2 Kings 19

The attempt of Sennacherib to take Jerusalem symbolizes the end-time victory of the righteous.
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Text
Explanation
This chapter is a twin of Isaiah 37. Major comments here.
.1 ¶ And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.
 2  And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
 3  And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
 4  It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.
  1 - Heard it The arrogant words of Rabshakeh. 2ki1837.
  2 - Isaiah First mentioned here. Compare 2ch3220.
  3 - Living God In comparison to the idol Gods, disguises for satanic forces. See the term in de0526, ps04202, ho0110.
 5  So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
 6  And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
.7  Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
  6 - Be not afraid Assurance from a loving God. With leaders who called on the Lord giving Him the opportunity to work, they could depend on Him. Hezekiah had told them the same thing a short time earlier 2ch3207.
   7 - Send a blast upon him Send him a spirit. Later He would have fear and abandon the siege. See es0817.
.8 ¶ So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
.9  And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,
 10  Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
  8 - Libnah See on 2ki0822 for another mention of this city.
  9 - Heard ... king ... Ethiopia This king began ruling Egypt around 690 B.C. Sennacherib hoped that this king would not arrive before he, Sennacherib, brought down Hezekiah.
 11  Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?
.12  Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar?
 13  Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?
  13 - Where ... king of Hamath ...? Their gods weren't able to save them and others so surly Hezekiah's God could not be expected to save the Jewish people either. See on 2ki1834.
.14  And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.
 15  And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.
 16  LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.
 17  Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,
.18  And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.
 19  Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.


  19 - Thou art the Lord God Literally, "Thou YahWeh alone art God."
  19 - That all ... my know This motive was rarely seen.
Image © Corel
.20 ¶ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
.21  This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
.22  Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.
  20 - Prayed See on is3721.
  21 - Virgin That is, Jerusalem. She did not allow herself to be defiled. For other instances of Jerusalem represented by a woman, see is2312; is5202, la0213, mi0410.
  21 - Shaken her head Scorned.
 23  By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.
24  I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.
.25  Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.

  23 - Reproached the Lord ... said God knew the thoughts and motives of the wicked king. Because Hezekiah and the others had placed their case in His hands, the arrogance was against Him. A powerful lesson for us mt2540.
  23 - Trees Sennacherib would tear down the structures the people of Israel were proud of. Literally, he planned to take the cedar trees to enhance Assyria. See is0212, is1033. The pride and selfishness invested in buildings in the US has already been attacked. This does not justify the actions. Where are our hearts? mt0619.
  24 - Digged Apparently wells, as needed.
  25 - Hast thou not heard? The history of the Israelites going through the sea and the river, and the conquest of Jericho were no doubt well known. God had formed the earth ps09002. Sennacherib's conquests were also in His plan. The Assyrians had been allowed to punish is1005.
.26  Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
 27  But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
  26 - Their inhabitants That is, the people who were oppressed by the wicked king.
  26 - Small power ... green From yaraq which is also translated "herbs." Five descriptions are given which paint a picture of weakness under the hand of a tyrant.
  27 - Know thy abode ... and rage against me 2ki0612. If Assyria had remembered its reform from the preaching of Jonah jon0305 they could have been a blessing as Babylon would later be.
.28  Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
 29  And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.
 30  And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
.31  For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.
  28 - Rage Compare ps00201.
  28 - Hook Mesopotamian sculptures show Assyrian captives led as animals by rings in their noses. Manasseh was led away captive 2ch3311.
  28 - Lips No more slanderous talk.
  29 - Sign unto thee The Lord now speaks through Isaiah to His people. Their beginning to eat from the land would be evidence that the Lord had heard Hezekiah's prayer v14 and that they would again be free from oppression. For other signs given through Isaiah see 2ki2009, is0711, is0818, is2002.
  30 - Root ... fruit Just as the land would grow again to produce food, the nation would regain its power.
 32  Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.
 33  By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.
 34  For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
  32 - Cast a bank They did this to allow the battering rams to break down the wall at a higher point.
  34 - I will defend Compare is3105, is3735, is3735, is3806. It was for David's and the Lord's sake thus honor to the king of heaven before the nations.
.35 ¶ And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
 36  So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
 37  And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
  35 - Angel ... smote God works for His glory in those who are faithful. Without this decisive victory, we cannot see how there could have been a chosen nation to which the Messiah could be born.
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