Day 185: Hezekiah's Prayer (2024)

This episode explores Hezekiah's powerful intercessory prayer during the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem, emphasizing faith and divine intervention in the face of adversity.

1. Hezekiah's response to Assyrian threats showcases deep faith and reliance on God's intervention.
2. The communal celebration of Passover highlights the unity and spiritual renewal among the Israelites.
3. Prayer is depicted as a potent tool for divine communication and intervention.
4. God's deliverance of Jerusalem serves as a testament to His faithfulness and power over earthly adversities.
5. The episode encourages listeners to trust in God's plan, especially when facing overwhelming challenges.

1: Introduction to the Episode

Fr. Mike Schmitz introduces the biblical context and the significance of the day's readings. He emphasizes the spiritual journey from Genesis to Revelation. Fr. Mike Schmitz: "We're encountering God's voice and living life through the lens of scripture."

2: Hezekiah's Prayer

Discussion on Hezekiah's immediate and devout response to receiving the threatening letter from Assyria, highlighting his profound trust in God. Fr. Mike Schmitz: "Hezekiah spread the threatening letter before the Lord, seeking deliverance only God could provide."

3: The Power of Community and Faith

Exploration of the communal aspects of faith during the Passover celebration, underlining the solidarity and collective return to religious roots. Fr. Mike Schmitz: "Hezekiah's leadership in reinstating the Passover underscores the unity and strength of communal faith."

4: Theological Reflections

Fr. Mike reflects on the theological implications of the events, discussing the role of divine justice and mercy in the historical context. Fr. Mike Schmitz: "God’s response to Hezekiah’s prayer demonstrates His active presence and commitment to His people."

5: Concluding Thoughts

Summarization of the episode's key messages and a call to apply the lessons of faith and prayer in personal life. Fr. Mike Schmitz: "Like Hezekiah, we must lay our challenges before God, trusting in His sovereign will."

1. Practice Trust: In times of trouble, spread your worries before God as Hezekiah did, trusting in His deliverance.
2. Community Engagement: Participate in community religious activities to strengthen faith and build support networks.
3. Regular Prayer: Incorporate prayer into daily life, using it as a means to communicate openly with God.
4. Read Scriptures: Engage with biblical stories of faith to understand the depth of God's involvement in human affairs.
5. Reflect and Act: Reflect on personal challenges and consider what it means to truly trust in God’s plans.

Fr. Mike continues to emphasize Hezekiah's faithfulness as he turns to God in prayer in the midst of battle, and reinstitutes the Passover feast. Today we read 2 Kings 19, 2 Chronicles 30, and Psalm 143.

People

Hezekiah, Isaiah, Sennacherib

Books

The Bible

Content Warnings:

None

Fr. Mike Schmitz
Hi, my name is Fr. Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Bible in Ear podcast where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in Ear podcast is brought to you by ascension using the great adventure Bible timeline. We'll read all the way from Genesis to revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story. Today it is day 185.

You're amazing. You're a rock star for getting this far. And because of that, we're going to read today second kings, chapter 19. We're going to read two chronicles, chapter 30, and we are going to pray together. Psalm 143.

If you want to know what Bible translation I'm using, you probably can fill in the gaps. It is the revised standard Version, second catholic edition. I am using the great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com bibleinaear. And you want to subscribe to this podcast?

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Community of people Bible in a year we are reading on day 185, two kings 19, 2nd chronicles 30, and psalm 143, the second book of kings, chapter 19. Hezekiah consults Isaiah. When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebnah, the secretary, and the senior priests covered with sackcloth to the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz. They said to him, thus says Hezekiah, this day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace.

Children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. It may be that the Lord your God heard all the words of the rabshakeh, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to mock the living God and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left. When the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, say to your master, thus says the lord, do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

Sennacherib's mockery the rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libna, for he heard that the king had left Laksheshish. And when the king heard concerning Tirhaka, king of Ethiopia, behold, he has set out to fight against you. He sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, thus shall you speak to Hezekiah, king of Judah. Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, destroying them utterly, and shall you be delivered?

Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations which my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Asar? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Henna, or the king of Evah? Hezekiah. Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. And Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the lord.

And Hezekiah prayed before the lord and said, o Lord, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone of all the kingdoms of the earth you have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, o lord, and hear. Open your eyes, o lord, and see and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God of a truth. O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were no gods but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed.

So now, O Lord, our God save us, I beg you from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone. Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, thus says the Lord the God of Israel, your prayer to me about Sennacherib, king of Assyria. I have heard this is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him. She despises you. She scorns you, the virgin daughter of Zion.

She wags her head behind you, the daughter of Jerusalem, whom have you mocked and reviled? Against? Whom have you raised your voice and haughtily lifted your eyes against the holy one of Israel? By your messengers you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, with my many chariots, I have gone up the heights of the mountains to the far recesses of Lebanon. I felled its tallest cedars, its choicest cypresses.

I entered its farthest retreat, its densest forest. I dug wells and drank foreign waters, and I dried up with the sole of my foot all the streams of Egypt. Have you not heard that I determined it long ago. I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass. That you should turn fortified cities into heaps of ruins while their inhabitants, shorn of strength, are dismayed and confounded and have become like plants of the field and like tender grass, like grasse housetops, blighted before it is grown.

But I know you're sitting down and you're going out and coming in, and you're raging against me because you have raged against me, and your arrogance has come into my ears. I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came. And this shall be the sign for you. This year you shall eat what grows of itself, and in the second year, what springs of the same. Then in the third year, sow and reap and plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward, for out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord will do this. Therefore, thus says the lord concerning the king of Assyria, he shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield, or cast up a siege mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same, he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, says the Lord, for I will defend this city to save it for my sake and for the sake of my servant David. Sennacherib's defeat and death.

And that night, the angel of the lord went forth and slew 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. Then Sennacherib, king of Assyria, departed and went home and dwelt at Nineveh. And as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch, his God Adramelech and Schirizer, his sons slew him with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Asarhaddon, his son reigned in his stead.

The second book of Chronicles, chapter 30. Keeping the feast of the Passover Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah and wrote letters also to Ephraim and manasseh that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem to keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel. For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to keep the Passover in the second month for they could not keep it in its time because the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient number nor had the people assembled in Jerusalem. And the plan seemed right to the king and all the assembly. So they decreed to make a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that the people should come and keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel at Jerusalem for they had not kept it in great numbers as prescribed.

So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his princes as the king had commanded, saying, o people of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. Do not be like your fathers and your brethren who were faithless to the Lord God of their fathers, so that he made them a desolation, as you see. Do not now be stiff necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary which he has sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you. For if you return to the Lord, your brethren and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you if you return to him.

So the couriers went from city to city throughout the country of Ephraim and Manasseh and as far as Zebulun. But they laughed them to scorn and mocked them. Only a few men of asher, of Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. The hand of God was also upon Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the Lord. And many people came together in Jerusalem to keep the feast of unleavened bread.

In the second month, a very great assembly they set to work and removed the altars that were in Jerusalem and all the altars for burning incense they took away and threw into the Kidron valley. And they killed the Passover lamb on the 14th day of the second month. And the priests and the Levites were put to shame. So that they sanctified themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of the Lord. They took their accustomed posts according to the law of Moses, the man of God.

The priests sprinkled the blood which they received from the hand of the Levites. For there were many in the assembly who had not sanctified themselves. Therefore, the Levites had to kill the Passover lamb for everyone who was not clean to make it holy to the Lord. For a multitude of the people, many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves yet they ate the Passover otherwise than as prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them saying, the good Lord pardon everyone who sets his heart to seek God, the Lord, the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary's rules of cleanness.

And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people. And the sons of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness. And the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with all their might to the Lord. And Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the Lord. So the people ate the food of the festival for seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord, the God of their fathers.

Then the whole assembly agreed together to keep the feast for another seven days. So they kept it for another seven days with gladness. For Hezekiah, king of Judah, gave the assembly a thousand bulls and 7000 sheep for offerings. And the princes gave the assembly a thousand bulls and 10,000 sheep. And the priests sanctified themselves in great numbers.

The whole assembly of Judah and the priests and the Levites and the whole assembly that came out of Israel. And the sojourners who came out of the land of Israel and the sojourners who dwelt in Judah rejoiced. So there was great joy in Jerusalem. For since the time of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. Then the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people.

And their voice was heard. And their prayer came to his holy habitation in heaven.

Psalm 143. Prayer for deliverance from enemies. A psalm of David. Hear my prayer, O Lord. Give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness.

Answer me in your righteousness. Enter not into judgment with your servant for no man living is righteous before you. For the enemy has pursued me. He has crushed my life to the ground. He has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.

Therefore my spirit faints within me. My heart within me is appalled. I remember the days of Oldenhouse. I meditate on all that you have done. I muse on what your hands have wrought.

I stretch out my hands to you. My soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Make haste to answer me, O Lord. My spirit fails. Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit.

Let me hear in the morning of your merciful love. For in you I put my trust. Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. Deliver me, o lord, from my enemies. I have fled to you for refuge.

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on a level path for your name's sake. O Lord, preserve my life. In your righteousness, bring me out of trouble, and in your steadfast love cut off my enemies and destroy all my adversaries, for I am your servante father in heaven. We thank you and give you praise.

Just like David here is praying for deliverance from enemies. We've been praying these last days for deliverance from persecution, from evil and from obstacles, from enemies. Because why? Because we know. We know that you are a God.

You are the God who hears our prayers. And so there's no obstacle, there's no enemy, there's no difficulty, there's no persecutor or persecution that is bigger than you, is stronger than you. You are the Lord God of all. And so we trust in you this day and every day. We trust you with our hopes.

We trust you with our dreams. We trust you with our fears. We trust you with those that we love, Lord God, we place them into your hands with all the things we love. We place them into your hands with our very selves. We place ourselves into your hands.

Please receive us as your children this day and every day into eternity. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Wow, I just second kings 19. Here is Hezekiah. And I mentioned, right, his father Ahaz, not a good king, one of the worst. Here is Hezekiah, one of the best. And we just see this on display in two kings 19 and in two chronicles, chapter 30.

Both of these chapters just highlight the fact that here is Hezekiah. He's not perfect. And we're going to know that. We're going to see this, right? He's not perfect.

But I love this. In fact, gosh, as I was, I was praying with this this morning. Here is Sennacherib. And Sennacherib, just like yesterday, we read about this, how Snekarib says, okay, listen, I've destroyed all of these nations. Why do you think that you are going to withstand, like all those nations, they also prayed to their gods.

Why do you think that you having the Lord God, he's going to save you at all? The other gods have never done anything to stop me. In fact, they gave me and those gods gave me power. In fact, God here, just so good. The Lord God, through Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah saying, yeah, that Hezekiah.

Oh, gosh, here's what it is. God is saying to Sennacherib, yeah, I delivered those nations into your hands. You bet, totally did that. And now it's done. Yeah, I delivered all those nations into your hands.

And now it's done. And I just think there's something remarkable about this. But this comes on the heels of what. Here's the thing I just want to highlight. After Sennacherib mocks Hezekiah's trust in the Lord, he has this letter sent to Hezekiah.

Hezekiah takes that letter. This is beginning in two kings, 1914. Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers. He read it and Hezekiah went to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord in response. He knew.

Right, Seneca, you're right. The Assyrians, they destroyed Samaria. They destroyed all these other nations. They're going to destroy the small nation of Judah completely. Are you kidding?

There's no hope other than in God himself. And so Hezekiah brings this letter, this letter that symbolizes the impossible task in front of him, the impossible battle in front of him. And he spreads it out in front of the Lord in his presence and says, okay, God, you're the only one. You are the only one who can save us. And I love this.

In fact, again, as I said, I did this this morning as I was preparing for reading this, it just struck me like, wow, Lord God, I'm facing something that's big. This is one of those big tasks that just, I think God's calling me to. And I just was, I'm out of my depth, right? It's one of those situations where it's like, oh, my gosh, this is way bigger than me. This is way bigger than anything I've ever attempted before.

And it was on my phone in prayer, and I just put that was adoration of Jesus in the Eucharist. And I just placed that phone down and like Hezekiah saying, okay, God, if you want this to happen, you're going to be the one to make it happen because I can't do this. And just one of those, like, yes, this is how we approach God when we, we are dealing with some of those, those incredible battles to recognize. I can only, this will only happen if you want it to happen, Lord. It will only come to pass if you will it to come to pass.

And so if you don't will it to come to pass, then let that thy will be done. And if you do, then it's all for you. It's all your glory, it's all your honor. And that's why I, Hezekiah is such an incredible model, you know, in two chronicles, chapter 29, 30, I mean, today it's remarkable that here's Hezekiah who says, okay, we're reinstituting Passover. We've not worshiped God like he has asked to be worshipped and we're going to do it.

And I love how Hezekiah sends word to the remnant tribes, not Judah and Benjamin, of course, they were all invited, but those other remnant tribes that were still in the north. And here is Hezekiah is saying, come back. Come back to the temple. Come back to Jerusalem. And because this is your pedigree, right?

This is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel. This is the God of our fathers. We're not meant to be two nations separated. Two nations divided kingdom. We're meant to be one nation, one great kingdom that the Lord God blesses and that blesses the Lord God.

And many of them mocked them. But some people came down from those other nations or came up from those other nations to Jerusalem and worshiped. And it's just incredible. I love the fact that they kept the feast for seven days and it was so good. They were like, let's do it another seven days.

And that's just such a generosity of heart. Right? Cause I think sometimes we might get to the place where we're saying, okay, Lord God, I've given you my hour. Okay, we're done. I'm going home.

As opposed to saying, you know what? I've been here for an hour. Why not just stay? Why not just stay in the Lord's presence? Why not just continue to give him glory?

No, we don't do that all the time. And people of Israel didn't do that all the time. But there are some moments that just call for extended celebration. And this was one where King Hezekiah had reinstituted finally after man so many years, the feast of Passover. They just continued to worship God, to sing praises to his name and to give him glory and to worship that he is due.

So this is amazing. And I just think, what are the areas in my life and in our lives of this community as we're going through this Bible and here on the second half now, we're in the back stretch coming around that corner or homestretch, I mean to say, of this Bible, in a year, here we are on the downhill, just the top of the downhill, of course. But what are the ways in which the Lord is calling me to give him my whole heart, to get to worship him like he has asked to worship him and to eliminate the idols in my life, my life, our lives, and to just, yeah, give him what he's asked for. To give him our hearts, to love him with everything we are and everything that we have, which is a big deal. And yet it's crazy that God even wants that.

What would even matter if I was an omnipotent being? How would I care if this finite, small creature like me or like us were to give me worship? It's just because God loves you so much. That's why he cares. Just because he loves you that much, which is incredible gift.

So what a high call. What an incredible honor and privilege. So let's keep praying for each other. He praying for each other because we're not done. We have so much left.

We have so much more of God's story to hear. So much of God's story to allow, to shape us and to allow to form us and mold our hearts. So we pray for each other. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me.

My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God blessed.