Lesson 29 – 2 Kings 19

2 ND KINGS Week 29, chapter 19 We closed out our last lesson in 2 nd Kings by reading Ezekiel 38 because it is closely connected with 2 nd Kings 18 and 19. If you missed that lesson I suggest you obtain it as we’ll not be reviewing its importance today. As we move forward with chapter 19, let’s continue discussing King Hezekiah of Judah’s reaction to the 2 nd message that King Sennacherib of Assyria sent to him, demanding that Judah submit to Assyria or be destroyed. The first message was delivered orally by the viceroy of Assyria, an unnamed man with the title of Rav-Shekeh. The second message was delivered in written form, thus we see that even though Rav-Shekeh had ample opportunity the first time to embellish and add his own personality to the message that the King of Assyria wanted communicated to Hizkiyahu , the written document that was the 2 nd message demonstrates that the 1 st and 2 nd messages were basically identical and thus precisely representative of Sennacherib’s demands upon Judah; Rav-Shekeh had been faithful in his duty to not add to or subtract from Sennacherib’s intent. While the content and context of Sennacherib’s messages were, on the surface, all about persuading Melech Hizkiyahu (King Hezekiah) that he didn’t stand a chance against the superior armed forces of Assyria, and that resistance would be foolhardy and counter-productive, there was also a spiritual aspect to it that proved to be Sennacherib’s undoing. He directly challenged the power and authority of the God of Israel, and even blatantly blasphemed Him by assigning himself the office of God’s agent to destroy what remained of God’s Kingdom. It was this display of blasphemy that caused King Hezekiah to tear his clothing and don sackcloth as a sign of mourning. And because Sennacherib’s message was mostly one of challenge and profaning the God of Israel, Hezekiah did the right thing by bringing the letter to the Temple and placing it before the Lord for the Lord to deal with it. Thus in our last lesson I told you that 2 important pieces of information were revealed to us in 2 nd Kings 19:14. The first was that by sending the message in writing, Sennacherib laid claim to all blame for his blasphemy; he could not say that the messenger altered the message in some unintended way. Thus the Lord God would deal with him directly. But the 2 nd principle is that when someone blasphemes God in your presence, it is best to take the matter to God. Believers have a tendency to think that part of our job description is to defend the Lord. And while we should not turn tail and run when our Lord is insulted or His Word is misrepresented, at the same time we should not think that somehow we have to be the avengers of God’s blasphemers. God does not assign Believers the duty of avenging Him; rather the day will come when the blasphemers who are alive at the second coming will be cut down by Christ, and those who died in earlier days in their blasphemy will personally face the Great Judge and have their just reward meted out to them at that time.