June 15, 2008

• The Book of Isaiah Chapter 1 V.1 Part 5.3

  The Book of Isaiah

  Chapter 1 V.1 Part 5.3

   

   

  2Ki 18:13  Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.

   

  Now, it took me a while to figure this one out. I couldn’t understand why God had allowed this attack. In the past, all attacks of this nature against the afore-mentioned kings were the result of sin in the camp. Some of them cleaned things up but left the idol worship intact. This was not the case with Hezekiah.

   

  Hezekiah ordered major reforms. All of the information on his reforms is found in 2Chr 29-31. He even reinstituted Passover, and prayed for God’s forgiveness on the people that came from Israel and the surrounding areas to worship, who burnt offerings unto God, but were not clean, because they had set their hearts on seeking God.

   

  After reading these chapters, I could only conclude that the fact that God had allowed the invading Assyrian army to not only carry off Israel for their unfaithfulness, but to invade Judah as well, was for a dual purpose.

   

  The reason for this attack is found in verse 12.

   

  2Ki 18:12  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, and would not hear [them], nor do [them].

   

  Sennacherib = “Sin multiplied brothers” (Sin = the moon)

  1) son of Sargon, father of Esarhaddon, and king of Assyria from 705- 681 BC; attacked Judah during the reign of king Hezekiah and Judah was delivered when in response to the prayer of Hezekiah an angel smote 185,000 Assyrian soldiers.

   

  On the one hand, when Samaria was taken, opportunity presented itself for Judah to be taken as well because Samaria was the “watch tower.” When there is no one in the watch tower, the kingdom can be attacked. Secondly, note that they attacked fortified or fenced in cities and were able to capture them.

   

  This brings to mind this:

   

  Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

   

  The reason I’m reminded of this, is because it was fortified cities that he attacked and overcame in this first invasion. It reminds me of David, wherein Absalom was able to initiate a campaign to elect himself as ruler right outside the gates of the city because there was no one in the watch tower, and David was no longer sitting in his seat in the gates, but had withdrawn to an inner court. There was no guard on the kingdom; therefore, attack was imminent and inevitable.

   

  Here, Hezekiah was clearly walking with the Lord, but due to the sins of the past, and the principle above in Galatians, this attack was allowed. The two-fold reason was the sins of the people had caught up with them. At the same time, it was a test of their renewed position of faith. Those cities were fortified, but they weren’t secure. In other words, they had not been tested and proven after they had been cleansed, and this invasion was that first run test.

   

  Of all the kings of Judah, none is given higher praise than Hezekiah, which is evident in the fact that the narrative of his rule is the only one written three times in the Old Testament, (2 Ki. 18:13-20:21; 2 Chr. 32:1-33; Isa. 36:1-39:8) and points to the peculiar significance of God’s dealings with this king.

   

  2Ki 18:14  And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

   

  It could be looked at this way:

  2Ki 18:14  And (Hezekiah) “Jehovah is my strength” king of (Judah) “praised” sent to the king of (Assyria) “a step” to (Lachish) “invincible”, saying, I have offended (to sin, miss, miss the way, go wrong, incur guilt, forfeit, purify from uncleanness); return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of “a step”  appointed unto “Jehovah is my strength”  king of “praised”  three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

   

  2Ki 18:15  And Hezekiah gave [him] all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house.

  2Ki 18:16  At that time did 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.

   

  Now we can look at this one of two ways. Was the “step” to “invincible” the position of the king of Assyria, or was this really a spiritual thing about Hezekiah? What I see is the king of Assyria became, for a moment, the emissary of God. In this test, Hezekiah was actually a “step” to “invincible.” In other words, he was being proven. It is apparent to me in the fact that the tribute that was required had the number three in both amounts. And look at this:

   

  2Ch 31:20  And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought [that which was] good and right and truth before the LORD his God.

  2Ch 31:21  And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did [it] with all his heart, and prospered.

   

  What I see here, is that we need to wake up. Not every attack is a bad one or a bad thing. Here, clearly, this guy was almost a perfected diamond, but purification requires fire. Every time we are in the “hot seat,” does not necessarily mean that we have done wrong, or are under attack. We need to keep our eyes open and on God, because just like in this circumstance, there were signs that the attack and what seemed like subjugation; was, for all intents and purposes, just a lesson in obedience.

   

  Yeah, he had just finished building and restoring the temple, yet he had to take the same gold that he had just overlaid it with, and give it to his enemy. That would be something that would just eat at some people, but it’s a perspective game, folks. It’s all in how we look at a situation. Sometimes…that boss at work can be an unknowing emissary of God to get us obedient so that we can move into a place of “invincibility.”

  • 3:51 pm
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