2 Kings 18 - Study the King James Bible

Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.

Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.

And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.

He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

HEZEKIAH’S REFORMS
‘He removed the high places.’
2 Kings 18:4
It is a mark of Hezekiah’s breadth of mind that he sought to unite the kingdoms in their worship. We read in Chronicles of his attempt to draw Israel and Judah together for a Passover. And though much ridicule was poured upon him, yet that Passover was actually held, amid such scenes of enthusiastie zeal as even Jerusalem had rarely witnessed.
I. The first lesson we are taught is how a good son may come from a bad home.—That home must have been a very den of vileness which had a man like Ahaz at the head of it. There were many worthless kings on David’s throne, but there were few if any who were worse than Ahaz, and Ahaz was Hezekiah’s father. There had been kings distinguished for their courage, though they were sadly wanting in their piety; but Ahaz was as far from being brave as he was from being a worshipper of God—and it was under the control of such a father, and within the influence of such a home, that Hezekiah ripened to his manhood. Eli had been a holy man, yet his two sons were terribly degraded. Ahaz was one of the wickedest of men, yet his son was a bright example of true goodness. From which we learn that you do not explain everything by harping on the one word environment, for sometimes, into the good olive tree, there is grafted that which would be wild by nature. Let us never forget what Hezekiah had to contend with in his youth. He was not encircled with examples such as make goodness beautiful. And it adds to our admiration of the man, and of the noble stand he made for God and righteousness, to think how little he owed to these sweet influences which have had such quiet power in moulding us. If it was possible for this boy to be good, then it is possible for every boy to be good. There is no excuse to think they would be better, had they been born and bred in different homes. The grace of God can save and keep so mightily, even within a home like that of Ahaz, that the child shall be sheltered in the evil day, and grow into the strength of Hezekiah.
II. We ought to note how Hezekiah gave to spiritual things the foremost place.—We read in Chronicles how in the first year of his reign he set about the renovation of the Temple. There was a vast deal lying to be done, and Hezekiah was not the man to shirk it. There was an army to reorganise, and an emptied treasury to fill again. Yet the first concern of the king was not the taxes, nor was it the re-creating of his forces; his first concern was the worship of Jehovah and the honour that was due unto His name. It is always the mark of a great and noble mind that it sees things in their relative proportions. Greatness can seize the things that really matter, however they be obscured to other eyes. And this is one sign of Hezekiah’s greatness that, with so many matters clamouring for attention, he should have given his first and freshest thought to what concerned the worship of Jehovah. Are there not multitudes who place religion among the things they will see to by and by? Some day they fully intend to be religious, but meantime they are otherwise engaged. There is no more tragical mistake than that—none more certain to issue in disaster—none that more surely brings the life to ruin by inverting the true order of its interests. ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you.’ That was the course which Hezekiah took, and for him it was most literally true. Nor will it prove itself less true for us, with tasks to do that are quite commonplace, and battles to fight of which no one ever hears.
III. We learn that good things may become a snare.—We read that Hezekiah ground to powder the Brazen Serpent of the wilderness. What sacred memories clustered round that emblem! It was one of the most precious relics of the past. It had been fashioned by Moses when the people were dying, and in a look at it there had been life. But this very sacredness became its peril, for the people had begun to worship it, and had grown to regard it with an awe and reverence that were the just prerogatives of God. It was for that reason that Hezekiah destroyed it. It was very precious, yet it was doing harm. Better that it should be ground to powder, than prove a stumbling-block to any little ones. Was it not actions such as this that Jesus thought of, when He said, ‘If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out: for it is better that one member should perish than that the whole body should be cast into hell?’
Illustrations
(1) ‘The worship of relics has in all ages been a favourite form of superstition and idolatry. Men have sought in old bones, in locks of hair, in the fancied blood of martyrs, and a thousand other sources, the blessings which they can find only in God.’
(2) ‘By that act of the reforming Hezekiah, recorded in the Word of God, we are taught to endure nothing in religion but what God has appointed. If ever there was a case where respect for relics could have been sanctioned, it was in regard to that symbol or type of Christ which Hezekiah destroyed. But no! it had become a snare, and must perish; it was put in God’s place, and inexorable destruction was therefore its doom.’

He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.

For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.

And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.

He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.

10.

And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.

11.

And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

17.

And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rab-shakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field.

18.

And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.

19.

And Rab-shakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?

20.

Thou sayest, (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?

THE ONLY SURE HOPE
‘On whom dost thou trust?’
2 Kings 18:20
The Christian conflict as keen as great Assyria and little Judæa. Worldly materialism: infidel thought against the besieged servants of Christ. Arrogant words of Rabshakeh craftily to catch the timid and irresolute. Easy terms: distorted facts. Some Rabshakeh asks the Christian, ‘Whom do you trust?’
I. Is it self?—He says, ‘You haven’t counsel or strength.’ Quite true, my resources poor: I am like the city in grip of armies: alone, I must give way.
II. Is it friends?—He says, ‘Your friends will fail you.’ As Egypt or the countries powerless against the Assyrians, your friends useless. True! My friends—ties with the pure, the respect worthy, or noble, are not my reliance.
III. Is it your religion? says the Rabshakeh, with shafts loosing confidence in God. He is displeased with you. Your worship is faulty. You are divided amongst yourselves. ‘We are confessing our wrong. Our Lord is loving us still. His promises sure to the humble.’
IV. On whom do you trust?—Only in our Saviour God.
Rev. F. S. Legg.

21.

Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharoah king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.

22.

But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?

23.

Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

24.

How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

25.

Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.

26.

Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rab-shakeh, 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.

27.

But Rab-shakeh 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.

28.

Then Rab-shakeh 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:

29.

Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand:

30.

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.

31.

Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern:

32.

Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The LORD will deliver us.

33.

Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

34.

Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?

35.

Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?

36.

But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.

37.

Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rab-shakeh.