2 Kings 19:1-13
THE MOURNING OF HEZEKIAH AND THE ARROGANCE OF THE ASSYRIAN KING... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MOURNING OF HEZEKIAH AND THE ARROGANCE OF THE ASSYRIAN KING... [ Continue Reading ]
And it came to pass, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, filled with horror over the blasphemy uttered by the Assyrian messengers, AND COVERED HIMSELF WITH SACKCLOTH, the garment of penitence, for he saw in the entire Assyrian campaign a punishment of God, AND WENT INTO THE HOUSE... [ Continue Reading ]
And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna, the scribe, two of his chief officers, AND THE ELDERS OF THE PRIESTS, the most notable among them, COVERED WITH SACKCLOTH, TO ISAIAH, THE PROPHET, THE SON OF AMOZ, who, although advanced in years, was still proclaiming the Word of the Lo... [ Continue Reading ]
And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble and of rebuke and blasphemy, of rejection of the people on the part of God; FOR THE CHILDREN ARE COME TO THE BIRTH, AND THERE IS NOT STRENGTH TO BRING FORTH, said of the crisis in the birth of a child when the strength of the... [ Continue Reading ]
It may be the Lord, thy God, will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his master, hath sent to reproach the living God, to heap contempt upon Him; AND WILL REPROVE THE WORDS WHICH THE LORD, THY GOD, HATH HEARD; WHEREFORE LIFT UP THY PRAYER FOR THE REMNANT THAT ARE LEFT, induce... [ Continue Reading ]
So the servants of King Hezekiah, bearing this message, CAME TO ISAIAH.... [ Continue Reading ]
And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me; the word rendered "servants" really signifies "immature boys, lackeys," such as are not yet able to u... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, I will send a blast upon him, an extraordinary impetus driving him on, AND HE SHALL HEAR A RUMOR, this disquieting report causing the uneasiness of his mind, AND SHALL RETURN TO HIS OWN LAND; AND I WILL CAUSE HIM TO FALL BY THE SWORD IN HIS OWN LAND.... [ Continue Reading ]
So Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish, having meanwhile probably taken the city.... [ Continue Reading ]
And when he, the Assyrian king, HEARD SAY OF TIRHAKAH, KING OF ETHIOPIA, ruler over Egypt, successor of Shebek II, BEHOLD, HE IS COME OUT TO FIGHT AGAINST THEE, to anticipate Sennacherib's attack of Egypt, HE SENT MESSENGERS AGAIN UNTO HEZEKIAH, in a last attempt to obtain possession of Jerusalem an... [ Continue Reading ]
Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah, king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. The entire message was once more intended to intimidate Hezekiah by a false pretense of power.... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly, this being a boastful exaggeration; AND SHALT THOU BE DELIVERED?... [ Continue Reading ]
Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar? These were provinces north of the Tigris, in Mesopotamia and in the district of Palmyra, in Eastern Syria.... [ Continue Reading ]
Where Is the king of Hamath and the king of Arpad and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah? Cf 2 Kings 18:34. Over against all the arrogant blasphemy of the unbelievers the children of God have the promise and comfort of the Word of God, in whose power they are able to withstand all... [ Continue Reading ]
And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers and read it. And Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. This is a fine example to follow in case of every difficulty, namely, to lay the matter before the Lord first.... [ Continue Reading ]
Hezekiah's Prayer and the Deliverance of Jerusalem... [ Continue Reading ]
And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubim, that being the place where the glory of the Lord appeared to His servants, Exodus 25:22, THOU ART THE GOD, EVEN THOU ALONE, OF ALL THE KINGDOMS OF THE EARTH, NOT MERELY OF JUDAH, THOU HAST MADE H... [ Continue Reading ]
Lord, bow down Thine ear and hear, in the attitude of the most careful attention; OPEN, LORD, THINE EYES AND SEE, the entire form of the prayer showing the importunity of the request; AND HEAR THE WORDS OF SENNACHERIB, WHICH HATH SENT HIM TO REPROACH, to heap contempt upon, the living God.... [ Continue Reading ]
of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,... [ Continue Reading ]
and have cast their gods into the fire, thereby really wiping out the whole nationality of the conquered peoples, which was connected with their gods; FOR THEY WERE NO GODS, BUT THE WORK OF MEN'S HANDS, WOOD AND STONE, Psalms 115:4; THEREFORE THEY HAD DESTROYED THEM. It was the vanity, the nothingne... [ Continue Reading ]
Now, therefore, O Lord, our God, I beseech Thee, save Thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou art the Lord God, even Thou only, and not a vain idol of man s imagination. It is a model prayer of confidence in the Lord and the victory of His cause.... [ Continue Reading ]
Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to Me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, I have heard.... [ Continue Reading ]
This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him. Now follows a prophecy in poetical form, full of powerful beauty. The first section is a scornful rebuke of Sennacherib's boast. THE VIRGIN, THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, the entire city with all its inhabitants, all the true believers in Jehovah be... [ Continue Reading ]
Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed, and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, when he lifted it up to utter proud words, AND LIFTED UP THINE EYES ON HIGH? EVEN AGAINST THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL, whose majesty cannot be outraged with impunity.... [ Continue Reading ]
By thy messengers, in both delegations, THOU HAST REPROACHED THE LORD AND HAST SAID, WITH THE MULTITUDE OF MY CHARIOTS I AM COME UP TO THE HEIGHT OF THE MOUNTAINS, TO THE SIDES OF LEBANON, AND WILL CUT DOWN THE TALL CEDAR-TREES THEREOF, the finest specimens, AND THE CHOICE FIR-TREES THEREOF; AND I W... [ Continue Reading ]
I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged, fortified, places. This was setting forth the measureless boast of the Assyrian with the proper scorn, for he not only prided himself on the fact that he had overrun the entire Lebanon di... [ Continue Reading ]
Hast thou not heard long ago how I, Jehovah, HAVE DONE IT, that it was in reality God who had planned and executed these decrees upon the nations, the Assyrian king being but a small instrument in His hand, AND OF ANCIENT TIMES THAT I HAVE FORMED IT? If the arrogant boaster had never heard it, then... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore, because the Lord had so decreed it, THEIR INHABITANTS WERE OF SMALL POWER, unable to offer a successful resistance; THEY WERE DISMAYED AND CONFOUNDED; THEY WERE AS THE GRASS OF THE FIELD AND AS THE GREEN HERB, tender and easily scorched, AS THE GRASS ON THE HOUSETOPS, which withers quickl... [ Continue Reading ]
But I know thy abode, his quiet resting, AND THY GOING OUT AND THY COMING IN, all the activity of the ordinary person, AND THY RAGE AGAINST ME.... [ Continue Reading ]
Because thy rage against Me and thy tumult is come up into Mine ears, the arrogant security of which he boasted, THEREFORE I WILL PUT MY HOOK IN THY NOSE, as is done in taming wild animals, AND MY BRIDLE IN THY LIPS, as in managing spirited horses, AND I WILL TURN THEE BACK BY THE WAY BY WHICH THOU... [ Continue Reading ]
And this shall be a sign unto thee, namely, Hezekiah, YE SHALL EAT THIS YEAR SUCH THINGS AS GROW OF THEMSELVES, the volunteer grain growing from kernels lost during harvest, AND IN THE SECOND YEAR THAT WHICH SPRINGETH OF THE SAME, the fruit-bearing stalks of grain growing up after harvest; AND IN TH... [ Continue Reading ]
And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah, those of Jerusalem and elsewhere who had escaped the destructive hand of the Assyrians, SHALL YET AGAIN TAKE ROOT DOWNWARD AND BEAR FRUIT UPWARD, be firmly established in the land.... [ Continue Reading ]
For out of 3erusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of Mount Zion, this being the capital and center of the Old Testament Church. THE ZEAL OF THE LORD OF HOSTS SHALL DO THIS. There is a Messianic thought underlying the prophet's words, of the deliverance of the daughter of Zion,... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore, thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, not make an attack upon it in closed formation, with the shields held out for protection, NOR CAST A BANK, dig trenches and erect bulwarks, AGAIN... [ Continue Reading ]
By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord.... [ Continue Reading ]
For I WILL DEFEND THIS CITY, TO SAVE IT, FOR MINE OWN SAKE, to uphold His honor against the blasphemy of the Assyrian, and for My servant David's sake, on account of the promise made to him, 1 Kings 11:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
And it came to pass that night, the very same night after Isaiah had pronounced these words, THAT THE ANGEL OF THE LORD WENT OUT, in this case an angel of vengeance, a destroyer, AND SMOTE IN THE CAMP OF THE ASSYRIANS AN HUNDRED FOURSCORE AND FIVE THOUSAND, this being an extraordinary destruction an... [ Continue Reading ]
So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, departed, and went, and returned, the heaping of similar terms indicating the haste of his departure, AND DWELT AT NINEVEH, his capital city.... [ Continue Reading ]
And it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch, his god, the chief Assyrian divinity, shown in human form with double wings and an eagle's head, THAT ADRAMMELECH AND SHAREZER, HIS SONS, SMOTE HIM WITH THE SWORD, as the Lord had foretold, v. 7; AND THEY ESCAPED INTO THE LAND OF ARM... [ Continue Reading ]