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.

 

Sennacherib has his army back to Jerusalem and his commander is trying to taunt the people so they are afraid and give in to his demands. He is trying to “intimidate the people by defiantly belittling the Lord and mocking the people’s trust in Him” (LSSB). You and I have seen or heard those who have mocked or spoken against the faith we have in God. Perhaps some of you have experienced some type of persecution in the work place or in some other place.

 

I was on Facebook at one time. I posted what I believed to be a funny cartoon on it. It drew the ire of a high school classmate and the discussion led to him being quite disrespectful toward “you evangelicals and your beliefs.” There are other experiences to share; you get the idea. What experiences do you have? By the way, that caused me to remove myself from the hassle of social media.

 

Sennacherib is mocking the Lord. It is interesting to examine Hezekiah’s reaction and what happens next. Both can be found in chapter 19. Hezekiah had shown he had great confidence in God. Now that he is faced with the threat of the Assyrians for a second time, he humbles himself and turns to God; he also pleads for the prophet Isaiah to pray for Jerusalem and the “remnant” of God’s people left in Jerusalem. It is important to see that the Lord responded to Hezekiah’s humility and prayer and responded through Isaiah. The Lord told Hezekiah that he was not to be afraid of the words he had heard that blasphemed Him. God was going to handle this situation. God took care of it!

 

Hezekiah prayed again in 2 Kings 19:15 because he had received a letter demanding the surrender of Jerusalem. He spread the letter out before the Lord and prayed earnestly to Him. When trouble comes, you and I must do the same thing – draw near to God and pray fervently to Him believing He hears and will answer prayer. God had promised to deliver Jerusalem and not allow anything to happen that is out of His will. That is His promise for us today! Hezekiah, shown in verse 19, prayed that God be glorified and “that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone.” That must be the desire and main concern of each of us as we walk the narrow way.

 

As a result, God sent the “angel of the Lord” into the camp of the Assyrian army, killing 185,000 soldiers. Assyria, the most powerful political kingdom in the world, stood against the little nation of Judah. When defeat seemed inevitable, God showed up, intervened in the situation, and saved His people. They placed their faith in Him and He protected them.

 

The events discussed in the last two pages of the blog have been written to be an example of the challenges we face as we walk on the narrow way. It is also an example of the importance of studying God’s Word and allowing it to be the “lamp to my feet and a light to my path” that we wrote about in Psalm 119:105. It is necessary for each of us to know that God hears our prayers. He knows the situations each of us face. He is concerned for each of His followers and wants to guide us through every trial and temptation we face as we walk on His narrow way. It is a difficult way and He wants each of us to humble ourselves and bring each situation we face to Him for Him to guide us. His written Word is the way He speaks to us each day; it is a “lamp to my feet and a light to my path”.  As He helped Hezekiah, He desires to help each of us! Be encouraged to humble yourself and diligently seek Him to guide you through every trial and temptation you have as you walk the narrow way to eternal life in His kingdom.

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible