastated the nations and their lands
and have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not [real] gods but [only] the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they [could destroy them and] have destroyed them.
Now, O LORD our God, please, save us from his hand so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know [without any doubt] that You alone, O LORD, are God.”
ISAIAH PROPHESIES SENNACHERIB’S FALL
Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘I have heard your prayer to Me regarding Sennacherib king of Assyria.’ [Isa_37:21-38]
This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: ‘The virgin daughter of Zion Has despised you and mocked you; The daughter of Jerusalem Has shaken her head behind you!
‘Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice, And haughtily lifted up your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel!
‘Through your messengers you have taunted and defied the Lord, And have said [boastfully], “With my many chariots I came up to the heights of the mountains, To the remotest parts of Lebanon; I cut down its tall cedar trees and its choicest cypress trees. I entered its most distant lodging, its densest forest.
“I dug wells and drank foreign waters, And with the sole of my feet I dried up All the rivers of [the Lower Nile of] Egypt.”
SPREADING THE CASE BEFORE THE LORD
HEZEKIAH’S PRAYER
That bowed form of King Hezekiah, kneeling before God with this insolent and blasphemous effusion spread out before him, is a beautiful suggestion of our duty under similar circumstances. When we receive letters of rebuke and unkindness, whether they are signed or anonymous, let us treat them as Hezekiah treated this one. Let us spread them before God, and plead with Him to interpose for His holy Name’s sake. How blessed it is when our lot is so identified with God’s that we can forget ourselves in the one sincere desire that His character shall be vindicated and His Name honored! The selfish element has been so strong in our praying and doing!
In all Scripture there is nothing finer than the magnificent answer to Sennacherib’s challenge which God gave through Isaiah. The phrase, “virgin daughter,” fittingly indicates that the foreign invader was not to set his foot in the Holy City. Listen to her gleeful laughter, as strong in the Lord of hosts, she derides her foes, 2Ki_19:21, etc. But that faith may be ours. Others who have not made God their trust are like the green herb that withers in the drought: but they who are planted in God send their roots deep down to the moist earth and draw perennial freshness and strength.
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