2 Kings 19 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study

2 Kings 19 Short Summary:

After the Rabshakeh of Assyria threatened King Hezekiah and Jerusalem, Hezekiah went to Isaiah the prophet for council. Isaiah prophesied that God would save the city and humble the king of Assyria for mocking the “Holy One of Israel.” God sent an angel into the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 men of the Assyrian army. Their humbled king returned to Ninevah, where he was assassinated by his sons while worshiping in a pagan temple.  

2 Kings 19 Extended Summary

WHEN:

• Hezekiah’s reign probably fits within the window of 730-695 B.C.

• He reigned for 29 years in Judah.

CHARACTERS:

• Hezekiah – King of Judah. He was the son of Ahaz.

• Sennacherib – The king of Assyria.

• The Rabshakeh – An Assyrian military official who threatened Jerusalem and Hezekiah.

• Isaiah – The prophet of God and the author of the book of Isaiah.  

WHERE:

• Hezekiah reigned over Judah from Jerusalem. The king of Assyria sent messengers to Jerusalem to threaten Hezekiah and try to scare him into surrendering the city.

OUTLINE:

• HEZEKIAH SEEKS THE ADVICE OF ISAIAH THE PROPHET (19:1-7):

  • In chapter 18, we discussed the Rabshakeh of Assyria threatening the city of Jerusalem.

  • After hearing the threats, Hezekiah sent for God’s prophet, Isaiah.

  • Isaiah sent back an encouraging message, telling Hezekiah the Lord would deliver the city from Assyria. God was going to strike the Assyrians and their king would return to his own land after hearing a rumor.    

• THE KING OF ASSYRIA THREATENS JERUSALEM AGAIN (19:8-13):

  • The king of Assyria was informed that the king of Cush was preparing to fight with him.

  • In an attempt to get Jerusalem to surrender swiftly, he sent more threats to Hezekiah.

  • His words mocked the God of Jerusalem and compared Him to the false gods of foreign cities, cities that the Assyrians had already conquered.

• HEZEKIAH’S PRAYER (19:14-19):

  • Hezekiah took the letter containing the threats into the Temple and spread them out before the Lord.

  • He prayed that God would deliver Jerusalem so all the kingdoms of the earth would know that the God of Judah was the one true God of Heaven.

• GOD’S RESPONSE TO THE PROUD ASSYRIANS (19:20-34):

  • God responded to Hezekiah’s prayer through Isaiah His prophet.

  • God heard the disrespectful words of the king of Assyria and the Rabshakeh, and He intended to humble those who mocked the “Holy One of Israel.”

  • The king of Assyria didn’t realize it was God who permitted him to be powerful. God was not going to tolerate the king’s pride and blasphemy, He intended to humble him.

  • God said He would put a hook in the king’s nose and a bit in his mouth and lead him away from Jerusalem. God probably used this language because the kings of Assyria used to do this with their prisoners. When they captured people, they would put a ring through their lip or nose, a chain was then attached to the ring, which allowed the Assyrians to lead people around like cattle. God threatened the king of Assyria with the punishment he had a habit of inflicting on others.

  • God decreed the king of Assyria would never enter Jerusalem, lay siege to the city, or even shoot an arrow in its direction. God would save the city for the glory of His name.  

• GOD STRIKES DOWN THE ASSYRIAN ARMY AND SENNACHERIB (19:35-37):

  • That night, an angel entered the camp of Assyria and killed 185,000 men.

  • The king of Assyria returned to Ninevah in humbling defeat.

  • He was assassinated by his own sons in the temple of Nisroch his god.

UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE:

• 2 Kings 19 contains the first reference to the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah wrote a big book of his own, which is typically positions towards the middle-to-end of the Old Testament in most Bibles.

• As we’ve pointed out before, the books of the Bible are not always in chronological order, and some books only give partial information about key figures.

• This is true of Isaiah, Isaiah’s first appearance in 2 Kings in during the reign of Hezekiah, but he had actually been a prophet in Judah during the reign of several earlier kings.

• We learn this from the first verse of the Book of Isaiah, which reads, “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah” (Isa 1:1).

• Isaiah wrote about events in Judah in the 700s B.C. It’s important to keep this in mind when trying to piece together the Bible story. Its easy to forget Isaiah lived during the days of the kings because his book appears so much later in the Old Testament.