Year 2, Week 4, Day 5 Bible Reading Observations

Year 2, Week 4, Day 5

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of 2 Kings 18; Isaiah 26-27.

Today’s reading takes us back to 2 Kings as we are introduced to the reign of Hezekiah, King of Judah. This section of Kings has historical parallel to parts of 2 Chronicles 29-31, as Assyria has overtaken the Northern Kingdom of Israel and is advancing on the Southern Kingdom of Judah. But 2 Kings 18, as it introduces us to Hezekiah with a glowing report: “And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah…He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him” (2 Kings 18:3-5). Judah had not had a king like Hezekiah since David. Hezekiah did what even most good kings failed to do: he tore down the places of false worship. Isaiah 26-27 is back to back songs of victory: “In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks” (Isaiah 26:1); and: “In that day, “A pleasant vineyard, sing of it!” (Isaiah 27:1). These songs of victory speak of a future day as they record the response to the power of the LORD delivers His people through the defeat His enemies: “For behold, the LORD is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover its slain. In that day the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea” (Isaiah 26:21-27:1).

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading is the troubling times that Hezekiah emerges as Judah’s King. The Assyrians were once again dominate and advancing on Judah: “In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them…And the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rab-saris, and the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem” (2 Kings 18:13,17a). Having taken many cities in Judah the Assyrians laid siege to Jerusalem. Hezekiah actually falters for a brief moment as he attempts to appease Sennacherib by buying him off: “And 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.”…And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house. At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD” (2 Kings 18:14-16).

Perhaps the mocking words of Rabshakeh, an Assyrian military commander, awakens Hezekiah: “Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand. Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD by saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria” (2 Kings 18:29-30). Rabshakeh kept up the pressure: "Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live, and not die. And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, “The LORD will deliver us” (2 Kings 18:31-32). Rabashakeh not only threatened Hezekiah, he sought to turn the people against him as their king.

But Rabshakeh’s most fatal error is his disrespect toward the LORD: "Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’” (2 Kings 18:33-35). The Assyrians had steamrolled over the previous gods that they faced; however the LORD was not in the category of a god; He was the one true God. Rabshakeh and the Assyrians would soon know the difference between a god and the LORD God.

In the meantime, things look ominous for Hezekiah and Judah: “But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, “Do not answer him.” Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh” (2 Kings 18:36-37). Things look bleak, but we should remember how the chapter began as it described Hezekiah: “For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses. And the LORD was with him” (2 Kings 18:6-7a). In the midst of the traumatic situation that surrounded Hezekiah, the Word of the LORD can strengthen the soul: “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock” (Isaiah 26:3-4).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe