Reflections on spiritual warfare based on 2 Kings 18-19

18:1-4 1) Hezekiah was good king; a rare commodity in Judah.  He tried to please God in what he did and he got rid of the idols in the land.  There were two kinds of idols – the Canaanite idols and the Bronze Snake which Moses used to heal people in the wilderness (see Num 21:4-8).  There is something here to watch out for.  The pagan idols are easy to avoid because they are obvious.  The other kind, the sort which look more like Christian things, are more subtle and harder to avoid.  This second kind are more likely the kind which Satan can use to draw us away from doing the will of God.

18:5-8 2) Hezekiah trusted the LORD.  The fact that Hezekiah clung onto the LORD meant that he did not serve the king of Assyria out of fear like all the other nations around about.  The king of Assyria was a very powerful king and there was reason to fear him.  But Hezekiah feared God instead which affected the way he acted and God blessed him with victory over his enemies.

Satan is a powerful being and we would have reason to fear him if we were not in Christ.  In Christ there is no reason to fear the devil because he has been defeated.  1 John 5:18 “We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.”  Many people, people outside of Christ who are bound in sin are in bondage to the Devil.  2 Timothy 2:26 “and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”

18:13-16 3) But then the king of Assyria attacked and Hezekiah rethinks his position.  He gives the king of Assyria all the Temple gold to try and stop the attack.

Victory is not the only result of dedication to the LORD.  The enemy will attack those who are committed to serving God alone.  The enemy for the Christian is not the king of Assyria but the Devil.  The Christian reaction to the attack of the enemy may be like Hezekiah’s.  Perhaps such a person will compromise his or her commitment to the LORD.  Perhaps this will placate the enemy and the Christian will be left alone.

18:17-22 4) In fact this did not get rid of the king of Assyria at all.  The Assyrians came and threatened Jerusalem.  The enemy demanded not just the gold of the Temple but complete surrender.  The King of Assyria was keen on expanding his empire and making Judah a part of it.

Clearly the devil is not content with having Christians compromising a bit.  His desire is to expand his evil kingdom.  Nothing short of capturing God’s children and making them part of his own kingdom is sufficient.  To put it another way, Satan would have us spend eternity on his side.  He desires that there be no more trust in the Living God.

18:23-30 5) The messangers of the king od Assyria acviely try to wear down the will of the people to resist their army by discouraging them and taunting them.  This is what I spoke about last week.

18:31-32a 6) The king of Assyria promised the people peace and prosperity if they surrendered to him but suffering if they did not.  The promise of the king of Assyria mimicked the promise of God to Israel (Deut 30:19).  He promised them life and a land full of all the good things they could think of.

It is not unusual for Christians to be tempted by the idea that being a Christian is too hard and suffering is not worthwhile.  On the other hand the way of the world is comfort and prosperity; heaven is on earth now, why wait?  The Devil promises all the good things without the suffering which is part of God’s good purposes.  But the Devil is a liar (John 8:44).  God alone is the author of life and without God what we have cannot be life.  If we want to enter into life then we need to take the narrow path (Matt 7:13-14; Matt 18:8-9; Matt 19:17; Rev 21:27)  This narrow path may involve pain, difficulty, suffering, abandonment, loneliness, or poverty but it will be worth the cost.

18:32b-35 7) The message that the king of Assyria sent to Hezekiah was a slanderous one.  He told Hezekiah that he might as well surrender now because there is no one who can save him.  None of the gods of the other nations could save them against the mighty Assyrian army.  He even accused the LORD of being unable to save the people.

The Devil will point to the defeat of others.  He says, “So and so has done such and such because there was no hope for them and there is no hope for you”.  Then the Devil intimates that God is unable to deliver us from the situation because God is weak.  Any suggestion that God will deliver in the present situation must be false and the promises of God must be false.  No doubt the devil is capable of subtlety but the message is the same at the core.

18:36-37 8) Hezekiah was wise and commanded the people on the wall not to answer the messengers from Assyria.

There is no value in conversing with the Devil.  You and I have no wisdom or strength within ourselves with which to withstand the taunts of the Devil.  Jude 8-9 says the same thing: don’t have a conversation with the Evil One.

19: 1-4 9) The response of Hezekiah was to go to the Temple and humble himself before the LORD.  He called upon the mercy of the LORD while wearing sackcloth.  He sent word to the prophet in order to enquire of the LORD.

A repentant and humble attitude is appropriate when seeking the mercy of God.  The greatness of our God should never be underestimated nor should his mercy be taken for granted.  Perhaps repentance for the compromise is needed.  Perhaps a renewal of commitment is needed.

Like Hezekiah we must enquire of the LORD but we have no need to send for the prophet because in Christ heaven is open to all God’s children.  Simply ask the LORD for his will.  Call on his mercy.  God would not have his children taken into the kingdom of darkness.  Seek him as loving Father.

19:5- 7 10) The word of God came to Isaiah the prophet saying that the king of Assyria would be defeated because he blasphemed God.  His defeat would happen because God would send “a certain report” and the king would go home.

Our God and Father does not allow the demons to blaspheme his name among his children.  He will be defeated.  There is no need to fear the enemy nor is there need to fight the enemy in some human way.  It is God who will bring about the demise of the Evil One.  His ultimate demise is spoken of in Rev 20:7-10.

19:8-13 11) Now Sennacherib the king of Assyria finds that another king has come out to fight him and he again tells the people of Judah that their God cannot deliver them from his army.

It is apparent that the Devil is arrogant and persistent.  Even though he is defeated by the cross he continues to assault the children of God.  But what does the Devil actually have that can truly defeat us?  1Pet 5:8-10; James 4:7.  When you have received a word of promise from the Holy Spirit the devil will come back with more lies.  Don’t listen to them, rather understand that they are lies.

14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD : “O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.

17 “It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men’s hands. 19 Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God.”

19:14-19 12) So Hezekiah prays.  Notice how the prayer of Hezekiah is mainly a prayer regarding God’s honour and glory.  It is the LORD who has been blasphemed by the king of Assyria.  Hezekiah asks for deliverance “so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God.”

The prayer of the Christian is such a situation of attack of the enemy is not to be a self-centred prayer.  It is to be a prayer which seeks the glory of the LORD.  Our God is a great God.  If God’s children suffer defeat then God is not glorified.  Let us get our hearts right in this matter.

19:20-34 13) The prophet replied to Hezekiah saying that God had heard his prayer.  Isaiah prophesied a great deliverance for Hezekiah because the king of Assyria was blasphemous.   20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. 21 This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him:
” ‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion
despises you and mocks you.
The Daughter of Jerusalem
tosses her head as you flee.

22 Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!

He gave an assurance from God that God would deliver from the enemy.  God did this for the sake of his name and for his servant David.  In our case he does it for the sake of his holy name and for the sake of his Son Jesus and because we are his sons and daughters.

When the devil insults the people of God he is really insulting and blaspheming the Living God.  I am sure that he is aware of that fact even if we are blind to that.  Our God is rightly zealous for his own glory.  He is also zealous for our glory (John 17:10,22).

19:35-37 14) God delivered Hezekiah without Hezekiah having to send out any troops to battle and the king of Assyria went home.  Some time later the king of Assyria himself was killed in the temple of his false god.

Our God wins the battle against the devil for us, if we do not give up but continue to trust in him.  The devil was defeated by the cross (Col 2:15), is defeated in the present (Rom 8:31-39) and will be totally defeated for all time and eternity (Rev 20:7-10).  The destiny of the devil is the lake of fire.  The destiny of God’s children is eternal joy in God’s presence.

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