2 Kings 19 | The Lord Defends Jerusalem

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Transcript

Charlie Mitchell 0:01

You're listening to the Dope Daily Audio Bible, and I'm your guide, Pastor Charlie Mitchell. And today, we're looking at 2 Kings, chapter 19. Let's roll. When King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went to the Lord's temple. he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace. Shebna, the court secretary, and the leading priests, who were covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz. they said to him, "This is what Hezekiah says: 'Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace, for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them. perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of the royal spokesman, whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to mock the living God and will rebuke him for the words that the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the surviving remnant, So the servants of Hezekiah went to Isaiah, who said to them, "Tell your master, the Lord says this, Don't be afraid of the words you have heard, with which the king of Assyria's attendants have blasphemed me. I'm about to put a spirit in him, and he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.' when the royal spokesman heard that the king of Assyria had pulled out of Lachish, He left and found him fighting against Libnah. The king had heard concerning King Tirhakah of Cush, "Look, he has set out to fight against you." So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah saying, say this to King Hezekiah of Judah, 'Don't let your God on whom you rely deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria. Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries. res- They completely destroy them. Will you be rescued? Did the gods of the nations that my predecessors destroyed rescue them?'" Nations such as Gozan, Rezaph, Ednites, and the Ednites, and Telassar, Where's the king of Hamath? The king of Arpad? The king of the city of Saravem, Hena, or Ivvah Hezekiah took the letter from the messenger's hands, read it, then went up to the Lord's temple and spread it out before the Lord. Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, "Lord God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you are God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth. Listen closely, Lord, and hear; open your ears, Lord, and see; Hear the words that Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God. Lord, it is true that the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but made by human hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. Now, Lord, our God, please save us from his power so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Lord, are God, you alone. Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent a message to Hezekiah. The Lord, the God of Israel says, I have heard your prayer to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria. This is the word the Lord has spoken against him. Virgin daughter Zion despises you and scorns you. daughter Jerusalem shakes her head behind your back. blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel. You have mocked the Lord through your messengers. You have said, 'With many chariots, I have gone up to the heights of the mountains. To the far recesses of Lebanon, I cut down its tallest cedars, its choice cypress trees. I came to its farthest outpost, its densest forest. I dug wells and drank water in foreign lands. I dried up all the streams of Egypt with the soles of my feet.' Have you not heard? I designed it long ago. I planned it in days gone by. I have now brought it to pass, and you have crushed fortified cities into piles of rubble. Their inhabitants have become powerless, dismayed, and ashamed. They are plants of the field, tender grass, grass on the rooftops blasted by the east wind. But I know you're sitting down. You're going out, and you're coming in, and you're raging against me. because you're raging against me, and your arrogance have reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth. I will make you go back the way you came. This will be the sign for you. This year, you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year, what grows from that. But in the third year, sow and reap. Plant vineyards and eat their fruit. the surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. For a remnant will go out from Jerusalem and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of armies will accomplish this. Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria. He will not enter this city, shoot an arrow here, come before it with a shield, or build up a siege ramp against it. He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter the city. This is the Lord's declaration. I will defend this city and rescue it for my sake and for the sake of my servant David. That night, the angel of the Lord went out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies. So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and left. He returned home and lived in Nineveh. One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. Then his son Esarhaddon became king in his place. Let's pray. Dear Jesus, you truly are the God who hears every prayer that we pray. You're not distant from our troubles, and you are not intimidated by the things that intimidate us. Hezekiah took his fears, his threats, and his burdens, and he laid them at your feet. And you responded, not because of his strength, but because of your faithfulness towards the people. So Lord, teach us to do the exact same thing. Anxiety will rise, but I pray that you would help us to bring it to you. When we get overwhelmed, Help us to pray before we start panicking. When we don't know what to do, I pray that you would help us to trust that you do know what to do. Remind us that No problem is bigger than your power. No enemy is stronger than your hand, and no situation is beyond your control. I pray you remind us of that in real time when we need it. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.