198 - Jerusalem threatened,

Kathleen's thoughts,

Micah 7: 1- 20
2 Chronicles 32: 1-19
Isaiah 36: 1
2 Kings 18: 13-26-35

• Israel's moral corruption
• The Lord brings salvation
• The Lord's compassion
• Sennacherib and Hezekiah
• Jerusalem's defence prepared
• Sennacherib threatens Jerusalem
• Rabahakeh's defiance... a. The Rabshakeh: This actually is not a name, but a title. It describes the “field commander” for the Assyrian army, who represented the Assyrian King Sennacherib. “Rab-shakeh, an Assyrian title, possibly originally ‘chief cup-bearer’ but by this time some high officer of state.” (Motyer, cited in his commentary on Isaiah)

And interesting read  Micah 7: 5 Do not rely on a friend; don't trust in a close companion, Seal your mouth from the woman who lies in your arms.
For a son considers his father a fool, a daughter opposes her mother, and a daughter-in-law is against her mother-in-law; a person's enemies are the people in his own home. But as for me, I will look to the Lord' I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. This type of walk one walks with the family can be a walk that can destroy your life and your family. One thing we all need to focus on is Love! Love is very important factor and when we walk in love truth prevails and sets us free. Free from a stronghold of self-centered-ness of what I want and what I can do and what makes my life the way I should have it. Consider others in the family, speak with respect and walk in love for each other and keep your eyes focused on the cross for this is the light of the foundations of family life.

The other day I was wondering what happened to all the gold that was in God's temple when Solomon built it. It's amazing how God answers questions like that. Here in Kings 18: 16.
King Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the Lord's sanctuary and from the door posts he had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria.
On my merry travels around the Internet  I  found this reading most interesting so do take the time to go to this link below.

The Assyrian threat during the reign of Hezekiah.

1. (13-16) Hezekiah tries to buy peace from the Assyrians.

And in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; turn away from me; whatever you impose on me I will pay.” And the king of Assyria assessed Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. So 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 stripped 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.

a. In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them: This was approximately five years after the fall of Samaria. Now the king of Assyria brought his force against Judah, who had successfully resisted him before (2 Kings 18:7). He captured all of the fortified cities of Judah and need to only take Jerusalem itself to completely conquer Judah.

i. The mention of Lachish is important historically. Lachish was thirty miles south-west of Jerusalem. Archaeologists have discovered a pit there with the remains of about 1,500 casualties of Sennachaerib’s attack. In the British Museum, you can see the Assyrian carving depicting their siege of the city of Lachish, which was an important fortress city of Judah.

ii. “An interesting wall relief taken from the excavation of Sennacherib’s royal palace in Nineveh is persevered in the British Museum. It portrays the Assyrian king on a portable throne in his military camp outside Lachish. Prisoners of war are marching by on foot, and all the booty from the city is being displayed on ox-wagons.” (Dilday)

b. I have done wrong; turn away from me; whatever you impose on me I will pay: This was a clear – though understandable – lack of faith on the part of Hezekiah. He felt it was wiser to pay off the Assyrian king and become his subject than it was to trust God to defend Judah against this mighty king.

i. We can suppose that Hezekiah thought that since the northern kingdom had been recently conquered and that all the fortified cities of Judah had been captured, that God had demonstrated that He would not intervene on behalf of Judah. Therefore Hezekiah felt he had to do something himself.

ii. Perhaps this idea was strengthened in Hezekiah when he remembered the wickedness of his own father Ahaz, and when he considered that because of their prior sin, Judah deserved such judgment.

c. So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house: Hezekiah hoped that this policy of appeasement would make Judah safe. He was wrong, and his policy only impoverished Judah and the temple and made the King of Assyria more bold than ever against Judah.

2. (17-20) The Rabshakeh tries to convince Judah to surrender.

Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh from Lachish, with a great army against Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they had come up, they went and stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool, which was on the highway to the Fuller’s Field. And when they had called to the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them. Then theRabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: “What confidence is this in which you trust? You speak of having plans and power for war; but they are mere words. And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me?”’”

a. The Rabshakeh: This actually is not a name, but a title. It describes the “field commander” for the Assyrian army, who represented the Assyrian King Sennacherib. “Rab-shakeh, an Assyrian title, possibly originally ‘chief cup-bearer’ but by this time some high officer of state.” (Motyer, cited in his commentary on Isaiah)

b. Stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool . . . Eliakim . . . Shebna . . . Joah . . . came out to them: The Rabshakeh seemed to be in complete command of the situation. He could walk right into the city of Jerusalem, and stand at the crucial water supply - which was Jerusalem’s life-line in a siege attack. As he stood there, three officials from Hezekiah’s government came to meet him.

c. What confidence is this in which you trust: We might wish that Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, and that this is what the Rabshakeh mocked. Instead, Hezekiah put his hope in an alliance with Egypt, and the Rabshakeh wanted him to lose confidence in that alliance.

i. It was a great temptation for Hezekiah during this time to make a defensive alliance with Egypt, which seemed to be the only nation strong enough to protect Judah against the mighty Assyrians. As a prophet, Isaiah did everything he could to discourage Hezekiah and the leaders of Judah from putting their trust in Egypt (Isaiah 19:11-17, 20:1-6, 30:1-7). The LORD wanted Judah to trust Him instead of Egypt.

ii. In this sense, the Rabshakeh spoke the truth. God wanted Judah to have no confidence in Egypt at all. But the Rabshakeh did not do it to bring Judah to a firm trust in theLORD God, who can and will deliver them from the Assyrians. He did it to completely demoralize Judah and drive them to despair.

iii. Satan often attacks us the same way. Often, even when he tells the truth (“You are such a rotten sinner!”), he never does it to lead us to a firm trust in the LORD our God (“Jesus died for sinners, so if I am a rotten sinner, Jesus died to forgive and free me!”). Instead, Satan’s strategy - even if he tells us the truth - is always to demoralize us and drive us to despair.

iv. From the perspective of the unbeliever, Sennacherib asked a valid question: And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? “Our life must to a large extent be a mystery, our peace pass understanding, and our motives be hidden. The sources of our supply, the ground of our confidence, the reasons for our actions, must evade the most searching scrutiny of those who stand outside the charmed circle of the face of God. . . . We must be prepared to be criticized, because our behavior is determined by facts which the princes of this world know not.” (Meyer)

Blessings
Kathleen.