II Kings 19:1 "And it came to pass, when Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord."

Hezekiah was the first king, in a long list of king that does right in the eyes of the Lord. When he comes off of his guilt trip, for failing to follow through with the paying of the taxes to Assyria and telling the king of Assyria to get lost, He turns humbly to the Father for help. Jerusalem was a city built strong and was a hard place for an enemy to take. It took three years to humble the city the first time, and two years for Nebuchadnessar to take it, some two hundred years after this time. Hezekiah did the right thing when he went to the house of God to seek help for the Father.

II Kings 19:2 "And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz."

This is the same Isaiah that wrote the book of Isaiah, and is spoken of in Isaiah 1:1; "The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, king of Judah."

Hezekiah has not only gone to the Temple, but he sent his advisors to Isaiah to receive direction as to what he should do.

II Kings 19:3 "And they said unto him, "Thus saith Hezekiah, `Thus saith Hezekiah, `This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to being forth."

This is what these men said to Isaiah. Hezekiah is telling Isaiah that we were on our way upward, and God blessed us, but we cannot get our strength. Judah need strength badly for the Assyrians were camped right outside the walls of the city.

II Kings 19:4 "It may be the Lord thy 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 Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.' "

Remember that Rab-shakeh told Hezekiah that it was God that sent him and his army to Jerusalem to take it. Rab-shakeh was the political officer over the army of the Assyrians, and the message was given in II Kings 18:28-32. This is a beautiful prayer by Hezekiah to the Lord, humbling himself before God.

II Kings 19:5 "So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah."

II Kings 19:6 "And Isaiah said unto them, "Thus shall ye say to your master, `Thus saith the Lord, `Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me."

This is what Isaiah told the messengers to tell king Hezekiah. God is telling Hezekiah through Isaiah that He has heard every word of blasphemy that was spoken by the Assyrians. Don't be afraid of those words. Friend, God will not stand for blasphemy of His name.

II Kings 19:7 "Behold, 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.' "

This is God speaking, and He is promising Hezekiah that He will send a blast on the Assyrians that will cause him to return back home. Not only is Rab-shakeh and the army going to return home, and they will die when they return home. Do you see what a difference it makes when God is with you; for when God is for you, who can be against you. We will see that the events will come to pass exactly as God said they would. This is why when the problems come and you have done all that you can do, that is the time to turn them over to the Lord. Go to him, he knows your problems better than you do.

II Kings 19:8 "So Rab-shakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish."

Rab-shakeh heard the rumors from back home, and he packed his army and headed back home. There was war between Libnah and Assyria, and king Sennacherib left Lachish in a hurry for Nineveh. Remember God said that He would send a rumor, and it came.

II Kings 19:9 "And 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,"

This rumor stated that Tirhakah, the king of Ethiopia, or upper Egypt was bringing his army to fight for Jerusalem. Tirhakah had fine horsemen and chariots and they would stand against any army. This was the rumor that was heard, and Rab-shakeh did not want to be pinned between the Egyptian army and the the walls of Jerusalem. It was time to head home. He knew that for the siege to be successful, it would have taken another three years, and he could not sustain that kind of war while laying siege to Jerusalem.

Remember God had promised that the rumor would come to these Assyrians out side the wall, and the rumor came immediately. Hezekiah had trusted God completely and God fulfilled His promise to him.

II Kings 19:10 "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.' "

This is old Rab-shakeh sending a message to Hezekiah, after he had heard the rumor of the coming troops from Ethiopia, telling him not to trust in God, for God would not save him. Rab-shakeh wanted Jerusalem to surrender before those troops arrived so he would not have to face them, and hold the siege. Would Hezekiah loose faith in God and do as the Assyrians said? Of course not.

Remember that this is a type of what we shall see in our generation, the generation of the parable of the fig tree, as written in Matthew 24 and Mark 13. This Assyrian is a type of the Assyrian of the end times, who is Satan in his role as the Antichrist of the book of Revelation. Satan is coming to say the same things that this Assyrian is saying, to try to deceive you. God is telling you exactly what to expect, and he expects you to see right through his lies. Satan will promise you what ever he thinks it will take for you to worship him.

II Kings 19:11 "Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?"

Rab-shakeh is reminding Hezekiah of all the other nations that Assyria has conquered, and he is asking, do you think that you can escape out of our hands. Keep in mind that this is a bluff, for Rab-shakeh knows that he and the army use return to protect the home land, and he want to see if he can talk Hezekiah into giving up without a siege or a fight. He has heard the rumors that the Ethiopians are coming, and he doesn't want to be anywhere near when they arrive.

II Kings 19:12 "Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar?"

Rab-shakeh gives even a longer list than he did back in the prior chapter of those nations that Assyria had captured.

II Kings 19:13 "Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?' "

Naturally they had already been taken captive, and their people removed from off their lands to another foreign location. Many of these people were removed from their lands into the lands of the house of Israel. Though all these nations had fallen, here is the city of Jerusalem high on the hilltop, fully protected by God and the walls. The little tribe of Judah standing on the walls.

II Kings 19:14 "And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord."

Hezekiah took the letter and read it, and went directly to the Temple to see what the Lord had to say about it. Do you understand how to please God? When you have a problem, don't try to buy your way out, but take it to the Lord, using common sense in all that you do. Our Father can make those problems disappear, and turn out to your favor.

Stop and think of those big problems of the past, and think of what happened to them when you brought them to the Lord. Each part of the problem just melted away to where that iceberg just disappeared. That is the way that our Father operates, and He will protect you, one of His children. He loves you and desires to take care of you when you ask Him to.

II Kings 19:15 "And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, "O Lord God of Israel, Which dwellest between the cherubims, Thou art the God, even Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; Thou hast made heaven and earth"

This is the way that Moses laid out on the ark of the covenant, where the throne was between the cherubims, being the seat of God. Hezekiah is giving God His full title.

II Kings 19:16 "Lord, bow down Thine ear, and hear: open, Lord, Thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God."

Hezekiah is telling God, Sennacherib has blasphemed you, Father.

II Kings 19:17 "Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,"

Hezekiah agrees in this prayer that the Assyrians have destroyed all the nations that were mentioned.

II Kings 19:18 "And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them."

Maybe that was why God allowed the Assyrians to be so strong in the first place, for they did go throughout the world at that time cleaning out all the forms of Idolatry, and destroying the evil works of those nations.

II Kings 19:19 "Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save Thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou art the Lord God, even Thou only."

If you want to learn how to talk to the Father, this is how. The reason for all of our prayers should be, "That all the kingdoms and people of the earth may know that Thou art the Lord God, even Thou only." Our purpose should be to glorify God in all that we do. Hezekiah knew that it was all in God's hands.

II Kings 19:20 "then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, `That which thou hast prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.' "

II Kings 19:21 "This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him; `The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; The daugher of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee."

Isaiah is reminding Hezekiah, through this message of God, that the Assyrian had despised the and laughed at you to scorn. Remember what Paul said to us concerning Satan, the Antichrist in II Corinthians 11:1; "Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bare with me." He said, some of you may think that this is foolish, but this is very serious.

II Corinthians 11:2 "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ."

II Corinthians 11:3 "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."

Paul did not want us to be deceived by Satan, the serpent, as Eve was when she was "beguiled". "Beguiled" in the Greek test is "Exapatao", "to be wholly seduced, to conceive." Paul was saying that he wants to present you as a "chased virgin" to the Lord Jesus Christ at the second advent.

So do you understand what is said here in II Kings when it says, "the virgin daughter of Zion has despised thee?" This is the type of the Antichrist, only "the virgin", spiritually speaking, are those that do know the true Christ, and the events that shall come to pass. We are in that generation of the fig tree, and we had better know those things that are foretold in our time. This is why God specifies that the "virgin daughter mocks you", The others will not be mocking him for they have no idea who Satan is, for they think Satan is Christ.

This is a warning to be alert of the enemy and stand against him when he mocks you and your relationship to God. When the Assyrian makes his threats, tell him that "My virgin daughter is laughing her head off at you." That is what you tell him. For when you know the outcome of the events, why would you spend one second worrying over the outcome. God has already promised the victory.

II Kings 19:22 "Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? And against Whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? Even against the Holy One of Israel."

Of course the one that the Assyrian has blasphemed and reproached was our Heavenly Father. Though it is addressing Sennacherib, it is also in reference in type to Satan the Assyrian in the latter day. Satan will also blaspheme those virgins of Christ, and in the word "reproached", #2778 in Strong's Hebrew dictionary we read; "Charaph, a prime root, to pull off, to expose, to betroth (as if a surrender) to defame." Satan will do what every he thinks it takes to keep you from being that betrothed virgin of Christ, and cause you to surrender to himself. Just as Sennacherib the Assyrian has done to king Hezekiah, to get him to surrender to his army. Satan will set himself on high and present himself to be God, the most powerful.

II Kings 19:23 "By the 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, And the choice fir trees thereof: And I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel."

"Carmel" in the Hebrew means "paradise". In Isaiah 14, Isaiah is saying the same thing as here, for the "cedars of Lebanon" were tall and beautiful, and have been the symbol for the people of the house of Israel. When God compares people to trees, His people are likened to "the cedars of Lebanon", while Satan to "teashur", just an old box cedar river tree fit only to be burned.

Those messengers that Sennacherib sent insulted both God and Jerusalem, God's favorite place on earth. God did not like that one bit.

II Kings 19:24 "I have digged and drunk strange waters, And with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.' "

God is mocking the king of Assyria with his own words.

II Kings 19:25 "Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, And of ancient times that I have formed it: Now have I brought it to pass, That thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps."

This is exactly what had happened, and this tells us that our Father is in control of everything that happens. This is why we can trust Him.

II Kings 19:26 "Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, They were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, And as the green herb, as the grass on the house tops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up."

God is telling the Assyrian that those little towns that you have been destroying, they were nothing in comparison to what I am.

II Kings 19:27 "But I know thy abode, And thy going out, and thy coming in, And thy rage against Me."

God is telling them that he know exactly where your houses are, and everything you do, and all the blasphemes against Me. This is why when Satan makes a move against you, God is aware of it. However even then, you must ask God for the protection from Satan's attacks, just as Hezekiah has done here. When Satan attacks you, that is the time to turn to God for help and not to some man. God knows the devil and the enemies weak points and He is about bring you the victory. He is a God of vengeance and He knows how to avenge His own.

II Kings 19:28 "Because 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.' "

God is telling the Assyrians that you are not going to run over Jerusalem, but He will put his hooks in you, and turn you back in the direction that you came. Ezekiel spoke of the same thing concerning the attack on God's people in the end times.

Ezekiel 38:3 "And say, `Thus saith the Lord God; `Behold, I am against the, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal."

This is talking about the final battle when Russia, the chief prince of Meshech [Rosh], comes against the Christian nations with all its allies. This happens right before the return of Jesus Christ at the seventh trumpet.

Ezekiel 38:4 "And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, and all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of the handling swords:"

Ezekiel was using the same words from God describing what shall happen at the end of this earth age, as Isaiah is using to describe how He shall turn Assyria away from Jerusalem. God will do this for His people when they ask for the protection. Do you know what to do when that time comes? So now God is going to turn His words away from Sennacherib and the Assyrians, and back to Hezekiah and the people of Judah.

II Kings 19:29 "And this shall be 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."

This is a promise by God that those three years that the Assyrians have told them they were going to bring famine by a siege; God is promising that they will be fruitful and prosperous years. So because Hezekiah has gone to God for help instead of going to Egypt, He is going to bless them and protect them immediately.

II Kings 19:30 "And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward."

The rural people that had taken refuge in the city of Jerusalem, could go back home and be safe in their homes and farms. Their lands would bear fruit in safety from all enemies. God can bless you when you please Him, or He can curse you when you turn your back on Him and His ways.

II Kings 19:31 "For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this."

It is God that shall do this for His Own sake.

II Kings 19:32 "Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning 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."

When you have that assurance from a prophet of God, you can rest in peace through the night. No matter what threats the wicked leaders of this world say, there will not be a nuclear holocaust. God's Word does not say that there will be, and there will not be. Satan doesn't want to destroy this world, but he wants to the the king of the souls living in the world. Satan doesn't want it any more than you do, for he wants you prosperous, and thanking him for what you have. However there will be the battles of Hammon-gog and Armageddon to make the end of this earth age of the flesh.

II Kings 19:33 "By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city,' saith the Lord."

II Kings 19:34 " `For I will defend this city, to save it, for Mine own sake, and for My servant David's sake.' "

David was promised that through his seed would come the Messiah. It is for the sake of the coming Messiah that God would defend Jerusalem. The Messiah is where our salvation comes from, through repentance in Jesus name.

II Kings 19:35 "And it came to pass that night, that the Angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred four score and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses."

This is the death angel of our Heavenly Father that went out and slay one hundred and eighty five thousand Assyrians that night. This is the same angel that come over Egypt the night Before Moses and the Israelites were to leave Egypt. God was in control, and He did exactly what He said He would do.

II Kings 19:36 "So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh."

Nineveh was the famous city that Jonah preached two generations prior, that repented and God saved them to be His tool at this time.

II Kings 19:37 "And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adram-melech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead."

Sennacherib's own sons plotted and killed him, and fled into the land of Armenia. Armenia in the Hebrew is Arat. Friend, these people kept their own history as to what happened in their day, and recorded it on stone. Of course it is slanted to favor their view of what took place. There are eleven lines of their writing that relates to these same two sons killing their father and fleeing out of the land.

When Sennacherib was slain by one of his two sons, his other son Esarhaddon assumed the throne of his father. King Esarhaddon's first goal was to rebuild ancient Babylon, which his father had destroyed. This he did, and by 688 B.C Esarhaddon's empire had grown to include Egypt and Ethopia.

When Esarhaddon's son [Ashur-etil-ilani] followed to Sennacherib's throne of Assyria in about 626 B.C., He appointed his general Nebopolassar as viceroy to Northern Babylon. While in Babylon Nebopolassar built a strong army, and fourteen years later overthrew the Assyrian empire. This conflict was recorded in Zephaniah 2:12-15. It would be Nebopolazzar's grandson Nebuchadnezzar that would become the world leader, and ultimately bring Judah into captivity for those seventy years.