2 Kings 20:12-21 - Responsible Stewards do not Boast

2 Kings 20:12-21

The Babylonian Envoys (Isaiah 39:1–8)

12 At that time Berodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 And Hezekiah was attentive to them, and showed them all the house of his treasures—the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his armory—all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

14 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?”

So Hezekiah said, “They came from a far country, from Babylon.”

15 And he said, “What have they seen in your house?”

So Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.”

16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD: 17 ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the LORD. 18 ‘And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

19 So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “Will there not be peace and truth at least in my days?”

Death of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 32:32, 33)

20 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah—all his might, and how he made a pool and a tunnel and brought water into the city—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 21 So Hezekiah rested with his fathers. Then Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

This unwise boasting of king Hezekiah led to disastrous consequences later as Isaiah pronounced to him.  The king had received the emissaries from Babylon who heard he had been sick into death but recovered as we know by the grace of God also announced by Isaiah the prophet.  Hezekiah boasted in all he had instead of being guarded against an old adversary with new spots, showing them everything, including the treasures and armory, revealing what he had of value and of military strength in this reconnaissance mission of Babylonian spies.  When Isaiah asked him what he had shown them and heard it with his own ears, he relayed God’s words to him as the the consequences of this boasting as if it was his own and not the LORD’s.  There would come a day when everything Hezekiah and his forefathers had built up and collected would be taken away to Babylon and his descendants would become eunuchs to serve the king there (2 Kings 24:12).  Hezekiah could only acknowledge that the word of the LORD was good after asking if he himself would have peace and truth until he died.  This response seems like he was just out for himself and did not care of those coming after him, but it may have been that he was sorry for his rash actions of boasting and still wanted truth with the peace he desired in his life that had been extended by fifteen years after humbling himself and repenting (2 Kings 20:3, 5) earlier.  We see then that boasting in what we have has consequences because all we have is His and we are to be responsible stewards of these things (1 Corinthians 4:7, 2 Corinthians 4:1) lest they be taken away from our stewardship for the Lord and our own enjoyment.  Responsible stewards do not boast as if they own what is put in their charge to protect and use to honor and worship the Lord with.  They do not give it away to adversaries but use wisdom (Matthew 10:16) while doing what is right.  He who boasts, let it be in the Lord God (Jeremiah 9:23, 24, 1 Corinthians 1:30-31, 2 Corinthians 10:17) and His provision. 

2 Kings 20:1-11 - Turning Back the Clock on Death

2 Kings 20:1-11

Hezekiah’s Life Extended (2 Chronicles 32:24–26; Is. 38:1–8)

1 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.’”

2 Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD, saying, 3 “Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

4 And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 5 “Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD. 6 And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake, and for the sake of My servant David.”’”

7 Then Isaiah said, “Take a lump of figs.” So they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

8 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What is the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD the third day?”

9 Then Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing which He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees?”

10 And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees; no, but let the shadow go backward ten degrees.”

11 So Isaiah the prophet cried out to the LORD, and He brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.

This account shows how king Hezekiah faced imminent death in a terminal illness, yet cried out to God for grace to live when the message from Him confirmed the approaching time.  His heartfelt prayer reminded the LORD how he set his life in the direction of truth and loyal devotion, and how he always tried to do what was good and right in the sight of God.  The messenger Isaiah who had brought the news confirming his imminent demise was sent back to Hezekiah before even leaving the area to give a better prognosis from the LORD who had heard the dying man’s prayerful pleas with abundance of tears from his sorrow of soul.  God told him to enter into the house of the LORD in three days time and he would receive an added fifteen years on his life.  He and the city of Jerusalem would also be delivered from the enemy’s siege as God Himself would defend them as promised to king David (1 Kings 11:13) long before until the Seed from him came among us (John 1:14) to deliver His people permanently and eternally.  He was instructed to cover his boil with a fig compress and he recovered from the terminal sickness and granted the extension to his life as promised through the prophet Isaiah.  He still asked for a sign to be certain that these things would come to fruition on the third day and Isaiah conveyed the message from the LORD that He would either move the sundial for or backward as Hezekiah asked for.  The choice he made was for time to go backwards on the dial as it appeared harder to do than skipping ahead in time, but it also demonstrated that his own life would seem to reverse for that extra fifteen years promised him.  This showed the king that the healing was real in a way that also demonstrated that there is nothing too hard for God (Jeremiah 32:17, 33:3, Matthew 19:26) to do for His own as He controls all of creation, just as the miracles of His Son on earth would further show us all whom He is and all He is omnipotently capable of doing on our behalf for His plans of grace and providence to give life just as on the third day when He rose from death to life (John 5:24, 28, Acts 10:40, 43, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4) as a promise proven for we the people of the Lord.  This is then a picture of our own reprieve from death and certain judgment with an absolute hope of life as if the clock was turned back before the sin of disobedience was committed in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9, 16-17) and the tree of eternal life was once again set before us (Revelation 2:7, 22:2, 14) to eat from as it was never originally denied to our ancestors.  This is all possible by the work and person of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, through repentance and faith that trusts in Him alone for life as He said and is written for us to rely on.

Kings 19:20-37 - Setting Down Roots and Bearing Fruit

2 Kings 19:20-37

The Word of the LORD Concerning Sennacherib (Isaiah 37:21–35)

20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard.’ 21 This is the word which the LORD has spoken concerning him:

‘The virgin, the daughter of Zion,
Has despised you, laughed you to scorn;
The daughter of Jerusalem
Has shaken her head behind your back!

22 ‘Whom have you reproached and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice,
And lifted up your eyes on high?
Against the Holy One of Israel.

23 By your messengers you have reproached the Lord,
And said: “By the multitude of my chariots
I have come up to the height of the mountains,
To the limits of Lebanon;
I will cut down its tall cedars
And its choice cypress trees;
I will enter the extremity of its borders,
To its fruitful forest.

24 I have dug and drunk strange water,
And with the soles of my feet I have dried up
All the brooks of defense.”

25 ‘Did you not hear long ago
How I made it,
From ancient times that I formed it?
Now I have brought it to pass,
That you should be
For crushing fortified cities into heaps of ruins.

26 Therefore their inhabitants had little power;
They were dismayed and confounded;
They were as the grass of the field
And the green herb,
As the grass on the housetops
And grain blighted before it is grown.

27 ‘But I know your dwelling place,
Your going out and your coming in,
And your rage against Me.

28 Because your rage against Me and your tumult
Have come up to My ears,
Therefore I will put My hook in your nose
And My bridle in your lips,
And I will turn you back
By the way which you came.

29 ‘This shall be a sign to you:
‘You shall eat this year such as grows of itself,
And in the second year what springs from the same;
Also in the third year sow and reap,
Plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them.

30 And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah
Shall again take root downward,
And bear fruit upward.

31 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant,
And those who escape from Mount Zion.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.’

32 “Therefore thus says 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,
Nor build a siege mound against it.

33 By the way that he came,
By the same shall he return;
And he shall not come into this city,’
Says the LORD.

34 ‘For I will defend this city, to save it
For My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’”

Sennacherib’s Defeat and Death (Isaiah 37:36–38; 2 Chronicles 32:20–23)

35 And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the LORD went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. 37 Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the temple of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

The remnant was called to set down roots in the LORD and bear fruit of righteousness upward as to heaven to Him after He saved them and their city.  This is a picture of forgiveness and redemption of a remnant of God’s people, leading to protection and a reconciliation with the LORD whom they had left.  When Hezekiah prayed against Sennacherib king of Assyria, God heard and heeded the penitent humbled heart of the leader of the people gone astray and Sid say, “I have heard.”  He then prophetically expounded on His word to him, them, and us in this long passage.  He spoke of vengeance against the mocking blasphemy of the ungodly against the LORD and His chosen ones.  He exposed their bragging about their supposed strength as if it was greater than the Creator of all things, including each of them.  He reminded them that He heard their rage (Psalm 2:1-2) against their Maker and how He sovereignly would turn them back from their futile plans to take away His people and their lands as He laughed and mocked them (Psalm 2:4, 10-11) for such arrogance.  God then promised the remnant of His own people that He would cause them to take root downward, and bear fruit upward, a promise of establishing them (1 Peter 5:10) and settling them once more in Him that they might bear fruit (Romans 7:4, Philippians 1:11) for Him.  The zeal of the LORD would establish this remnant from out of His people, which ultimately is to come to complete fruition as the church of God (Romans 11:5) in Jesus Christ our Lord, both Jews and Gentiles by the faith (Romans 4:3, 13, 16-17, 22-25) and promise of Abraham.  This example of protection and promise is to God’s people called out to Himself whom He defends for the sake of the promise through king David and his Seed, who is the Messiah-Christ to fulfill the promise of faith in trusting the word of the gospel as preached to and through Abraham.  Just as the LORD then routed the enemy camp in the middle of the night and removed the adversary who blasphemed the LORD before, so will He judge our adversary (John 12:31, 16:11, Hebrews 2:14-15, Revelation 12:9) in the heavenly place and cast him into the lake of fire as consequence of his blasphemy and opposition to the Lord, His Anointed, and His people.  We therefore are to be setting down roots of righteousness by our conformity to Christ (Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 3:18) and bearing fruit (Romans 6:22, 7:4) upward to Him in our calling as a remnant of the nations to His glory, honor, and praise because of the victory in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57) we have inherited as His remnant called out (Romans 8:30, 1 Thessalonians 2:12, Jude 1:1, Revelation 17:14) of the world. 

2 Kings 19:1-19 - Strength beyond Birth

2 Kings 19:1-19

Isaiah Assures Deliverance (Isaiah 37:1–7)

1 And so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. 2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 3 And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: ‘This day is a day of trouble, and rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth. 4 It may be that the LORD your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’”

5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. 7 Surely I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

Sennacherib’s Threat and Hezekiah’s Prayer (Isaiah 37:8–20)

8 Then the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed from Lachish. 9 And the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, “Look, he has come out to make war with you.” So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 11 Look! You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan and Haran and Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?’”

14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. 15 Then Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said: “O LORD God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. 17 Truly, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18 and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. 19 Now therefore, O LORD our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the LORD God, You alone.”

When Assyria assaulted Jerusalem and Hezekiah heard the threatening blasphemy against God and His people there, he mourned and went to God’s house to pray and lament the situation.  He then sent a messenger to the prophet Isaiah with news of the day of trouble, and rebuke, and blasphemy.  His message Lourdes how the people of the LORD had been born but could not find strength to go further due to the imminent threat and seemingly hopeless situation with such an army holding the city under siege.  He prayed that God had heard the blasphemy in the Assyrian’s reproachful words and would answer the pleas of the remaining remnant of Judah holed up behind the city walls.  Isaiah responded by messenger to Hezekiah not to worry, but trust the LORD to deliver them and exalt the holy name of God over the demeaning blasphemy of the ungodly.  The prophetic word from Isaiah told him that the Assyrian chief officer would be told a rumor of trouble back home and leave there immediately, only to be killed by a sword there (2 Kings 19:36-37) from his own people.  God would deal with the ungodly and deliver His people.  Before that happened, however, the king of Assyria was battling other attackers and sent a message to Hezekiah that he would still be destroyed and the LORD could not help them, just as the gods of other nations could not protect them from Assyria.  When Hezekiah read the message of assault on God’s omnipotence, he prayed before God with the letter in front of him.  He lamented over the way the godless had spoken of the living God by putting Him on the level of lifeless idols and confessed that God alone rules over all nations as creator of heaven and earth.  He pleaded for the LORD to open His eyes to see the blasphemy clearly and hear these offensive words of the godless one set against Him and His people as if to ask how long (Revelation 6:10) this could go on before being stopped.  He spoke of how the king of Assyria had destroyed nations with pseudo gods made by the hands of men and how the threat was now against the Creator, the Living God, and not mere wood and stone creations of man.  He therefore prayed for deliverance from that threatening evil (Psalm 37:40, Matthew 6:13, 2 Timothy 4:18, Galatians 1:4) so all other nations looking on would see, hear, and know who the LORD God in heaven really is and that there is none (1 Samuel 2:2, 1 Chronicles 17:20, Jeremiah 10:6-7) like Him on earth.  He alone gives us strength after giving new birth (John 3:3, 1 Peter 1:23) to His own in Christ.  We have such strength beyond birth by the hand of the Almighty who delivered and continues (2 Corinthians 1:9-10) to deliver us from evil until that Day. 

2 Kings 18:17-37 - The End of Boasting Against the LORD

2 Kings 18:17-37

Sennacherib Boasts Against the LORD (Isaiah 36:2–22; 2 Chronicles 32:9–15)

17 Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh from Lachish, with a great army against Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they had come up, they went and stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool, which was on the highway to the Fuller’s Field. 18 And when they had called to the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them. 19 Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: “What confidence is this in which you trust? 20 You speak of having plans and power for war; but they are mere words. And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? 21 Now look! You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 22 But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?“‘ 23 Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses—if you are able on your part to put riders on them! 24 How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 25 Have I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’”

26 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

27 But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?”

28 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and spoke, saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 Thus says the king: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you from his hand; 30 nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, “The LORD will surely deliver us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.“‘ 31 Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern; 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive groves and honey, that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, lest he persuade you, saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” 33 Has any of the gods of the nations at all delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim and Hena and Ivah? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? 35 Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’”

36 But the people held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.” 37 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

When king of Assyria sent a great army against Jerusalem to King Hezekiah, his minion messengers taunted the LORD before Hezekiah’s face, telling him he trust in mere words and plans of relying on Egypt for power and military might to defend against the Assyrians.  They also told him that if he truly trusted in the LORD of Jerusalem after destroying the high places of other gods, he should reconsider because the king of Assyria claimed God told him to come and take Jerusalem.  They had erected a siege against Jerusalem to starve them out unless they surrendered and paid tribute since they put their faith in the LORD to deliver them.  They cried out to the people inside the city not to heed Hezekiah and his promises of deliverance but accept defeat and be taken care of for doing so.  The. They mocked God Himself by saying the gods of the land could not keep them from defeat by Assyria, so how could they imagine the LORD would be willing and able to deliver His people.  They went too far.  The people held their peace and did not engage in the fool’s argument because they did trust in the LORD to deliver and were confident that He was indeed able to do so.  The people then relayed the message of the minions to king Hezekiah to take to God and respond to them and the situation.  How adversary still taunts we who have the testimony of Jesus Christ to make us doubt and give in to his devices which we are fully aware of (2 Corinthians 2:11, 1 Peter 5:8, 2 Thessalonians 2:9) and which we stand firm by faith (Ephesians 6:10-11) on His promises and character since He is for us (Romans 8:31, 37, 38-39) and none can stand against Him or us when we are in Christ who gives us eternal ( 1 Corinthians 15:57) victory in the world by (John 16:33, 1 John 5:4) faith in Him and His word of the gospel.  No amount of naysayer minions of our adversary can convince us to surrender the heavenly Jerusalem of His kingdom to come and His will to be done in judgment against them.  They may taunt us and try to disrupt our faith in our Lord God, but we stand firm (Ephesians 6:13) as we do all we can to trust and obey God rather than man.  Judgment Day will be the end of all boasting against the Lord and Son and we will be safe in the walls of His protection until that day in spirit if not in body.  This account then is a reminder for us today when facing attacks of the adversary to make us doubt to give up fighting the good fight of faith for the souls of God’s people by the word of the gospel of truth and freedom from sin’s penalty. 

2 Kings 18:1-16 - Hold Fast to Lord and His Word!

2 Kings 18:1-16

Hezekiah Reigns in Judah (2 Chronicles 29:1, 2; 31:1)

1 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 

3 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done.

4 He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan. 5 He trusted in the LORD God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. 6 For he held fast to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses. 7 The LORD was with him; he prospered wherever he went. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. 8 He subdued the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.

9 Now it came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. 10 And at the end of three years they took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 11 Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away captive to Assyria, and put them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12 because they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed His covenant and all that Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded; and they would neither hear nor do them.

13 And in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 14 Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; turn away from me; whatever you impose on me I will pay.” And the king of Assyria assessed Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house. 16 At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

Hezekiah the king of Judah gave us a resounding example of what it means to hold fast to the Lord and in obedience to His word.  In his reign, this loyal ruler set his heart on the LORD as his forefather David had done, and did his best to set the example in leading the people of God.  He did everything right that is mortally possible, destroying all the idols and places of pagan worship on the high places and in the low ones all around.  Hezekiah even destroyed the bronze serpent that Moses made (Numbers 21:8, 9) that had been a foreshadowing of looking to the cross of our curse (John 3:14-15, Galatians 3:13, 14) and finding redemption by faith that trusted God’s word in obedience as we do by trusting the work of Christ on the cross as the word of the gospel tells us.  They had turned the cross into a ritualized idol, just as some do today as well, and so he cut it in pieces since the true intent was being misused.  His secret was faith; he trusted God and followed him constantly and consistently, he kept God’s word as he held fast to Him (Deuteronomy 10:20, 13:4) as the joy and love (Psalm 19:8, Jeremiah 15:16) of his heart and life as he chose life and clung to the LORD (Deuteronomy 30:19, 20) with his whole heart.  He prospered in the LORD in all things with this heart set like a flint (Isaiah 50:7) and kept His word, freeing the people for awhile from Assyria until they were later subjected to paying tribute from all the silver in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house to continue to survive when invaded due to the constant disobedience of the people over the years that caught up to them.  Hezekiah remained faithful through all these events no matter what the rest of the people did.  This is our example to hold fast ( 2 Timothy 1:13, 2 Thessalonians 2:15, Revelation 2:25) to the Lord and His word in the scriptures as the gospel commands us, no matter what others around us do, that we may taste the promises of grace and goodness of God for hearts made completely His in lived-out devotion to follow our Lord Jesus Christ faithfully (1 Peter 4:19) to the end. 

2 Kings 17:24-41 - Safe and Secure only in the Lord

2 Kings 17:24-41

Assyria Resettles Samaria

24 Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities. 25 And it was so, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not fear the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations whom you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the rituals of the God of the land; therefore He has sent lions among them, and indeed, they are killing them because they do not know the rituals of the God of the land.” 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Send there one of the priests whom you brought from there; let him go and dwell there, and let him teach them the rituals of the God of the land.” 28 Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.

29 However every nation continued to make gods of its own, and put them in the shrines on the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities where they dwelt. 30 The men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 So they feared the LORD, and from every class they appointed for themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. 33 They feared the LORD, yet served their own gods—according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away.

34 To this day they continue practicing the former rituals; they do not fear the LORD, nor do they follow their statutes or their ordinances, or the law and commandment which the LORD had commanded the children of Jacob, whom He named Israel, 35 with whom the LORD had made a covenant and charged them, saying: “You shall not fear other gods, nor bow down to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them; 36 but the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, Him you shall worship, and to Him you shall offer sacrifice. 37 And the statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandment which He wrote for you, you shall be careful to observe forever; you shall not fear other gods. 38 And the covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods. 39 But the LORD your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.” 40 However they did not obey, but they followed their former rituals. 41 So these nations feared the LORD, yet served their carved images; also their children and their children’s children have continued doing as their fathers did, even to this day.

After Assyria conquered Samaria of the northern kingdom of Israel, the king invited in other godless nations to settle the cites there.  They brought their own lifeless idols with them which had been displaced when Israel first arrived in the promised land and began replacing the living God there with idols and temples of evil all over again.  Because they had no fear of God, the LORD sent lions to devour them until they attributed the attacks to a ritualistic fear of the LORD of the people of Israel who they had taken over from.  Their solution was to keep their idols and add a bit of the form of true rituals to appease God and find security and safety in the land.  This pattern of compromise existed then and continues even today, as some will keep worldly practices while giving lip service to the Lord Jesus Christ as a talisman of protection on a chain, with beads, or in a statue to give some level of appeasement to Him as they continue to bow to their idols of other devotion and worship within the framework of added religious practices.  These have an appearance of godliness (2 Timothy 3:5, Acts 15:29, 17:29, 30, Romans 1:21, 22-23) as they serve these others, but still make appearances of acknowledgment to the Lord.  We are called to singleness of devotion in our worship (1 Corinthians 12:2, 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10) as we hold no other on the level with God and are to serve Him only.  The example here of Israel walking away from God and others of the godless world who were attempting to integrate the only true and living Lord into their religious activities to appease and find protection from His wrath of judgment only brings further judgment of His condemning wrath on them.  We are not to integrate with such who practice such things or even begin to allow them to influence us to do likewise in mixing idols of the world with the worship in spirit and truth of the only Lord God in whose Son we stand safe and secure and in no other in any measure.  We are called out of this idolatrous world to a promised land in the kingdom of heaven that we may set our face like a flint (Isaiah 50:7) to not give in and bow to their idols but serve the Lord in devotion and worship of Him alone!

2 Kings 17:1-23 - Results of Continually Rejecting God

2 Kings 17:1-23

Hoshea Reigns in Israel

1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years. 2 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel who were before him. 3 Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him; and Hoshea became his vassal, and paid him tribute money. 4 And the king of Assyria uncovered a conspiracy by Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and brought no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.

Israel Carried Captive to Assyria (2 Kings 18:9–12)

5 Now the king of Assyria went throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

7 For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and they had feared other gods, 8 and had walked in the statutes of the nations whom the LORD had cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. 9 Also the children of Israel secretly did against the LORD their God things that were not right, and they built for themselves high places in all their cities, from watchtower to fortified city. 10 They set up for themselves sacred pillars and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree. 11 There they burned incense on all the high places, like the nations whom the LORD had carried away before them; and they did wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger, 12 for they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.”

13 Yet the LORD testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His prophets, every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.” 14 Nevertheless they would not hear, but stiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not believe in the LORD their God. 15 And they rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them that they should not do like them. 16 So they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. 17 And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. 18 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah alone.

19 Also Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. 20 And the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel, afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them from His sight. 21 For He tore Israel from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drove Israel from following the LORD, and made them commit a great sin. 22 For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them, 23 until the LORD removed Israel out of His sight, as He had said by all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria, as it is to this day.

The northern kingdom of Israel continued to reject the LORD and His word until the the idolatry done in secret came into the open for all to see the consequences of continuing to reject Him in unrepentant sin.  Assyria was used to carry them into captivity just as sin had them in bondage to the captivity of spiritual bondage.  They recalled how the people were released from bondage in Egypt and its lifeless gods into a land promised beforehand yet still seemed to forget their deliverance and returned to join the ungodly around them in that new land.  Their wicked worship of dead idols in place of their God that they had been warned not to engage in led to the consequences which was the wages of sin (Romans 6:23) left unrepented.  He sent prophets to warn them to turn from their evil ways, yet they persisted in with stiff-necked disobedience to the commandments and disbelief in Him as their Lord and God.  Because they sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger, He removed them from His sight of protection and provision and only Judah in the southern kingdom remained in His grace.  But even Judah followed their estranged tribe’s bad example and ran after the ways of their fallen brothers, leading to their own rejection along with all the descendants of Israel, cast out of His sight for these sins of disobedience in disbelief.  The prophecies came to pass in judgment out of His sight.  This is a warning to not reject the Lord Jesus Christ, but while it is today (2 Corinthians 6:2, Hebrews 3:15, 18-19), to run from sin to Him and continue to follow to avoid His wrath and judgment. 

2 Kings 16:1-20 - Evil Company Corrupted Good Habits

2 Kings 16:1-20

Ahaz Reigns in Judah (2 Chronicles 28:1–27)

1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the LORD his God, as his father David had done. 3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel; indeed he made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out from before the children of Israel. 4 And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

5 Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to make war; and they besieged Ahaz but could not overcome him. 6 At that time Rezin king of Syria captured Elath for Syria, and drove the men of Judah from Elath. Then the Edomites went to Elath, and dwell there to this day.

7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me.” 8 And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and sent it as a present to the king of Assyria. 9 So the king of Assyria heeded him; for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and took it, carried its people captive to Kir, and killed Rezin.

10 Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the design of the altar and its pattern, according to all its workmanship. 11 Then Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. So Urijah the priest made it before King Ahaz came back from Damascus. 12 And when the king came back from Damascus, the king saw the altar; and the king approached the altar and made offerings on it. 13 So he burned his burnt offering and his grain offering; and he poured his drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. 14 He also brought the bronze altar which was before the LORD, from the front of the temple—from between the new altar and the house of the LORD—and put it on the north side of the new altar. 15 Then King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, “On the great new altar burn the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt sacrifice, and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their grain offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice. And the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.” 16 Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that King Ahaz commanded.

17 And King Ahaz cut off the panels of the carts, and removed the lavers from them; and he took down the Sea from the bronze oxen that were under it, and put it on a pavement of stones. 18 Also he removed the Sabbath pavilion which they had built in the temple, and he removed the king’s outer entrance from the house of the LORD, on account of the king of Assyria.

19 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 20 So Ahaz rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. Then Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

After the kings of Judah had been following God so well in comparison to those of Israel, we see Ahaz come and follow after the bad examples of the northern kingdom based in Samaria.  He did not do what was right in God’s sight in the manner set by king David, but instead imitated those doing what was abominable to the LORD as Israel did by imitating the godless nations they did not drive out when taking possession of the promised land of milk and honey which was Canaan.  He followed evil examples by offering human sacrifices to imaginary gods and worshiped idols on high places with incense that should have been reserved for the Living God alone.  The imaginations of their hearts and desire for self produced a people indistinguishable from the pagans God had been driving out to make room for pure worship of Him alone, but like the southern kingdom of Israel, Judah was led astray by Ahaz into the idolatry and godless immorality of the unbelievers and their civilizations with offense to God.  They had wars because their hearts were not loyal (2 Chronicles 16:9) to the LORD God; they failed to grasp the need to have no other gods (Exodus 20:3-4) and to be holy, set apart (Leviticus 11:44, 20:26, 1 Peter 1:15) to worship and serve (Exodus 19:6) Him alone.  Ahaz went further to set up a new altar in the temple and offered profane sacrifices there to please the pagan king of Assyria, further leading himself and the people away from the LORD and true worship and in the ways of the world around them.  They were led astray by bad company (1 Corinthians 15:33) in attempts to please men and find safety from wars, and the evil company they kept corrupted their good and godly habits and led to the very conflicts and wars they sought to avoid.  This is a lesson for us not to compromise the Lord to fit in to the world as its friends (Galatians 1:4, James 4:4, 1 John 2:15-16, 17) instead of God or to provide our own sense of protection that only the Lord can give us in lives of holiness and singleminded worship with loyal hearts of devotion to Him alone. 

2 Kings 15:23-38 - Committed Devotion Against Corruption

2 Kings 15:23-38

Pekahiah Reigns in Israel

23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years. 24 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. 25 Then Pekah the son of Remaliah, an officer of his, conspired against him and killed him in Samaria, in the citadel of the king’s house, along with Argob and Arieh; and with him were fifty men of Gilead. He killed him and reigned in his place.

26 Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did, indeed they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

Pekah Reigns in Israel

27 In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years. 28 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. 29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maachah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria. 30 Then Hoshea the son of Elah led a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and struck and killed him; so he reigned in his place in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.

31 Now the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did, indeed they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

Jotham Reigns in Judah (2 Chronicles 27:1–9)

32 In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, began to reign. 33 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. 34 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD; he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. 35 However the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. He built the Upper Gate of the house of the LORD.

36 Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 37 In those days the LORD began to send Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah. 38 So Jotham rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David his father. Then Ahaz his son reigned in his place.

The unfortunate pattern of reigning in evil and in good continued with the kings of the Northern Kingdom, Israel, having more leaders our of Samaria pursuing evil against the LORD and their fellow followers while the leaders of Judah pursued doing what was good in the eyes of God out of Jerusalem where the house of the LORD had established the place for worship.  The northern kings faced raids from Assyria and conspiracy from within the corrupt government, while in Judah we read of lurking compromise left unchecked (the high places of pagan worship in defiance of the first commandment) yet with a general pursuit of doing good in other areas in God’s eyes.  The people were still not being led into holiness as they sacrificed and burned incense to idols in these remote high places as if God did not see them compromising pure worship in this double standard of devotion to Him and them.  The result was similar to the northern kingdom in that the LORD began to send adversaries against Judah as well for their refusal to turn completely to God and away from their not quite hidden idolatry.  The lesson for us is not to compromise the Lord in our walk of worship (Romans 12:1, 2, 1 Corinthians 2:12, 13, Corinthians 6:16, 19-20) in living for Him, as those leading and those following corrupt each body-temple from within (Acts 20:29-30, 2 Peter 2:1, 2) the body of Christ, the universal church.  We need to meet together specifically to encourage doing as it is written in scripture (Philippians 4:8, 9) and to warn each other (Hebrews 10:24-25, Ephesians 5:6, Matthew 16:6, Romans 13:13-14) when that mindset begins to be corrupted by evil influences of the world, the flesh, and the adversary.  May Colossians 1:28-29 drive our life in devoted motivation to keep the truth in view that we may avoid and correct corruption of mind, body, and soul from within and without the body of Christ in these individual bodies designed for worship as the house of God in Jerusalem was and where He now resides (1 Corinthians 3:16, 2 Timothy 1:14), not allowing a worldly Samaria to enthrone our hearts and keep us from being God-pleasers.  Let us be committed to the rule of good and not evil on the high places outside God’s will and word.  This is committed devotion of true worship of our lives (Romans 12:1) to avoid sin’s corruption of outside rule over us.  Amen!