The Fearful Faithfulness of God
6/24/26 Bible Thought (2 Kings 18)
Main Idea: God faithfully keeps His Word, upholding both covenantal blessings and covenantal curses.
A Look at the Text:
As we return to the Kings, we are again introduced to the Judean king, Hezekiah, whom we met during our study in Isaiah. Chronologically, Hezekiah’s rule overlapped with the final years of the last king of Israel, Hoshea, before Israel fell to Assyria.
The biblical narrator leaves no doubt as to why this happened:
The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12 because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed (2 Kings 18:11-12).
Conquering Israel wasn’t enough for the Assyrian empire, though. The next land in their sights was Judah. The Assyrians laid waste to the Judean countryside (2 Kings 18:13) and besieged the key city of Lachish. In response, Hezekiah paid off Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, to get him to leave (2 Kings 18:13-15).
Yet, the Assyrians apparently changed their mind and went after Jerusalem as well. Sennacherib sent a Rabshakeh (a field commander who spoke the local language) [1] to demand Hezekiah’s surrender and to mock Hezekiah’s hope and his God.
The Assyrians scoffed at the thought that the Lord would deliver Jerusalem (2 Kings 18:32), for up until that point, none of the gods of the nations had been any help against the Assyrian host.
Bringing it Home:
The Bible repeatedly asserts that there is one King who is truly ruling and reigning and doing as He pleases. While Sennacherib was credited with being “king of the world”, [2] that title was misattributed.
It wasn’t Yahweh’s unwillingness or inability to deliver that caused Israel to fall to Assyria. Rather, it was their unwillingness or inability to keep their covenant with God. Back in the days of Moses, many warnings were issued for covenant faithlessness (see Deut. 28:15-68). Specifically, God threatened exile to a foreign land, amongst other things, if the people failed to serve Him (Deut. 28:36).
God is a promise-keeping God. When He promises to bless, He blesses. When He promises to curse, He curses. He is not like many who fail to uphold their word, or like parents who threaten their children with punishments and then do not follow through.
God doesn’t make empty threats. He keeps His Word—all of it.
Challenge:
Do I take the warnings from God in Scripture seriously?
[1] John H Walton, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament): 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009), 187–188.
[2] John H Walton, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament): 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009), 188.