The Kings Of Israel And Judah. Day 200, Hezekiah King Of Judah, Part Seventeen

In our last study session we found King Hezekiah sending men to the prophet Isaiah to relay to him the threatening statements made against the kingdom of Judah by King Sennacherib of Assyria. The Lord had already given Isaiah the words to say to these men before they arrived. The Lord wanted these men to go back to Hezekiah and say this in regard to King Sennacherib: "Do not be afraid...When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword." (2 Kings 19:6b-7)

Sennacherib's threats had been brought to Jerusalem by his field commander, who was accompanied by two other top officials. Sennacherib did not come in person because he was with his army at Lachish, which was one of the cities of Judah he had attacked and conquered. Sennacherib was so proud of having overtaken this major city of the kingdom of Judah that he had a number of relief carvings made for his palace at Nineveh to commemorate this victory. If you have time and are interested in seeing them, these reliefs are in the possession of the British Museum and photos are available for your viewing online if you'd like to do an internet search for the "Lachish Reliefs". 

Sennacherib is finished with Lachish now and, leaving some of his soldiers in charge of deporting its citizens and settling conquered peoples from other regions in their place (as was his practice), he moves on to nearby Libnah and begins to lay siege to it. Upon hearing that Sennacherib is making an assault on another city, the field commander---having been unable to secure the surrender of the city of Jerusalem---withdraws from Jerusalem to aid him. "When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah." (2 Kings 19:8)

The Lord promised Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah that Sennacherib would hear a report that would render him incapable of pressing onward toward Jerusalem at this time. We find that happening in our next verse. "Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush, was marching out to fight against him." (2 Kings 19:9a) This king is believed to be Pharaoh Taharqa, who was a king of the 25th Dynasty of Egypt, also known as the Kushite Dynasty or the Nubian Dynasty or the Reign of the Black Pharaohs. A Nubian king known as Piye conquered Egypt and a later Nubian king, Shabaka, established control over all of Egypt and set himself up in Memphis as Pharaoh Shabaka and adopted the style of the Egyptian kings of old, uniting Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt, and establishing the kingdom of Kush (rendered as "Cush" in the Bible). This is the kingdom over which Tirhakah reigns in the era which we are studying.

We know from earlier in our study of the reign of King Hezekiah that he was hoping the Egyptian army would come to his aid. Sennacherib sneered at the idea and told him his hopes were in vain. But now I imagine Sennacherib is pretty alarmed to hear that the Egyptian forces are marching out against him. He is obliged to halt his advances against Judah in order to protect his own interests. But he doesn't withdraw without making a parting shot. Mustering all the braggadocio he can while no doubt feeling some anxiety over the news about Egypt, he sends a letter to King Hezekiah that we could sum up with the phrase, "I'll be back!"

"So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 'Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, 'Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.' Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them---the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were at Tel Assar? Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?'" (2 Kings 19:9b-13)

Sennacherib is letting Hezekiah know that as soon as he deals with the Egyptians he will be back to deal with him. He warns Hezekiah that God is not going to help him any more than the gods of other nations have helped them. But the gods of the other nations were not gods; they did not exist at all and could not help anyone who bowed to their images. The God upon whom Hezekiah depends, however, is the living God! He is the Creator of all things and the Sustainer of all things! He is the Defender of those who trust in Him! It is to this God that Hezekiah will appeal in our next study session when we look at one of my favorite passages of the Bible. King Hezekiah will take the threatening letter with him to the temple where he will spread the letter out and pray over it. He will cry out to God about the contents of the letter---and God will answer!