2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES
Wednesday in the Word
Second Baptist Church
May 3, 2023
2nd Chronicles 32
Verse 1. Today we will see the first of two tests for King Hezekiah. One test will be a big test, and another will be a small test. Hezekiah will do well with the big test, but fail miserably with the small test. This moment in the life of King Hezekiah is also recorded in more detail in the book of 2nd Kings and Isaiah. From our previous lessons, we know that Hezekiah took over after his father’s horrible reign as king and led the people back to God. As soon as Hezekiah became king, he reestablished the work of the temple and the priesthood. After the temple and the priesthood were established, Hezekiah called for the people to reestablish the regular worship of the Lord. The people responded amicably to that request and even extended the celebration of Passover an additional 7 days. After the celebration the people went back to their towns and destroyed the pagan altars on their way home. This was a wonderful time of national revival in the land. We know from 2nd Kings 18 that the southern kingdom enjoyed peace for about 14 years, and then the enemy shows up. From our study in 2nd Kings, we know that the northern kingdom of Israel had turned away from God and was under judgment during this time. God used the Assyrians (King Shalmaneser) to judge the Israelites living in the north. This happened in Hezekiah’s 6th year. The hand of protection that was normally on the people of God was lifted due to their disobedience. Assyria had already conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and had taken the people captive. 2nd Kings 18:12 says, “This happened because they did not listen to the voice of the LORD their God but violated His covenant——all that Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded—and would neither listen nor obey.” In our text we see that Assyria has a new king. Sennacherib was the king of Assyria who reigned from about 720 BC to 683 BC. He shows up in Hezekiah’s 14th year, 8 years after the capture of the northern kingdoms, with the intent on doing the same thing his predecessor did to the north. King Sennacherib’s men first attacked forty-six of Judah’s fortified cities and captured them (Isaiah 36:1).
Verses 2-5. Before Sennacherib reached the city of Jerusalem, Hezekiah sent gold and silver as a peace offering to Assyria, hoping to appease the power-hungry Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:13-16). Hezekiah decided to go on the defensive. We can look for God to do the miraculous and we can do the things we know how to do. Hezekiah told the people to do several things to defend against the invading army. First, they stopped the flow of water from the streams and springs that led outside the city. This was to prevent the enemy from having water to sustain themselves. This was a great idea because it limited how close the enemy could set up camp near the city. They cut off the supply that the enemy needed. Secondly, they repaired the walls and restored the watchtowers on the walls. The walls were designed to slow the enemy down, and the watchtowers were designed to see the enemy from afar and allow the community to prepare before they arrived. Hezekiah not only fixed the walls, but they built walls around the first wall. They made weapons and shields for the chance that the enemy may breach the walls. These are all important spiritual principles as well. We all need walls in our lives that slow the enemy down from getting into our lives. We also need to be on the lookout for how the enemy attacks and see them coming way before they get too close. We need to be able to see temptation coming from a distance and avoid it before it gets too close to resist. We also want to remove the things that allow the enemy to camp out too close to our perimeter. Hezekiah gives us a blueprint on how believers can resist the enemy. These are the practical things we all can do. We still need God’s power, but there are things we can do to gird up our defenses.
Verses 6-8. King Hezekiah also appointed men to be military officers over the people and he encouraged them to trust God and be courageous. The people understood that they were severely outnumbered by the vast army of the Assyrians. There was plenty to be afraid of, but Hezekiah had put his faith in God. Hezekiah tells the people that the Assyrians have the arm of the flesh, but they had the aim of God. For the last 14 years, Hezekiah had the community follow the law just as the Lord had commanded, and with that was the promise that God would protect them.
Verses 9-19. As Sennacherib troops get closer, Sennacherib sends a letter to the king of Judah and his people. He basically tells them to surrender because their god will not save them. Sennacherib alludes that they lost their protection of the gods because the destroyed all the pagan idols and the one god they have left is not enough. They malign the God of Israel as weak and powerless to protect them, and they say it in Hebrew. Hezekiah sent messengers to Isaiah the prophet to learn what God said on the matter. Because Sennacherib had blasphemed the Lord in his threats against Jerusalem, Isaiah told the king’s messengers, “Tell your master that this is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid of the words you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword (2 Kings 19:5-7).’” The Lord sent word to Hezekiah that Sennacherib would not step foot inside the city of Jerusalem (Isaiah 37:33), so Hezekiah stood firm and refused to give in to the Assyrian king’s boastful threats (2 Kings 18:28-35; 2 Chronicles 32:17).
Verses 20-22. King Hezekiah took the boastful letter he received from Sennacherib to the temple where he spread it out before the Lord. Then he prayed, (2 Kings 19: 15-19). Hezekiah acknowledged that Assyria was powerful, but he knew that God was more powerful. The prophet Isaiah sent word to Hezekiah that, because of Sennacherib’s blasphemous taunts about the God of Israel, the Lord Himself would fight for them and destroy Sennacherib and his armies. Sennacherib was not just defying Israel; he was defying the Living God. That night, the angel of the Lord slew 185,000 in the Assyrian camp. When Sennacherib saw the carnage, he abandoned his conquest of Jerusalem and fled to Nineveh. He never stepped foot inside Jerusalem, just as Isaiah had said. Sennacherib was later killed by his own sons in the temple of his god. After this great victory, people from all over and from other nations brought tribute to Hezekiah for defeating the great king of Assyria.
click here to select another lesson