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March 4 - 2 Kings 18 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello, Hello, friends. It's Sean here.
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  It's Tuesday. It's the 4th of March.
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  Thank you for coming back. Coming back.
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  If you were here yesterday, you read with me a a really
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  challenging reading where the northern Israeli Kingdom is
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  destroyed and taken into exile and just disappeared into the
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  void of the Assyrian Empire. And have you ever wondered why
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  when we read the Gospels, people hated the Sumerians and they
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  thought that they were so, so far below the Israelites?
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  Well, that's because of the fact that these are the people who
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  came into the land of Israel and they were taught to to worship
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  God, but they were not people of the tribe of Israel.
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  And they attempted to worship God but didn't really quite get
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  it right and mixed it with all of the traditions that that came
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  from the different homelands. Which is why the people of
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  Israel in Jesus time were so down on them for for having no
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  idea how to worship God. So that's a little background
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  context for you. And today we continue in the
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  story when Israel has fallen and now Assyria comes knocking on
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  the door of Judah. And how will they respond?
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  Will the king give in to the the requests and the threats of this
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  giant empire on his northern border?
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  Or will he listen to the advice of God?
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  Let's find out as we read together Second Kings Chapter
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  18. Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, began to
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  rule over Judah in the third year of King Hoshaya's reign in
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  Israel. He was 25 years old when he
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  became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem 29 years.
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  His mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
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  He did what was pleasing in the Lord's sight, just as his
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  ancestor David had done. He removed the Pagan shrines,
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  smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the ashrapoles.
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  He broke up the bronze serpent that Moses had made because the
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  people of Israel had been offering sacrifices to it.
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  The bronze serpent was called Nahushtan.
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  Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel.
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  There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either
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  before or after his time. He remained faithful to the Lord
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  in everything, and he carefully obeyed all the commands the Lord
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  had given Moses. So the Lord was with him, and
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  Hezekiah was successful in everything he did.
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  He revolted against the king of Assyria and refused to pay him
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  tribute. He also conquered the
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  Philistines as far distant as Gaza and its territory from
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  their smallest outpost to their largest walled city.
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  During the fourth year of Hezekiah's reign, which was the
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  7th year of King Hoshaya's reign in Israel, King Shalmanesa of
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  Assyria attacked the city of Samaria and began a siege
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  against it. Three years later, during the
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  6th year of King Hezekiah's reign and the 9th year of King
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  Hoshaya's reign in Israel, Samaria fell.
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  At that time, the king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to
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  Assyria and placed them in colonies in Hallah, along the
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  banks of the Habor River, in Gozan, and in the cities of the
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  Medes. For they refused to listen to
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  the Lord their God and obey Him. Instead, they violated His
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  covenant, all the laws that Moses, the Lord's servant, had
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  commanded them to obey. In the 14th year of King
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  Hezekiah's reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria came to
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  attack the fortified towns of Judah and conquered them.
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  King Hezekiah sent this message to the king of Assyria at
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  Lakish. I have done wrong.
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  I will pay whatever tribute money you demand if you will
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  only withdraw. The king of Assyria then
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  demanded a settlement of more than 11 tonnes of silver and one
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  tonne of gold. To gather this amount, King
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  Hezekiah used all the silver stored in the Temple of the Lord
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  and in the palace treasury. Hezekiah even stripped the gold
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  from the doors of the Lord's temple and from the door posts
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  he had overlaid with gold, and he gave it all to the Assyrian
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  king. Nevertheless, the king of
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  Assyria sent his commander in chief, his field commander and
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  his chief of staff from Lakish with a huge army to confront
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  King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. The Assyrians took up a position
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  beside the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool near
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  the road leading to the field where cloth is washed.
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  They summoned King Hezekiah, but the king sent these officials to
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  meet with them. Eliakim son of Hilkiah the
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  palace administrator, Shebna the court secretary, and Joah son of
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  Asaph, the royal historian. Then the Assyrian King's chief
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  of staff told them to give this message to Hezekiah.
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  This is what the great king of Assyria says.
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  What are you trusting in that makes you so confident?
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  Do you think that mere words can substitute for military skill
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  and strength? Who are you counting on that you
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  have rebelled against me on Egypt?
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  If you lean on Egypt, it would be like a Reed that splinters
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  beneath your weight and pierces your hand.
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  Pharaoh, the king of Egypt is completely unreliable.
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  But perhaps you will say to me, we are trusting in the Lord our
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  God. But isn't he the one who was
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  insulted by Hezekiah? Didn't Hezekiah tear down his
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  shrines and altars and make everyone in Judah and Jerusalem
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  worship only at the altar here in Jerusalem?
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  I'll tell you what strike a bargain with my master, the king
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  of Assyria. I will give you 2000 horses if
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  you can find that many men to ride on them with your tiny
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  army. How can you think of challenging
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  even the weakest contingent of my master's troops, even with
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  the help of Egypt's Chariots and charioteers?
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  What's more, do you think we have invaded your land without
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  the Lord's direction? The Lord himself told us, attack
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  this land and destroy it. Then Alaikim son of Hilkia,
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  Shebna and Joah said to the Assyrian chief of staff, Please
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  speak to us in Aramaic, for we understand it well.
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  Don't speak in Hebrew, for the people on the wall will hear.
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  But Sir Nacarib's chief of staff replied, Do you think my master
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  sent this message only to you and your master?
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  He wants all the people to hear it, for when he put this city
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  under siege, they will suffer along with you.
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  They will be so hungry and thirsty that they will eat their
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  own dung and drink their own urine.
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  Then the chief of staff stood and shouted in Hebrew to the
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  people on the wall. Listen to this message from the
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  great king of Assyria. This is what the king says.
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  Don't let Hezekiah deceive you. He will never be able to rescue
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  you from my power. Don't let him fool you into
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  trusting in the Lord by saying the Lord will surely rescue us.
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  This city will never fall into the hands of the Assyrian king.
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  Don't listen to Hezekiah. These are the terms the king of
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  Assyria is offering. Make peace with me, open the
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  gates and come out. Then each of you can continue
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  eating from your own Grapevine and fig tree and drinking from
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  your own well. Then I will arrange to take you
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  to another land like this one, a land of grain and a new wine,
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  bread and vineyards, olive Groves and honey.
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  Choose life instead of death. Don't listen to Hezekiah when he
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  tries to mislead you by saying the Lord will rescue us.
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  Have the gods of the other nations ever saved their people
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  from the king of Assyria? What happened to the gods of
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  Hamath or Arpad? And what about the gods of
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  Sephavaim, Haina, and IVA? Did any God rescue Samaria from
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  my power? What God of any nation has ever
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  been able to save its people from my power?
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  So what makes you think that the Lord can rescue Jerusalem from
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  me? But the people were silent and
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  did not utter a word because Hezekiah had commanded them.
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  Do not answer him. Then Alaikim son of Hilkiah the
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  palace administrator, Shebner, the court secretary, and Joah
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  son of Asaph, the royal historian, went back to
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  Hezekiah. They tore their clothes in
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  despair and they went to see the king and told him what the
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  Assyrian chief of staff had said.
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  Oh Lord, what? What a phenomenal test of faith
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  this is for all involved in this story.
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  When they confronted with what seems like overwhelming odds
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  that there's no way they can possibly escape.
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  But you just surrender to a God and Lord other than you, Lord.
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  Oh, the temptation is so real. Lord, I pray that you would
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  boister our faith, that You would increase our hearts
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  capacity to rest in You so that as we live our day to day lives,
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  as we go through today and we are pulled in a direction away
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  from You, that we can continually be faithful and
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  consistent in our faith and worship of You.
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  Because you are our God and you are different from every other
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  God in that You alone are the God of the universe.
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  And so we fall before you on our knees in worship and service to
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  you alone, our mighty God, our glorious King and our loving
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  Saviour. And we pray all of this through
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  that loving, saving name of Jesus, Amen.