Through the Bible - 2 Kings

God, we do thank You for the opportunity to serve our community. We thank You for the opportunity of being Your hands to this world, Lord, to be the light to this world. We pray that You would help us to shine brightly in this dark place that we live in.

We lift up our team that's in China right now. They're going to be coming home here in the next few days. We pray that You'd bless their trip home. We thank You for the service that You have used them for there and how You've blessed their trip.

Lord, we lift up this opportunity to minister to the military in our area, and we ask that You would give us insight and vision on how we might be able to do so in a better way. We pray for James and Faith as they consider how You might use them here with the Native American culture. We ask that You would open their eyes and fill them with Your Spirit to be able to do what You have called them to do.

Tonight, we ask that You would speak to us through Your Word. Open up Your Word to us and give us insight, Lord. Challenge us, change us, and help us to be more glorifying to You in these days in which we live. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

All right. If you would open your Bibles to the book of 2 Kings tonight. 2 Kings is really a continuation of the book of 1 Kings, just as 2 Samuel was a continuation of 1 Samuel. It’s a neat book that picks up right where 1 Kings left off, with a nation in decay, a nation that was divided and headed towards destruction. Those three Ds—decay, division, and destruction—are good key words to think about. That’s where the nation of Israel was headed during this time. The story of Israel's history in 2 Kings is a bleak one. We have to be honest about that.

It's not really the prettiest picture of the nation of Israel. It's one of those things where you read these passages, and how many of you have read through 1 and 2 Kings over the last several weeks, or remember reading through them in the past? It's a confusing passage of Scripture, right? It bounces back and forth between the northern and southern tribes, and that can be perplexing. The confusion is there because this is not the way that God intended His people to be. When we walk contrary to what God wants, it leads to confusion. That is what you see in 1 and 2 Kings.

As we've considered on several occasions before, these books in the Old Testament speak to us for a very specific purpose. God intended that they were. We've looked at this passage before in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. In 1 Corinthians 10, verse 11, it says, "Now, all these things happened unto them, unto the children of Israel, for examples, and they were written for our admonition, for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the world are come."

We know from the book of Hebrews chapter 1, verse 1, that God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spoke in times past unto our fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son. We are told right there in Hebrews chapter 1 that we are living in the last days. Because we are those living in the last days, we should take careful note of what happened to the children of Israel in the Old Testament. These things were written for us, for our instruction.

There are principles in the New Testament that are pictured in the Old Testament. The principles are illustrated by the stories in the Old Testament. We have an illustration and a story before us here in 2 Kings that shows us something very important.

What do we learn from this? When we look at this back-and-forth narrative, we talk about the kings of the north and the kings of the tribe of Judah in the south. This book, along with 1 Kings, goes back and forth between these figures. Sometimes, you might find yourself scratching your head, wondering, "Who's Amaziah? Who's this guy?" You can feel lost in the midst of the story. There are little chunks of gold that pop out here and there as the prophets come and speak to the people.

But what is God speaking to us? What does He want us to learn? What is He showing us from this passage? One of the things that I think is very important to consider is that the Bible brings out a truth that is easily observed when you look around. When you observe humanity, you can see this truth, and the Bible speaks very clearly about it.

And this truth is that each of us has a body, but there's also another division. There is another part of man that is not clearly seen with the eyes. That part of man we would call the intellect, the will, and the emotions. You can't really see that on the outside of man. We might call that the soul of man. We have a body, which is very clearly seen. We all observe, "Yeah, you got a body, I got a body. We all have bodies." But what makes us different? What really makes us different is our personalities. The personality of man is what makes a person a person.

If you go back to psychology or philosophy, you might ask, "What is it that makes a person a person?" The three components that define a person are the will, the intellect, and the emotion. This part of man is clearly seen in the Bible. The Bible talks about it and calls it the soul. The thing that really makes you you and me me is our soul. Ultimately, that is one of the things that lives on into eternity. Whether in hell or in heaven, it's the soul. We know that this body doesn't continue on into eternity.

Every single one of us has probably been to funerals, and many of you have been to a funeral where there is an open casket. You look at the tent that is there, and you know nobody's home. Something is missing, right? But what is it that is missing? The body is still there, but the personality, the will, the intellect, and the emotion are all gone. The personality is gone from that individual. Jesus even talks about this in the Sermon on the Mount. He says, "The light of the body is the eye, and it's the eye through which the soul sees." The soul is who is really you, but this body is what God has given to us so that your soul can interact with this world.

That is what the Bible teaches. There is this physical creation that God has made, and it is a beautiful creation, even in its fallen state. We can go to the Grand Canyon or visit the national parks we have here in America. You can travel to other places in the world and see the beauty of this creation, even in its fallen state. Your soul can recognize that beauty; it can distinguish things as being beautiful. However, the way it interacts with this physical world is through this body. This is the equipment, you could say. Your body is the equipment by which your soul interacts with this world.

The Bible also reveals something else that we would not know if it were not for the revelation of the Bible.

The world that we see has another side to it, an unseen side. There is not only the physical universe, but there is also a spiritual realm, and the Bible reveals that. We would not have known this if it were not for God revealing it to us. In this spiritual realm, God dwells, because the scripture tells us clearly that God is spirit.

We have a soul that interacts with the physical world through the body, the flesh. However, there is another part to us. Man is what we would call a trichotomy; there are three parts to man, just as there are three parts to God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Man consists of the body, the soul, and the spirit. In the same way that your soul interacts with the physical world through your body, your soul interacts with the spiritual world through your spirit. It is the spirit that is able to connect with God.

The spirit ultimately died when Adam and Eve partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That is why, when God, who is spirit, entered into this realm, His first words to Adam after sin were, "Adam, where are you?" That connection was gone; there had been a spiritual death. The scripture makes clear this idea of a body, a soul, and a spirit, and there is a division between the body and the spirit. The soul interacts with the spiritual world through the spirit, while it interacts with the physical world through the body. These two aspects, the body and the spirit, are different.

Interestingly, the nation of Israel was a divided nation, and I believe God intended it to be so. However, there was to be one king who ruled over that nation. In one sense, the nation of Israel represents our individual lives. We have the body and the spirit, just as the nation of Israel had the northern ten tribes representing the body and the tribe of Judah, along with the city of Jerusalem, representing the spirit.

What was the key focus of the city of Jerusalem? The temple, the place where man met with God, the connection to God. The spiritual center of the nation of Israel was Judah and Jerusalem. The soul, in a sense, the one who dictated where that nation was going to go, was the king.

It was God's desire that there be one king who ruled over His nation, but that king was to be a man after God's own heart. We saw that king back in 1 Kings and also in 1 and 2 Samuel. He was still alive at the beginning of 1 Kings. The man after God's own heart was not a perfect man, but he was the king. He was the soul, you could say, of the nation. Where the king went, the nation went. Where your soul wants to go, it takes your body or it takes your spirit. The king was like the soul of the nation of Israel. When he was a man after God's own heart, it was a nation that was focused on the Lord and worship.

Remember what David brought back to Jerusalem right after he became king? He brought the Ark of the Covenant to the Lord and reestablished worship. The interesting thing you see when you go through 1 and 2 Kings is that every time a good king came to the throne, the first thing he did was reestablish worship. He focused the nation back on the spiritual center. However, all the evil kings focused on the fleshly things of this world. They turned back to the evil things that God looks upon and says are abominations, such as idols.

What distinguished a good king from a bad king in the books of 1 and 2 Kings was that a good king set the mind of the people on the spiritual center of the nation and fixed their eyes back on the spirit. In contrast, the evil kings focused on idolatry and served other things. The passions of this world were really at the center of it.

When we come to the book of 2 Kings, we see a nation that is now divided, with two different kings: one in the south and one in the north. The nation has this split, just like our lives. We have talked about the importance of a king on the throne before. There is always going to be one who sits upon the throne of that nation, Israel, or our lives individually. Where the king goes, the people go. Where the king goes in our lives, that is where our lives are going to go.

If you are seated on the throne, there might be a problem. In fact, there will be a problem because the Scripture says in Jeremiah chapter 17, verse 9, that the heart of man is desperately wicked. It is not just bad; it is desperately wicked. This stands in clear contrast to what the world thinks about man today, especially in the eyes of contemporary philosophers.

In the eyes of people who are humanists here in America, they would say that man is essentially good. However, the Bible doesn't say that. When man sits upon the throne, we see what happens. Out of the heart proceed evil actions and evil thoughts, and we see that very clearly. When you are the king on the throne and allow your own soul to dictate the body's desires, you will pursue the things of this body. This leads to becoming a fleshly individual.

We observe this battle between the flesh and the spirit, between the body and the spirit, very clearly in the books of 1 and 2 Kings. The king is like the soul of the nation, and where the king leads, the entire people follow. He has a choice: whether to pursue the appetites of the body, which are temporal and will ultimately wither away, or to focus on the things of God, the spiritual center of the nation.

There are consequences to these choices. The Bible makes it very clear that there are consequences for those who pursue bodily appetites. Paul discusses this in Galatians, stating that he who sows to the flesh shall reap destruction. This leads to what I refer to as the three Ds: decay, division, and ultimately destruction. We see this in 2 Kings. A nation whose king is focused on the things of this world, sowing to the flesh, will begin to decay. There will be a clear division between the things of God and the things of man. Ultimately, if the king pursues the things of this world, he will reap destruction.

2 Kings begins with the first division of the book, where chapters 1 through 17 focus primarily on the different kings from the north and south. Almost every single one of these kings, all but one, was evil. In those first 17 chapters, we encounter about ten different kings from the northern tribes. It can be confusing as we go back and forth between a king from the north and a king from the south. This back-and-forth struggle is confusing because it was not as God intended. God intended for there to be one king over the whole nation.

He would be the one who was ruled by God, a man after God's own heart, and he would lead the nation towards God. They would be a nation united. However, what you see in these first 17 chapters is a back-and-forth movement between the northern ten tribes and the southern tribes. Every single one of the ten kings that ruled in the north over this several hundred-year period was wicked. Not a single one of them followed after the man after God's own heart, King David. Instead, they all followed after the one who established idol worship in the northern ten tribes.

This king was the one who started golden calf worship again in the nation of Israel. He initiated it in two cities in the northern ten tribes: in the city of Dan, at the very northernmost point of the nation, and also in the city of Bethel. Interestingly, the name Bethel means "the house of God." Yet, here he established this false idol worship system. These two kings are used as the standards for the nation. King David is the standard of righteousness, while the other king to the north, who started this false worship, was Jeroboam, the son of Nebat.

Every time you talk about an evil king, it says he followed after his father Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who established this false god worship. Conversely, whenever there is a good king, it always states he followed after his father, David. David was the standard bearer for the righteous king, while Jeroboam was the standard bearer for the wicked king.

Chapters 1 through 17 of this book focus on the northern ten tribes and their slide towards destruction, ultimately ending in chapter 17 with their total annihilation by the nation of Assyria. This comes as a judgment from God. In fact, if you read the book of Isaiah, the first 35 chapters discuss this coming judgment of the Assyrian army. God tells His people that the king of Assyria is the rod in His hand, and He will use him to execute judgment.

It was actually three kings that God used from the nation of Assyria: the first was Tiglath-Pileser, whom you saw in this book, followed by Shalmaneser and then Sennacherib. These three kings, God says through the prophet Isaiah, are a tool in His hand to execute judgment. God declares, "I will chasten my people."

I'm going to discipline my people. We see that even in the New Testament. Hebrews chapter 12 tells us that whom the Lord loves, He chastens. God chastens those whom He loves. He loved His people, the children of Israel, and He didn't want them to follow after the things of this world, which ultimately led to destruction. He desired that they would follow Him and follow the King after His own heart, and that they would be spiritually minded. This is the same thing that He desires for you and me.

However, we still have free choice. God has allowed us to choose which way we're going to go. There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof is death. If you are the king, if you're the one who sits upon the throne of your life, then you're going to lead your life towards the path that you think is right, just like the kings of the northern portion of Israel, the northern ten tribes.

God constantly brings to them a word of exhortation through the prophets. The books of 1 and 2 Kings focus not only on the monarchy, the kings of Israel, but they also show us the prophets of the nation. God desired that His people would walk in righteousness, but how were they to know that this is what He desired? He would speak it to them; He would communicate it to them.

In fact, turn over in your Bibles to the book of Amos. Amos is one of the minor prophets, and the only reason we call him a minor prophet is that he didn't have as many prophecies as some of the other prophets. Amos is right after the book of Joel. In Amos chapter 3, I want you to notice this.

Amos chapter 3, verse 7 says, "Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret unto His servants, the prophets." God does nothing unless He first shows His plan and purpose through His servants, the prophets. It goes on to say in verse 8, "A lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord has spoken; who can but prophesy?" What a powerful word that Amos speaks there by the inspiration of God. God says to him, "Surely I do absolutely nothing unless I first tell you what I'm going to do."

What we find in the books of 1 and 2 Kings is God repeatedly coming to His people and telling them, "Turn to Me." He does this...

Through His prophets, God calls out to His people, saying, "Turn to Me, and I’m going to heal you; I’m going to restore you. But if you don’t, I’m going to judge you." We also see the long-suffering and patience of God. God is so patient with His people, and this is clearly seen in these books. Over hundreds of years, He waits and sends His prophets to speak to them.

You can read the major and minor prophets, many of whom delivered their messages during the times of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles. These books are very similar, as we will see in the next couple of weeks. God comes to His people through the prophets and speaks to them. We just saw this in Hebrews chapter 1. God still does this today. God, who in past times spoke in diverse manners to our fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son.

You see, God still speaks to us through the Word, Jesus Christ. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We saw this in John chapter 1 a couple of weeks ago in the main sanctuary on Sunday. God speaks to us by His Son; He still reveals to us what His plan and purpose are. This is very clearly seen throughout His Word, and He gives that call to us.

What was the first message that John the Baptist brought? Jesus also echoed this message after His ministry began: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Turn to Me." The nation of Israel was at a point of decay when Jesus came, just as we see here in 1 and 2 Kings. The message continues to be the same in our lives as well. When we, as the kings of our lives, begin to follow after the things of this world, God will send His Word to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Turn to Me. Follow Me."

When we are following Him, God will encourage us and strengthen us. But when we turn away, He sends a prophet in some way, bringing the Word of God to us. In these books, we have the prophets. The main prophet seen in 1 Kings is Elijah, while the main prophet in 2 Kings is Elisha. The first 17 chapters of the book show us Elisha’s ministry, which is powerful and truly mimics the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Some of the miracles he performs include casting salt into the water to make it sweet. Remember, the Holy Spirit is called the living water. He brings forth water.

To the people in these first 17 chapters, Elisha brings restoration. He raises people from the dead and provides oil to a lady who is about ready to die and has nothing left. In chapter 7, Elisha tells her to go and get as many pots as she can. She responds that all she has is one last cruise of oil and that she and her two sons are going to die. Elisha instructs her to fill the pots with oil, and as she pours it out, the oil never runs dry; it just keeps flowing.

Elisha's ministry really illustrates the ministry of the Holy Spirit as we follow his miracles in 2 Kings chapters 1 through 17. However, it was a ministry to the people with a very specific purpose. Jesus tells us in John chapter 16 that the Holy Spirit is in the world to do three things: convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Elisha's ministry primarily focused on the northern ten tribes, just like Elijah's ministry before him.

Remember, Elijah ministered during the time of King Ahab, that wicked king in the north, and his wife Jezebel. The climax of Elijah's ministry came during his battle with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, where God brought fire from heaven. We see the powerful ministry of Elijah to the northern ten tribes and their kings, followed by Elisha's ministry in these first 17 chapters, which also focuses on the northern ten tribes.

God still speaks to us primarily through His Holy Spirit, bringing us the Word of God. When we walk contrary to God, in the same way that the northern ten tribes did in 1 and 2 Kings, the Holy Spirit comes to convict us of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He reveals our sin, shows us God's righteousness, and warns us of the judgment that will come upon our sin because of God's righteousness. The call of the prophet and the call of the Holy Spirit is to repent. Repent. That is what God calls us to.

Now, this first division of the book of 2 Kings ends in chapter 17. I want you to turn over there because it is very important that we look at something that takes place in chapter 17. 2 Kings chapter 17, starting at verse 13, marks a significant point when God's grace, although still present, begins to shift.

For the taking, it comes to a point where God removes His grace from the people, and now He is going to pour out judgment. This judgment will come at the hand of the king of Assyria, as it says in verse 3: "Against the king of the north, against him came up Shalmaneser, king of Assyria." The king of Assyria is now coming to bring judgment upon the children of Israel.

Now, look at verse 13. Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah by all the prophets and by all the seers, which is another name for prophet. Remember in the book of Isaiah, chapter 1, it says, "The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw." Many of these prophets saw visions, and God spoke to them through these visions. He spoke to Israel and Judah through all the prophets and seers, saying to them, "Turn from your evil ways."

How could we sum that up in one word? Repent. Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments and My statutes according to all My law, which I have commanded your fathers and which I sent to you by My servants, the prophets. Notwithstanding, in verse 14, they would not hear; they hardened their necks like the necks of their fathers. They did not believe the Lord their God, and they rejected His statutes and His covenant, which He had made with their fathers, along with His testimonies that He had testified against them. They followed vanity, became vain, and went after the heathen that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them not to do like them.

They left all the commandments of the Lord their God and made molten images, even two calves. They made a grove, worshipped all the hosts of heaven, and served Baal. They caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger.

Notice verse 18: Therefore, the Lord was very angry with Israel, and He removed them out of His sight. There was none left but the tribe of Judah only. This marks a turning point in the division, the first division of the book of 2 Kings. The first 17 chapters focus on the rivalry between the southern tribe of Judah and the northern tribes of Israel, examining how these kings led them astray. Occasionally, one king in Judah would lead the people toward righteousness, following after the things of his father David. However, the primary focus is the ministry of Elisha to the northern ten tribes, and that message to them was to repent.

God sent His prophets, all of His seers, saying to them, "Turn from your evil ways." But what did they do? They would not listen. They hardened their hearts and stiffened their necks. God constantly sent to them and said, "Return to Me, return to Me. If you don't return to Me, I'm going to send the king of Assyria upon you, and he's going to judge you. He's coming from My own hand." That was the message of Isaiah during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, and Ahaz. God spoke to these kings and said to them, "Return to Me, or else you're going to be judged by the Assyrians."

Isaiah's ministry took place during the same time. Isaiah, the prophet, focused on the southern tribe of Judah and Jerusalem, speaking primarily to them. Elisha and some of the other prophets spoke to the northern ten tribes up until this point in 2 Kings chapter 17, where God says, "Therefore, I am very angry with My people, and I'm going to remove you out of My sight." God expressed His anger and intention to remove them from His presence.

We might look at that and say, "Wait a minute, how does this fit? How could a God of love do such a thing?" The Bible speaks very clearly about similar themes in the New Testament. In 1 Corinthians chapter 5, Paul wrote to a group of Christians who were being pulled back and forth between the things of this world and the things of God. They were a church filled with sin. In one portion of his first letter, Paul addresses a man in their church body who was in carnal sin, wicked sin. He says in verse 5 of 1 Corinthians 5, "Deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit might be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Paul's instruction to deliver such a one unto Satan was meant to destroy his body, the northern ten tribes, the body of Israel, so that the spirit, represented by the southern tribe of Judah and Jerusalem, might be saved in the day of Christ Jesus. The principles in the New Testament are clearly seen in the Old Testament. God allows and even causes the Assyrian army to come into the land of Israel to judge His people, exiling the northern ten tribes, the body. God destroys the flesh, the body, and exiles them.

Even today, they are the lost tribes of Israel. We don't even know who they are; they are completely gone because of the work of the Assyrians, and ultimately, it came as a result of their own sin. They were completely destroyed so that the spirit might be saved, so that Judah and Jerusalem might ultimately turn.

The first 17 chapters of the book of 2 Kings focus on the wicked kings of the north: Ahaziah, Jehoram, Jehu, Jehoaz, and Joash. All these kings were wicked at heart. Every single one of them was focused on the body, on the flesh. If you sow to the flesh, you shall reap destruction. Ultimately, God says you are going to be destroyed.

But surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants, the prophets. The Lord comes and sends His prophets, calling to the people, "Return to Me, return to Me." However, they did not listen; they hardened their hearts and stiffened their necks. Because of this, they were exiled and dealt with. God delivered them over to be destroyed.

Then the shift takes place in 1 Kings chapter 18. From 1 Kings chapter 18 until the end of the book in chapter 25, we see the second division of the book of 2 Kings. This section focuses now only on the southern tribe of Judah and their main city of Jerusalem. God speaks to them. Why does He need to speak to them?

Notice this: in 1 Kings chapter 17, right after God says in verse 18, "Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and He removed them out of His sight, and there was none left but the tribe of Judah only." Notice the next verse, verse 19: "And Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but they walked in all the statutes of Israel which they made."

Even Judah, the spiritual center of the nation, had started to turn towards the things of this world, towards the things of the flesh. Why is that? Because most of their kings, the soul of the nation, were focused on the things of the flesh. Where the soul goes, the body goes, and ultimately, the spirit will go as well. If the soul is focused on the body, it will take the body and the spirit towards those things and lead to eternal destruction in hell. The spirit does not cease to exist in the life of the unbeliever after death; it simply follows where the body was already headed and goes towards total and utter destruction.

But if the soul is focused on the spirit, then it will take...

The body in that direction, although it will not come into the next life, will be renewed in the twinkling of an eye, as the Scripture says. This corruption will put on incorruption; this mortality will put on immortality. However, it all depends on where the soul is focused—whether towards the spirit or towards the flesh.

The last portion of this book, chapters 18 through 25, focuses on the spirit of the nation of Judah, the main city of Jerusalem, and their kings. It examines the lives of eight kings of Judah, of whom only two were good; all but two of them were evil. These two kings are very important: the first is a man named Hezekiah, and the second is Josiah. Hezekiah and Josiah, among all the kings of the children of Israel from the time of David, who was their great king, until the end of the kings, were among only four good kings besides David. The others were Joash and Jehoshaphat. Over a period that spans some 357 to 400 years, there were only four kings who followed after their father David.

In this last portion of the book, I want to spend the remainder of our time tonight focusing on one of these good kings, because his life is very important. That king is Hezekiah. It starts in chapter 18, verse 1: "Now it came to pass in the third year of Hosea, son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign."

Now, Ahaz was not a good king; he was a very wicked king. He refused to follow the counsel and the command of the Lord. In my opinion, Ahaz was a very blessed king because God gave him an awesome prophet to be right there next to him: the prophet Isaiah. You can read the book of Isaiah; it's a powerful book, and it was written during this exact same period of time as King Hezekiah. It was also during the time of his father, King Ahaz, and his grandfather and great-grandfather. Isaiah had a ministry that spanned the time of four different kings in Israel, and possibly part of the fifth king, Manasseh. When Isaiah came during the time of Ahaz, he sought to...

Ahaz turned away from the Lord, refusing to listen to what He had to say. He was a wicked king who followed after the same idolatry as the northern ten tribes. However, he had a son named Hezekiah. Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign when he was 25 years old and reigned for 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abai, the daughter of Zechariah.

Notice verse 3; highlight this verse: He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David, his father, did. The writer of this book, 2nd Kings, gives us an idea of what it means to do right in the sight of the Lord. He sums it up by stating that Hezekiah removed all the high places. In verse 4, it says he broke the images and cut down the groves. He also broke in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made, for until those days, the children of Israel burned incense to it. He called it Nehushtan.

What's that all about? Back in the book of Numbers, chapter 21, as the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, they began to murmur against the Lord. As a result, they were bitten by snakes, and everyone who was bitten would die. They cried out to Moses for help, saying they were grieved by the snakes. God spoke to them and instructed Moses to make a bronze snake and put it up on a pole in the midst of the camp. Whoever was bitten by a snake could look at this bronze serpent and be healed.

I wonder how many people died because they refused to follow this instruction, thinking it was the stupidest thing they had ever heard. They might have dismissed it as blind faith, calling those who believed in it a bunch of idiots. However, whoever looked at the bronze serpent was healed and lived.

As is often the case when God does something good, man tends to turn it into idolatry. They began to worship this bronze serpent and burned incense to it from the time of Moses until the time of Hezekiah—about 600 years. Now, Hezekiah comes along and declares Nehushtan, meaning it is just a thing of brass. He takes it down and destroys it, saying they will not do this anymore. He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, and after him, there was none like him among the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. He clung to the Lord and did not depart from following Him.

He kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses, and the Lord was with him. He prospered him whithersoever he went forth. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. Under his father, King Ahaz, when Ahaz was king, the southern tribe of Judah was about to be destroyed by their brothers in the north. The northern ten tribes started to come down in war against the people of Judah in the south, and not only that, they brought with them the Syrians—not the Assyrians, but the Syrians.

The Assyrians and the northern ten tribes were trying to destroy King Ahaz and Judah. Isaiah went to him and said, "Ahaz, God will protect you if you trust Him, and He will prosper you if you trust Him." But Ahaz wouldn't have any part of it. So what did Ahaz do? He took gold from the temple and gold from his own house and sent it to the king of Assyria, saying, "If you help me, I'll pay you." Thus, he started this league with him, paying the king of Assyria. The king of Assyria agreed to help, so Assyria went out and destroyed the Syrians and the northern ten tribes.

However, the king of Assyria decided afterward, "I might as well just destroy the people in Judah too." Even though Ahaz was paying him all this gold, he planned to come and destroy them and take all their gold. So now he came against the children of Israel, the tribe of Judah in the south. At that point in time, Hezekiah became king. Hezekiah said, "I'm not paying this guy gold anymore." This action angered the king of Assyria, which is why he ultimately came down. Hezekiah rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not pay him anymore; he did not serve him. He smote the Philistines even unto Gaza and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

It came to pass in the fourth year of Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of King Hosea, son of Elah, king of Israel, that Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, came against Samaria and besieged it. This was at the very same time that the Assyrians were destroying the northern ten tribes. The Assyrian army surrounded the capital city of the northern ten tribes. I hope I'm not losing you; if you are, get the tape and listen to it again. The king of Assyria surrounded Samaria, the capital city of the northern ten tribes, and besieged the city.

It took him, notice this, three years to take the city of Samaria. This is a big deal; this campaign lasted three years. Why is that? Well, the way that they would...

Wage war against these walled cities by surrounding the city, cutting off their supply lines, and letting the people die of starvation, lack of water, and famine. It's interesting; I don't know for sure if they did this during the times of these ancient kings, but in the Middle Ages, one of the ways they would speed up the process was by catapulting dead bodies into the city to try and start famine or pestilences among the people.

They besieged the city for three years, even until the sixth year of King Hezekiah. After Hezekiah had been king for six years, that was the ninth year of Hosea, king of Israel. The king in the north, Samaria, was taken, and the king of Assyria carried away Israel unto Assyria. He put them in Hela, in Hebor by the river of Gozen, and in the cities of the Medes, the Medo-Persian Empire.

Why did they go away into captivity? Because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed His covenant and all that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded. They would not hear them nor do them. Notice, if they had repented and followed the Lord, what would God have done? He would have delivered them from the Assyrians, but they would not turn back to the Lord, and so God allowed them to be judged.

Now, notice this verse: in the 14th year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came against the defense cities of Judah. He took them, just as I had mentioned to you. Hezekiah rebelled against the king of Assyria, saying he would not pay this guy gold anymore. After that, the king of Assyria decided that since they had already taken Samaria, they might as well take Jerusalem too. So, he sent his armies down there.

There was a new king in Assyria; before this was King Shalmaneser, as we saw in verse 9. Now, King Sennacherib comes and is going to bring his armies from the northern ten tribes, which he has gotten rid of, down into the southern tribes of Judah and Jerusalem. He took all the defense cities of Judah. We will see in 2 Chronicles that in one day, he took 200,000 men of Judah captive. There was nobody standing in front of him. The only thing that was going to stop this guy was the Lord.

Now, I want you to flip over in your books, just to give you context here. Flip over in your Bibles.

To the book of Isaiah, chapter 36, notice what it says in verse 1. Where did we just see that? In 2 Kings, chapter 18, it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against the defense cities of Judah and took them. The exact same thing that is going to take place in 2 Kings, chapter 18, over the next few chapters and in Isaiah, chapters 36 through 39, is what we see here, word for word. This gives us context for the book of Isaiah and insight into who the prophet was during this time for Hezekiah.

Now, go back to 2 Kings, chapter 18, verse 14, because this is a great passage of Scripture, and I think it will give us insight into the power of our God on behalf of those who follow Him. Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, "I have offended you. Return from me that which you put upon me; I will bear it." The king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah, king of Judah, three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

You don't read this in the book of Isaiah, but this is interesting. Remember, King Hezekiah said he was not going to pay this guy gold anymore. So, the king of Assyria marched down and destroyed all of his defense cities, except for just a few, primarily Jerusalem. What does Hezekiah do? He decides to pay, if that's what it takes. He sends a message to the king of Assyria, and we see the faltering of faith. Do you see it there? He is kind of faltering. He was trusting in the Lord, but now he is wavering.

He sends to the king of Assyria, saying, "Listen, whatever you had me taxed beforehand, just tell me what it is." In verse 15, Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king's house. At that time, Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord and from the pillars, which Hezekiah, king of Judah, had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

Notice what happens here; this is powerful. In verse 16, it says that Hezekiah removed all the gold from the doors and the pillars of the temple—the same gold that he himself had put there. He was trying to refocus the nation back on worshiping the Lord.

The people back on the temple were putting money towards it, but when times got tough, what did he do? He backtracked and removed the gold from those things. The king of Assyria sent Tartan, Rabberus, and Rabshaka from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. They went up and came to Jerusalem, and when they arrived, they stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the Fuller's Field.

Now, King Hezekiah sent a message to the king of Assyria down in Lachish, which was only about 36 miles away from Jerusalem. The king of Assyria was close, so Hezekiah sent a message saying, "Listen, I'll pay you; just stay away from me." But what do we see? The king of Assyria sends an army against Jerusalem. You can never pay off the enemy; it’s not going to stop him. There’s only one way to deal with the enemy, and we’ve only got ten minutes to try and figure it out.

He sends his main commander, this guy Rabshaka. Now, Rabshaka is not his name; that’s his title, and it really means the cupbearer to the king of Assyria. He’s the right-hand man, the advisor to the king. He’s the guy who would take a bite of the king’s food before the king would eat it or take a drink from the king’s cup before the king would drink it. This is a guy who was trusted by the king.

So, he sends his commander up to King Hezekiah. Notice it says in verse 17 that he brought his entire army and they stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the Fuller's Field. Now, if you’re a city about to be besieged, what do you need? Water, food, and all these things. What does the commander of the army of Assyria do here? He goes and stands right at the main water source of Jerusalem, basically sending a real sign that you can’t stand against me. When the enemy comes in like a flood, verse 18 says, "And when they had called to the king, there came out unto him Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shibna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder."

Now, Rabshaka brings his army from Assyria and stands right at the main water source of the city of Jerusalem. Hezekiah sends his three closest advisors out to Rabshaka, and Rabshaka said unto them in verse 19, "Speak ye unto Hezekiah: thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, what confidence is this in which you trust?" Notice these three things that he brings, actually these five things we’re going to see in the next several verses.

These are the words of the commander of the army of Assyria to the delegation of Hezekiah. He says, "You think you have a plan for war? They are just vain words. Now, on whom do you trust that you rebel against me?"

The first thing that the commander of the army of Assyria, the enemy's army, asserts is that the plans of Hezekiah are meaningless. He continues, "Behold, you trust upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to all that trust in him." He is essentially saying that if Hezekiah believes he has an alliance with the Egyptians, they will not help him.

The third point he makes is, "But if you say unto me, we trust in the Lord our God," he challenges their faith. He questions whether they really think their God will help them. Hezekiah has no plans for war and no allies to assist him. The commander points out the irony in their claim of trust in the Lord, saying, "Is it not he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away? Has it been said to Judah and Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem'?"

He is implying that Hezekiah has angered God by destroying the high places where the people worshipped. The commander misunderstands God's command, believing that the removal of these places means God is displeased.

Then, he continues, "I pray thee, give pledges to my Lord, the king of Assyria, and I will deliver unto you two thousand horses if you are able to set riders on them." He challenges them further, asking, "How then will you turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants? You put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen."

The fourth point he makes is that even if they had two thousand horses, they would not be able to find one rider to match the least of his soldiers. He emphasizes that even with two thousand horses, they have no one to fight against him.

Finally, he delivers the most significant statement: "Am I now come without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, 'Go up against this land.'"

And destroy it. The fifth thing he says to them is that not only do you have no plan for war, not only do you have no allies, you can't trust in your God. He's angry at you. You don't have any soldiers to fight against me, and your God has sent me to destroy you. At that point, do you think you might be discouraged?

Notice what these three men of Hezekiah say in verse 26. This is almost funny. They say, "Speak, I pray, to your servants in the Syrian language, for we understand it, and talk not with us in the Jewish language, in Hebrew, in the ears of the people that are on the wall." This is like telling a crazed ADD child, "Can you just please calm down?" They say to the Rabshakeh, the commander of the Assyrian army, "He's speaking in Hebrew, and we understand the Assyrian language. Speak to us in the Assyrian language. These men sitting on the wall right here don’t understand the Assyrian language. Stop speaking in Hebrew; you're going to discourage the soldiers."

Do you really think that the Rabshakeh is going to listen to this? Notice what he says in verse 27. But Rabshakeh said unto them, "Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words? Has he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, those that are going to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?" He says, "Do you really think that my king has sent me just to speak with you? I've come to speak with all the people that are in this city because we're going to besiege this city, and it's going to end up that you're eating your own waste to try and live."

So the Rabshakeh, in verse 28, stood and cried with a loud voice in the Hebrew language. He spoke, saying, "Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. Thus saith the king: Let not Hezekiah, your king, 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.' Hearken not unto Hezekiah, for thus saith the king of Assyria: Make an agreement with me by a present and come out to me, and you may eat every man of his own vine and every man of his own fig tree, and every one of you the waters of his own cistern."

He yells with a loud voice to all the people, the men, the soldiers of Jerusalem sitting on the wall. He says, "Listen, don't listen to your king. He's going to deceive you. Your God’s not going to help you. We're going to come and destroy you."

If you don't want to be destroyed, then come out to me. Give me a gift; give me a present, and tonight you can go home and eat your own food, drink your own wine from your own well. You can go home to your own land. Sounds like a pretty good plan. Everything will be okay.

Verse 32 states, "Until I come and take you away to a land like your own, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil and olive oil, and honey, that you may live and not die." Heed not unto Hezekiah when he persuades you, saying, "The Lord will deliver us." Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

Notice what he says: "You come out, you make a deal with me, and you can go home tonight, eat your own food, drink your own wine, drink from your own cistern." But we have this special thing in Assyria called the Assyrian relocation program. We will come back later, after we've dealt with all these other people who are coming against us, and we are going to bring you back to our own land.

This was the way that the Assyrians worked. They would come and take the people they conquered and spread them out in other places, just like they did with the northern ten tribes. They would cause those people to assimilate into the culture of the Assyrians, and that's why today they are called the lost tribes of Israel.

So he says, "You come, make a deal with me, and you can go home." But there is a minor problem: we are going to come back with the Assyrian relocation program, and we are going to move you to a different land. It will be a nice land; don't worry about it.

Here is the point, verse 33, where the people in Jerusalem should have started planning their victory party. Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath or of Arpah? Where are the gods of Shefarvim, or Hena, or Iva? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who are they among all the gods of the countries that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the Lord your God should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

The king of Assyria, his commander here, just says, "Listen, your God in Jerusalem is just like all the other gods that we've destroyed." But the people held their peace. This is what we are to do, verse 36: they held their peace; they answered him not a word, for the king's commandment was saying, "Answer him not."

Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shibna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, and Hezekiah, with their clothes rent.

They told the words of Rabshakeh to Hezekiah. Here we read in verse 1 of chapter 19: "And it came to pass, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, and he covered himself with sackcloth, and he went into the house of the Lord." He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shibna the scribe, along with the elders and the priests covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. They said unto him, "Thus saith Hezekiah: This is a day of trouble and rebuke and blasphemy, for the children are come to birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth."

It is believed that this was a proverb among the people. Basically, it means that a woman has brought the child to full term and is about ready to give birth, but she is out of strength. The woman is going to die, and the child also. It is a horrible day. Notice this: this is the word of Hezekiah to Isaiah. "It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his master, has sent to reproach the living God and reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard. Wherefore, lift up your prayer for the remnant that are left."

So the servants of Hezekiah came to Isaiah, and Isaiah said to them in verse 6, "Thus shall you say to your master: Thus saith the Lord: Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, 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 he shall return to his own land, and I will cause him to fall by his sword in his own land."

What takes place here is that Hezekiah sends word to Isaiah, saying, "Listen, pray to God because there is no way we can stand." Isaiah responds, telling Hezekiah that God has heard his prayer and the blasphemy of the king of Assyria. God tells the people in Judah and Jerusalem, "I am going to cause the king of Assyria to hear a rumor, and he is going to be turned away."

As you read the rest of this, you find that the king of Assyria heard a rumor that the Ethiopians were coming up against him. He received a report that the Ethiopians were approaching, so he sent all of his armies to deal with them. However, first, in the next chapter, he sends a letter to King Hezekiah, saying, "I haven't forgotten about you; I'll be back."

Hezekiah takes this letter, as it says in this chapter, and brings it up to the house of the Lord. He spreads the letter before the Lord and cries out to God, saying, "God, we need your help." What does God do? The army of the Assyrians...

Surrounding Judah, God brings destruction in one night, killing 185,000 of the Assyrian army with one angel. The king of Assyria turns around and takes the rest of his armies back to Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria. The scripture tells us that he returned, and if you look at the annals of King Sennacherib—his own records of his wars and conquests—you will see that his conquering ends at this point. He goes back to Nineveh, and it is interesting because you can actually see the annals of Sennacherib in the British Museum in London.

When he talks about Jerusalem, he mentions how he destroyed every city. He provides a clear record of how he destroyed all these people and took this many captives. However, when it comes to the city of Jerusalem, King Sennacherib of Assyria states that he and King Hezekiah sealed him up like a bird in a cage and put him under tribute, under tax. Yet, it never says that he took the city of Jerusalem. Of course, the king of Assyria is not going to brag about the 185,000 of his army that died.

What we see through the life of Hezekiah, one of the lights among a black canvas in 2 Kings, is a king who put his trust in the Lord. He was tempted to rely on his wealth or the strength of his defenses. Remember, under King Hezekiah, they constructed Hezekiah's Tunnel in the city of Jerusalem, which brought water into the city in a covert manner. They could have withstood a siege in Jerusalem for a long time because they had water. However, he did not trust in the fact that he had water and food or money to pay off the king of Assyria. Instead, he took the letter from the king and spread it out before the Lord, saying, "God, you have heard the blasphemy of this king, and only you can save us." And God saved him.

In this book, we see the picture of those who follow the king on the throne. You have the option to take that position if you want. Unless you are a man after God's own heart, you may pursue the things of this world. There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof is death. You do not have to be perfect, as we have seen with David and with Hezekiah, who were both tempted to put their trust in other things. However, if you are a king with your heart given to God, He will prosper and deliver you if your focus is on the Spirit. That is the call to us in the book of 2 Kings.

Stands as a picture showing us so clearly. Focus on those things which are above; set your mind on heavenly things, not on the things of this earth. Amen.

Let's stand and pray. God, we do thank You for the illustration that we have here in this book. We thank You for the truth of Your Word, and I ask, Lord, that You would help us to be able to take it to heart, to hide these things in our heart, and that we would be those who sow to the Spirit. For if we sow to the flesh, we shall reap destruction, but if we sow to the Spirit, we will reap everlasting life.

We thank You for the truth. We thank You for this awesome passage of Your Word. I pray that You'd apply it to our hearts. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Thank you.