WEBVTT - 2 Chronicles 32

0:00:02.759 --> 0:00:06.720
<v Speaker 1>Life Audio. For more resources to help you in your

0:00:06.800 --> 0:00:10.720
<v Speaker 1>walk with Christ, please visit us at Bible Study Headquarters

0:00:11.119 --> 0:00:15.440
<v Speaker 1>dot com. You're listening to the Chapter a Day Audio Bible.

0:00:15.920 --> 0:00:19.640
<v Speaker 1>I'm John Stangi, and today we're in Second Chronicles, chapter

0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:25.040
<v Speaker 1>thirty two and we'll be reading from the Message. And

0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:30.880
<v Speaker 1>then after this exemplary track record, this Sanacarib, king of Assyria,

0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:35.040
<v Speaker 1>came and attacked Judah. He put the fortified cities under siege,

0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:40.840
<v Speaker 1>determined to take them. When Hezekiah realized that Sanacarib's strategy

0:00:40.960 --> 0:00:44.120
<v Speaker 1>was to take Jerusalem, he talked to his advisors and

0:00:44.159 --> 0:00:48.920
<v Speaker 1>military leaders about eliminating all the water supplies outside the city.

0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:51.680
<v Speaker 1>They thought it was a good idea. There was a

0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:54.360
<v Speaker 1>great turnout of people to plug the springs and tear

0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:57.880
<v Speaker 1>down the aqueduct. They said, why should the kings of

0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:03.040
<v Speaker 1>Assyria march in and be firmished with running water. Hezekiah

0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:05.800
<v Speaker 1>also went to work repairing every part of the city

0:01:05.840 --> 0:01:09.679
<v Speaker 1>wall that was damaged, built defensive towers on it, built

0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:13.880
<v Speaker 1>another wall of defense further out, and reinforced the defensive

0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:17.720
<v Speaker 1>rampart the millow of the old city of David. He

0:01:17.800 --> 0:01:22.399
<v Speaker 1>also built up a large store of armaments, spears and shields.

0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:26.360
<v Speaker 1>He then appointed military officers to be responsible for the

0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:30.000
<v Speaker 1>people and got them all together at the public square

0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:34.520
<v Speaker 1>in front of the city gate. Hezekiah rallied the people, saying,

0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:38.520
<v Speaker 1>be strong, take courage, don't be intimidated by the King

0:01:38.560 --> 0:01:41.920
<v Speaker 1>of Assyria and his troops. There are more on our

0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:45.479
<v Speaker 1>side than on their side. He only has a bunch

0:01:45.520 --> 0:01:49.480
<v Speaker 1>of mere men. We have our God to help us

0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:55.480
<v Speaker 1>and fight for us. Morale surged. Hezekiah's words put steel

0:01:55.520 --> 0:02:00.160
<v Speaker 1>in their spines. Later on, Sanakarib, who had set up

0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:04.600
<v Speaker 1>camp a few miles away at Lakish, sent messengers to Jerusalem,

0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:10.600
<v Speaker 1>addressing Judah through Hezekiah a proclamation of Sanakarib, King of Assyria,

0:02:11.480 --> 0:02:14.120
<v Speaker 1>You poor people, Do you think you're safe in that

0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:18.760
<v Speaker 1>so called fortress of Jerusalem. You're sitting ducks. Do you

0:02:18.800 --> 0:02:23.560
<v Speaker 1>think Hezekiah will save you? Don't be stupid. Hezekiah has

0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:26.840
<v Speaker 1>fed you a pack of lives. When he says God

0:02:26.880 --> 0:02:29.280
<v Speaker 1>will save us from the power of the King of Assyria,

0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:33.519
<v Speaker 1>he's lying. You're all going to end up dead. Wasn't

0:02:33.560 --> 0:02:37.119
<v Speaker 1>it Hezekiah who cleared out all the neighborhood worship shrines

0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:41.280
<v Speaker 1>and told you there is only one legitimate place to worship.

0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:45.360
<v Speaker 1>Do you have any idea what I and my ancestors

0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:49.160
<v Speaker 1>have done to all the countries around here? Has there

0:02:49.200 --> 0:02:52.160
<v Speaker 1>been a single god anywhere strong enough to stand up

0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:55.560
<v Speaker 1>against me? Can you name one god among all the

0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:59.120
<v Speaker 1>nations that either I or my ancestors have ravaged that

0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:03.000
<v Speaker 1>so much as lifted a finger against me? So what

0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:06.000
<v Speaker 1>makes you think you'll make out any better with your God?

0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:10.040
<v Speaker 1>Don't let Hezekiah fool you. Don't let him get by

0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:13.800
<v Speaker 1>with his bare faced lives. Don't trust him. No god

0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:17.280
<v Speaker 1>of any country or kingdom ever has been one bit

0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:21.120
<v Speaker 1>of help against me or my ancestors. What kind of

0:03:21.280 --> 0:03:26.200
<v Speaker 1>odds does that give your God? The messengers felt free

0:03:26.280 --> 0:03:29.480
<v Speaker 1>to throw in their personal comments, putting down both God

0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:35.560
<v Speaker 1>and God's servant Hezekiah. Sanakarib continued to send letters insulting

0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:38.640
<v Speaker 1>the God of Israel. The gods of the nations were

0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:42.000
<v Speaker 1>powerless to help their people. The God of Hezekiah is

0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:46.480
<v Speaker 1>no better, probably worse. The messengers would come up to

0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:49.400
<v Speaker 1>the wall of Jerusalem and shout up to the people

0:03:49.520 --> 0:03:53.200
<v Speaker 1>standing on the wall, shouting their propaganda in Hebrew, trying

0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:58.800
<v Speaker 1>to scare them into demoralized submission. They contemptuously lump the

0:03:58.840 --> 0:04:02.480
<v Speaker 1>God of Jerusalem with the handmade gods of other peoples.

0:04:03.440 --> 0:04:07.080
<v Speaker 1>King Hezekiah, joined by the prophet Isaiah, son of Amos,

0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:12.280
<v Speaker 1>responded by praying, calling up to Heaven. God answered by

0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:16.359
<v Speaker 1>sending an angel who wiped out everyone in the Assyrian camp,

0:04:16.600 --> 0:04:21.320
<v Speaker 1>both warriors and officers. Senacarib was forced to return home

0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:25.360
<v Speaker 1>in disgrace, tail between his legs. When he went into

0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:29.320
<v Speaker 1>the temple of his God, his own sons killed him.

0:04:29.960 --> 0:04:34.120
<v Speaker 1>God saved Hezekiah and the citizens of Jerusalem from Senacarib,

0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:37.719
<v Speaker 1>King of Assyria, and everyone else, and he continued to

0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:41.560
<v Speaker 1>take good care of them. People streamed into Jerusalem, bringing

0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:45.880
<v Speaker 1>offerings for the worship of God and expensive presence to Hezekiah,

0:04:46.000 --> 0:04:51.400
<v Speaker 1>King of Judah. All the surrounding nations were impressed Hezekiah's

0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:58.159
<v Speaker 1>stock sword. Sometime later, Hezekiah became deathly sick. He prayed

0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:02.040
<v Speaker 1>to God and was given a reassuring sign, but the sign,

0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:07.520
<v Speaker 1>instead of making Hezekiah grateful, made him arrogant. This made

0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:12.480
<v Speaker 1>God angry, and his anger spilled over on Judah and Jerusalem.

0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:17.280
<v Speaker 1>But then Hezekiah and Jerusalem with him repented of his arrogance,

0:05:17.920 --> 0:05:22.720
<v Speaker 1>and God withdrew his anger. While Hezekiah lived, Hezekiah ended

0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:26.440
<v Speaker 1>up very wealthy and much honored. He built treasuries for

0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:32.600
<v Speaker 1>all his silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields and valuables,

0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:36.320
<v Speaker 1>barns for the grain, new wine and olive oil, stalls

0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:40.000
<v Speaker 1>for his various breeds of cattle, and pens for his flocks.

0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:43.920
<v Speaker 1>He founded royal cities for himself and built up huge

0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:47.279
<v Speaker 1>stocks of sheep and cattle. God saw to it that

0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:52.200
<v Speaker 1>he was extravagantly rich. Hezekiah was also responsible for diverting

0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:55.720
<v Speaker 1>the upper outlet of the Gihan Spring and re routing

0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:58.480
<v Speaker 1>the water to the west side of the city of David.

0:05:59.400 --> 0:06:03.440
<v Speaker 1>Hezekiah succeeded in everything he did, but when the rulers

0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:06.560
<v Speaker 1>of Babylon sent emissaries to find out about the sign

0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:10.160
<v Speaker 1>from God that had taken place earlier, God left him

0:06:10.200 --> 0:06:12.720
<v Speaker 1>on his own to see what he would do. He

0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:16.800
<v Speaker 1>wanted to test his heart. The rest of the history

0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:20.480
<v Speaker 1>of Hezekiah and his life of loyal service you can

0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:23.240
<v Speaker 1>read for yourself. It's written in the vision of the

0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:26.919
<v Speaker 1>prophet Isaiah son of Amoz in the Royal Annals of

0:06:26.960 --> 0:06:31.680
<v Speaker 1>the Kings of Judah and Israel. When Hezekiah died, they

0:06:31.720 --> 0:06:35.120
<v Speaker 1>buried him in the upper part of the King David Cemetery.

0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:39.880
<v Speaker 1>Everyone in Judah and Jerusalem came to the funeral. He

0:06:40.040 --> 0:06:44.960
<v Speaker 1>was buried in great honor. Manassa, his son, was the

0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:51.640
<v Speaker 1>next king. Let's pray, Lord, we thank you for your word,

0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:53.520
<v Speaker 1>and we thank you for the privilege of being able

0:06:53.520 --> 0:06:56.160
<v Speaker 1>to look at this portion of scripture today. And it's

0:06:56.160 --> 0:06:58.960
<v Speaker 1>a good reminder Lord of the fact that when all

0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:03.840
<v Speaker 1>seems lost, that you remain faithful, that you can defeat

0:07:03.880 --> 0:07:07.000
<v Speaker 1>any human power, that you can stand up against any

0:07:07.080 --> 0:07:10.880
<v Speaker 1>human obstacle, and the things that seem so impossible to

0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:15.080
<v Speaker 1>us are not impossible for you. Lord. We're grateful for that.

0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:17.600
<v Speaker 1>We're grateful for the new life that you've given us

0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:20.760
<v Speaker 1>through faith in your son Jesus Christ. We were living

0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:23.920
<v Speaker 1>as your enemies. We were distant from you, we were

0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:26.080
<v Speaker 1>going our own way, and we were destined to be

0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:31.080
<v Speaker 1>eternal recipients of your wrath. But in mercy and with

0:07:31.240 --> 0:07:35.360
<v Speaker 1>grace you rescued us through your son Jesus Christ. You

0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:39.200
<v Speaker 1>invite us to trust in Christ as our Lord, and

0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:42.480
<v Speaker 1>you empower us to walk with you faithfully. Lord, we're

0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:45.960
<v Speaker 1>grateful for your presence with us and for reminders like

0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:49.040
<v Speaker 1>we see in this passage of scripture. We commit this

0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:51.240
<v Speaker 1>day to your care, and we thank you for all

0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:54.840
<v Speaker 1>of these things in Jesus's name, Amen,