November 5, 2021
2 Kings 19:8-19
The Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he heard that the king had left Lachish. Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, “Behold, he has set out to fight against you.” So, he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 1 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”
Have you heard the saying “Pride goes before the fall, Or they are so full of themselves”? That is where the king of Assyria, finds himself, and you can bet things are not going to go well for him.
Hezekiah's Prayer
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. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said: “O Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 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 mock the living God. Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands 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 were destroyed. So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone.”
I got some bad news this week. My older brother has stage 4 cancer, so I ran to my Father in Heaven, and I laid my prayer before the Lord. I also sought out people I knew would join me in that prayer. Hezekiah did likewise and laid out the letter before God. He acted by faith in the God he knew, and this Hezekiah knew God would not allow anyone to mock Him, so Hezekiah cried out for God to take care of this prideful king and also to save Judah from his hands.
Folks, we are living in a time of some of the most ignorant, evil people on earth who have no fear of God, for they have become gods in their own eyes. Is it not time you and I place our faith in our Lord and Savior, and our Father in heaven and lay out our case before our God who is being mocked.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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