2 Chronicles 32:17

ds a blasphemous message to Hezekiah, and to the people, 2Chr 32:9-15. His servants rail against God; and he and they blaspheme most grievously, 2Chr 32:16-19. Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah cry to God; he answers, and the Assyrians are destroyed, and Sennacherib is slain by his own sons, 2Chr 32:20, 2Chr 32:21. The Lord is magnified, 2Chr 32:22, 2Chr 32:23. Hezekiah's sickness and recovery, 2Chr 32:24. His ingratitude, 2Chr 32:25. His humiliation, 2Chr 32:26. His riches, 2Chr 32:27-30. His error relative to the Babylonish ambassadors, 2Chr 32:31. His acts and death, 2Chr 32:32, 2Chr 32:33. Verse 1 After these things - God did not permit this pious prince to be disturbed till he had completed the reformation which he had begun. Verse 2 When Hezekiah saw - This was in the fourteenth year of the reign of Hezekiah; and at first the Jewish king bought him off at the great price of three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold; and even emptied his own treasures, and spoiled the house of the Lord, to gratify the oppressive avarice of the Assyrian king. See the whole account, 2Kgs 18:13, etc. Verse 4 Stopped all the fountains - This was prudently done, for without water how could an immense army subsist in an arid country? No doubt the Assyrian army suffered much through this, as a Christian army did eighteen hundred years after this. When the crusaders came, in a.d. 1099, to besiege Jerusalem, the people of the city stopped up the wells, so that the Christian army was reduced to the greatest necessities and distress. Verse 5 Raised it up to the towers - He built the wall up to the height of the towers, or, having built the wall, he raised towers on it. Verse 6 Set captains of war over the people - in the street of the gate of the city - That is, the open places at the gate of the city, whither the people came for judgment, etc. Verse 7 There be more with us than with him - We have more power than they have. (These words he quotes from the prophet Elisha, 2Kgs 6:16 ). This was soon proved to be true by the slaughter made by the angel of the Lord in the Assyrian camp. Verse 9 After this did Sennacherib - Having received the silver and gold mentioned above, he withdrew his army, but shortly after he sent Rab-shakeh with a blasphemous message. This is the fact mentioned here. Verse 10 Thus saith Sennacherib - See all these circumstances largely explained 2 Kings 18:17-36 (note). Verse 17 Wrote also letters - See 2Kgs 19:9, 2Kgs 19:14. Verse 21 The Lord sent an angel - See 2Kgs 19:36 (note), and the note there. House of his god - Nisroch. They that came forth of his own bowels - His sons Adrammelech and Sharezer. Verse 23 Many brought gifts unto the Lord - They plainly saw that Jehovah was the protector of the land. And presents to Hezekiah - They saw that God was his friend, and would undertake for him; and they did not wish to have such a man for their enemy. Verse 24 Hezekiah was sick - See 2Kgs 20:1 (note), etc., and the notes there. Verse 25 Hezekiah rendered not again - He got into a vain confidence, took pleasure in his riches, and vainly showed them to the messengers of the king of Babylon. See on 2Kgs 20:12 (note), etc. Verse 26 Humbled himself - Awoke from his sleep, was sorry for his sin, deprecated the wrath of God, and the Divine displeasure was turned away from him. Verse 27 Pleasant jewels - כלי חמדה keley chemdah, desirable vessels or utensils. Verse 30 The upper watercourse - He made canals to bring the waters of Gihon from the west side of Jerusalem to the west side of the city of David. Verse 31 Of the ambassadors - See 2Kgs 20:13 (note), and the observations at the end of that chapter. Verse 32 The vision of Isaiah - See this prophet, 2 Chronicles 36-39. Verse 33 Chiefest of the sepulchres - This respect they paid to him who, since David, had been the best of all their kings. I shall subjoin a few things from the Targum on this chapter. 2Chr 32:1. "After these things which Hezekiah did, and their establishment, the Lord appointed by his Word to bring Sennacherib, king of Assyria, and his army, into the land of Israel, that he might destroy the Assyrians in the land of the house of Judah, and smite their troops on the mountains of Jerusalem, and deliver all their spoils into the hands of Hezekiah and his people: wherefore Sennacherib came with immense armies, which could not be numbered; and having pitched his camps in the land of the tribe of Judah, besieged their fortified cities with his armies, hoping to overthrow them." 2Chr 32:8. Hezekiah said-"His help is the strength of the flesh; but our auxiliary is the Word of the Lord." 2Chr 32:16. "His (Sennacherib's) servants spoke blasphemy against the Word of the Lord God." 2Chr 32:18. In the Jews' speech - "In the language of the holy house." 2Chr 32:21. "And the Word of the Lord sent Michael, and the angel Gabriel, and destroyed them on the night of the passover with a destructive fire; and burnt up their breath within their bodies, and consumed every soldier, captain, and prince, in the army of the king of Assyria; and he returned with shame of face into his own land." The destruction of God's enemies, and the support and salvation of the faithful, is in every instance in this Targum attributed to the Word of the Lord, personally understood. See the note on 2Chr 34:27. 2Chr 32:24. "In those days was Hezekiah sick near to death; but he prayed before the Lord who spoke to him by his Word to preserve him and to add to his life fifteen years." 2Chr 32:31. "The king of Babylon sent, that they might inquire concerning the miracle that had been done in the land; that they might see the two tables of stone which were in the ark of the covenant of the Lord which Moses had placed there with the two tables which he had broken on account of the sin of the calf which they made in Horeb. The Word of the Lord permitted him to show them these; neither did he suffer for it; that he might try him, and see what was in his heart." Thus God speaks after the manner of men: he either brings, or permits them to be brought, into such circumstances as shall cause them to show their prevailing propensities; and then warns them against the evils to which they are inclined, after having shown them that they are capable of those evils. To know ourselves, and our own character, is of the utmost importance to our religious growth and perfection. He who does not know where his weakness lies, is not likely to know where his strength lies. Many, by not being fully acquainted with their own character, have been unwatchful and unguarded, and so become an easy prey to their enemies. Know thyself is a lesson which no man can learn but from the Spirit of God. Introduction Manasseh reigns fifty-five years, and restores idolatry, pollutes the temple, and practises all kinds of abominations, 2Chr 33:1-9. He and the people are warned in vain, 2Chr 33:10

The Destruction of the Assyrians. ( b. c. 713.) 9 After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying, 10 Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem? 11 Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The Lord our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 12 Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it? 13 Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of mine hand? 14 Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand? 15 Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand? 16 And his servants spake yet more against the Lord God, and against his servant Hezekiah. 17 He wrote also letters to rail on the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand. 18 Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews' speech unto the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble them; that they might take the city. 19 And they spake against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, which were the work of the hands of man. 20 And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven. 21 And the Lord sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword. 22 Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side. 23 And many brought gifts unto the Lord to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah: so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from thenceforth. This story of the rage and blasphemy of Sennacherib, Hezekiah's prayer, and the deliverance of Jerusalem by the destruction of the Assyrian army, we had more at large in the book of Kings, 2 Kings xviii. and xix. It is contracted here, yet large enough to show these three things:— I. The impiety and malice of the church's enemies. Sennacherib has his hands full in besieging Lachish ( v. 9 ), but hears that Hezekiah is fortifying Jerusalem and encouraging his people to stand it out; and therefore, before he come in person to besiege it, he sends messengers to make speeches, and he himself writes letters to frighten Hezekiah and his people into a surrender of the city. See, 1. His great malice against the king of Judah, in endeavouring to withdraw his subjects from their allegiance to him. He did not treat with Hezekiah as a man of honour would have done, nor propose fair terms to him, but used mean and base artifices, unbecoming a crowned head, to terrify the common people and persuade them to desert him. He represented Hezekiah as one who designed to deceive his subjects into their ruin and betray them to famine and thirst ( v. 11 ), as one who had done them great wrong and exposed them already to the divine displeasure by taking away the high places and altars ( v. 12 ), and who, against the common interest of his people, held out against a force that would certainly be their ruin, v. 15 . 2. His great impiety against the God of Israel, the God of Jerusalem he is called ( v. 19 ), because that was the place he had chosen to put his name there, and because that was the place which was now threatened by the enemy and which the divine Providence had under its special protection. This proud blasphemer compared the great Jehovah, the Maker of heaven and earth, with the dunghill gods of the nations, the work of men's hands, and thought him no more able to deliver his worshippers than they were to deliver theirs ( v. 19 ), as if an infinite and eternal Spirit had no more wisdom and power than a stone or the stock of a tree. He boasted of his triumphs over the gods of the nations, that they could none of them protect their people ( v. 13-15 ), and thence inferred not only, How shall your God deliver you? ( v. 14 ), but, as if he were inferior to them all, How much less shall your God deliver you? as if he were less able to help than any of them. Thus did they rail, rail in writing (which, being more deliberate, is so much the worse), on the Lord God of Israel, as if he were a cipher and an empty name, like all the rest, v. 17 . Sennacherib, in the instructions he gave, said more than enough; but, as if his blasphemies had been too little, his servants, who learned insolence from their master, spoke yet more than he bade them against the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah, v. 16 . And God resents what is said against his servants, and will reckon for it, as well as what is said against himself. All this was intended to frighten the people from their hope in God, which David's enemies sought to take him off from ( Ps. xi. 1 ; xlii. 10 ), saying, There is no help for him in God, Ps. iii. 2 ; lxxi. 11 . Thus they hoped to take the city by weakening the hands of those that should defend it. Satan, in his temptations, aims to destroy our faith in God's all-sufficiency, knowing that he shall gain his point if he can do that; as we keep our ground if our faith fail not, Luke xxii. 32 . II. The duty as well as the interest of the church's friends, and that is in the day of distress to pray and cry to Heaven. So Hezekiah did, and the prophet Isaiah, v. 20 . It was a happy time when the king and the prophet joined thus in prayer. Is any troubled? Is any terrified? Let him pray. So we engage God for us; so we encourage ourselves in him. Praying to God is here called crying to Heaven, because we are, in prayer, to eye him as our Father in heaven, whence he beholds the children of men, and where he has prepared his throne. III. The power and goodness of the church's God. He is able both to control his enemies, be they ever so high, and to relieve his friends, be they ever so low. 1. As the blasphemies of his enemies engage him against them ( Deut. xxxii. 27 ), so the prayers of his people engage him for them. They did so here. (1.) The army of the Assyrians was cut off by the sword of an angel, which triumphed particularly in the slaughter of the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains, who defied the sword of any man. God delights to abase the proud and secure. The Targum says, The Word of the Lord (the eternal Word) sent Gabriel to do this execution, and that it was done with lightning, and in the passover night: that was the night in which the angel destroyed the first-born of Egypt. But that was not all. (2.) The king of the Assyrians, having received this disgrace, was cut off by the sword of his own sons. Those that came forth of his own bowels slew him, v. 21 . Thus was he mortified first, and then murdered—shamed first, and then slain. Evil pursues sinners; and, when they escape one mischief, they run upon another unseen. 2. By this work of wonder, (1.) God was glorified, as the protector of his people. Thus he saved Jerusalem, not only from the hand of Sennacherib, but from the hand of all others, v. 22 ; for such a deliverance as this was an earnest of much mercy in store; and he guided them, that is, he guarded them, on every side. God defends his people by directing them, shows them what they should do, and so saves them from what is designed or done against them. For this many brought gifts unto the Lord, when they saw the great power of God in the defence of his people. Strangers were thereby induced to supplicate his favour and enemies to deprecate his wrath, and both brought gifts to his temple, in token of their care and desire. (2.) Hezekiah was magnified as the favourite and particular care of Heaven. Many brought presents to him ( v. 22, 23 ), in token of the honour they had for him, and to make an interest in him. By the favour of God enemies are lost and friends gained.