106 - Hezekiah's Prayer and You [B]

Hezekiah's Prayer and You. 2 Kings 18:5-17

We all face challenges. Every single day we face one challenge or another which come wrapped up in all kinds of different guises—disappointments, adversity, and at other times prosperity and blessing which brings with them their own set of challenges. Some of the challenges that we face seem very significant; others don't seem very significant at all, but whatever the challenge or situation the solution is always found in a foundational reality, and that is God. Ultimately it always goes back to a spiritual problem and a spiritual solution, so that the focal point is always ultimately an issue of trust. Are we going to trust in God and His Word on the one hand, or are we going to trust in our own understanding, our own experience, our own rationalizations, our trusting in something within the created order?

As we come to 2 Kings 18:17-37 we see that even when the kingdom of Judah under the leadership of king Hezekiah is faced with what appears to be an insurmountable problem—they are surrounded by the armies of the Assyrians, cut off and under siege—it would seem that the solution to this problem could be found in maybe some ally coming to rescue them, maybe in military technology or strategy and tactic that somehow surprises and overcomes the enemy. We often look for solutions in the created realm when it becomes clear though in this text that even though those aspects are important and do play roles, but ultimately the issue must be framed in terms of God, His character, His plan. That is the foundational issue and that is what we see as we continue our study here.

One of the key words that we see in this whole passage is the word "trust." It is found in 2 Kings 18:5, speaking of king Hezekiah. This is the divine evaluation report in Hezekiah: "He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel."  This word for trust in the Hebrew is a word is not quite the same as others words that emphasize objective trust, it has to do with more the subjective focus of trust in terms of confidence, in terms of that which makes us feel secure and that someone is completely taking care of us. The focus here is on that security. Where is Hezekiah's security? Te application that we are hitting again and again in this passage has to do with: where is our security, where is your security in terms of the challenges in life that we face in life. The decisions that we have to face: is our security in the God of the Bible and His revelation, or is our security located in our circumstances—our jobs, our relationships, in some aspect of creation—or is our security focused on the Word of God? For Hezekiah, in terms of a summary of His life—it doesn't mean that he didn't fail—overall he was a man who trusted in the Lord God of Israel, "so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor {among those} who were before him." He is the model of the spiritual life and trust in God during the kingdom of Judah from Rehoboam until its final collapse in 586 BC. 2 Kings 18:6 uses a parallel form and a word that gives us a visual image of what trust in the Lord God of Israel is like: the word "held fast" [NKJV] or "clung" [NASB].  "For he clung to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses." It is a very strong word. Clinging to the Lord and trusting in Him is equivalent to obeying His commandments. In context here these commandments relate to the Old Testament law, the Mosaic law, but it has a broader application for us because Jesus reiterates the same truth in terms of New Testament commandments: "If you love me you will keep my commandments." The word here is the Hebrew word dabaq, which is used also of the relationship between the man and the women in Genesis chapter two, that they shall leave mother and father and cling or cleave to one another. It has different aspects but the core meaning of that word is to cling to something, to stick to something, to hold on to something—almost in a desperate sense, you are not going to let go.

What prepared the nation for this challenge of the Assyrian crisis was their spiritual preparation. When Hezekiah became king he was devoted to the Lord. His first act was to cleanse the temple. There is a spiritual reformation that occurs among the leadership from the top down, from Hezekiah to the priests and then to the people. In application the people didn't just use the words that they were going to devote themselves to God but they went out and destroyed all of the high places, the various temples and worship centers, idols and false gods that they had been worshipping in the previous administrations. There was a recommitment to obey the Mosaic covenant that God had entered into with them. This laid the foundation some fourteen years prior to the invasion. The key word here is batach, which means to trust in, to feel confident in God. It leads to where we don't have a care because God is going to be the one who completely takes care of us.

We have seen that the big threat is the king of Assyria. The Assyrians had come down earlier under Shalmaneser—it actually was finished by Sargon II—and had destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel, and we learn that the reason they lost the battle wasn't because of technology or manpower or poor military skills. 2 Kings 18:12 makes it very clear that the cause was disobedience to God. This is exactly what God had predicted in the Mosaic covenant. That verse tells us that the real problem that faced the northern kingdom that caused their military defeat was a spiritual problem. If we are not right with the Lord and we are not walking and living in terms of His Word and applying His Word, and operating on the promises and principles of His Word, then the end result of that life of independence and rebellion is going to be divine discipline and punishment.

2 Kin 18:13, 14 ^NASB "Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, 'I have done wrong. Withdraw from me; whatever you impose on me I will bear.' So the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold." It is from Lachish that Sennacherib has his headquarters as he challenges Hezekiah. Hezekiah (v.14) has slipped into sin. Instead of trusting in God, as in v. 5, he is now going to trust in human efforts to solve his problem. He is not going to believe that God can overcome the might of the Assyrian empire and so he is going to try to buy off the king of Assyria and is going to go back to trying to pay a tribute. Earlier he had revolted against the Assyrians and had refused to pay a tribute. What we see is that Hezekiah had forgotten what he had demonstrated earlier in terms of trust. We know that this happened historically; it is attested in historical records.  

In verse 14 we see how Hezekiah has failed to trust in God and is going to try and buy off Sennacherib with three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. This is quite a reduced amount relative to other amounts in Scripture, but it reflects a tremendous amount for the Judean economy at this time. What it really represents in terms of paying out that tribute is that Hezekiah has failed to trust in God as his defense. David says in Psalm 144:2 ^NASB "My lovingkindness and my fortress, My stronghold and my deliverer, My shield and He in whom I take refuge, Who subdues my people under me." This is a reference to the promise that God is our high tower; He is our fortification; He is our shield, the one who protects us. This was the mark of David and the mark of Hezekiah early on in his reign, and God had blessed him; but now he is going to trust in money. He is trusting in the wrong thing to secure his deliverance. Hezekiah goes in and robs God; he steals from Him. This is a strong reminder and visual statement that when we don't trust in God to deal with the problems of our life, then in essence we are stealing glory from God; we are stealing from Him as we seek to find solutions to our problems in something else.

He second thing that shows up in the response to the statements of the Rabshakeh is that not only was he depending upon gold to buy off Sennacherib but he was also depending upon Egypt for cavalry and chariots to come to his aid, verse 21. The Egyptians were defeated by Sennacherib and, as Sennacherib said, were nothing more than a broken reed. You can't depend on man. He who trusts in flesh is doomed to be disappointed. The third part of his sin, which is mentioned later on, is his pride. He is arrogant. He is not trusting God, he is trusting in himself; and this is the underlying basis for all sin, the sin of arrogance. 

2 Kings 18:15 ^NASB "Hezekiah gave {him} all the silver which was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasuries of the king's house. [16] At that time Hezekiah cut off {the gold from} the doors of the temple of the LORD, and {from} the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria." So that which belongs to God now belongs to Sennacherib. This is going to put Jerusalem and Judah, and specifically Hezekiah, under divine discipline.

This is where we get into a chronological problem in understanding the next couple of chapters because in 20:1 we read, "In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill…." This happens at the same time as the siege. The siege took place over a number of months and apparently during the time of the siege, after Hezekiah has disobeyed God and tried to buy off Sennacherib, and has been trusting in the Egyptians, God brought him down in illness that threatened his life. He was under the sin unto death. So the events in the first part of chapter 20 actually take place during the siege by the Assyrians. Their headquarters were located in Lachish. "… And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, 'Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.'"

Then we see the issue develop as the propaganda team sent out by Sennacherib begins to meet with the leaders in Jerusalem. 2 Kings 18:17 ^NASB "Then the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rab-saris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a large army to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the fuller's field." Of these three individuals mentioned here the first two are the primary leaders of the Assyrian army. The Tartan was the supreme commander, the general in charge of the army, and he was one of two persons in the Assyrian army with this title who often led campaigns on behalf of the emperor. Cf. Isaiah 20:1. The Rab-saris is a term that refers to the filed commander and he would be the one in command of the operation of the siege and assault of Jerusalem, and then the Rabshakeh was the chief cup bearer.  Typically the chief cup bearer would not go into battle. This is not somebody who simply comes along as a food tester or a glorified butler, but he has a much enlarged role in terms of dealing with the military. In this particular situation it was probably somebody from Jewish or northern kingdom background who knew and understood Hebrew and understood all of the customs, and he is the one who is going to shape the argument, the propaganda, against the Judeans and against Jerusalem. This is really the spiritual meat of this particular passage.

2 Kings 18:18 ^NASB "When they called to the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them." This would be members of the kings cabinet, the closest advisors to the king. Then the Rabshakeh begins to address them. [19]  "Then Rabshakeh said to them, 'Say now to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, 'What is this confidence that you have?'" The word "confidence" is the noun form of batach, and the word translated "trust" is the verb batach. In four verses there are five uses of the word batach, which tells us that the focal point of this whole passage is on trust. The message to Hezekiah: What are you really trusting in? So when the messengers of Sennacherib come they focus the attention spiritually. The issue isn't on technology, ultimately the challenge is: Are you really going to trust in God to solve the problem? None of the other gods have helped; why are you trusting in your God? [20] "You say (but {they are} only empty words), '{I have} counsel and strength for the war.' Now on whom do you rely [batach], that you have rebelled against me? [21] Now behold, you rely [batach] on the staff of this crushed reed, {even} on 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 rely on him."

Then he raises another argument. 2 Kings 18:22 "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 has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem'?" Hezekiah took down all the altars to God and who is going to deliver you?

There are two sections in this chapter in terms of the discussion and the propaganda challenge to the Judeans. The first is the private section at the beginning which goes down until they begin to speak to all of the people, v. 26. This address is just to the cabinet members who have come out for Hezekiah, and then it shifts to a public section where the people are going to be addressed. In the private section there are three basic questions raised. First, what is the basis for your confidence? The second, are you going to trust in Egypt? The third, are you going to trust in God? So in vv. 19-22 the Rabshakeh lays out his case, and his case is no different than the case of Satan in Genesis chapter three. This is the primary challenge for every one of us: Did God really say this? Did He really mean that? Satan came along and began to question God's Word.

Then he raises a military argument. 2 Kings 18:23 ^NASB "Now therefore, come, make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. [24] How then can you repulse one official of the least of my master's servants, and rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?" In other words, you can't have confidence in your own ability. In verse 25 he wraps up his argument: "Have I now come up without the LORD'S approval against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, 'Go up against this land and destroy it.'" He co-opts the religious argument and says, we are doing God's work; we are going to destroy you; God wants us to destroy you, you can't trust in Him at all. He uses all of these arguments to try to challenge the issue of what are they trusting in?

In vv. 29-31ff he builds the argument even more when he addresses all of the people. 2 Kings 18:29 ^NASB "Thus says the king, 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you from my hand; [30] nor let Hezekiah make you trust [batach] in the LORD, saying, 'The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city will 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 your peace with me and come out to me, and eat each of his vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the waters of his own cistern." Now the king of Assyria starts making promises: If you just make peace with us then everybody can come out, everybody will be given land, etc. It sounds like the modern promises of socialistic utopian governments, that if you just give up all of your freedom then we will take care of you, we will give everybody enough land and money, social security, universal healthcare and everything else. That is the challenge: is your security in God, in the Scripture, or is it in man, in government programs and in the various human institutions.

Then he continues to make this same claim: Where were these others gods? So the question comes down to this: how do we know we can trust God? How do we know we can trust His Word? There are three things that are important in answering the question: how do we really know we can really believe the Bible and that we can really trust God? The first way we know that God has actually spoken and that we can trust Him is because the voice of God comes with an inherent authority—a self-authenticating voice. There are two tests that God gives in the Old Testament for validating His revelation. The first is given in Deuteronomy 13:1-5 ^NASB "If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you." The message is different than the miracle. The miracle is designed to simply authenticate the messenger, but if you have the wrong message then it is a false miracle worker. So the first test is a test of consistency with the rest of Scripture. God doesn't contradict Himself. There is only one consistent message in Scripture and if the message isn't the same then it doesn't matter what confirmation, what miracle this prophet has; the message needs to be rejected. The false prophet was to be put to death. This is very serious because God recognizes that a culture that loses integrity and truth will implode and destroy itself—which is where we are in our culture.

In Deuteronomy 18:18ff we have the second test, the test of the prophet that actually comes to pass all of the time, the test of prophetic fulfillment. Deuteronomy 18:18 'I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him" – a reference to the ultimate prophet, the Lord Jesus Christ. [19] "It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require {it} of him. [20] But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. [21] You may say in your heart, 'How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?' [22] When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him."

What we see in these two tests is the foundation for validating the Word of God. We do not prove the Word of God from reason or experience but God recognizes that in order to validate that it is from Him we do go to reason and experience in order to see that the Word of God is the Word of God.

Illustrations