Planted

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HEZEKIAH became king of Judah when he was 25 years old and reigned 29 years……he “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord” Don’t you just love that refreshing description? He removed the high places, smashed sacred stones, cut down Asherah poles, and even broke Moses’ bronze snake “Nehushtan” because the Israelites burned incense to it! There was no one like Hezekiah among all the kings of Judah….before or after him!! What a wonderful man of God! “And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook.” Wouldn’t you like for people to speak so highly of you after you were gone? Quite a contrast to Hoshea, the evil, disobedient, unsuccessful king of Israel whose people were defeated by Assyria!

THE TEST: Now we see, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, making his move on the land of Judah, attacking all its fortified cities and capturing them. Who does this BIG BULLY think he is anyway??? Even when Hezekiah tries to appease this enemy by giving him an abundance of silver and gold, it is not enough! (Just like Satan, we can’t just let him have a little of ourselves, he wants everything from us….our very souls, and will relentlessly attack. We must be ever alert and covered with God’s armor to protect us!) So, we see “ole King Senna” sends his commander to test the loyalty of Hezekiah’s men on the wall with these taunting words, “Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says…..’The Lord will surely deliver us’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the King of Assyria? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” BIG MISTAKE . . . they ridiculed the living God!! And now for . . .

REST OF THE STORY . . . So, what did King Hezekiah do? He sought godly advice from the prophet Isaiah who responded: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not be afraid…..’” AND when he received this message, Hezekiah went straight to the temple and prayed for God to deliver them “so all the kingdoms on earth may know you alone are God.” He wanted God to get the glory, not himself!

RESULT: The angel of the Lord put to death 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp! “Sennacherib, King of Assyria, withdrew” (….I’m sure he was literally shaking in his sandals as he stepped over the bodies of all those dead soldiers!) And later as he was worshipping his god, Nisroch, he was killed by the sword of his own sons, just as the Lord had told Isaiah.

CONCLUSION: So, are we going to allow the “King of Assyria Bullies” of this world to taunt us and put fear in our hearts, or, like Hezekiah, chose to run to our Lord and Savior, seek His advice, obey it and be blessed with deliverance from our enemies? Dear Sisters…..let us not be afraid, but trust in the only true, living, all powerful Almighty God! Amen, and Amen!!