A Day of Distress, Rebuke, and Rejection…2 Kings 18-19

Sing along with me now…Gloom, despair, and agony on me (whoa)… Deep, dark, depression – excessive misery (whoa)… If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all (whoa)… Gloom, despair, and agony on me! Do you remember this song from “Hee Haw”? It was sung by a quartet of men that were down on their luck for sure! This depressive theme crops up in our study today of Hezekiah’s life.

King Hezekiah had a problem and his name was King Sennacherib. King Sennacherib was the Assyrian king and Assyria had been on the war path with Israel and Judah for some time. Just a quick history lesson – when the 12 tribes settled the Promised Land, they sub-divided into two kingdoms. The northern kingdom was Israel (capital was Samaria) and the southern kingdom was Judah (capital was Jerusalem). Israel at this point had already been conquered by Assyria because they would not listen to God (2 Kings 18:11-12). Now Sennacherib was ready to take on Judah. Remember Hezekiah’s description: he clung to the LORD, he removed the idols from Judah, and he did right in the sight of the LORD. These are important things to remember as we look at the transaction between these two kings.

In chapter 18, we see that King Sennacherib’s men have a run in with King Hezekiah’s men. King Sennacherib’s men came in large numbers and met King Hezekiah’s men in Jerusalem. These Assyrian men had a question from Sennacherib: “What is this confidence that you have?” In other words, why does Hezekiah have confidence that the LORD God is going to keep Judah safe when the Assyrians have been conquering everyone else around them? Sennacherib even used the example of other cities saying their gods did not save them, so why should Judah’s God be any different. Oh, Sennacherib did not know with whom he was dealing!

The whole ordeal was very stressful to King Hezekiah. After all he was just human. But he knew to whom to run! Immediately upon hearing the threats from the messengers, he sent men to Isaiah the prophet so he would pray for them. The messengers Hezekiah sent to Isaiah sent a gloom and doom message (much like the one at the beginning of this post from “Hee-Haw”). 2 Kings 19:3 records what the messengers told Isaiah: “This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and rejection;” They begged Isaiah to offer a prayer for the remnant in Judah.

Listen to those words…a day of distress, rebuke, and rejection. Have you ever had a day that you could describe the exact same way? Have you ever received news that was so mind-blowing that it drove you to your knees because of the seriousness of the matter? Child, run to your God just like Hezekiah did in his difficult circumstances. Hezekiah knew that if anything could change the outcome of this terrible situation, his LORD God could!

As a matter of fact, King Sennacherib went a step further. He actually sent a threatening letter to Hezekiah (2 Kings 19:14). This time, Hezekiah cut out the middle man and went straight to God in prayer for himself. I love what he did – he went to the house of the LORD, spread out that letter, and prayed all over it! Wow – what a lesson! When that bad health report comes, when you get that bill that you can’t pay, or when you get a letter announcing bad news – spread it out before God and just pray all over it! God knows we have days of distress, rebuke, and rejection. Let God take care of you through the situation.

I just have to put the prayer in this post because it is so beautiful. It is in 2 Kings 19:
15 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. 16 “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. 17 “Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands 18 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. 19 “Now, O LORD our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”

Look at the pattern of the prayer. First an acknowledgment of who God is – He is the God enthroned above the cherubim (remember the Ark of the Covenant was flanked with two cherubim and the Shekinah cloud would rest upon it). Then Hezekiah lays out the problem and begs for God’s deliverance. Look at the ultimate purpose – so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know you alone are God! Friends, when God answers our prayers, we need to shout it out to His glory so others will know this very thing. Also remember the history that Hezekiah had with God. This is not a stranger calling upon the God of the universe. When Hezekiah prayed, God acted quickly. Not because He “had” to, but because He wanted to deliver Hezekiah (and Judah) and honor his faithfulness.

So how did the whole situation turn out? Well, let’s see…God sent an angel to the Assyrian camp and killed about 185,000 of their men. Then King Sennacherib was murdered as he was worshipping an idol in the city of Ninevah (2 Kings 19:35-37). I would say God delivered Hezekiah and the Kingdom of Judah! God is faithful to His faithful stewards.