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.