LEARNING DAILY

 

2 Kings 18:29-30, Thus says the king (of Assyria): 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 shall surely deliver us; this city shall not be given unto the hand of the king of Assyria.

 

This needs some background and a few words to introduce how this relates to what has been written in previous pages of the blog.

 

Hezekiah was considered one of the greatest kings of Judah because of his trust and reliance upon God. Hezekiah trusted deeply in the Lord, kept His commandments, and encouraged the people to turn from sin and return to God. When he began his reign, he destroyed the idolatrous altars and reinstated the worship and celebrations (such as Passover) led by the Levites and priests. It is safe to say, Hezekiah’s faith enabled him to make reforms in Judah that pleased God. To me that sounds like the person who finds salvation in Jesus Christ, who chooses to no longer do the sinful things He has delivered the person from. In living their new faith, God is pleased.

 

Hezekiah becomes part of a group of nations who will no longer pay the tribute (taxes) demanded by the Assyrians who have dominated the area for a long time; this is regarded as an attempt to be independent of Assyrian control. Obviously, this is not going to be received well with the Assyrian king. When a person decides to be free of the kingdom of self, free of the devil’s control, they will not be happy and do all they can to keep their control over you.

 

The king of Assyria responds by capturing many of the important cities in those areas joining Hezekiah in refusing to pay tribute. King Sennacherib sends his army to Jerusalem. In the decision to go to Jerusalem, there is discussion about Hezekiah relying on Egypt or the Lord for his help. He sends his senior military official to Jerusalem to see if he can persuade the people to believe that relying on either one was not going to help. The general sent pointed out that no other nations’ gods had delivered them from the Assyrian nation in the past and their God would not be able to do so now.

 

You need to understand that the world and the devil are constantly watching you and me to see if our reliance on our Lord is going to hold up under the attacks, the temptations, the trials that come our way. Will our beliefs in Jesus Christ, the Word of God we put into our heart, be strong enough to get us through the attacks or will our beliefs be mere words that are empty of power.

 

Hezekiah, at this point, sees no way out and depletes the treasury of Jerusalem to pay the tribute. Is that a surprising result? Perhaps. There is more to this because for some unknown reason Sennacherib returned to besiege Jerusalem with his large army. Once again, he sends his general to belittle the Lord and mock the people’s trust in Him. Do you see that the enemy of your soul and the kingdom of self are never satisfied with a single victory over you. They keep coming back over and over, mocking your faith, trying to destroy it until you finally give up and say it is no longer worth the effort. Never forget the old self wants to control you and convince you the life on the broad way, the easy way is the best way for you. Remember where the broad way leads you – to destruction.

 

Read on, my faithful friends, to see what Hezekiah does in response to this attack by the enemy. Read on to see what God does in response to Hezekiah’s faith in Him. We serve a great God who loves us so much more than we realize and is just waiting to move on our behalf when our faith rises and we call on Him for help.