:17-19:1 “Walk By Faith”

Faith: • An American missionary in Africa wanted to translate the English word faith into the local dialect. He could not find its equivalent. So he went to an old sage, who was himself a fine Christian, for help in rendering the needed word into understandable language. The old sage studied it, and finally said, “Does it not mean to hear with the heart?” 1

The ransom did not satisfy so he sent messengers to demand a complete surrender. 2 • 11 tonnes of silver • 1 tonnes of gold o 353,658 troy ounces of silver = $17 @ ounce = $6,012,186. 3 o 32,151 troy ounces of gold = $1,255 @ ounce = $40,349,505. 4

• They present their case to Hezekiah’s representatives – Vs. 17-27 • Then they present their case to all those that can hear them in Jerusalem – Vs. 28-37

Walking in FAITH Hebrews 11:1 (NLT) Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. 5 • It is not believing in something you know is not true. • Neither is faith a substitute for knowledge. • Christian faith operates in the realm of meaning, not in the realm of fact. Faith recognizes fact but it is not out to obtain, contradict, or prove facts.

1 G. Curtis Jones, 1000 Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1986), 127. 2 Thomas L. Constable, “2 Kings,” in The Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 574. 3 Silver price calculated on May 2, 2017 at https://www.jmbullion.com/charts/silver-prices/ 4 Gold price calculated on May 2, 2017 at https://www.jmbullion.com/charts/gold-price/# 5 Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2013), Heb 11:1. 2 Kings 18.17-19.1 1

o Saint Augustine knew this when he said, “I believe in order that I may understand.” 6 • Believing against all odds and against all who say differently. • Holding to the non-negotiables. • Not being swayed by circumstances • Knowing God’s promises are ALWAYS true.

17 Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the from Lachish, with a great army against Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they had come up, they went and stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool, which was on the highway to the Fuller’s Field. Isaiah 36:1–3 1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 2 Then the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And he stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field. 3 And Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him.

• They advanced by way of the road to the Fuller’s Field to the aqueduct of the Upper Pool that extended from the spring of Gihon to the field where the people washed their clothes. 7 ,(as pt.; Assyrian kabâsu, tread, (down כבס .S3526 TWOT946 GK3891]51 vb. (tread), wash (NH id.; Ph ָכּ ַבס] o highway of fuller’s ( = treader’s, washer’s) field Is ְמ ִס ַלּת ְשׂ ֵדה כוֹ ֵבס subjugate, kilšu, step, path, Dl)—Qal Pt. only + Lv 11:25 יְ ַכ ֵבּס .Gn 49:11 2 S 19:25, etc.; Impf ִכּ ֵבּס ;consec. Lv 13:6 + 11 times וְ ִכּ ֶבּס .K 18:17. Pi. Pf 2 = 36:2 ;7:3 Mal 3:2;—1. wash ְמ ַכ ְבּ ִסים .Je 4:14; Pt. pl ַכּ ְבּ ִסי .fs ;51:4 ַכּ ְבּ ֵסנִי .ψ 51:9, etc.; Imv. sf ְתּ ַכ ְבּ ֵסנִי .times; 2 ms. sf 16 garments (i.e. by treading) Ex 19:10, 14 (E), 2 S 19:25; fig. of Judah Gn 49:11; elsewhere chiefly P: Lv 6:20; in Lv 27 כ׳) + which = wash person) Lv 14:8, 9; 15:5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11) ָרחץ || ;+ Nu 8:9 ;15:11 ;34 ,13:6 ;28 ,11:25 ,Mal 3:2. † 2. wash person בּ ִֹרית ְמכ׳ times); Pt. = fuller (cf. Qal), only 3 ר׳ || ,times; in Nu 8 times 15 ר׳ || ,times .Pu. Pf† .( ִח ֵטּא ||) v 9 ;( ֵמ ָעוֹן + ;טהר ||) c. sf. ψ 51:4 ;4:14 ַכּ ְבּ ִסי ֵמ ָר ָעה ִל ֵבּ ;Je 2:22 ִאם ְתּ ַכ ְבּ ִסי ַבּנֶּ ֶתר .only poet. and fig Lv 13:55 after אַ ֲח ֵרי ֻה ַכּ ֵבּס ֶאת־ ַהנֶּ ַגע .consec. Lv 13:58; 15:17 be washed, of garment. †Hothp. (Ges 54, 3) Inf וְ ֻכ ַבּס the plague is washed out, so v 56.8 • The enemy knew the weakest point of entry into Jerusalem. • Find where the most defensless vulnerable will be and show up there. o The Fuller’s Fields

6 G. Curtis Jones, 1000 Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1986), 126–127. 7 Thomas L. Constable, “2 Kings,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 574. 8 Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), 460. o The rocks upon which the women and children would be washing their clothes! § Imagine the horror of Mothers and wives washing clothes with their children playing nearby and looking up to see the 185,000 strong Assyrian Army § Three of their greatest Captains on their steeds staring down at them. § Imagine the sound of the marching feet of 185,000 troops behind them! o It wouldn’t be long before Hezekiah would hear that the Army is at the Fuller’s fields!

18 And when they had called to the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them. • Sennacherib’s top three men: o Tartan o Rabsaris o Rabshakeh • Hezekiah’s top three men: o Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, head of the household o Shebna the scribe o Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder

• These are titles and not personal names: o Tartan = Assyrian supreme commander o Rabsaris = Assyrian Army chief officer o Rabshakeh = Assyrian field commander. o Eliakim, Hezekiah’s palace administrator o Shebna, Hezekiah’s secretary o Joah, Hezekiah’s recorder 9

19 Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: “What confidence is this in which you trust? 20 You speak of having plans and power for war; but they are mere words. And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? 21 Now look! You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans,

9 Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Distinct, “Be” Commentary Series (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor, 2002), 138. 2 Kings 18.17-19.1 3 it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 22 But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?” ’ • Remember: “Does it not mean to hear with the heart?” 10 • Rabshakeh – he thinks we all worship the same god o We don’t worship the Muslim god o We don’t worship the Hindu gods o We don’t worship the Mormon gods o We don’t worship Mary and we don’t worship Angels.

• English idiom: “No good deed goes unpunished” John 10:32 Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”

2 Kings 18:4 He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan.

2 Chronicles 31:20–32:1 20 Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and true before the LORD his God. 21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he prospered. 1 After these deeds of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered Judah; he encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them over to himself.

• Alexander Maclaren: “It is the standing puzzle of the Old Testament, how good men come to be troubled, and how bad men come to be prosperous.” 11

23 Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses — if you are able on your part to put riders on them! 24 How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your

10 G. Curtis Jones, 1000 Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1986), 127. 11 Expositions of Holy Scripture (Baker, 1974), vol. 3 [2 Kings 8–Nehemiah], p. 244. trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen? • 2000 Horses – what could bribe you to forsake the Lord? o Although – you guys probably don’t even 2000 guys that can ride Horses! • Egypt was very weak at this time in History – he was right in saying they wouldn’t be able to help Hezekiah.

25 Have I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’ ” • Most Christians quickly find out that someone saying “THUS SAYS THE LORD . . .” typically has no idea what the Lord is actually saying. o Discern, prove and confirm through Scripture, then wait upon the Lord

26 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” • It is interesting that the Assyrians learned Hebrew from the Northern Israel captives. o They came prepared o The Devil ALWAYS comes prepared: John 10:10–11 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. 12 I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

27 But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?” • I won’t be bothered with the Elders of Jerusalem – the judges of the people.

12 623. Ἀπολλύων Apollúōn; gen. Apollúonos, masc. part. from apóllumi (622), to destroy, corrupt. The destroyer (Rev. 9:11). A Greek name for the demon of the abyss (ábussos [12]). The Hebr. name is transliterated Abaddṓn (3). Syn.: olothreutḗs (3644), a destroyer. Ant.: sōtḗr (4990), savior. (Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000). 2 Kings 18.17-19.1 5

o They’re nothing to us – in fact, they’re wretched! 28 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and spoke, saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you from his hand; 30 nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, “The LORD will surely deliver us; this city shall 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 peace with me by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern; 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive groves and honey, that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, lest he persuade you, saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” • The liar is promising things he won’t deliver.

33 Has any of the gods of the nations at all delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim and Hena and Ivah? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? 35 Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’ ” • No other god has opposed me successfully. • No other god has even survived my assault. • What makes you think your God can protect you? TIME to act in faith! 2 Corinthians 4:18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

John 20:29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.

36 But the people held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.” 37 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh. 19:1 And so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. 13 • “Does it not mean to hear with the heart?” 14 • FAITH came through – Hezekiah didn’t waver – He held to what the Lord promised him.

Hebrews 11:2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. 15

13 Rab-shakeh: He was the chief speaker, being a very eloquent man, and, according to the Hebrews, whom PROCOPIUS follows, an apostate Jew; which is not improbable, as he spoke Hebrew so fluently; and when he blasphemed the Divine Majesty, the king and nobles rent their clothes, which was not usual unless the blasphemer were an Israelite. 14 G. Curtis Jones, 1000 Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1986), 127. 15 The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Heb 11:2. 2 Kings 18.17-19.1 7