Every walk of faith will be challenged. Today we see this to be the case with Hezekiah as he is confronted by the Assyrians. We also see the contrast between him and the reign of his wicked son Manasseh. Be blessed folks.
2 Chronicles 32: Sennacherib Invades Judah
1 After these things and these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them for himself.
2 And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and intended to fight against Jerusalem,
3 he planned with his officers and his mighty men to stop the water of the springs that were outside the city; and they helped him.
4 A great many people were gathered, and they stopped all the springs and the brook that flowed through the land, saying, "Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?"
5 He set to work resolutely and built up all the wall that was broken down and raised towers upon it, and outside it he built another wall, and he strengthened the Millo in the city of David. He also made weapons and shields in abundance.
6 And he set combat commanders over the people and gathered them together to him in the square at the gate of the city and spoke encouragingly to them, saying,
7 "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him.
8 With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles." And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
Sennacherib Blasphemes
9 After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria, who was besieging Lachish with all his forces, sent his servants to Jerusalem to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying,
10 "Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, 'On what are you trusting, that you endure the siege in Jerusalem?
11 Is not Hezekiah misleading you, that he may give you over to die by famine and by thirst, when he tells you, "The LORD our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria"?
12 Has not this same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, "Before one altar you shall worship, and on it you shall burn your sacrifices"?
13 Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands at all able to deliver their lands out of my hand?
14 Who among all the gods of those nations that my fathers devoted to destruction was able to deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand?
15 Now, therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you in this fashion, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you out of my hand!'"
16 And his servants said still more against the LORD God and against his servant Hezekiah.
17 And he wrote letters to cast contempt on the LORD, the God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, "Like the gods of the nations of the lands who have not delivered their people from my hands, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver his people from my hand."
18 And they shouted it with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, in order that they might take the city.
19 And they spoke of the God of Jerusalem as they spoke of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men's hands.
The LORD Delivers Jerusalem
20 Then Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed because of this and cried to heaven.
21 And the LORD sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty warriors and commanders and officers in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he came into the house of his god, some of his own sons struck him down there with the sword.
22 So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all his enemies, and he provided for them on every side.
23 And many brought gifts to the LORD to Jerusalem and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations from that time onward.
Hezekiah's Pride and Achievements
24 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death, and he prayed to the LORD, and he answered him and gave him a sign.
25 But Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud. Therefore wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem.
26 But Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
27 And Hezekiah had very great riches and honour, and he made for himself treasuries for silver, for gold, for precious stones, for spices, for shields, and for all kinds of costly vessels;
28 storehouses also for the yield of grain, wine, and oil; and stalls for all kinds of cattle, and sheepfolds.
29 He likewise provided cities for himself, and flocks and herds in abundance, for God had given him very great possessions.
30 This same Hezekiah closed the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.
31 And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon, who had been sent to him to inquire about the sign that had been done in the land, God left him to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart.
32 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
33 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the upper part of the tombs of the sons of David, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his place.
2 Chronicles 33: Manasseh Reigns in Judah
1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.
2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.
3 For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had broken down, and he erected altars to the Baals, and made Asherahs, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.
4 And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem shall my name be forever."
5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.
6 And he burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.
7 And the carved image of the idol that he had made he set in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever,
8 and I will no more remove the foot of Israel from the land that I appointed for your fathers, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statutes, and the rules given through Moses."
9 Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.
Manasseh's Repentance
10 The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention.
11 Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon.
12 And when he was in distress, he entreated the favour of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.
13 He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.
14 Afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David west of Gihon, in the valley, and for the entrance into the Fish Gate, and carried it around Ophel, and raised it to a very great height. He also put commanders of the army in all the fortified cities in Judah.
15 And he took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside of the city.
16 He also restored the altar of the LORD and offered on it sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving, and he commanded Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel.
17 Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the LORD their God.
18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, behold, they are in the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
19 And his prayer, and how God was moved by his entreaty, and all his sin and his faithlessness, and the sites on which he built high places and set up the Asherim and the images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the Chronicles of the Seers.
20 So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his house, and Amon his son reigned in his place.
Amon's Reign and Death
21 Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem.
22 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manasseh his father had done. Amon sacrificed to all the images that Manasseh his father had made, and served them.
23 And he did not humble himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself, but this Amon incurred guilt more and more.
24 And his servants conspired against him and put him to death in his house.
25 But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon. And the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.
Things to think about…
1. Every spiritual truth in the Lord will be challenged. Now that Hezekiah had all the reforms laid out – Sennacherib the Assyrian has to be dealt with, 2Chr 32:1-7. Every city has fallen to his army. What challenges to your spiritual life are assaulting you at the moment? Just because we have honoured the Lord doesn’t mean significant challenges won’t come our way.
2. It’s amazing how the ignorance of true faith is shown by those who are outside of the faith. Sennacherib says that Hezekiah has taken down the high places, 2Chr 32:12 and that the Lord would be displeased by this. Quite the opposite actually. Worship of YHWH was meant to happen only in Jerusalem, not at the high places. What ignorance about Christianity surrounds us in our day? Can you think of any examples? We are called to dispel this ignorance?
3. Hezekiah prays and the Lord mightily delivers him, 2Chr 32:20-23, we know from 2Kings that there were 185 000 dead Assyrians in the morning. The spoils would have been incredible. But sadly, after such a mighty blessing, pride fills Hezekiah’s heart, 2Chr 32:24-33 and he shows the Babylonians everything in his possession. All of which would eventually be taken to Babylon. What spiritual issues do we have, that we are passing onto our children because we are not honouring Christ in certain areas of our lives?
4. All the good work that Hezekiah had done was quickly destroyed by his wicked son Manasseh, 2Chr 33:1-9. This evil son reigned for 55 years. Is there any way we can stop wickedness from being passed down to our children? They have sin of course, but was there anything Hezekiah could have done to prevent his son Manasseh from such an evil reign? This is the wrestle we have between God’s sovereignty and our responsibility.
5. Manasseh did actually repent later in life, 2Chr 33:10-20 and reversed a lot of his idol worship practises by destroying the shrines etc. But the spiritual damage had been done. The country was apostate and judgement by the hand of Babylon was coming upon Jerusalem. I have seen this type of example where a father has turned to Christ in his later years, but his grown sons are not followers of Christ because their father’s witness was anti-Christ while they grew up. Pray that the Lord overrules in examples you know about.
Vision Point for cell groups
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Title was “Is there another way in” from Galatians 1
1. Paul says there is only one gospel. Have you ever lied about your age or got entry into a club or society by not being honest, either falsifying a stamp or used the facilities without paying?
2. Paul gets quite passionate about his arguments for maintaining what the gospel is. What was Paul’s background. Why does he get so passionate?
3. Confronted Peter in Antioch. What was the significance and background to this event? How is this compounded by the vision given to Peter by the Holy Spirit in Acts 10:9-16.
4. Pray for our new government, that the gospel and churches are made stronger. Pray for Ukraine and other issues within the group.
Prayer Points
1. Mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Elementary school 21 dead. 18 students, 3 adults. More deaths may follow. No words for this horror.
2. Our new Albanese government. That the Lord would be merciful. We need it with the spiritual change that has been happening in Australia.
3. Peace to rest over Ukraine.
4. Continue to pray for the flood clean-up as well as the money donated to help.
5. Folk sick with Covid – relief and healing.
6. Pray for other building projects – café roof, the repair of the house roof.
7. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
Praise Points
1. The we have the freedom of a democracy in Australia
2. Worship on Sunday – thankyou team.
3. Our business meetings our enjoyable. Thankyou CBC.
4. All those who faithfully serve in ministries, Worship, Sound/Technical/Kids Church/ Cell Groups/Admin - Bulletins/Finances/Property/Welcoming/Spiritual Leadership/Cafe
5. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. Andrew Otte preaching this Sunday – don’t miss it.
2. Remember to check your duty rosters.
3. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
4. Tune in again this week on our youtube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism question for May...
Q. 3. Will Christ come again? A. Yes; at the last day Christ will come to judge the world.
