Sunday Morning Service (II Kings 18)

II Kings 18

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“Kings And The Panic Button” • 9.24.17 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro

- We learned last week of God's reasoning for allowing the North to go into captivity. The author takes us back in time to cover what was happening in the South at that same time. Verse 1.

Text

• II Kings 18:1-3 : "Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done." : Hezekiah takes the reins in the South a third of the way into King Hoshea's reign in the North. Hoshea was a vassal King for the nation of Assyria.

- Assyria had already occupied a large part of the North's territory and is soon to discover Hoshea's plot to conspire with the King of Egypt.

- Hezekiah is a 25 year old man when he ascends to the throne after his Father Ahaz. Ahaz had sought an alliance with Assyria, even retrofitting the temple to appease him.

- Ahaz was the most wicked King of Judah to date, embracing the ways of the Kings of Israel, even sacrificing one of his sons, Hezekiah's brother, to Molech!

- With the mounting political pressure and the example provided for him, it wouldn't be hard to imagine Hezekiah simply falling in line to maintain the tenuous peace. That isn't what he did.

- He did what was right in the sight of the Lord along the same trajectory of his ancestor, King David himself! How is this possible?

- His Mother Abi, which is short for Abijah, had been the daughter of Zechariah, former wicked King of Israel. (II Kings 15:8-12)

- She had seen the effects of wickedness first hand and then married into it, presumably by means of a treaty, with Ahaz.

- When she saw another of Ahaz's children sacrificed to a foreign god, I can't help but believe that she spent every minute teaching Hezekiah the right way to live.

- She may have even taken Hezekiah to see Isaiah, whose ministry is blossoming at this time.

- This nearly anonymous woman wouldn't accept the line of the status quo and wouldn't let her son be a statistic! Moms, your voice matters!

- If your voice is the only one, make it as loud as possible! But even that doesn't matter if the child won't do the work himself! For Hezekiah's part, he put his money where his heart was. Verse 4.

• II Kings 18:4 : "He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan." : II Chronicles 29:3-5 tells us that the first thing he did was re-open and renovate the Temple. In fact, that entire chapter is devoted to Hezekiah's passion for the Temple.

- Why? Because forsaking the God of the Temple had led to God's wrath being poured out against them! (II Chronicles 29:8-11)

- After taking care of the center of Israel's worship, he did what other Kings had failed to do.

- Hezekiah eliminated access to the high places by removing them. No more convenient, culturally sensitive, individualistic worship!  He refused to accept the standard reply.

- "We can meet with God anywhere!" While it is true that God will meet you where you are, how can you fulfill His command to love His family outside of His commanded assembly?

- Hezekiah condemned, as God does, a self-loving, self-worshipping, practice among God's people. I wish our hearts would emulate Hezekiah's.

- The King condemned the false practice of the true religion as well as the practices of false religion. He "smashed" the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah pole that His Father allowed.

- That was a new and foreign defilement upon the nation of Judah, but there was another that was home grown: The bronze serpent of Numbers 21!

- Moses constructed the serpent at God's command 700 years prior, so that the people might look at it and live when serpents were allowed to attack them for their unbelief.

- The fact that they burned incense to it shows just how far they had gone and how little they understood! It was God who healed them when they looked to it in faith. Worship Him!

- Unfortunately, they were willing to worship anything! Hezekiah had the right attitude. He looked at the same object and called it "Nehushtan" which just means "Bronze thing!" I love this!

- The rest of Judah looked at the bronze serpent with awe and attached value to it. Hezekiah just looked at it and said "Get that bronze thing out of here!" Verse 5.

• II Kings 18:5-8 : "He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. The Lord was with him; he prospered wherever he went. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. He subdued the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city." : Hezekiah put his confidence in the Lord God of Israel!

- His nation was polluted with idols and Assyria is bearing down with it's idols. Not so for Hezekiah! Can the same be said of you? Are you in a faith relationship with Jesus Christ?

- Is that faith as strong today as it once was or is there an idol nearby that occupies your mind?

- Hezekiah placed unwavering trust in the Lord which set him apart from all the Kings of Judah, from Rehoboam until himself. His trust was displayed by the fact that he held fast to the Lord!

- "Held fast" is the translation of the Hebrew word "davak" which means to cleave. It's the same word that is used to describe a husband and wife bond in Genesis 2:24.  

- Hezekiah joined himself to God. He fastened himself to the Lord. Does this describe your pursuit of the Lord?

- It's sad to see how many are satisfied with a superficial relationship to the Lord. Such a person is attempting dictating their terms. With Hezekiah, there isn't any question!

- He pursued the Lord and did not depart from following Him! What did that mean? It meant that he kept the commands that the Lord gave Moses. It keeps coming back to the word of God!

- You will trust the Lord, cleave to the Lord, only as much as it can be said that you are devoted to His Word!  There are no shortcuts and there are no exceptions!

- Hezekiahs are not made by casual, comfortable, half committed Christians who follow when it! suits them Hezekiah's are determined to stand as close to God as they can possibly get!

- Hezekiah response to the Lord demanded God's response toward him! The Lord was "with him." The word carries the connotation of closely watching over the King.

- The result was obvious: He prospered wherever he went! His confidence was high enough to rebel outright against Assyria's presiding government.

- He also expanded his territory in the other direction by slaying the Philistines. Everything is going Hezekiah's way, but a dark cloud is looming. Verse 9.

• II Kings 18:9-13 : "Now it came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. And at the end of three years they took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away captive to Assyria, and put them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed His covenant and all that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded; and they would neither hear nor do them. And in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them." : Judah was busy conquering the Philistines and the Assyrians were dealing with the northern tribes.

- This short recap is mentioned here to connect us to Hezekiah's motive. Of all that can be said about Israel's collapse, the most tragic thing is that it never needed to happen!

- They were taken away because they refused to obey God's voice! The same can be said of us! Nobody here needs to fall into sin. Everyone should know better, but will you obey?

- Hezekiah ran toward the Lord in complete desperation, knowing that He was his and Judah's greatest defense. By the end of this section, he has held his ground for 12 years.

- At about that time he is watching the largest army assembled ransack the best defended cities. How far will his trust in the Lord carry him? Verse 14.

• II Kings 18:14-16 : "Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, 'I have done wrong; turn away from me; whatever you impose on me I will pay.' And the king of Assyria assessed Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. So 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, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria." : Hezekiah's character and conduct thus far should be applauded. That doesn't make him perfect. All that can be said here is that Hezekiah panicked!

- The pressure became intense and without thinking or praying, he offered the King of Assyria a bribe, which amounted to over 11 tons of silver and a boatload of God!

- Hezekiah took everything that he had and even had to strip the Temple of the gold overlay that it boasted in order to amass the appropriate amount. Do you think this satisfied the Assyrian?

- Whenever you give into a bully, you had better know that you will have to keep giving in to him and with increasing amounts! Hezekiah's momentary lapse of faith was an invitation. Verse 17.

• II Kings 18:17,18 : "Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh from Lachish, with a great army against Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they had come up, they went and stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool, which was on the highway to the Fuller’s Field. And when they had called to the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them." : The Tartan and the Rabsaris represent special forces and command large troop deployment. The Rabshakeh is the Assyrian secretary of state.

- Behind them is a mighty army essentially surrounding the city. This isn't a negotiation, as much as it is a call to surrender. Hezekiah sends out his delegation to receive their terms. Verse 19.

• II Kings 18:19-25 : " Then the Rabshakeh said to them, 'Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: 'What confidence is this in which you trust? You speak of having plans and power for war; but they are mere words. And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? Now look! You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, 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 trust in him. 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 said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses—if you are able on your part to put riders on them! How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen? Have I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’" : When the Assyrians came to surround the city, Judah refused to surrender outright.

- II Chronicles 32:1-8 tells the story. Hezekiah cut off the water supply to the Assyrians, while at the same time, built up the fortified positions and stocked up the armory with weapons.

- He acted like a King that would withstand the army of the Assyrians. He explains why in verses 7 and 8.

• II Chronicles 32:7,8 : "Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.' And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah." : These are the words that the Rabshakeh is puzzled by. "What confidence is this in which you trust?"

- He is thinking out loud, trying to comprehend the source of Hezekiah's courage to resist. It can't be Egypt can it?

- Egypt was on the verge of collapse against the Assyrians as well. Leaning on the Pharaoh will only bring harm to themselves. It can't be them. "Are they thinking that the Lord is on their side?"

- From an outsiders perspective, Hezekiah had spent a good deal of time destroying all of the false altars in Israel. The Assyrian assumes that Hezekiah has offended this God.

- He also asserts that it was the Lord who brought them up against the land to destroy it! He could very well be meaning the land of the North. God had called Assyria to take Israel away.

- He seems ignorant of the two different Kingdoms and assumes that his charge remains intact. Verse 26.

• II Kings 18:26,27 : "Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, 'Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.' But the Rabshakeh said to them, 'Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?'" : Hezekiah's representatives would like the Assyrians to speak exclusively to them, without having to raise the panic of the people.

- It was enough to have to deal with Assyria's forces. They didn't want to deal with a panic within the city walls. The Rabshakeh though has no desire to pare back his rhetoric.

- He's fairly confident that his army can create the same conditions here that he has in previous campaigns.

- In his mind, they will win and the people within will suffer for every day that they hold out. Their desperation will be profound. He continues on with no sensitivity. Verse 28.

• II Kings 18:28-35 : "Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and spoke, saying, 'Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you from his hand; nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, 'The Lord will surely deliver us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern; until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive groves and honey, that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, lest he persuade you, saying, 'The Lord will deliver us.' Has any of the gods of the nations at all delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim and Hena and Ivah? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’" : Roman historian Procopious asserts that the Rabshakeh was an apostate Jew, which would make this all the more heinous.

- He yelled out in perfect Hebrew for all to hear. This was a direct message from the King of Assyria. "Don't let Hezekiah fool you. Neither he, nor the Lord can do anything to stop us!"

- Isn't this just like the enemy? "Don't trust the Lord! Trust your eyes and trust our experience!"

- Even if they give him a gift, it will only delay the inevitable. Assyria planned on taking Judah into captivity as it had Israel. The Rabshakeh wants them to surrender and all will be well for them.

- If the enemy can get you and I to give up, he'll promise to meet our desires, but we will have to forego our freedom! The Rabshakeh is on a roll.

- He brings up the fact that there are people he had just deposited in Samaria who trusted in gods who weren't able to help them. It might be best to quit now.

-  It's not wise to compare the living God with the lifeless gods of the nations. He'll soon regret this line of rhetoric. Verse 36.

• II Kings 18:36,37 : "But the people held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, 'Do not answer him.' Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh." : The people were quiet at their King's command. The Rabshakeh didn't need any more fuel for his vitriol.

- They didn't need to answer verbally. Their responses were telling enough. They came before their King in shock and horror at the blasphemy that they had just heard.

Conclusion
- King Hezekiah is such a refreshing person to study. God's people were blessed to have such a King who would buck tradition, fight fervently against idolatry and fervently for the Lord's presence.

- Aren't you inspired by his ability to rise above his circumstances and culture? Doesn't his confidence in and zeal for God challenge you?

- Hezekiah reminds me of our King, who rose above His religious culture to show the world what true obedience to God was.

- Of all the people that should not have been a Savior, it was the One who came from Nazareth, whose heritage was questioned in the eyes of the world!

- Our King showed us what confidence was, by putting His own life in the hands of Almighty God, going beyond the threat of death, to the very worst of executions.

- Our King never negotiated with the enemy or entertained his lies. He stood firm without failing until His dying breath!

- He is the King who not only bucked tradition, but gives us His Spirit that we might do the same! He is the King who not only has confidence in His Father, but causes us to walk boldly.

- He is the King who has faced our enemy and reminds us that because He lives, we never have to buy the lie because He will never fail. Let's pray.