We love this picture of King Hezekiah going to the temple with child-like confidence and unrolling the threatening letter he had received from Sennacherib the king of Assyria before his heavenly Father. It is exactly what each of us needs to do with every threatening thing that comes into our lives. Sennacherib signed the letter, but it was really from Satan. The people of God had decided to trust God completely, and Satan was attacking that commitment.<\/p>\n
While this story is preserving history, it is mainly recorded here to give us spiritual insight into one of the devil’s oldest tricks: trying to make us question whether or not we can fully trust the Lord. That is how Satan tempted Eve in the garden when he said to her, \u201cDid God really say, \u2018You must not eat from any tree in the garden\u2019?\u201d (Gen. 3:1, NIV). And that is what Rabshakeh, the Assyrian king’s ambassador, was doing when he taunted King Hezekiah and all the people of Judah, saying, “God told me to come against you to destroy you. He’s not going to get you out of this mess” (2 Kings 18).<\/p>\n
When we find ourselves in really deep trouble, we should not be surprised when Satan says the same thing to us: “God is not going to rescue you. Your faith is too weak and you are dead.” And he adds a twist that undermines the very character of God, “God is actually the one behind all your troubles because you are such a poor example of a believer.” That’s exactly what the enemy’s messenger was saying when he said, “God told me to go up against you.”<\/p>\n
Satan’s lies to you today are his attack to get you to believe that God has given up on you, and that all your problems are the result of God’s punishment for your past sins. Sound familiar? It does to me. I’ve heard it a thousand times, but it still carries a sting because the fact is I am<\/em> a poor example of a believer. We all are. So what should we do? The same thing Hezekiah did, remember that Satan is a liar and go back to the source of all help, God Almighty. In times of trouble, we must call on the name of Jesus. He never gives up on us and He will always bring help.<\/p>\n “LORD, save us we pray. You alone have given us life through the blood of Your Son, Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2 Kings 19 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the\u00a0LORD.\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0And he sent Eliakim, which\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and\u00a0there is\u00a0<\/em>not strength to bring forth.\u00a0\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0It may be the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God will hear all the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the\u00a0LORDthy God hath heard: wherefore lift up\u00a0thy\u00a0<\/em>prayer for the remnant that are left.\u00a0\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6<\/sup>\u00a0And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the\u00a0LORD, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0Behold, 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. 8<\/sup>\u00a0So Rab-shakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,\u00a010<\/sup>Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed;\u00a0as\u00a0<\/em>Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>in Thelasar?\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0Where\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah? 14<\/sup>\u00a0And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the\u00a0LORD, and spread it before the\u00a0LORD.\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0And Hezekiah prayed before the\u00a0LORD, and said, O\u00a0LORD\u00a0God of Israel, which dwellest\u00a0between\u00a0<\/em>the cherubims, thou art the God,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.\u00a016<\/sup>\u00a0LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open,\u00a0LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0Of a truth,\u00a0LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0And have cast their gods into the fire: for they\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>no gods, but the work of men\u2019s hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.\u00a0\u00a019<\/sup>\u00a0Now therefore, O\u00a0LORD\u00a0our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou\u00a0art\u00a0<\/em>the\u00a0LORDGod,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>thou only. 20<\/sup>\u00a0Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the\u00a0LORD\u00a0God of Israel,\u00a0That\u00a0<\/em>which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.\u00a021<\/sup>\u00a0This\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>the word that the\u00a0LORD\u00a0hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee,\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.\u00a022<\/sup>\u00a0Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted\u00a0thy\u00a0<\/em>voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high?\u00a0even<\/em>against the Holy\u00a0One\u00a0<\/em>of Israel.\u00a023<\/sup>\u00a0By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof,\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders,\u00a0and into\u00a0<\/em>the forest of his Carmel.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a024<\/sup>\u00a0I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.\u00a0\u00a025<\/sup>\u00a0Hast thou not heard long ago\u00a0how\u00a0<\/em>I have done it,\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities\u00a0into\u00a0<\/em>ruinous heaps.\u00a0\u00a026<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were\u00a0as\u00a0<\/em>the grass of the field, and\u00a0as<\/em>the green herb,\u00a0as\u00a0<\/em>the grass on the housetops, and\u00a0as corn<\/em>blasted before it be grown up.\u00a0\u00a027<\/sup>\u00a0But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.\u00a0\u00a028<\/sup>\u00a0Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.\u00a029<\/sup>\u00a0And this\u00a0shall be\u00a0<\/em>a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.\u00a030<\/sup>\u00a0And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.\u00a0\u00a031<\/sup>\u00a0For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0of hosts\u00a0<\/em>shall do this.\u00a032<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore thus saith the\u00a0LORD\u00a0concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.\u00a033<\/sup>\u00a0By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the\u00a0LORD.\u00a034<\/sup>\u00a0For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David\u2019s sake. 35<\/sup>\u00a0And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>all dead corpses.\u00a036<\/sup> So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.\u00a037<\/sup> And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We love this picture of King Hezekiah going to the temple with child-like confidence and unrolling the threatening letter he had received from Sennacherib the king of Assyria before his heavenly Father. It is exactly what each of us needs to do with every threatening thing that comes into our lives. Sennacherib signed the letter, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6901"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6901"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16294,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6901\/revisions\/16294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}