February 25, 2016
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

What has the Lord Said?

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Father, Your name is above all other names. You deserve my worship and praise.

Read 2 KINGS 18:17-37

[17] The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander, his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They came up to Jerusalem and stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman’s Field. [18] They called for the king; and Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to them. [19] The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah: “‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? [20] You say you have the counsel and the might for war-but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? [21] Look, I know you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. [22] But if you say to me, “We are depending on the LORD our God”-isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem”? [23] “‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses-if you can put riders on them! [24] How can you repulse one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? [25] Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this place without word from the LORD? The LORD himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.'” [26] Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.” [27] But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall-who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?” [28] Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! [29] This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you from my hand. [30] Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ [31] “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern, [32] until I come and take you to a land like your own-a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life and not death! “Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’ [33] Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? [34] Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? [35] Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” [36] But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.” [37] Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn, and told him what the field commander had said.

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

“Work as if there is no such thing as prayer; pray as if there is no such thing as work” (author unknown). It’s hard to keep these two things in balance.

Recently I was nearly taken in by what purported to be a call from my bank; alarm bells only rang when they asked for my account details. The Assyrian officials are similarly very clever in the psychological warfare they wage against Hezekiah’s people. They seek to turn them against their king through fear of siege and famine, offering instead peace and prosperity elsewhere (27,31-32). They even suggest that Hezekiah’s destruction of the high places has taken away access to their God (22)!

Was making preparations to ward off the invader wrong? God’s nation has fought battles and defended its territory in the past, and Jerusalem, on the hill, surrounded by strong walls, is defendable. Though Hezekiah has had initial military success against the Philistines, as he now weighs up how to respond to the Assyrian threat, he has the witness of the prophet. Isaiah’s advice (Isa. 31:1-3) is to rely not on Egypt or any compromise with the enemy but to rely solely on God. He even condemns the seemingly sensible action of strengthening the walls because of the houses destroyed in the process (Isa. 22:10). It is ironic that the Assyrian officials are demanding Judah’s surrender on the very spot where the previous Judean king Ahaz was challenged by Isaiah to trust in the Lord rather than in an alliance with Assyria against other invaders (2 Kings 16:5-9; Isa. 7:1-17).

Relying on God does not conflict with taking adequate precautions against evil, even fighting in self-defense, as Christians have sometimes chosen to do, but the challenges for most of us are probably more mundane–trusting God with the aging process, for example. That trust does not mean ignoring advice on health, mobility and family history–but living by faith, in any age and circumstance, calls for us to be open to hear from God and from those whom he uses as his prophets.

Apply

Who are you listening to? How can filter out the voices that attempt to crowd out God’s voice?

Closing prayer

Lord, I want to have hearing ears that listen to and hear Your voice.

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