Dayspring do not be afraid of what you have heard
Do Not Be Afraid of What You Have Heard
2 Kings 18:1-19:37
INTRO: We hear a lot of hyperbole today, or exaggeration. The housing crisis is the worst since the great depression. I certainly can’t predict the future, but I can tell you that during the last great depression the AG started more churches before or since. When times get worse, the church some how rises to the occasion.
Most of the time what we hear is bad news. We understand that the world is getting worse….Jesus said “In this world, you will have tribulation, but “be of good cheer I have overcome the world”
We are told that our society suffers from “floating anxiety” so much bad information that they become anxious and gripped with fear. For the child of God, things are different, we don’t have to fear.
BACKGROUND:
Israel and Judah split after the death of Solomon
They both became increasingly wicked
Israel was worse than Judah but they were both bad
God warned them both that if they didn’t follow his commandments he would deport them.
Assyria was the instrument that God used to take out Israel.
Assyria was the worst terror in history up to that time
They introduced frightfulness as a weapon of war
They would terrorize villages and send word of what was done
Tiglath-Pileser the III was the fierce commander that sacked Israel and carried them off to exile.
After Tiglath Pileser was Shalmaneser III who actually got the credit for the exile, then Sennacherib followed.
Jerusalem was the capital of Judah. Hezekiah becomes king of Judah and was different than the other kings (18:5-8)
2 Kings 18:5-8
Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.
He held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses.
And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.
From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.
Shalmaneser took Samaria after a 3 year siege. Hezekiah paid him tribute. But that wasn’t enough for the Assyrians.....
There are 6 Things that God wants to tell us THIS MORNING through this story
1. Fear is Paralyzing 18:28-37
II Ki 18:28‑37
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 every one of you will eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his 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.
(NIV)
God knows that the news you’ve received gives you good reason to be fearful. But he provides a way to deal with the fear.
Isa 43:1‑2
1 But now, this is what the LORD says‑‑ he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
2. Prayer is Always an Option 19:1-4
II Ki 19:1‑4
1 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the LORD.
2 He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.
3 They told him, "This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no strength to deliver them.
4 It may be that the LORD your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the LORD your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives."
Col 4:2
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
(NIV)
3. Listen for a Word from the Lord 19:5-8
II Ki 19:5‑13
5 When King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah,
6 Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, 'This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard‑‑ those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7 Listen! I am going to put such a spirit in him that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.'"
4. Consider the Source of Your Fear 19:8-13
8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
9 Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite king [of Egypt], was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word:
10 "Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, 'Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.'
11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered?
12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my forefathers deliver them: the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar?
13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivvah?"
2 Cor 10:4‑5
4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
5. Get Your Perspective in Line With God’s 19:14-19
II Ki 19:14‑19
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."
6. Stand back and let God Answer 19:20-37
II Ki 19:20‑37
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!
23 By your messengers you have heaped insults on the Lord.
And you have said, "With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its pines. I have reached its remotest parts, the finest of its forests. 24I have dug wells in foreign lands and drunk the water there. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt."
25 "'Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone.
26 Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched before it grows up.
27 "'But I know where you stay and when you come and go and how you rage against me.
THE DEVIL CAN SPOUT HIS EVIL MUSINGS, HE CAN PRONOUNCE HIS WICKED JUDGMENTS, BUT THE KING OF GLORY KNOWS HIS WHERE HE STAYS; HE KNOWS HIS LOCATION,. GOD IS NOT MOCKED!!!!! GOD CAN TAKE CARE OF HIS PEOPLE IN THE MIDST OF THE DARKEST STORM. WHEN THEY CALL GOOD EVIL AND EVIL GOOD, WHEN YOU CAN’T TELL YOUR RIGHT FROM YOUR LEFT. THE LORD OF HOSTS KNOWS WHAT THE DEVIL IS UP TO!
28 Because you rage against me and your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.'
29 "This will be the sign for you, O Hezekiah: "This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
LET’S BE THANKFUL FOR THE PROMISES OF THE GOOD LORD GOD!!!
30 Once more a remnant of the house of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above.
31 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. HOW WILL THAT HAPPEN???? The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
32 "Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: "He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it.
33 By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the LORD.
34 I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant."
35 That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty‑five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning‑‑ there were all the dead bodies!
36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.
LET GOD ANSWER! LET GOD ANSWER! LET GOD ANSWER!
JEREMIAH 33:3 THIS IS WHAT THE LORD SAYS: HE WHO MADE THE EARTH. THE LORD WHO FORMED IT AND ESTABLISHED IT. CALL TO ME AND I WILL ANSWER YOU AND SHOW YOU GREAT AND UNSEARCHABLE THINGS THAT YOU DON’T KNOW.
GOD TAKES CARE OF HIS OWN. Well that’s just GREAT, Pastor Dan. That was about 2800 years ago. What about me? What about us right here and now?
Rev 21:1‑7
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
5 He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
6 He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.
7 He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
Preached at SAGU in 2000
Preached at New Life?????
Preached at Bethany
Preached at Dayspring Aug 3 2008