If God Be For Us… (2 Kings 19:20-37)
If God Be For Us…
2 Kings 19:20-37
We pick up this morning really in the middle of the story.
If you have been with us the past couple of weeks you are familiar,
But in case you weren’t allow me to give you a quick recap
To bring you up to speed.
We begin with a new king in Judah named Hezekiah.
He was the son of Ahaz, who was a very wicked king.
Ahaz closed the temple, replaced God’s altar, worshiped on the high places, passed his sons through the fire, and struck up an alliance with Assyria.
When he died his son Hezekiah became king
And did a complete 180 from the actions of his father.
Hezekiah reopened the temple, tore down the high places,
And did his best to remove idolatry from Judah.
And we saw in Hezekiah a king that started out hot,
And one that seemed to be ready to take the world for God.
But Hezekiah’s faith was tested.
• But in the sixth year of his reign Hezekiah witnessed the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel into the hands of Assyria and it rattled him.
This concern was only deepened when in his 10th year
As the king of Assyria began to attack his nation of Judah.
Motivated by fear, Hezekiah responded by offering a ransom of
Gold to the king of Assyria in hopes that he would leave.
He did not.
He still threatened to destroy Jerusalem.
But the king of Assyria made a poor calculation.
He assumed that by continuing to pressure Hezekiah,
Having already robbed him, that Hezekiah would eventually
Give in an surrender to Assyria.
That was a poor assumption.
Instead Hezekiah ran to his God and determined to trust Him.
And so Hezekiah did just the opposite of what was expected
And revolted against the king of Assyria.
In response to his revolt,
The king of Assyria sent 3 high ranking officials with a large army
To Jerusalem in order to intimidate them and demand them to surrender.
Rabshekah taunted the Jews, threatening them with starvation
And certain defeat, and offering the relief of exile.
Hezekiah refused to answer and instead he ran to God.
He pleaded with God and begged for deliverance
And God responded with a promise to deliver.
2 Kings 19:6-7 “Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. “Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”‘”
Last week we saw this to begin to take place.
The king of Cush (Ethiopia) came out to fight against the king of Assyria,
And upon this threat he retreated from Jerusalem to deal with Cush.
However while leaving (as God said he would)
He sent a letter to Hezekiah to tell him not to bet to excited,
For he would be back.
But this time Hezekiah didn’t panic.
God had already promised deliverance and Hezekiah believed Him.
2 Kings 19:15-19 “Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. “Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. “Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. “Now, O LORD our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, OLORD, are God.”
This was not a prayer of a terrified man…
This was not a prayer of a desperate man…
This was a prayer of a confident man.
Hezekiah took the letter to God,
Because he believed this was God’s problem to deal with,
And Hezekiah was confident that were other gods failed,
His God would certainly prevail.
He stood upon his faith in God.
And this morning we get to see God’s response.
I’ve titled this sermon, “If God Be For Us…”
And you know the answer.
“If God be for us, who can be against us?”
And so as week after week we have been saying
How beneficial it is to trust in God,
This morning we get to see why.
There are three main things I want you to see from the text this morning.
#1 A STATEMENT
2 Kings 19:20-28
And what we have here is the spoken response of God to Hezekiah
In regard to the threat that Hezekiah passed along to Him.
(20) “Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard you.’”
That alone is somewhat fascinating.
Hezekiah didn’t tell Isaiah about it.
The only person he consulted with was God.
And yet here we have Isaiah sent with a message.
This is a tremendous proof
That God both hears and answers prayer.
And I also like what God has to say.
“Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib…”
As we said last week, the power of prayer is not in prayer itself.
It is not the beauty of our words, or the length of our request,
Or the manner in which we ask that makes prayer powerful.
Prayer is powerful because we pray to a powerful God
Who responds to the faith in which we pray.
God doesn’t say that He answered Hezekiah
Because of his moving argument, or his emotional brokenness.
God answers simply “Because you have prayed to Me”
Hezekiah took the problem to God and God responded to his faith.
It wasn’t about what he said, it was that he said it to God.
God has been moved by the faith of Hezekiah.
God has a message for the king of Assyria.
(We don’t know if the Assyrian king ever heard it, it was given for Hezekiah’s sake)
But God’s message to Sennacherib is three-fold.
1) YOU ARE A FOOL (21-22)
God starts out by pointing out how Assyria
Has belittled and maligned Jerusalem.
(21)”This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: ‘She has despised you and mocked you, The virgin daughter of Zion; She has shaken her head behind you, The daughter of Jerusalem!”
They called them weak, powerless, and destined for captivity.
But what Assyria was too foolish to realize
Is that an attack on God’s people is an attack on God Himself.
(22) “Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? And against whom have you raised your voice, And haughtily lifted up your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel!”
Even in the first line of verse 23
He says, “Through your messengers you have reproached the Lord,”
Sennacherib may have thought he was mocking Jerusalem,
But he was also mocking God.
Zechariah 2:8 “For thus says the LORD of hosts, “After glory He has sent me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye.”
Remember when Jesus confronted Saul on the Damascus road?
Acts 9:3-5 “As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,”
An attack on God’s people is an attack on God.
And this is what Assyria was doing.
(While Sennacherib repeatedly called Hezekiah a fool)
The point is that Sennacherib was reckless and foolish.
You are a fool
2) YOU ARE A FRAUD (23-26)
When you read verses 23 and 24 you see the arrogance of Assyria.
He was swelling with pride and confidence.
He knew how powerful he was, and that no one could stand in his way.
Notice how many times the word “my” or “I” is used.
He was confident in his own strength.
Rabshekah asked:
2 Kings 18:33-35 “Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? ‘Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? ‘Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their land from my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?'”
It is clear that the king of Assyria saw himself as omnipotent.
Isaiah 10:12-14 “So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp of his haughtiness.” For he has said, “By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this, For I have understanding; And I removed the boundaries of the peoples And plundered their treasures, And like a mighty man I brought down their inhabitants, And my hand reached to the riches of the peoples like a nest, And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth; And there was not one that flapped its wing or opened its beak or chirped.”
Sennacherib really thought he was somebody special.
But God reveals that he is a fraud.
(25-26) “Have you not heard? Long ago I did it; From ancient times I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, That you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps. ‘Therefore their inhabitants were short of strength, They were dismayed and put to shame; They were as the vegetation of the field and as the green herb, As grass on the housetops is scorched before it is grown up.”
The only reason you gained victories is because I allowed you to.
Those of you who have been studying Isaiah with us on Wednesday
Know why Assyria has been allowed to have victory.
God has been using her to punish the sins of Israel and Judah.
God purposed this.
God planned this.
God allowed this.
And furthermore when the battle raged,
God stacked the deck to make sure Assyria won.
“Therefore their inhabitants were short of strength, they were dismayed and put to shame.”
As we have studied in Isaiah, God actually promised this:
Isaiah 30:15-17 “For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing, And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses,” Therefore you shall flee! “And we will ride on swift horses,” Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift. One thousand will flee at the threat of one man; You will flee at the threat of five, Until you are left as a flag on a mountain top And as a signal on a hill.”
God is the one that made it where Assyria could win.
Their strength was not from themselves.
The point is that Assyria was a fraud.
They didn’t do this, God did it.
Isaiah 10:15 “Is the axe to boast itself over the one who chops with it? Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it? That would be like a club wielding those who lift it, Or like a rod lifting him who is not wood.”
You are a fool You are a fraud
3) YOU ARE FINISHED (27-28)
God lets him know that his victorious days are over.
“I will put My hook in your nose, and My bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way which you came.”
There is no doubt that God is angry,
And He is about to take out His anger on this arrogant Assyrian.
Isaiah had previously prophesied of the same thing:
Isaiah 30:27-28, 31-33 “Behold, the name of the LORD comes from a remote place; Burning is His anger and dense is His smoke; His lips are filled with indignation And His tongue is like a consuming fire; His breath is like an overflowing torrent, Which reaches to the neck, To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve, And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin…For at the voice of the LORD Assyria will be terrified, When He strikes with the rod. And every blow of the rod of punishment, Which the LORD will lay on him, Will be with the music of tambourines and lyres; And in battles, brandishing weapons, He will fight them. For Topheth has long been ready, Indeed, it has been prepared for the king. He has made it deep and large, A pyre of fire with plenty of wood; The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it afire.”
God has seen enough…
God has heard enough…
God has decided that his siege is over.
Furthermore God also saw in Judah what He desired to see.
• Judah removed the high places…
• Judah reinstated the Passover…
• Judah reopened the temple…
• Judah’s king was walking by faith…
These are the things God wanted to see,
And their absence is why He sent Assyria in the first place.
But now, Judah has repented, and the need for Assyria is no more.
God is sending them away.
And there you have the statement from God.
• Hezekiah prayed that God would hear and He did.
• Hezekiah prayed that God would see and He did.
And God looked directly at the mocker of Assyria and declared to him:
You are a Fool
You are a Fraud
You are Finished
That is the Statement
#2 A SIGN
2 Kings 19:29-34
God just made a promise that Assyria was leaving.
Now God determines to pass out a little confirmation to Hezekiah.
God promises to give him a sign.
You may remember from studying Isaiah
That Hezekiah’s father refused to trust God or any sign He would give.
Isaiah 7:10-13 “Then the LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying, “Ask a sign for yourself from the LORD your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the LORD!” Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?”
Syria was attacking Ahaz and God promised to deliver,
Even saying ask for a sign so that you will know that I will do it.
Ahaz refused to trust God even upon a sign, instead running to Assyria.
But Hezekiah is not like his Father.
Hezekiah trusts God.
And here God offers Hezekiah a sign.
(VERSES 29-31)
Now I hope you recognized what type of sign this was.
It is one of God’s favorites to give.
“you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.”
You and I know that isn’t much of a sign.
(At least not an immediate one)
BUT HOW SWEET THE WORSHIP WOULD BE IN THAT THIRD YEAR WHEN YOU ARE EATING THE FRUIT OF YOUR VINEYARD.
We have said it many times before, that
God is not a God of proof, but a God of confirmation.
When Moses needed a sign from God to prove that God would indeed deliver from Egypt, God said:
Exodus 3:12 “And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.”
And that is the same type of sign here.
To a man walking by sight, it is of no help at all,
But to a man walking by faith
It is the greatest confirmation possible.
God had just promised 3 more years of absolute security in the land.
Assyria would not be a threat.
(VERSES 32-34)
And please recognize here the power of God.
All that had to happen to prove God wrong, was one displaced soldier had to shoot one stray arrow over the wall and this prophecy is false.
But God was in complete control.
It is commonly difficult to trust God in the present.
Often times circumstances are so bleak
And trials are so real and hope is so faded
That trusting God is a tremendously difficult thing to do.
But for those who trust God in the midst of those difficult moments
There is coming a day of tremendous rejoicing.
For we don’t often see God’s hand at work now,
But someday we will stand on the mountain with Moses
Or we will eat in the vineyard with Hezekiah
And at once fall to our knees and realize that God really did deliver.
And at that moment all the faith and all the trust
Will seem extremely worth it, and we will worship God
In a way that we never worshiped before.
• How great do you think the worship was for Moses on Mt. Sinai?
• How great do you think the worship for Hezekiah was 3 years later in the vineyard?
• How great do you think the worship was for Noah when he got off of the boat?
• How great do you think the worship was for Abraham after his son was spared?
• How great do you think the worship was for Daniel when got out of the lion’s den?
• How great do you think the worship was for Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego when they got out of the furnace?
If God were to just take the trial away, or never permit it at all, there is certainly a comfort to enjoy.
But it doesn’t equal THE FUTURE REJOICING
Of those who trusted God through trials and
Eventually stand on the mountain remembering His deliverance.
God was giving Hezekiah a sign.
He would certainly deliver and some day the worship would be amazing!
A Statement A Sign
#3 A SLAUGHTER
2 Kings 19:35-37
Don’t you like those first three words?
“Then it happened”
Everyone who walks by faith
Is waiting for their own personal “Then it happened”
That is what Horatio Spafford meant in his great hymn:
“And Lord haste the day when thy faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll. The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, even so, it is well with my soul!”
He was waiting for his own personal “Then it happened”
Well Hezekiah got his here.
His faith was about to become sight.
“that night the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead.”
The angel that broke the power of Egypt
Is not at work to break the power of Assyria.
Isaiah 10:16-19 “Therefore the Lord, the GOD of hosts, will send a wasting disease among his stout warriors; And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame. And the light of Israel will become a fire and his Holy One a flame, And it will burn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day. And He will destroy the glory of his forest and of his fruitful garden, both soul and body, And it will be as when a sick man wastes away. And the rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number That a child could write them down.”
The Assyrians were wiped out.
And Sennacherib was forced to retreat.
(VERSES 36-37)
What an ironic ending.
For days and days Sennacherib had confidently told Hezekiah
Not to trust in the LORD, for God did not have the power to protect him.
How ironic that Sennacherib would die
In the house of a god who could not protect him.
And all of a sudden the great threat of Hezekiah’s life
Was behind him.
Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”
And now at the completion of this story
The application is extremely easy to understand.
TRUSTING GOD IS A GOOD IDEA
There is an enemy.
He is a roaring lion that seeks to destroy.
He delights in attacking God’s people.
But there is also a Savior
Who can and will deliver if we put our trust in Him.
And this is not just the theme of Hezekiah’s story.
This is the theme of Scripture.
Isaiah 40:27-31 “Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.”
Psalms 25:1-3 “To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, in You I trust, Do not let me be ashamed; Do not let my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed; Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed.”
Psalms 27:11-14 “Teach me Your way, O LORD, And lead me in a level path Because of my foes. Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence. I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.”
Psalms 34:19-22 “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones, Not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.”
Psalms 62:5-8 “My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken. On God my salvation and my glory rest; The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah.”
It is clear what the call of Scripture is.
God desires you and I to trust Him.
And therefore it is no surprise
That when God became flesh and dwelt among us,
His appeal was still the same.
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
In fact this great book ends with that very invitation:
Revelation 22:17 “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.”
The call is for you and I to trust God and His Son Jesus Christ.
Sinners trust Him for salvation.
Believers continue to trust Him for everything else.
TRUSTING GOD IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”
