We can stay true to the Lord when our faith is challenged.
READ Introduction
-What challenges or fears do you have?
-How might those challenges or fears test your faith in the Lord?
2 Kings 17–20 records the challenges and fears of Hezekiah, the king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
-Was Hezekiah a good king?
-What had he done that was good?
READ Who was Sennacherib…in Additional Resources
-Why was the Assyrian King upset? What did he do?
-Where did the 3 representatives of each side meet?
-What was unique about the Fuller’s field?
IMAGINE YOU WERE THERE ON THE WALL
-What was the request during the negotiations by the Israelites?
-What did the Assyrians want the Israelites to do?-
How do you think you would feel if you were on the wall?
-When Hezekiah’s representatives met Isaiah what did he say?
READ 2 Kings 19:6-7
Hezekiah does not surrender but receives a threatening letter.
READ 2 Kings 19:19-20 Hezekiah’s prayer and Isaiah’s answer.
READ .Hezekiah Prayed for Deliverance…in Add’l Res
-What happens to the Assyrians? And the King? (Vss 35,37)
-What are we to learn from Hezekiah’s actions when his faith is threatened?
-How does the Lord help us overcome challenges to our faith?
Introduction: Hezekiah, king of Judah, reigned in righteousness and removed idolatry from his kingdom. During his reign, Assyria carried the Northern Kingdom of Israel into captivity and later invaded the southern kingdom of Judah. Under threat of attack, Hezekiah sent servants to the prophet Isaiah to ask him to pray for the people.
2 Kings 19:6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
2 Kings 19:19 Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even though only.
20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
29-OT SS Lesson July 11-17 2022, 2 Kings 17-25 “He Trusted in the Lord God of Israel”
2 Kings 20:5–6. Is There a Time Appointed to Die?
President Spencer W. Kimball explained: “Just as Ecclesiastes (3:2) says, I am confident that there is a time to die, but I believe also that many people die before ‘their time’ because they are careless, abuse their bodies, take unnecessary chances, or expose themselves to hazards, accidents, and sickness.
“Of the antediluvians, we read:
“‘Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
“‘Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was over flown with a flood.’ (Job 22:15–16.)
In Ecclesiastes 7:17 we find this statement:
“‘Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?’
“I believe we may die prematurely but seldom exceed our time very much. One exception was Hezekiah, 25-year-old king of Judah who was far more godly than his successors or predecessors.
READ 2 KIngs 20:1-7 How Hezekiah reacts to being told he was going to die.
What sign did Hezekiah request?
READ vs 10-11
-Would you consider this a miracle? Would Hezekiah?
-What do we learn in this passage about death?
2 Kings 20:1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying,
3 I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
4 And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord.
6 And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.
7 And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
10 And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.
11 And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.
The scriptures can turn our hearts to the Lord.
Introduction: Under the reign of kings Manasseh and Amon, the kingdom of Judah engaged in wicked practices of idolatry. When Josiah became the king, he used the book of the law to call the people to repentance. After Josiah was killed in battle, the next four kings led Judah back to wickedness. Under the reign of King Zedekiah, Jerusalem was destroyed and the people taken into bondage in Babylon.
READ 2 Kings 22:1-2 How old was Josiah when he became king? How many years did he reign.
-He followed unrighteous kings. Was he righteous?
Summary 2 Kings 22:3–7 Josiah arranged payment for workers to repair the house of the Lord in Jerusalem.
-While repairing the temple what did they find?
READ 2 Kings 22:8
-What is the Book of the Laws?
VIEW VIDEO Josiah and the Book of the Law About 12 ½ min.
These scriptures had been lost or hidden during the reign of the wicked kings before Josiah.
-What does the King do after the book has been read to him?
READ 2 Kings 22:13
-Josiah sends men to enquire of the prophetess, Huldah
-What is the message of the Lord to Josiah?
READ 2 Kings 22:19-20
Josiah had the book read to all the people. Afterwards the scripture records that all of the people stood to the covenant.
-What do you think that means?
2 Kings 22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.
2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
2 Kings 22:8 And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
2 Kings 22:13 Go ye, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.
2 Kings 22:19 Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord.
20 Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.
SUMMARY: Chapter 23-Josiah roots our evil in his kingdom and rids the land of all elements and symbols of evil.
The Lord commands Josiah to observe the Passover
READ 2 Kings 33: 21-22
READ 2 Kings 33:25--There was no king like him.
-What do we learn from Josiah’s example?
If we turn to the scriptures, then our actions can lead us and others to turn to the Lord.
Nevertheless the anger of the Lord is still kindled against Judah.
READ 2 Kings 33:26-27
Josiah dies in battle and is buried in Jerusalem.
The following two videos are a tongue in cheek view of reporterage in the years after Josiah’s death. These are church videos showing how the story of the end of Judah in Jerusalem might have been reported today. They are 5 & 6 min, in length.
Eyewitness News at Six (600 BC)
2 Kings 33:21 And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.
22 Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;
2 Kings 33:25 And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.
2 Kings 33:26 Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.
27 And the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.
My Thoughts: Hezekiah was a good king and did much to eliminate idolatry in Judah and restore faith in God. When it was time for him to die he counseled the Lord, saying that it was too early for him to die, he had much to do yet, and he would be missed. The Lord heard him and gave him 15 more years to live. At first this was good, but Hezekiah forgot to listen to the Lord and His prophet Isaiah. Hezekiah boasted of the strength and wealth of Judah, to the Babylonians (which Isaiah had told him not to do), consequently the Babylonians wanted what Judah had. Although the scriptures tell that Hezekiah repented of his actions, Isaiah prophesied that all the armaments and treasures would be taken by the Babylonians.
During Hezekiah’s extra 15 years, his wife bore a son, Manasseh, the heir to the throne. Manasseh began to reign at age 12 and ruled for 55 horrible years. He had the prophet Isaiah murdered and reversed all of the religious reforms of his father. He erected altars to Baal, installed idols in the temple, and burned his sons to death on these altars. He appealed to wizards for spiritual direction and hid the scriptures. His evil influence was a principal cause of the eventual destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.
We do not know what would have happened to Judah had Hezekiah died as prophesied by Isaiah. But Bishop John H. Vandenberg (1904–92) has said: “There have been some noblemen who unwittingly sought to counsel the Lord. One such man was Hezekiah. … As one reviews [his life], one wonders, would it not have been better for Hezekiah to have submissively accepted the Lord’s first decree, ‘… Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die.’” “Follow Counsel,” Improvement Era, Dec. 1964
We have talked about the dangers of attempting “to steady the Ark,” in reference to our thinking that the Lord needed us to correct the errors or problems that we sensed, not acknowledging that the all knowing and all powerful God should be followed. Hezekiah counseled the Lord, not accepting the Lord telling him to set his house in order. Hezekiah, his family and, ultimately, Judah paid a price for his counselling of the Lord.
Josiah became king, the scriptures were found while cleaning the temple. They were read to Josiah, and then to the people. Josiah did much to restore righteousness. The scriptures tell us that he turned not to the right or left but followed God. Also that there was not a king like him, nor after him, as righteous. Nevertheless, Judah had provoked the Lord and Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled.
We study the scriptures so that we might know how to act. They lead us to Jesus Christ. That is the path we covenanted to follow at our baptism, it is the path of safety for us to move along as we conduct our lives.
I am grateful for my faith. I believe that my studies have made it stronger. I hope that you have found this as well. Each of us must develop our own faith and testimony in order to survive the challenges that we will face.
I hope you have a good week. Please read slide #7 for an assignment for next week. In the meantime, stay healthy.
Greg
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Who was Sennacherib, King of the Assyrians?
The account in 2 Kings 18:13–19:37 is very similar to the account in Isaiah 36–37. Sennacherib was the son of Sargon II and had numerous conquests to his credit. Clay tablets recording his various campaigns have been preserved and deciphered. The portion of one tablet that relates to the partial conquest of Judah reads as follows: “As for Hezekiah the Jew, who did not submit to my yoke, forty-six of his strong, walled cities, as well as the small cities in their neighborhood, which were without number—by constructing a rampart out of trampled earth and by bringing up battering-rams, by the attack of infantry, by tunnels, breaches, and [the use of] axes, I besieged and took [those cities]. Two hundred thousand, one hundred and fifty people, great and small, male and female, horses, mules, asses, camels, cattle, and sheep without number, I brought away from them and counted as spoil. Himself like a caged bird I shut in Jerusalem his royal city. Earthworks I threw up against him; the one coming out of the city gate I turned back to his misery.” (In Madeleine S. Miller and J. Lane Miller, Harper’s Bible Dictionary, s.v. “Sennacherib.”)
Sennacherib’s account squares very well with the accounts given in 2 Kings 18:13–19:37 and Isaiah 36–37. Institute Manual, The Fall of the Northern Kingdom, 12-21
.Hezekiah Prayed for Deliverance, and Isaiah Brought the Lord’s Answer
In these verses and the parallel account in Isaiah 37 is found one of the most remarkable stories in scriptural history. The Assyrian army, with all its might and power, encircled Jerusalem. The Northern Kingdom had already fallen; all of Judah except Jerusalem itself was in Assyrian hands. There was no cause to hope that they could successfully resist. No cause but one.
Hezekiah had been a righteous king (see 2 Kings 18:4–6), and now he trusted in God again. In deep and pleading prayer, he asked Him for the solution. The Lord answered through His servant Isaiah, although the answer must have tested the faith of Hezekiah. While Assyrian campfires could be seen on all sides, Isaiah promised that not even an arrow would be shot against Jerusalem, for the Lord Himself would defend the city (see 2 Kings 19:32–34).
That very night Isaiah’s promise was fulfilled. Some mysterious plague struck the Assyrian camp, and in the morning 185,000 Assyrians lay dead. Assyria’s remnant left the scene like a dog with its tail tucked between its legs. (see vv. 35–36.) Judah could say, as did Elisha, “They that be with us are more than they that be with them” (2 Kings 6:16). Institute Manual, The Fall of the Northern Kingdom, 12-28
A Request for Volunteers for next week’s In-person Lesson!
I need 3 volunteers to speak for King Sennacharib and 3 volunteers to speak for King Hezekiah.
The talking points can be found in 2 Kings 18 and are also listed in the right hand column.
The representatives of the kings should speak forcefully (as required)
TEAM A READ Chapter 18 for background
Members with last names starting with M thru Z 3 volunteers to Represent the KIng of Assyria: Sennacharib (Proud, commanding, intimidating, confident of winning)
Instruction: present the following talking points and others
TEAM B Read Chapter 18 for background
Members with last names starting at A thru L
3 volunteers to represent King Hezekiah) (not very confident, a little intimidated, unable to accept or agree with demands, don’t want the people on the walls to hear the Assyrian demands}
Instructions: Respond to the above, add whatever else you read