From then on he was highly regarded by all nations – Part 2
Good day to each of you reading this column on the man in the Bible who was highly regarded by all nations. If you thought David or Solomon, then guess again for it was Hezekiah and his leadership against Sennacherib, King of Assyria.
Fellow Christian, I did not complete the above column last week for the tariffs have been greatly on my mind. Our middle class is being wiped out with inflation and we are doing nothing.
Our President is making bad deals, very bad deals with other countries because what he says and what is happening are completely opposite.
My column explains that you and I (the consumer) are paying the tariff that is passed along from the company importing the product into the USA. Look no further in this article and see the outcome which is sickening.
I don’t know what can be done, but we are so very close to an economic collapse unless war breaks out.
By the way, when you have a chance, look at Nehemiah 5 where Nehemiah calls out the wealthy Jews who are exacting usury and lending large sums of money, then, when the debtors or their fellow countrymen missed a payment, they would take over their fields or were even forced to sell their children.
In today’s society, it is our duty as a Christian to help the poor, the neighbor in need, or those who need to be lifted up—I urge you to support your Christian food banks, Church food banks and those who assist the poor. Remember, God’s concern for the poor is revealed in almost every book of the Bible. Let us care for the poor as shown in Exodus 22:22-27, Leviticus 25:35-37, Deuteronomy 14:28, 29 & 15:7-11.
So, who is King Sennacherib? https://www.gotquestions.org/Sennacherib-in-the-Bible.html
Sennacherib was the king of Assyria who reigned from about 720 BC to 683 BC. During the reign of King Hezekiah in Judah, Sennacherib invaded Judah, bent on conquering Jerusalem (2 Kings 18:13). Assyria had already conquered the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC and had taken the people captive. Second Kings 18:12 says, “This happened because they did not listen to the voice of the LORD their God, but violated His covenant—all that Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded—and would neither listen nor obey.” Now, under Sennacherib, Assyria stood poised to conquer Judah, too.
King Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was ready to make war upon Jerusalem as said in 2 Chronicles 32, so Hezekiah consulted with his officials & military staff and they blocked off water from outside the city and the stream that flowed thru the land in hopes of deterring Sennacherib.
They also fixed the broken sections of the wall, built towers, reinforced terraces of the City of David, made large numbers of weapons and shields, appointed military officers over the people and encouraged all the people to be strong and courageous.
King Hezekiah said for there is a greater power with us than with him & that the Lord our God will help us to fight our battles.
Here is Sennacherib’s reply in 2 Chronicles 32:10-15 (NIV): “This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: On what are you basing your confidence, that you remain in Jerusalem under siege? When Hezekiah says, ‘The Lord our God will save us from the hand of the king of Assyria,’ he is misleading you, to let you die of hunger and thirst. Did not Hezekiah himself remove this god’s high places and altars, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before one altar and burn sacrifices on it’?
“Do you not know what I and my predecessors have done to all the peoples of the other lands? Were the gods of those nations ever able to deliver their land from my hand? Who of all the gods of these nations that my predecessors destroyed has been able to save his people from me? How then can your god deliver you from my hand? Now do not let Hezekiah deceive you and mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my predecessors. How much less will your god deliver you from my hand!”
Sennacherib and his officers did not stop for they insulted both Hezekiah and the Lord. Look at verses 17-19 (NIV) The king also wrote letters ridiculing the Lord, the God of Israel, and saying this against him: “Just as the gods of the peoples of the other lands did not rescue their people from my hand, so the god of Hezekiah will not rescue his people from my hand.” Then they called out in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to terrify them and make them afraid in order to capture the city. They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as they did about the gods of the other peoples of the world—the work of human hands.
If you were in King Hezekiah shoes, what would you do? Run, surrender, beat your chest and go out and show them on your own?
2 Chronicles 32:20 says it all: King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this.
PRAYER! Here is a man of God who put his actions to words and prayed with a second witness to God asking about the matter at hand and awaited God’s response. Hezekiah did not take matters into his hands, try to negotiate, have words with Sennacherib or anything of the like for with prayer and Hezekiah’s unwavering faith, the Lord sent an angel who annihilated all the fighting men and leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king.
Did you read the word all and not a few, a bunch, or many but all. His tail tucked between his legs; the mighty king of Assyria withdrew back to his own land in disgrace.
Remember the insults, nasty letters and threats from Sennacherib to both God and Hezekiah and remember Vengeance is mine saith the Lord—Look at Sennacherib’s plight—He went into the temple of his god (a false god) remember the 1st commandment that you shall have no other gods before me and the result—some of his sons cut him down with the sword.
This should be a lesson for each and all of us as to whom we attack whether it be in person or in writing. God is never to be threatened and provoked for the outcome is God’s vengeance.
For those who say God is dead, or God can’t save me, or God is mean or God never helps me, stop and think who gave you breathe or food or water, to think, walk, see, hear, touch, feel and the list goes on and on.
So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others. He took care of them on every side. Many brought offerings to Jerusalem for the Lord and valuable gifts for Hezekiah
king of Judah. From then on he was highly regarded by all the nations.
The conclusion is simple—God saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from not just Sennacherib but from the hand of all others. This country had rest—no wars—no trouble, for God took care of them on every side.
And the result, from then on he was highly regarded by all the nations.
My thought to President Trump is to put away the ego and the what I did and take a lesson from Hezekiah for if you want rest from all the other nations, be highly regarded by all the nations, and lean on God in all matters, then PRAY! Be like Hezekiah, a man of God who put his actions to words and prayed with a second witness to God asking about the matter at hand and awaited God’s response.
Hezekiah was not a perfect man, but he was perfect when it came to glorifying God and having God place his justice upon Sennacherib. Prayer works! Prayer is the Answer! And with prayer, we have a direct line with God, no busy signals, for he is awaiting your call no matter what time of day.
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
