Lesson 7 – God Saves A City
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We are
continuing the wider historical story and 2 Kings.
The
story for this session concerns King Hezekiah of the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
Locate Hezekiah on the time line.
What are the significant historical events that form the context of Hezekiah's rule?
You
may read the larger picture scripture 2 Kings 18:9-20:21 & Isaiah 36-39, but then focus on
Isaiah 36:1-7.
•
Compare and contrast Isaiah 36:1-7 with 2 Kings 18:13-18.
What differences do you notice?
Read or review the second and third paragraphs of the "Bible Background."
How does the author's explanation of the differences in the Bible passages
help your interpretation of the events?
•
The Assyrian commander refers to Hezekiah's worship reform in Isaiah 36:7.
Compare and contrast his interpretation of that reform with the narrator's
perspective in 2 Kings 18:1-5.
In each passage, notice whose altars Hezekiah removed.
What are the differences in the interpretation and what do you think
accounts for those differences?
Continuing to read and interpret the
story
Read Isaiah 37:1-21,30-37. Reflect upon the story
with any or all of the following questions:
•
Sackcloth was often worn as a sign of personal loss (Genesis 37:34),
national calamity (Joel 1:8-13),
and repentance or humbling of oneself (1 Kings 21:27).
What is the significance of sackcloth for Hezekiah in 2 Kings 19:1-2 and
Isaiah 37:1-2?
• Isaiah speaks to Hezekiah in Isaiah 37:5-7, 30-35. Why does Isaiah say to
Hezekiah, "Do not be afraid?"
What are the messages of hope Isaiah gives to the king?
In
Isaiah 36:1-2, King Sennacherib of Assyria captures all the cities of
What is the significance of the King of Assyria leaving
What does his leaving mean for
In 37:11-13, the King of Assyria sends a message to
'What does the message say about the role of help from gods
?
What does Hezekiah see to be the difference between the lord and the gods of
other nations who fought the Assyrians (37:18-20)?
The reference to the remnant (37:30-32) occurred earlier in Isaiah's
writings. (See 1:9; 4:3; and 10:20-23.)
What is Isaiah saying to Hezekiah?
Notice the two temple scenes in 37:14—20 and 37:38.
How are they different?
What do these scenes say about the power of the lord and the power of the Assyrian
god?
Wrestling with the issues
This session's story includes several theological
issues. Rate the degree you find the following issues problematic as
theological beliefs (i.e., 1 = very problematic; 2 and 3 moderately problematic;
4 = not problematic).
__ God takes sides in a war.
__ If
you pray to God, God will protect you against your enemies.
__ God allows some cities
and their people to die (like
__ God works through small
remnants.
Invite groups of two or
three people to discuss their responses.
How do you see these issues
present in contemporary national and international life?
Read the last paragraph of the "Bible Background."
What do you find helpful in this paragraph as you interpret this story?
What do you find problematic?
Finding hope for our lives
At points in each of our
lives we face "Assyrian armies," i.e., forces threatening to overcome
us.
List the forces that you have faced or are facing
against
which you feel powerless.
“I waited patiently
for the LORD: he inclined to me and heard my cry.”
Bible
Background (taken from Journey
through the Bible Book 2, Christian Board of Publications, 1995, p. 27)
'King Hezekiah of Judah was one of the reforming kings of Israel,
one who seems to have joined with the teaching Levites in the revision of the sacred
traditions and public life. As the North Israelite citizens found refuge in
2The traditions telling of Hezekiah's life and deeds are complex
ones. We have two accounts of the events, one in chapters 36—39 of the book of
Isaiah and the other in 2 Kings 18—20. A shorter account is found in 2
Chronicles 31—32. The accounts are very close to one another, although each has
some material not found in the other.
3Historians of
4The biblical account of this event is powerful. We hear of the
siege of the southern Judean city of
5Hezekiah too is fearful for the city and its people. He sends his
servants to bring the prophet Isaiah, but the prophet Isaiah only gives them a
message. They are to tell Hezekiah that God will spare the city; it will not
fall to the Assyrians. God will put a spirit in the king of
6And later on, we do get the story of the catastrophe that struck
the Assyrian army outside the city of
7The prophet Isaiah has only a minor part in this story, but he
may have been the one chiefly responsible for developing the notion that Zion, the
holy city of God, would continue to find protection from God, even though it
might well be severely punished for its sins. Isaiah had done much to affirm
and refashion the "messianic" hopes connected with King David and
his descendants. Isaiah believed in the promise of God to David, but he knew
that descendants of David were required to rule righteously, were to be
instruments of peace with justice, and were to assist the holy city of
8How are we to understand a story such as this, which seems to say
that if a city or a country is faithful and just, it will be able to escape
political or military threat? Is Isaiah's advice to Hezekiah, like his advice
to Ahaz, really very valuable to political leaders? We should remember that
Isaiah did not advise the kings of
2 Kings
CHAPTER
18
1 In the third year of King Hoshea son of Elah of Israel, Hezekiah
son of King Ahaz of
2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign;
he reigned twenty-nine years in
3 He did what was right in the sight of the LORD just
as his ancestor David had done.
4 He removed the high places, broke down the pillars,
and cut down the sacred pole. He broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses
had made, for until those days the people of
5 He trusted in the LORD the God of
6 For he held fast to the LORD; he did not depart from
following him but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses.
7 The LORD was with him; wherever he went, he
prospered. He rebelled against the king of
8 He attacked the Philistines as far as
9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the
seventh year of King Hoshea son of Elah of Israel, King Shalmaneser
of Assyria came up against Samaria, besieged it,
10 and at the end of three years, took it. In the
sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of King Hoshea
of
11 The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to
Assyria, settled them in Halah, on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in
the cities of the Medes,
12 because they did not obey the voice of the LORD
their God but transgressed his covenant--all that Moses the servant of the LORD
had commanded; they neither listened nor obeyed.
13 In the fourteenth year of
King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria came up against all the fortified
cities of
14 King Hezekiah of
15 Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in
the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king's house.
16 At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the
doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the doorposts that King Hezekiah of
17 The king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rab-saris, and the Rabshakeh with
a great army from
18 When they called for the king, there came out to
them Eliakim son of Hilkiah,
who was in charge of the palace, and Shebnah the
secretary, and Joah son of Asaph,
the recorder.
19 The Rabshakeh said to
them, "Say to Hezekiah: Thus says the great king, the king of
20 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power
for war? On whom do you now rely, that you have rebelled against me?
21 See, you are relying now
on
22 But if you say to me, 'We
rely on the LORD our God,' is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah
has removed, saying to
23 Come now, make a wager with my master the king of
24 How then can you repulse a single captain among the
least of my master's servants, when you rely on
25 Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come
up against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this
land, and destroy it."
26 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh,
"Please speak to your servants in the Aramaic language, for we understand
it; do not speak to us in the language of
27 But the Rabshakeh said to
them, "Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to
you, and not to the people sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat
their own dung and to drink their own urine?"
28 Then the Rabshakeh stood
and called out in a loud voice in the language of
29 Thus says the king: 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive
you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand.
30 Do not let Hezekiah make you rely on the LORD by
saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into
the hand of the king of Assyria.'
31 Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king
of Assyria: 'Make your peace with me and come out to me; then every one of you
will eat from your own vine and your own fig tree, and drink water from your
own cistern,
32 until I come and take you away to a land like your
own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of
olive oil and honey, that you may live and not die. Do not listen to Hezekiah
when he misleads you by saying, The LORD will deliver us.
33 Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered
its land out of the hand of the king of
34 Where are the gods of Hamath
and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they
delivered
35 Who among all the gods of the countries have
delivered their countries out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver
36 But the people were silent
and answered him not a word, for the king's command was, "Do not answer
him."
37 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah
son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with
their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.
CHAPTER 19
1 When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes,
covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.
2 And he sent Eliakim, who
was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the
secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet
Isaiah son of Amoz.
3 They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, This day
is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the
birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth.
4 It may be that the LORD your God heard all the words
of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria
has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the LORD your
God has heard; therefore lift up your
prayer for the remnant that is left."
5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah,
6 Isaiah said to them, "Say to your master, 'Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words
that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of
7 I myself will put a spirit in him, so that he shall
hear a rumor and return to his own land; I will cause him to fall by the sword
in his own land.'"
8 The Rabshakeh returned,
and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah;
for he had heard that the king had left
9 When the king heard concerning King Tirhakah of
10 "Thus shall you speak to King Hezekiah of
11 See, you have heard what
the kings of
12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the
nations that my predecessors destroyed, Gozan,
13 Where is the king of Hamath,
the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim,
the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?"
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the
messengers and read it; then Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and
spread it before the LORD.
15 And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said:
"O LORD the God of
16 Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes,
O LORD, and see; hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the
living God.
17 Truly, O LORD, the kings of
18 and have hurled their gods into the fire, though
they were no gods but the work of human hands--wood and stone--and so they were
destroyed.
19 So now, O LORD our God, save us, I pray you, from
his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are
God alone."
20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz
sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says the LORD, the God of
21 This is the word that the LORD has spoken
concerning him: She despises you, she scorns you-- virgin daughter
22 Whom have you mocked and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and haughtily lifted your
eyes? Against the Holy One of
23 By your messengers you
have mocked the Lord, and you have said, 'With my many chariots I have gone up
the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of
24 I dug wells and drank foreign waters,
I dried up with the sole of my foot all the streams of
25 Have you not heard that I determined it long ago? I
planned from days of old what now I bring to pass, that you should make
fortified cities crash into heaps of ruins,
26 while their inhabitants, shorn of strength, are
dismayed and confounded; they have become like plants of the field and like
tender grass, like grass on the housetops, blighted before it is grown.
27 "But I know your rising and your sitting, your
going out and coming in, and your raging against me.
28 Because you have raged against me and your
arrogance has come to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in
your mouth; I
will turn you back on the way by which you came.
29 "And this shall be the sign for you: This year
you shall eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from
that; then in the third year sow, reap,
plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
30 The surviving remnant of the house of
31 for from
32 "Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the
king of
33 By the way that he came, by the same he shall
return; he shall not come into this city, says the LORD.
34 For I will defend this
city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant
David."
35 That very night the angel of the LORD set out and
struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians; when
morning dawned, they were all dead bodies.
36 Then King Sennacherib of Assyria left, went home,
and lived at
37 As he was worshiping in
the house of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed
him with the sword, and they escaped into the
CHAPTER 20
1 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the
point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came
to him, and said to him, "Thus says the LORD: Set your house in order, for
you shall die; you shall not recover."
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed
to the LORD:
3 "Remember now, O LORD, I implore you, how I
have walked before you in faithfulness with a whole heart, and have done what
is good in your sight." Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Before Isaiah had gone out
of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him:
5 "Turn back, and say to
Hezekiah prince of my people, Thus says the LORD, the God of your ancestor
David: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; indeed, I will heal
you; on the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD.
6 I will add fifteen years to your life. I will
deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of
7 Then Isaiah said, "Bring a lump of figs. Let
them take it and apply it to the boil, so that he may recover."
8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "What shall be the
sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the
LORD on the third day?"
9 Isaiah said, "This is the sign to you from the
LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he has promised: the shadow has now
advanced ten intervals; shall it retreat ten intervals?"
10 Hezekiah answered, "It is normal for the
shadow to lengthen ten intervals; rather let the shadow retreat ten
intervals."
11 The prophet Isaiah cried to the LORD; and he brought
the shadow back the ten intervals, by which the sun had declined on the dial of
Ahaz.
12 At that time King Merodach-baladan
son of Baladan of
13 Hezekiah welcomed them; he showed them all his
treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory,
all that was found in his storehouses; there was nothing in his house or in all
his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.
14 Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah, and
said to him, "What did these men say? From where did they come to
you?" Hezekiah answered, "They have come from a far country, from
15 He said, "What have they seen in your
house?" Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house;
there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them."
16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word
of the LORD:
17 Days are coming when all that is in your house, and
that which your ancestors have stored up until this day, shall be carried to
Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the LORD.
18 Some of your own sons who are born to you shall be
taken away; they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of
19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of the
LORD that you have spoken is good." For he thought, "Why not, if
there will be peace and security in my days?"
20 The rest of the deeds of Hezekiah, all his power,
how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they
not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah?
21 Hezekiah slept with his ancestors;
and his son Manasseh succeeded him.
ISAIAH
CHAPTER 36
1 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of
Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of
2 The king of
Assyria sent the Rabshakeh from
3 And there
came out to him Eliakim son of Hilkiah,
who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the
secretary, and Joah son of Asaph,
the recorder.
4 The Rabshakeh said to them, "Say to Hezekiah: Thus says
the great king, the king of
5 Do you think
that mere words are strategy and power for war? On whom do you now rely, that
you have rebelled against me?
6 See, you are relying on
7 But if you say to me, 'We rely on the LORD our God,' is it
not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to
8 Come now, make a wager with my master the king of
9 How then can you repulse a single captain among the
least of my master's servants, when you rely on
10 Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come
up against this land to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this
land, and destroy it."
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic,
for we understand it; do not speak to us in the language of
12 But the Rabshakeh said,
"Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and
not to the people sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own
dung and drink their own urine?"
13 Then the Rabshakeh stood
and called out in a loud voice in the language of
14 Thus says the king: 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive
you, for he will not be able to deliver you.
15 Do not let Hezekiah make you rely on the LORD by
saying, The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the
hand of the king of Assyria.'
16 Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king
of Assyria: 'Make your peace with me and come out to me; then everyone of you
will eat from your own vine and your own fig tree and drink water from your own
cistern,
17 until I come and take you away to a land like your
own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
18 Do not let Hezekiah mislead you by saying, The LORD
will save us. Has any of the gods of the nations saved their land out of the
hand of the king of
19 Where are the gods of Hamath
and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have
they delivered
20 Who among all the gods of these countries have
saved their countries out of my hand, that the LORD should save
21 But they were silent and
answered him not a word, for the king's command was, "Do not answer
him."
22 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah
son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with
their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.
1 When King
Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and
went into the house of the LORD.
2 And he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with
sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.
3 They said to
him, "Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of
disgrace; children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring
them forth.
4 It may be
that the LORD your God heard the words of the Rabshakeh,
whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will
rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up your
prayer for the remnant that is left."
5 When the
servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah,
6 Isaiah said
to them, "Say to your master, 'Thus says the
LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the
servants of the king of
7 I myself will
put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor, and return to his own land;
I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.'"
8 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting
against Libnah; for he had heard that the king had
left
9 Now the king
heard concerning King Tirhakah of
10 "Thus
shall you speak to King Hezekiah of
11 See, you have heard what the kings of
12 Have the
gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my predecessors destroyed,
Gozan,
13 Where is the
king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the
city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena,
or the king of Ivvah?"
14 Hezekiah
received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; then Hezekiah
went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD.
15 And Hezekiah
prayed to the LORD, saying:
16 "O LORD
of hosts, God of
17 Incline your
ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; hear all the words of
Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God.
18 Truly, O
LORD, the kings of
19 and have
hurled their gods into the fire, though they were no gods, but the work of
human hands--wood and stone--and so they were destroyed.
20 So now, O
LORD our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may
know that you alone are the LORD."
21 Then Isaiah
son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying: "Thus says
the LORD, the God of
22 this is the
word that the LORD has spoken concerning him: She despises you, she scorns
you-- virgin daughter
23 Whom have
you mocked and reviled? Against whom have you raised
your voice and haughtily lifted your eyes? Against the Holy One of
24 By your servants you have mocked the Lord, and you have
said, 'With my many chariots I have gone up the heights of the mountains, to
the far recesses of
25 I dug wells
and drank waters, I dried up with the sole of my foot
all the streams of
26 Have you not
heard that I determined it long ago? I planned from days of old what now I
bring to pass, that you should make fortified cities crash into heaps of ruins,
27 while their
inhabitants, shorn of strength, are dismayed and confounded; they have become
like plants of the field and like tender grass, like grass on the housetops,
blighted before it is grown.
28 I know your rising up and your sitting down, your going out and
coming in, and your raging against me.
29 Because you
have raged against me and your arrogance has come to my ears, I will put my
hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth; I will turn you back on the way by
which you came.
30 "And
this shall be the sign for you: This year eat what grows of itself, and in the
second year what springs from that; then in the third year sow, reap, plant
vineyards, and eat their fruit.
31 The
surviving remnant of the house of
32 for from
33
"Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not
come into this city, shoot an arrow there, come before it with a shield, or
cast up a siege ramp against it.
34 By the way
that he came, by the same he shall return; he shall not come into this city,
says the LORD.
35 For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and
for the sake of my servant David."
36 Then the
angel of the LORD set out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in
the camp of the Assyrians; when morning dawned, they were all dead bodies.
37 Then King
Sennacherib of Assyria left, went home, and lived at
38 As he was worshiping in
the house of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed
him with the sword, and they escaped into the
CHAPTER 38
1 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the
point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came
to him, and said to him, "Thus says the LORD: Set your house in order, for
you shall die; you shall not recover."
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and
prayed to the LORD:
3 "Remember now, O LORD, I implore you, how I have
walked before you in faithfulness with a whole heart, and have done what is
good in your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah:
5 "Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the LORD,
the God of your ancestor David: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your
tears; I will add fifteen years to your life.
6 I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of
the king of
7 "This is the sign to you from the LORD, that
the LORD will do this thing that he has promised:
8 See, I will make the shadow
cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps." So the
sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.
9 A writing of King Hezekiah
of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
10 I said: In the noontide of my days I must depart; I
am consigned to the gates of Sheol for the rest of my years.
11 I said, I shall not see
the LORD in the land of the living; I shall look upon mortals no more among the
inhabitants of the world.
12 My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me like
a shepherd's tent; like a weaver I have rolled up my life; he cuts me off from
the loom; from day to night you bring me to an end;
13 I cry for help until morning; like a lion he breaks
all my bones; from day to night you bring me to an end.
14 Like a swallow or a crane
I clamor, I moan like a dove. My eyes are weary with looking upward. O Lord, I
am oppressed; be my security!
15 But what can I say? For he has spoken to me, and he
himself has done it. All my sleep has fled because of the bitterness of my
soul.
16 O Lord, by these things people live, and in all
these is the life of my spirit. Oh, restore me to health and make me live!
17 Surely it was for my welfare that I had great
bitterness; but you have held back my life from the pit of destruction, for you
have cast all my sins behind your back.
18 For Sheol cannot thank
you, death cannot praise you; those who go down to the Pit cannot hope for your
faithfulness.
19 The living, the living, they thank you, as I do
this day; fathers make known to children your faithfulness.
20 The LORD will save me, and we will sing to stringed
instruments all the days of our lives, at the house of the LORD.
21 Now Isaiah had said, "Let them take a lump of
figs, and apply it to the boil, so that he may recover."
22 Hezekiah also had said, "What is the sign that
I shall go up to the house of the LORD?"
CHAPTER
39
1 At that time King Merodach-baladan son of Baladan
of Babylon sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard
that he had been sick and had recovered.
2 Hezekiah welcomed them; he showed them his treasure
house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory,
all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.
3 Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and
said to him, "What did these men say? From where did they come to
you?" Hezekiah answered, "They have come to me from a far country,
from
4 He said, "What have they seen in your
house?" Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house;
there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them."
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of
the LORD of hosts:
6 Days are coming when all that is in your house, and
that which your ancestors have stored up until this day, shall be carried to
Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the LORD.
7 Some of your own sons who are born to you shall be
taken away; they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of
8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah,
"The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good." For he thought,
"There will be peace and security in my days." return to lesson
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BIBLICAL TIME SCALE |
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BCE |
|
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1300 |
|
|
|
Exodus from Egypt, Moses |
|
|
|
|
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Conquest of Canaan, Joshua |
|
1200 |
|
|
|
Invasion of the Philistines |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1100 |
Deborah |
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|
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
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Samuel |
|
1000 |
Saul founds monarchy 1020-1000 |
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David rules united kingdom 1000-961 (965) |
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Solomon rules united kingdom 961-922 (965-931)- first Temple |
|
|
|
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Division of kingdom |
|
900 |
Asa king of Judah 913 |
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Ahab king of Israel, 869 Elijah |
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