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So you're there in second Kings chapter 19 and honestly, we're just picking up where we left off with our Study through the Kings with Hezekiah. So if you're weren't here last week, then you probably want to listen to the sermon that I preached last week Starting with Hezekiah. So Hezekiah We're getting down to the kind of the bottom here and in Hezekiah's reign in the sixth year of his reign is when Israel is taken out completely Okay, and so at this point in this story where we're going to be at from where I've already talked about last week Israel's already been taken out and now the Assyrians are coming after Jerusalem. They're coming after that lower Kingdom And so we're obviously into we're in the 14th year of his reign is where we're at right now. Okay, so And if you if you need a map or if you need one of these I did print off some more of these over there as far as the the charts of the Kings and so In the story we're in the 14th year of his reign and he is You know, basically what we got to last time was the fact that Rabshiqui was basically talking to you know to Shibna and and Joah and Eliakim and all that and Basically, he's trying to tell them don't trust in Hezekiah don't trust in the Lord Don't trust in any of this and then he was invoking God saying the Lord sent me You know, the Lord is sending us to come destroy you and all this stuff And it's just a lot of false arguments that were being made there And so I don't want to re-preach what we did before because I have some more stuff on this I had nine pages of notes. I knew I wouldn't be able to get through it in one sermon So we're doing it in the two two-parter now go back to 2nd Kings chapter 18 because We see that Rabshiqui was speaking to Shibna and Joah and Eliakim and And Then they say to him and this is what's going on here Is that they didn't want him to speak in the Jews language meaning he didn't want him to speak in Hebrew if you will to the Jews because he didn't want everybody to hear what he said because the men here that are You know coming out for Hezekiah They didn't want everybody to hear what this guy was saying trying to discourage them And so in verse 26 there it says then said Eliakim the son of Hezekiah and Shibna and Joah unto Rabshiqui Speak I pray thee to thy servants in the Syrian language for we understand it and talk not with us in the Jews Language in the ears of the people that are on the wall So he's basically saying, you know speak to us in the Syrian language and the Syrian language is more like Aramaic Okay, so that's why Daniel actually the book of Daniel is written Part of Daniel is written in Syriac or Aramaic it's kind of this mixture and it's really close to Hebrew. So it's not like I mean still got kind of the same alphabet and all that stuff and so you can understand how they would know Syriac or the Syrian language But all that to say is that he's basically saying don't speak in the Jews language Don't speak in something that they can understand The reason why is because they didn't want everybody to be discouraged and notice what Rabshiqui says though He says but Rabshiqui said unto them hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words Hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall that they may eat their own dung and drink their own piss With you now, this is obviously a very crass saying and you say well, you know, that's that's Rabshiqui saying that well God says it too in other passages in the Bible and when it comes to this language Obviously he's being very crass and obviously what he's saying they're gonna be doing is not something that anybody wants to do but he's basically Saying this because he's basically saying hey, this is what's gonna happen to you because you're gonna be besieged You're not gonna have any money And if you remember the this the stories of the kings of Israel that we we already went through How they were eating their own children and all this crazy stuff, right? So he's basically saying, you know, I speaking it unto them that they do this or that But all that say is that that God uses this language in other places in the Bible and you know You think about David saying I'm gonna kill everybody or God says I'm gonna kill everybody that pisses against the wall You know, he's talking about men And so these are obviously not bad words They are crass words though So I don't go around just using this word everywhere I want to just because I'm trying to get it because you shouldn't use language just to get a rise out of people But you know if it pertains, you know, like if you use the word bastard in a right sense There's nothing wrong with it. And if you want to be crass to be talking about something to be crass This isn't a bad word to use Okay, so but I'm not gonna just throw it around in daily conversation just to like be crass for the sake of being crass Okay, because what it comes down to is that they're strong language But you don't want to use it all the time because it loses its emphasis Okay now obviously I'm not saying to go out and use like cuss words like that are very vulgar words But what I'm saying is that there are crass words that are used in the Bible But I believe that you should use those in Cases where you're trying to really make a point Okay, because if you just use it all the time, you'll be like, well, that's just the way he talks, you know There's no difference as far as like when you're trying to make a really big point. You're trying to be You know, and so any you know those people that use four little words all the time They use it from adjectives nouns verbs adverbs. They make up Parts of the sentence to use it in and you know if that person were to just blur it out that word You know, let's say something crazy or awful happened used to be like, yeah, he says that word all the time You wouldn't it'd be almost like crying wolf. You used it so many times and so anyway All that say is that you know, piss dung bastard. All those words are used in the Bible, but They should first of all probably using those in the sense of why what it's used attended for But again crass language is used to make a point. Okay, so You know certain words I'm just going to use all the time right like the word hell Okay, obviously if you're talking about hell, but even if you're trying to accentuate something like that's wicked as hell, right? You know like it's set on fire of hell But I'm not gonna use that every sentence that I use you know I mean because it kind of loses its emphasis loses its like is everything you know Wicked as hell is everything, you know to the point where people are gonna lose the emphasis of it Okay, so that all have to be say, you know, like the word piss I'm not you know, it's not a bad word But I'm not using it all the time in my daily vernacular if you will So, but anyway, I'm so new I be I use the word piss all the time Just just so I can explain to people that that word is in the Bible So but that's what I'm getting to there Is that you know, you don't want to just do it just to get a rise out of people because some people do that They'll be like there's a word in the Bible when people are thinking are a bad word and I'll use it just to get a rise Out of people and that's not the way to use it. Okay, so But Rafshaki is crying unto them and saying I'm gonna I'm gonna speak in the Jews language That's what it says in verse 28 Then Rafshaki stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews language and spake saying Hear the word of the great king the king of Assyria thus saith the king let not Hezekiah deceive you for he shall not be Able to deliver you out of his hand neither Let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord saying the Lord will surely deliver us and this city shall not be delivered into the hand Of the king of Assyria, so he's basically saying don't trust in Hezekiah and don't trust in the Lord don't let him let you trust in the Lord and so obviously all the stuff that Rafshaki is saying is a bunch of garbage and He's purposely speaking in the Jews language because he's trying to scare everybody Right and he goes through this whole list and this is something that's being said over and over and over again You know Arpad, you know Sifar Vayim and he's like talking about all these places they've destroyed and so what he's doing is trying to go through this this Rolodex of countries or nations that they've conquered and saying did their gods deliver them out of their hand and So, you know, how do you think your gods gonna deliver you? But but the truth of the matter is we know we have the true God and those gods Which are idols are no gods at all Okay, so when you know that truth, you know that this is you're comparing apples and oranges Okay, yeah, of course you destroyed them, you know They don't have the true God, but you're dealing with a nation that had a true God. So obviously that's why You know, they need to trust in what Hezekiah had to say and trust in the Lord now verse 36 there Notice that Hezekiah and we saw this before he commanded the people to not say a word He says, you know when these messengers come don't say anything to them And this is a great case of when to hold your peace when just not the same thing Let them let them just speak this is where you know answer not a man a court a fool according to his folly You know, it's kind of like just let them just say all they're gonna say and let the Lord deal with it and Hezekiah Told them beforehand to do this and those in verse 36 that they actually did what he said in verse 36 It says but the people held their peace and answered him not a word for the Kings commandment was saying answer him not Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah which was over the household and Shivnath the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder to Hezekiah with their clothes rent and told him the words of Rabshiqui, so Rabshiqui comes to the wall he gives his little oration trying to scare them and no one says anything and Then these men these three men come back to Hezekiah and he's basically telling them all this stuff that Rabshiqui says We'll go to 2nd Kings chapter 19, that's where we're picking up in this story But in verse 5 there and I'm gonna be skipping through here. So I mean Some of the stuff I'm just not gonna be able to get to and we're just kind of going through the story There's no way I can just read all these chapters and all that So some of this stuff is going to be more of an overview or just kind of hitting highlights, but in verse 5 there we see that That Hezekiah is gonna comfort I'm sorry, Isaiah is gonna comfort Hezekiah That God's gonna protect Jerusalem here. So in verse 5 it says so the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah and Isaiah said unto them thus shall you 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 Behold I will send a blast upon him and he shall hear a rumor and shall return to his own land And I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land So Rabshiqui returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah for he had heard that he was departed from Lakish. So notice that basically God Distracted, you know the king of Assyria because he's got he's got to deal with some other wars over here Okay, so he pulls them out of Jerusalem's that are not gonna come against them at this point But basically he's saying you know I'm gonna send a blast upon him and there's gonna be this rumor and he's gonna go out to his own land and be destroyed with the sword and Now I'll say this this could be talking about Rabshiqui being killed with the sword because we don't see him mentioned later on I believe Rabshiqui is gonna be taken out at this point And then Zanacharib is actually gonna be taken out as well in the very end of the story And so this is kind of this back and forth they see Rabshiqui comes up they're sending letters doing all this stuff Well, then God sends his blast upon him and sends a rumor to where hey, they had to go out to Libnah and He's departed out of Lakish and all that. Well as this is going on and he's kind of dealing with these wars It's like the king of Assyria is just like I just want to remind you that I'm still coming after you Jerusalem, right? It's kind of like he's off over here doing these wars. He's like, but don't think that I'm not coming after you so it's kind of interesting because God's got you basically You know made him have to go over here and deal with all this stuff But he's still like dead set on coming to Jerusalem and taking taking out Judah. So in verse 9 of chapter 19 It says and when he he heard say of Terhacah king of Ethiopia behold He has come out to fight against thee. He sent messengers again unto Hezekiah saying so now he's dealing with Ethiopia, right? So remember he went he had to go to Libnah and was warned against he had a war against Libnah now, you know, basically Ethiopia is coming after him and as he's doing this he sends messengers to Hezekiah saying thus Shall you speak the 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 So he's just like I want to remind you that I'm still coming after you Don't let your God think that he that he's gonna stop this now what's interesting about this? Is that he's just saying straight up your God don't trust in your God He's not saying like don't trust in Hezekiah don't trust in those that are saying to trust in the God He's basically saying don't trust in your God don't let him deceive don't let God deceive you and thinking he can deliver you right and Verse 11 there says behold thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands are all lands by destroying them Utterly and shout and shout thou be delivered and this is something that Rapski was saying and it's just something that's repeated over and over again But notice what he says here have the gods of the nations delivered thee from which my fathers have destroyed as goes in and Haran And recess and the children of Eden which were and fellas are Where is the king of Hamath and the king of Arpad and the king of the city of Sifar Vayim and of? Hina and and Iva and this is something that when you're reading through these chapters, it's just over and over again They keep saying this but it's basically like this laundry list of countries. They've taken out and They're saying you know who is the Lord that he's gonna deliver you out of that So Hezekiah, you know he sends these messengers and apparently he sends a letter with that with these messengers So now this is a second time He's coming to him right because Rapski is kind of a separate time where he comes to the wall and then why he's there He hears news that's an acribs fighting over here, and he has to leave and go to that and then He's dealing with Ethiopian. He sends messengers again Saying listen, don't think that you're getting out of this. I'm still coming after you and so Hezekiah takes this letter And takes it to the house of the Lord notice in verse 14 there It says and Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers and read it and has a guy went up into the house Of the Lord and spread it before the Lord and I love this about Hezekiah I mean, there's a lot of things great about this story right here, but he literally just spreads it out to the Lord You know it reminds me in Acts where it says behold their threatenings And he's just laying it upon the Lord saying behold their threatenings You know God deal with it, and it makes me think of this verse in 1st Peter chapter 5 Casting all your care upon him for he cares for you and really just laying it out there Just laying all your troubles out on the Lord. You know people your enemies are against you. You're like Lord. There it is You know help me You know and just laying it out there in prayer and I love the fact he just lays that letter out and said Lord here's what they're saying and deal with it and It's just really showing the trust that he has in the Lord now in verse 15 There says Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said Oh Lord God of Israel which dwells between the cherry bins Thou art the God and I love this because he's just straight up Just telling it like it is to God and saying you're the God Because this whole thing that keeps being said over and over again is about how about the gods of Sipharvayim How about the gods of Arpad? How about the gods of this or that? and you know you think about all these other places that he names and Hezekiah is like you're the God You are the God. That's what he's saying. You know all these are false gods all these are devils that they're worshiping but you're the God no, so it says thou art the God and And Lost my place even thou alone of the kingdoms of the earth thou hast made heaven and earth Lord bow down thine ear and hear open Lord thine eyes and see and hear the words of Zannacharib Which hath sent him to reproach the living God of a truth Lord the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands And have cast their gods into the fire For they were no gods, but the work of man's hands wood and stone Therefore they have destroyed them now therefore Lord our God I beseech thee save us 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 So I love this because he knows you know You know That's that's the the thing that's supposed to persuade everybody to just not follow Hezekiah Not trusting the Lord is the fact that look at all these other nations and their gods that they destroyed Well, listen our God isn't made with hands our God isn't in an idol our God actually created the heaven and the earth And so we have the true God and so that's what Hezekiah is praying He's saying you're the God that created the heaven the earth and you know, all these other nations they had idols They weren't gods Now there there be many that are called gods as the Bible says as there be gods many and Lords many Though the Mormons try to twist that scripture but what it just means is that there's a lot of So-called gods out there that people worship and they you know, they think they're gods But there are no gods and but we have the true God and he's trusting in him and I just love that He's just like thou art the God You know, there's only one and it says thou art the God now alone Now he lays that out and he prays to God Then Isaiah is gonna come to him again So if you remember last time he came to him and said I'm gonna send a blast There's gonna be a rumor and all that stuff rapture key has to leave Well, then this letter comes again. He lays it out there and then Isaiah is gonna come again So you can definitely see why Isaiah has a lot of chapters about Hezekiah, right? So when you're in Isaiah, you know you have like four chapters there Dedicated to Hezekiah and so yeah because Isaiah is there now It also shows you to the major prophets start with Isaiah and so you can kind of see that Hezekiah And obviously there's other kings like Jotham and and and and all that that are dealing with before that But Hezekiah is in that middle portion of like 37 38 39 and Then after that you have Jeremiah Jeremiah is dealing with about when they're gonna go into captivity of Babylon So you're after Josiah and all that stuff so you kind of see that chronological order of the prophets there now Looking there in verse 20 We see the answer of the Lord and I love this. I love how the Lord answers this Okay, and so I'm just gonna read it And look at some highlights here as far as how the Lord answers Hezekiah and I just love the way the Lord answers this Verse 20 says then Isaiah the son of Amos sent to Hezekiah saying Thus saith the Lord God of Israel that which thou hast prayed to me against an actor of king of Assyria. I have heard This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him the Virgin the Virgin The daughter of Zion had had despised thee and laughed thee to scorn the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at thee Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed and against whom hast thou I'm sorry exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high even against the Holy One of Israel So he's saying you're coming against Jerusalem You're coming against this city, but notice that he's saying God sent me here. What did rapshaki say? You know did not the Lord send me here and they said don't trust in the Lord The Lord's not able to deliver be out of my hand and so They're invoking God here, and they're saying that God the God of Israel is not able to deliver They're saying that the God of Israel is not only not able to deliver But he's actually telling them to take out this city, and so he's saying who? Hast thou reproached and blasphemed Okay, and what we're gonna see here is that God is saying I'm doing this for my own sake and I'm doing this for David my servant's sake and so You know when they invoke God, and that's when you know you see our nation invoking God All you're doing is calling down judgment upon yourself I mean you almost just want to stand near that person because of the judgment that's about to come on them And so when people invoke God saying you know the Lord says that homosexuality is righteous You know when they say stuff like that or they say you know well the Lord says you know that we should do this or that And it's an abortion the Lord said it's okay to abort babies and They say wicked stuff like that It's no better than it's an accurate and rapture key Saying the Lord can't deliver and the Lord said for me to do this When obviously the Lord never said anything like that and so I love this because he's saying you've blasting me that's what God's saying here you ever approached me and notice in verse 23 By the messengers thou thou hast reproached the Lord and has said with the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains and 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 I Have digged and drunk Strange waters and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places So he's saying you're saying this right so imagine God's talking here But he's speaking in in the stead of zanak river of Assyria based is saying you're saying this You're saying that you did this you're saying that you did this and that's what he says in verse 25 Hast thou not heard long ago? how I have done it and There's certain phrases in the Bible that just I'm just get gets me riled up You know and this is one of them because I just think about the fact that You think about how everybody in America is just like who's the Lord? You know and everybody's just saying the Lord is delaying. He's coming You know you think about all these people that the naysayers of of this world that say you were believing in fairy tales And and you know we the Bible is just a fairy tale book or something like that And I just love when when God steps in have you not heard? How long ago how I have done it and I just love that I just can't wait for the day when the world sees the Lord for who he is and Then all their mouths will be stopped and my Savior will reign and so you know when you live in this wicked world You think about that type of stuff, and you just can't wait until you know Just the Lord Jesus Christ is coming down ruling and reigning But I just love I'd love for it for him to just shut their mouths And just put them in their place, and this is what God is doing here saying hast thou not heard long ago How I have done it and of ancient times that I have formed it and Notice this now have I brought it to pass that thou shouldest be to lay waste Fenced cities into ruinous heaps, so he's saying listen have you not heard long ago How I've done it basically before that your mom was wiping the drool off your face an acrib I formed the heaven and the earth That's basically guys you know from the beginning He created everything and an acribs coming against him like he's gonna actually go against the Lord You know and then he's basically saying listen All those cities that you took out all those countries that you took out It was only because I allowed you to do it It's because I you know God is saying I'm the one that brought it to pass that that happened And so he's putting them in his place and in verse 26 says therefore their inhabitants were 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 house tops and as corn Blasted before it be grown grown up But I know that I abode and I going out and I coming in and I rage against me Because I rage against me and I to molt is come up in mine ears Therefore I will put my hook in thy nose and my bridle and thy lips and I will turn thee back by the way By which thou camest he's saying I'm gonna put a bridle in your mouth like a horse And I'm gonna bring you back to where you came And I love this because it really just shows how powerful our God is and he's just putting an acrim in this place he's basically saying listen the only reason that you could even take out those cities because I've let you do it because I brought it to Pass and now you're coming against Jerusalem. You're kind of in your voking God's name in this and you're saying that he can't deliver and it's just God stepping up and it reminds me And I believe it's nice. It's in Psalm 119 where it talks about how it's time for you to work Lord, you know He's basically saying it's time for you to work, you know talking about evil doers and wicked people coming against you know David and Dave's obviously right in Psalm 119 But it's time for you to work and this is where God is stepping up and the holy ones stepping up out of his thicket You know and he's coming out roaring like a lion right here, and I love it. So But you know you say well this is in the past listen this is gonna happen in the future You know you think about when all the tribulations coming on us and all that and Then the Lord shall come with a shout of a Trump you know what the the shout of the arcane or the the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet and You know, we're all gonna be caught up in the clouds together with him and then he's gonna rain his wrath upon this earth yeah, that's coming and Then the world will know that it's the Lord that's done it Have you not heard how I have done it in the past and they'll say well, you know That was the past that was God of the past That was God of the Old Testament read revelation because it's only gonna get worse Literally revelation is the culmination of everything that God did in the Old Testament That was horrific on the earth and that destroying wickedness is happening again and it's gonna be a culmination of that and so yeah, this is gonna be real in the future and Who's he talking to here? Babylon or you know, it's a part of Babylon, right? We're not talking about the Babylon yet like Babylon the Caledon's but Assyria is one of those heads It's one of those seven heads of the seven-headed dragon You have Egypt Assyria Babylon and the Medes and Persians Grecians Romans and then you have that last head that we're waiting for and You know, if you don't know what I'm talking about go back to my sermons on that But all I have to say is that this is the Babylon of that day, okay, and then you're gonna have Babylon It's gonna come in later. That's actually gonna take them out, but you can definitely see that correlation now verse Where did I have so verse 29? And this shall be a sign of these shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves And in the second year that which springeth of the same and in third year So ye and reap and plant vineyards and eat the fruits thereof and the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet Again, take root downward and bear fruit upward 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 now this passage right here I believe he's talking to Hezekiah and I don't really want to get into this right now But you can definitely see some correlation maybe with the fact of like the thousand year reign and different things like that And obviously there was a temporary there was a an immediate future thing there too with obviously after all this stuff with Assyria You know Jude Jerusalem was still gonna go on and all that So I don't want to really get into that right now because there's so much other stuff on Hezekiah to deal with here verse 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 by the way that he came by the same shall he return and shall not come into this City saith the Lord for I will defend the city to save it for mine own sake and for my servant David's sake So he's saying listen, they're not even gonna bring an arrow against this place. They're not gonna bring a bank against it Okay, and so and you'll see how he does it verse 35 So verse 35 notice this is the Lord that fought this battle and Again, when you see these kings that are living for the Lord doing what they should be doing Notice how God is the one fighting these battle even have to fight the battles at the time They don't have to be on the field Now some cases they'll have to be on the field and God will still do the battling and you know Basically, they won't have any casualties, but they'll win the battle here. They don't have to do anything They're literally just sitting back as God takes care of the Assyrians verse 35 there says and it came to pass that night that the angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians in hundred four score and five thousand that's 185,000 people in one night That's a lot of people that he took out right there Notice and it says and when they arose early in the morning behold, they were all dead corpses So I'd imagine they'd be they'd be a little discomforted After that, you know, it's time to go home After 185,000 of their army has been destroyed in verse 36. So it's inaccurate King of Assyria departed Yeah, I see why and went and returned and dwelt at Nineveh. So if you remember Assyria Nineveh is the capital of Assyria and We know that we know Nahum You know as a book where it's a judgment against Nineveh So you can definitely see how God's gonna come and completely destroy Assyria and destroy Nineveh That city's going down and it's very paralleled with Babylon okay, so and I've already preached sermons on Babylon and Assyria and all that stuff, but So he goes back to Nineveh and it says it came to pass as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his God that Adramalek and Charisar his son smote him with the sword and they escaped into the land of Arminia and He's our Haddon his son reigned in his stead. So he goes home and his own sons kill him. So that's how he dies Okay, so he has a wondrous end and so we see this is really how the story ends with Assyria and Jerusalem is that You know God takes care of it But it's because Hezekiah trusted the Lord and the people followed his lead in that and remember, you know I don't want to preach the sermon that I preached last week but all the great things that Hezekiah did before this on how he Fixed up the house of the Lord and got got the house of Lord going they're doing the Passover all that stuff And then because of that all everybody went out even into Ephraim and Nasi and all those northern Places and all in Judah got rid of all the high places all the idols and brought revival to the whole land Do you think that God would have helped them here if they didn't do that? Probably not and probably at least probably not in this manner of literally just sitting back and God taking care of everything and so Hezekiah up to this point has been a great king, right and we see that God obviously heard his prayer and Came in swinging really Now what's interesting about this is that at this exact time? We know that it talks about in his 14th years when zanacharib came up against him and he reigns for 29 years now What's 29 subtract 14 that gives you 15 years and that's the amount of years that God's gonna add to him So this is the same exact time and it could very well be that he was actually sick during this time before God even Took care of this case. I mean, this is the same exact time That Hezekiah is going to get sick unto death And I'm gonna read the story. We're gonna go through it and everything, but I want you to think about this for a second Manasseh is one of the worst kings that's gonna come out I mean Ahaz was pretty bad, but Manasseh is gonna take after his grandfather not after his father Okay, so Manasseh Hezekiah son's gonna take over he's gonna reign. I think it's for 52 years. We're gonna make sure here 55 years 55 years so he reigns for a very long time now You know what you can look this up later. I don't have all the verses on here But Manasseh is 12 years old when he begins the reign So, let me ask you this if Hezekiah would have died when he would have died Manasseh would have never been alive Okay, go to Isaiah 57 because I want you to think about this for a second because God was obviously merciful to Hezekiah Because he was you know a great man of God Following him But there actually could have been a very good reason why he didn't want Hezekiah to live any longer Or why he would have taken him out a righteous man out young Okay, he was 25 years old when he began to reign and so if he had reigned for 14 years That means that he would have been 39 years old, right? Yeah 39 So he wasn't he wasn't old if he would have died at that point. He would have died at 39 He would have been 40 years old So you can say well why in the world, you know like You know, let him let him die at that young age. He's such a good king. He's such, you know a righteous man but then you look at what happens like his his son what his son was gonna do in the future and This verse makes me think of that Isaiah 57 verse 1 It says the righteous perisheth and no man lieth it to heart and merciful men are taken away None, considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come You ever think about that if Hezekiah would have just died there and not been given those 15 years How much evil could have been avoided? and You know Sometimes we don't see that bigger picture because obviously I think that That's what the plan was and then God was gracious and listened to Hezekiah and was gracious to him, but I know God knew that By giving him these years that Manasseh would reign and all this stuff. Okay, so something to think about there You know when you especially when you think of someone dying young that's a good part, you know a good Christian That's doing things for the Lord. So if you ever see and you know You know if you ever and I know people that have lost people that were good Christian people and they died really young But you don't you don't have to look at it be like well they you could say well They must have been living in sin or something like that well, maybe Maybe God took them out from the evil to come And There's cases I preached on that before but I think I think Hezekiah would have been one of those cases where if you would Have died at 39 would have been one of these cases that you're not taking it to heart you're not considering that maybe he was gonna die at that young age for a reason and so We haven't got the Manasseh yet, but we're gonna get to him next week Lord willing and verse if I go to go to second Kings chapter 20. Well, can you continue through the story here? And again when you're looking at these passages you could go to Isaiah and it'll cover this this as well So some of these chapters like in 2nd Kings 2nd Chronicles and Isaiah are paralleled I just figured I'd stay in 2nd Kings to kind of keep it congruent when you're going through these passages But we'll go to Isaiah as well, too But in verse 1 there says in in those days was Hezekiah sick unto death and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amos Came to him and said unto him thus saith the Lord see thine house or set thine house in order For thou shalt die and not live So basically Hezekiah comes to him and says listen, you're gonna die Set your house in order. So what do you mean like get draw up your will? See who's reigning after you, you know, like who where's your stuff going like set your house in order. You're gonna die and I don't know if that's how Isaiah said he's like listen, you're gonna die set your house in order. Bye Yeah, I don't know I Imagine he was probably a little nicer than that and maybe a little more, you know compassionate about it, but you never know Maybe he was stoic when he said it to him, but so obviously Hezekiah is upset about this, you know Imagine someone just came in, you know prophet came in to say you're gonna die tomorrow get your house in order and Then you just got to be like, oh man I guess one thing that it's one thing to die young but it's another thing to like know you're gonna die Like like the next day like it's just like you're anyway, so he's obviously sick So, I mean, it's not like this would be out of the ordinary that some could die of a sickness but You know, I don't think he was ready to die at 39 So but going on from that it says then he turned his face to the wall and prayed unto the Lord saying I beseech the oh Lord remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is good and nice sight and Hezekiah wept sore and this is true because actually the narrator said that he walked, you know according to as David walked right and so Hezekiah is a very righteous King and one that all the other kings before him didn't do and What he ended up doing was taking away all the high places and all the idols out of the land and so, you know, he's he's way up there on on the good king list, right and So he's kind of invoking that he's invoking like Lord I've sought you I followed you verse 4 it says and it came to pass before Isaiah was gone out into the middle court that the word of the Lord came on it came to him saying so what happened here Isaiah gives him the message. He walks up to Hezekiah tells him the message and as he's walking out of where has Isaiah what our Hezekiah was God comes to him. So do you see how instant that was like literally he gets the message Hezekiah turns his face to the wall starts weeping and praying to the Lord and Then God's like alright go back and tell him, you know So it's not like he was like the next day. He had to come back or he had to go all night It was literally like he heard him immediately and said go go tell him and so you can see the immediate response of God here And so that's that's definitely awesome to see verse 5 It says turn again and tell Hezekiah The captain of my people thus said the Lord the God of David thy father I have heard thy prayer and I have seen my tears behold I will heal thee on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord and I will add unto thy days 15 years and I'll deliver thee and the city out of the hand of the king of Assyria and I'll defend the city for mine Own sake and for my servant David's sake that's why You know that last portion there that this could have very well been during that time that he's delivering them That this is happening all at once, right? He's sick and zanat grips coming against them all this stuff is happening at once, you know and all that but You know the one thing I see there is that I heard thy prayer and I have seen my tears and if I will talked about it in Psalms and I don't have the reference in front of me but it talks about how he keeps it there their tears in a book, right and And you think about in Revelation What's poured out is the prayers of the Saints? God remembers all that, you know, you think about all the the wicked people that are against you and the prayers that you're given to God It's all on remembrance But God saw his tears and I and I love that, you know because it just shows you the compassion of God It shows you that he does care that he actually sees the tears that you're shedding as you're praying And you know, he recognized it now. It's definitely interesting Anytime I see the third day. I'm always thinking of the Lord Jesus Christ and the resurrection But it's interesting that after the third day, he's gonna go up to the house of the Lord It's like basically being healed. I'm gonna heal thee on the third day. I Would say that correlates I'm not gonna get into old dissertation on that as far as how that correlates But I think it's pretty clear that you know, that's kind of a picture of being healed and given life You know and being you know being healed from sin if you will and all that You can definitely see how that applies. He's gonna give him 15 years and then Isaiah, you know, basically to do it he says, you know, like basically he needs a sign or whatever, but it says Isaiah said take a lump of figs and they took and laid it on the boil and he recovered and Then he's gonna ask for the sign So he takes his lump of figs and puts it on the boil It says and hezekiah said in Isaiah what shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me That I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day. So get kind of what's going on here he takes a lump of figs puts it on the boil and then He's saying what's the sign that I'm gonna go up to the house of the Lord on the third day? Okay, so you see that it's basically like three days later. He goes to the house already sealed, right? But there's a sign that's given and And Notice in verse 9 there it says and Isaiah said this sign shalt thou have of the Lord that the Lord will do The thing the thing that he hath spoken shall the the shadow go forward 10 degrees or go back 10 degrees and so there's this this Dial of a has and I picture this is the sundial. Okay, that's what I'm just gonna That's what I assume it is, you know that we're talking about here They were talking about a shadow and a dial and so I'm assuming a has had a sundial Okay, so basically what he's saying is shall the shadow go forward 10 degrees or back 10 degrees and what I believe Happened here is that God actually reversed the rotation of the earth to where the Sun went back 10 degrees and you say well, why is he saying it's a light thing to go forward because I Don't think it's light either way you about it. Okay, but I'll say this I'd say this that if you were looking at the Earth's rotating It seems like it'd be a little easier to go a little faster than it would be to go completely the opposite direction Or to go back a little bit, right? And so And I don't know if it had to go back Necessarily or if it just had to slow down, you know, you know, if it's slowed down a little bit Then it could be going back. I don't know I'm not I'm not gonna get into the physics of it. But all I have to say is that that's obviously miraculous But there's also cases where the Sun just stays up in the sky for a whole day with Joshua you know, so this stuff has happened before and You know all I have to say is that that's what I believe happened here And obviously that's a miracle right if you saw the Sun if you saw the Sun going the opposite direction Right, wouldn't you be like what in the world is going on here? You have a little more time in the day But I think that also correlates with the fact that having more time you're kind of going back in time if you will So but he gives him the choice it kind of reminds me of Gideon with the fleece, right? He's like, you know if the fleece is Soaked with water, but everywhere else is dry. He's like then I believe and you can imagine that Gideon He's probably like did someone dump a bucket of water on that thing, you know You're trying to think of like how this would happen naturally But he's like well if the fleece is dry and everything else is wet then I'll believe it, right? So he kind of switches back and forth between them But here obviously he just you know, he says the backwards that'll be enough and obviously that's a good enough sign there I'll go to Isaiah chapter 38. Isaiah chapter 38 because Isaiah chapter 38 actually gives us a Little more of what Isaiah was thinking. Okay, so we kind of just see that Isaiah. I'm sorry Isaiah has a chi what has a chi was thinking when he was sick and when he heard this news Because you kind of just see that little bit where he's saying listen. I've lived for you. I've had a perfect heart for you And he wept sore, right? Well here in Isaiah 38 He's kind of recapping his thoughts of his why he was sick and his recovery and what his thought process was when he was praying and you know all this stuff so you kind of Jump into the mind of Hezekiah a little bit here as far as his thinking when all this was going down So in verse 9 there So Isaiah 38 verse 9 says the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah when he had been sick and was recovered of his sickness So you kind of see like both points here, you know, he was sick, but then also when he recovered I Said in the cutting off of my days. I shall go to the gates of the grave I am deprived of the residue of my years I said I shall not see the Lord even the Lord in the land of the living I shall behold man No more with the inhabitants of the world So what's he saying he's saying I'm not gonna see the Lord in the land of living meaning here in the flesh, right? I'm not gonna see the Lord down here anymore. David talks about this in the Psalms He talks about the fact of why he doesn't want to be cut off from the land of the living or he wants to be Here because the dead can't praise the Lord meaning that once you're dead You know, obviously you can praise the Lord in eternity, but you can't praise them here in this life, right and Ecclesiastes talks about that About you know, basically you have this life and it's a shadow You only have this much amount of time and that's where Hezekiah's hearts at That's where David's heart was at and you can definitely see why he's saying this and so and I noticed in verse 12 It says mine age is departed and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent I have cut off I am cut off. I have cut off like a weaver my light He will cut me off with pining sickness from day. Even tonight Wilt thou make an end of me? I Reckoned till morning that as a lion so will he break all my bones from day Even tonight will thou make an end of me like a crane or a swallow. So did I chatter? I didn't mourn as a dove mine eyes fail with looking upward. Oh Lord. I am oppressed Undertake for me. What shall I say? He hath both spoken unto me and himself had done it I shall go softly all my years and bitterness of my soul. So he's a little depressed Okay, you can say that as far as his thought process here It says oh Lord By these things men live and in these things is the life of my spirit So wilt thou recover me and make me to live so he's kind of turning the tide here And basically you can kind of see verse 15 of the verse 15. It's kind of like I'm gonna die You know, I'm bitterness of my soul. He's just he's extremely sad and upset Then 16 is kind of turning the page here to when he's gonna recover verse 17 behold for peace I had great bitterness But thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption for thou has cast all my sins behind thy back so this is a great verse anyway kind of thinking about how our sins are as far as the East is from the West and all that and He's put him into the depths of the sea and this verse is where you get the cast them behind your and your back His back for the grave cannot praise thee death cannot celebrate thee they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth The living the living he shall praise thee as I do this day the father to the children shall make known thy truth So again, David brings up these same points saying listen The living is gonna praise you the living is the one that if you think about it the living here on the earth are the ones that can serve the Lord right once you die, you've ceased from your labor and You know, you're in rest, but you can't work you can't serve the Lord, you know like you can down here So he's making that as a point verse 20. The Lord was ready to save me Therefore well We will sing my songs to the stringed instruments in the days of our life in the house of the Lord For Isaiah had said let them take a lump of figs and lay it for a plaster upon the boil and he shall recover Hezekiah also had said what is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord? So basically if you imagine what happened he gave him figs to put on His boil three days later and he gave him that sign that the dial went back you know ten degrees or whatever and He went up to the house Lord praise the Lord and sang songs to him So that's pretty much what happened there But this kind of gives you that inside of his mind of what was going on in his mind when that all this was going down And so you kind of see Isaiah or I'm sorry. I keep saying Isaiah has a guy as heart Okay, and I love seeing passages like this when you could really just see into what these these men were thinking right because sometimes you'll See stories and they do this or that But you don't really know what they're thinking You know, so this is a nice little insight there go to 2nd Chronicles chapter 32 Second Chronicles chapter 32 I'm gonna be ending up ending here So He's given 15 years and really this is the this is where Hezekiah falters, okay His heart's lifted up with pride and he's gonna end up showing all his substance to the enemy. Okay? So in verse 24, so 2nd Chronicles chapter 32 verse 24 It Says in those days Hezekiah was sick to the death and prayed unto the Lord and he spake unto him and He gave him a sign so it's basically just summing all that up in one verse right there everything we just covered Verse 25 but Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him for his heart was lifted up Therefore there was wrath upon him and upon Judah in Jerusalem So you can kind of see like maybe you should have just died, you know Because obviously after that he was lifted up with pride and all that but those are verse 26 Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart both He and the heavens of Jerusalem so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah So go back to Isaiah chapter 39 Keep your finger there in 2nd Chronicles 32. We'll come back to that at the very end but basically, you know, what do you have here is the fact that After He healed him He didn't really render that that same thing back to the Lord that benefit that he gave him He didn't repay him if you will for that. Yes, you repaid him with just being lifted up with pride But this is what happened here So Assyria is taken out We know that we could see that in other passages and like the prophets and all that how Nineveh is destroyed all that, right? Well, who's the next one on the scene Babylon? so If you really think about it, this is where it's first prophesied that Babylon's gonna be the one that takes everything out of there In this passage right here with Hezekiah in isaiah 39 verse 1. It says at that time Merodach bella dan the son of bella dan That's the name right there. First of all Merodach bella dan King of Babylon sent letters and presents And a present to hezekiah for he had heard that he had been sick and was recovered So this sounds like it's pretty much right after Okay, I wouldn't imagine this is like 10 years later and it's like I heard you were sick, you know I would imagine this is pretty close to after that, you know 14th year of his reign It's probably into the 15th or whatever year of his reign and so He sent him a present sent him letters In verse 2 there and hezekiah was glad of them and showed them the house of his precious things The silver and the gold and the spices and the precious ointment and all the house of his armor and all that was found in His treasures there was nothing in his house nor in all his kingdom that hezekiah showed them not and what what is this? He's gloating He's gloating for all the stuff that he has and his heart's lifted up with pride. We know this happened with Nebuchadnezzar, right? Nebuchadnezzar was lifted up with pride and he was a beast Okay with hezekiah, you know, it was a little less extreme but basically We're gonna see that god god did this to try him basically he's putting him through a trial at this point and he failed Okay But he's basically, you know given this opportunity to basically show that he's not full of pride of everything that he has He should just be like, you know I have what I have, you know and not gloating like showing it off, you know and stuff like that. So But verse three here it says then came isaiah the prophet unto king hezekiah and said unto him what said these men And from once came came they unto thee and hezekiah said They are come from a far country unto me even from babylon then said he What have they seen in thine house and hezekiah answered all that is in mine house? Have they seen there is nothing Among my treasure that I have not shown them So I don't think it's just because they saw it I think it's the manner in which why he was showing it to them Right, he was showing it to him to be like look at all the riches I got look at everything I have look at how great I am, you know that that type of attitude, right? And so that's what I think is going on here. And then it says verse five then said to Then said isaiah to hezekiah hear the word of the lord of hosts behold the days come That all that is in thine house and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until until this day Shall be carried to babylon. Nothing shall be left said the lord and of thy sons and of thy and that Shall issue from thee which thou shalt beget Shall they take away and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of babylon. Guess what that happens? Later on, right? And so this is already foreshadowing and foretelling what's going to happen? But notice it says then said hezekiah Uh, i'm sorry hezekiah to isaiah good is the word of the lord which thou has spoken He said moreover for there shall be peace and truth in my days and and I preach the whole sermon on this Not be a hezekiah attitude But a barzillai attitude or hezekiah versus barzillai and the fact that barzillai cared about the next generation Whereas hezekiah didn't care about the next generation. He just cared that it was good in his days, right? and uh So that's the if I saw a fault with his guys this the whole thing right here where he's just like, you know Well, you know good is the word of the lord. It's in my days. He did humble himself meaning he recognized that he was wrong but His attitude towards the next generation that he wasn't like sorrowful The fact that that generation is going to deal with that is kind of crazy to me Um, but go to second chronicle chapter 32 and we'll we'll close this thing down with hezekiah in verse 31 Because it's gonna it's gonna very clearly state what was going on with You know these messengers coming in and what the whole You know how this thing went down in verse 31. So second chronicles 32 verse 31 Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of babylon who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land God left him to try him that he might know all that was in his heart So god was putting him through a trial here to see what was in his heart Was he lifted up with pride and he found out he was okay And so that's what was going on there with those messengers and all that so Verse 32 now the rest of the acts of hezekiah and his goodness Behold, they are written in the vision of isaiah the prophet the son of amos and in the book of the kings of judah and israel judah and israel and hezekiah Slept with his fathers and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres Of the sons of david and all judah and the inhabitants of jerusalem did him honor at his death and menasseh his son Rained in his stead so we see here that you know He slept with his father and they put him in the cheapest of the sepulchres So and they they honored him in his death and you can see why he was a very good king Very good king and obviously he faltered at the end, but I wouldn't hold that much against him With that he was lifted up in pride with all the riches that god gave him and you know Solomon didn't do that, you know, but he had bigger problems, right? So solomon was definitely rich But that's hezekiah I mean I don't want to say that we turned over every stone but we definitely hit all the stories with hezekiah that I could see in here that You know, and obviously I didn't hit every verse and all that stuff. So there's a lot but hezekiah is a very good king and um, You know, definitely kind of a hero king if you will in one Though he didn't go to the grave without making any mistakes I don't think any of us are going to go to the grave without making any mistakes to be honest with you. Um, but this one was kind of I would consider minor compared to sacrificing your sons through the fire and stuff like that like some of these kings do and like Doing crazy stuff at the end killing prophets and all that I'll take that he's lifted up with pride a little bit at the end of his reign But uh, but hezekiah the king of judah next week will get into his son And uh, you know, that's definitely not going to be One of the greatest kings that's ever lived. That's for sure. So let's end with the word prayer daily father We thank you today and thank you for this church Thank you for the souls that were saved today and throughout this past week And I prayed the lord that you'd be with us throughout this this year Uh to to help us to increase more and more to know more doctrine No more bible and ultimately to to see more souls saved to see more people baptized to see more people in church learning the word of god and doing likewise and lord just pray to help us to To do that and to glorify you And I pray to be with us throughout this week with uh with work and just everything we need to get done And lord, we love you. Pray also in jesus christ name amen