2 Kings 19:1 - Meaning and Application

When the report of Rabshakeh’s speech reached Hezekiah, people would have expected a war council. Rabshakeh likely expected that too. Hezekiah had already taken counsel with his princes and mighty men before the siege (2 Chronicles 32:3), but that was not his main help now. His greatest comfort was that he had a God to turn to, and this passage shows what passed between him and God in this crisis.

First, Hezekiah felt deeply the dishonor done to God by Rabshakeh’s blasphemy. When he heard the report, even though it came through others, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth, a coarse garment worn in grief and humiliation (2 Kings 19:1). God’s people often acted this way when they heard God’s name insulted, and even kings should not think it beneath them to share in grief over God’s injured honor. Royal robes were not too fine to tear, and royal flesh was not too fine to be clothed in sackcloth, when God was mocked and Jerusalem was in danger.

God had called for this kind of sorrow, and he was displeased with those who did not feel it. Isaiah had already spoken of people who were eating and drinking in careless joy on a day of trouble and confusion in the valley of vision (2 Kings 19:5; Isaiah 22:12-14). The king was in sackcloth, but many of his subjects were in soft clothing. Their comfort showed a lack of concern for God’s dishonor and for the danger facing his people.

Second, Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord. He followed the example of the psalmist, who, when troubled by the pride and success of the wicked, went into God’s sanctuary and understood their end (Psalm 73:17). He went there to meditate and pray, so that his spirit could grow calm after such a stir. He was not first trying to figure out how to answer Rabshakeh. He handed the matter over to God. In the house of the Lord, he found rest, safety, provision, guidance, and everything he needed in God.

When the enemies of the church become bold and threatening, it is wise and right for God’s people to turn to him, appeal to him, and leave their cause with him.

Third, Hezekiah sent honored messengers to the prophet Isaiah to ask for his prayers (2 Kings 19:2-4). Eliakim and Shebna, who had heard Rabshakeh’s words, could explain the matter well to Isaiah and move him with the seriousness of the situation. In times of trouble, the elders of the priests were to pray for the people (Joel 2:17), but they also went to seek Isaiah’s prayers, because he could pray with greater power and had greater access in heaven. The messengers went in sackcloth because they represented the king, who was dressed that way himself.

Their request to Isaiah was simple: “Lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.” That meant Judah, which was now only a remnant after the ten tribes had been carried away, and Jerusalem, which was also only a remnant now that the fortified cities of Judah had fallen. It is a good and proper thing, when we are in trouble, to ask others to pray for us. Doing so honors God, honors prayer, and honors our brothers and sisters. Yet when we ask others to pray, we must not think that frees us from praying ourselves. Hezekiah sent to Isaiah for prayer, but he also went into the house of the Lord to pray on his own. Those who bring God’s word to us should especially be asked to speak to God for us. Abraham heard, “He is a prophet, and he will pray for you” (Genesis 20:7). The great prophet is also the great intercessor. Those who truly lift up their hearts in prayer are the ones most likely to prevail with God. And when God’s church is brought very low, with only a remnant left and few friends to help, that is exactly the time to lift up prayer for that remnant.

Hezekiah and his messengers urged two things before Isaiah. First, they spoke of their fear of the enemy (2 Kings 19:3). Rabshakeh was arrogant and insulting. It was a day of rebuke and blasphemy. They were being despised, and God was being dishonored. This made the day a day of trouble. They said they had never seen a king and kingdom so insulted and trampled on. Their hearts were crushed by the contempt of the proud, and it cut them deeply to hear the enemy mock their trust in God and ask, “Where is your God now?” Worst of all, they could not see any way to help themselves or escape the shame. Their cause was good, and their people were faithful, but they were completely outnumbered. They were like a woman in labor whose strength is gone and who has no power left to bring forth the child. Their need was urgent, and they were ready to perish.

Second, they spoke of their hope in God. They looked to him and depended on him to act for them. One word from him would change everything and save the remnant from sinking. If he would only rebuke Rabshakeh’s words, that is, prove them false and shame the blasphemer (2 Kings 19:4), then all would be well. They trusted that he would do this, not because they had earned it, but because his own honor was at stake. Rabshakeh had insulted the living God by putting him on the level of deaf and dumb idols. They had reason to expect a good outcome, because they could bring God into the quarrel. As the psalm says, “Arise, O God, and plead your own cause” (Psalm 74:22). They said to Isaiah, “He is the Lord your God,” meaning that Isaiah had a special concern for God’s glory and a special interest in his favor. God had heard Rabshakeh’s blasphemous words, and therefore, they hoped, he would hear and rebuke them. They asked Isaiah to help them bring the matter before God, and then they were ready to leave it with him.

Fourth, God sent word to Hezekiah through Isaiah that he would show his own glory in the destruction of the Assyrians. Hezekiah had not sent to Isaiah to ask about the outcome, as some people did when they consulted prophets and asked, “Will I recover?” or similar questions. He sent because he wanted help in doing his duty. Since that was his concern, God answered by showing him what the result would be, as a reward for his care to do what was right (2 Kings 19:6-7). God first made the matter his own cause: “They have blasphemed me.” Then he encouraged Hezekiah, who was frightened: “Do not be afraid of the words you have heard.” They were only words, even if they were proud and fiery words, and words are only wind.

He promised to terrify the king of Assyria more than Rabshakeh had terrified Hezekiah. “I will send a blast upon him,” meaning that deadly breath that destroyed his army, “and terrors will seize him and drive him back to his own land, where death will meet him.” This brief warning from God’s own mouth would carry out his judgment, while all the powerless threats that came from Rabshakeh’s mouth would fade away into the air.