Laying It Down

O. T. #990  "Laying It Down"
May 26, 2017
2 Chronicles 32-Part 2
And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the hose of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. 2 Kings 19:14

LET IT GLOW

King Hezekiah of Judah stopped paying tribute to Assyria, though his father did it as a bribe for their help in battle, which did not come. Needless to say, King Sennacherib (Sin-act'-rib) of Assyria was not pleased. He invaded towns in Judah. But, Hezekiah made preparations to protect Jerusalem. He encouraged the men that the power that is far greater than Assyria's army was on their side and He would help them fight their battles.

Assyria's king sent insulting letters by messengers to Hezekiah, trying to terrifying him. When Hezekiah received the letter, what did he do? He went into the house of the Lord and spread the letter before his God. Hezekiah was a real man of prayer, McGee describes.

Liberty Bible Commentary explains Hezekiah's wonder prayer found in 2 Kings 19:14-19:

1. He recognized God's sovereignty, having complete authority over what He had created. (verse 15)
2. The pagan Sennacherib had defiled the living and sovereign God. (verse 16)
3. Sennacherib had destroyed other nations and other gods; his claims only proved that pagan gods were not gods. (verses 17-18)
4. Hezekiah requested that God save His people and show the world that Jehovah was the only God. (verse 19)

Lord God, may Your will be done in our lives. We acknowledge that only You are sovereignly in control over all things. Nothing catches You by surprise. You have solutions for our problems, diseases, trials, and troubles. We yield to Your will, Your way, today. Work in us so we bring You honor as You see us through this time.
In Jesus name I pray.


LET IT GROW

What was in the letter from the Assyrian king that caused King Hezekiah to be so distraught that he went into the Temple and spread this threatening letter before the Lord? (Not only was it sent to the king of Judah, but to the people, also.)

• What are you trusting in that makes you think you can survive my siege of Jerusalem?
• Surely Hezekiah is misleading you, sentencing you to death by famine and thirst.
• Don't you realize that Hezekiah is the very person who destroyed all the LORD's shrines and altars?
• He commanded that Judah and Jerusalem to worship only at the altar at the Temple and other sacrifices on it alone.
• Surely you must realize what I and the other kings of Assyria before me have done to all the people of the earth. Were any of the gods of those nations able to rescue their people from my power? Which of their gods was able to rescue its people from  the destructive power of my predecessors?
• What makes you think your God can rescue you from me?
• Don't let Hezekiah deceive you! Don't let him fool you like this. I say again-no god of any nation or kingdom has ever yet been able to rescue his people from me or my ancestors. How much less will your God rescue you from my power!
• Just as the gods of all the other nations failed to rescue their people from my power, so the God of Hezekiah will also fail. (New Living Translation)

King Sennacherib's officers mocked the LORD God and His servant Hezekiah, heaping insult upon insult. They shouted the message in Hebrew to the people gathered on the walls of the city, trying to terrify them so it would be easier to capture Jerusalem. They talked about the God of Jerusalem as though He were one of the pagan gods, made by human hands.

In 2 Kings 19, the Lord God answered this arrogant king of Assyria about his defiling God saying it went as He planned; he conquered because God allowed it; God knows Sennacherib well, where he stayed, and when he came and went; God s going to put His hook in this king's nose and His bit into his mouth, making Sennacherib return by the same road on which he came into Judah.

Wow! This Assyrian king challenged God. What a mistake. This man was not more powerful than God, nor is any man, no are we.

The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven's Armies made this happen-a remnant of God's people would spread out from Jerusalem, a group of survivors from Mt. Zion.

This occurred since the angel of the LORD went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. Survivors and the king of Assyria went home to Nineveh, their capital, after seeing the corpses everywhere. Twenty years later,  while Sennacherib was worshiping in the temple of his false god, his two sons killed him by their swords, the escaped to another land of Ararat.

Assyria was crushed in 612 B.C. and Babylon, under Nebuchadnezzar, became the world ruler.
(2 Kings 20:14)

Good prevails against the evil. God is always victorious. Do I hear an amen?
Hezekiah depended upon the Lord for help, and He delivered the city in a miraculous way.

LET IT GO
                     ... and let God.
                     ... and lay it down, my request, before my God.