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Speaker 1: Life Audio. For more resources to help you in your

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Speaker 1: walk with Christ, please visit us at Bible Study Headquarters

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Speaker 1: dot com. You're listening to the chapter today Audio Bible.

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Speaker 1: I'm John Stanghi, and today we're in Second King's Chapter eighteen,

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Speaker 1: and we're reading from the English Standard version. In the

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Speaker 1: third year of Hoshea, son of Ela, king of Israel,

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Speaker 1: Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign.

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Speaker 1: He was twenty five years old when he began to reign,

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Speaker 1: and he reigned twenty nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's

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Speaker 1: name was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah. And he did

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Speaker 1: what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according

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Speaker 1: to all that David his father had done. He removed

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Speaker 1: the high places and broke the pillars, and cut down

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Speaker 1: the eshira. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent

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Speaker 1: that Moses had made, for until those days the people

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Speaker 1: of Israel had made offerings to it. It was called Nahushtan.

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Speaker 1: He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so

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Speaker 1: that there was none like him among all the kings

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Speaker 1: of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him.

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Speaker 1: For he held fast to the Lord. He did not

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Speaker 1: depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the

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Speaker 1: Lord commanded Moses, and the Lord was with him wherever

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Speaker 1: he went out, he prospered. He rebelled against the King

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Speaker 1: of Assyria and would not serve him. He struck down

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Speaker 1: the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory from

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Speaker 1: watchtower to fortified city. In the fourth year of King Hezekiah,

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Speaker 1: which was the seventh year of Hoshea, son of Ela,

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Speaker 1: King of Israel, Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, came up against

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Speaker 1: Samaria and besieged it, and at the end of three

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Speaker 1: years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah,

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Speaker 1: which was the ninth year of Hosheia, King of Israel,

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Speaker 1: Samaria was taken. The King of Assyria carried the Israelites

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Speaker 1: away to Assyria and put them in Halla and on

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Speaker 1: the Habor, the river of Gozen, and in the cities

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Speaker 1: of the Medes. Because they did not obey the voice

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Speaker 1: of the Lord their God, but transgressed his covenant. Even

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Speaker 1: all that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded, they

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Speaker 1: neither listened nor obeyed. In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah,

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Speaker 1: Sanakarib King of Assyria came up against all the fortified

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Speaker 1: cities of Judah and took them. And Hezekiah, king of Judah,

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Speaker 1: sent to the King of Assyria at Lakish, saying, I

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Speaker 1: have done wrong withdraw from me whatever you impose on me,

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Speaker 1: I will bear. And the King of Assyria required of Hezekiah,

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Speaker 1: King of Judah, three hundred talents of silver and thirty

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Speaker 1: talents of gold. And Hezekiah gave him all the silver

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Speaker 1: that was found in the House of the Lord and

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Speaker 1: in the treasure of the King's house at that time.

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Speaker 1: Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the Temple

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Speaker 1: of the Lord and from the door posts that Hezekiah,

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Speaker 1: King of Judah, had overlaid, and gave it to the

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Speaker 1: King of Assyria. And the King of Assyria sent the Tartan,

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Speaker 1: the rab Cerrees, and the Rabshika with a great army

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Speaker 1: from Lakish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And they went

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Speaker 1: up and came to Jerusalem. When they arrived, they came

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Speaker 1: and stood by the conduit of the Upper Pool, which

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Speaker 1: is on the highway to the Washersfield. And when they

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Speaker 1: called for the king there came out to them Eliakim,

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Speaker 1: son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah

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Speaker 1: the secretary, and Joah the son of Asath the recorder,

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Speaker 1: and the Rabshaka said to them, Say to Hezekiah, thus

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Speaker 1: says the great King, the King of Assyria, on, what

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Speaker 1: do you rest this trust of yours? Do you think

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Speaker 1: that mere words are strategy and power for war? In

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Speaker 1: whom do you now trust that you have rebelled against me? Behold,

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Speaker 1: you are trusting now in Egypt that broken reed of

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Speaker 1: a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man

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Speaker 1: who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh, King of Egypt,

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Speaker 1: to all who trust in him. But if you say

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Speaker 1: to me, we trust in the Lord our God, is

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Speaker 1: it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed,

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Speaker 1: saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, you shall worship before

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Speaker 1: this altar in Jerusalem. Come now, make a wager with

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Speaker 1: my master, the King of Assyria. I will give you

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Speaker 1: two thousand horses if you are able on your part

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Speaker 1: to set riders on them. How then can you repulse

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Speaker 1: a single captain among the least of my master's servants.

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Speaker 1: When you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen. Moreover,

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Speaker 1: is it without the Lord that I have come up

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Speaker 1: against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me,

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Speaker 1: go up against this land and destroy it. Then Eliakim,

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Speaker 1: the son of Hilkiah and Shebnah and Joah said to

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Speaker 1: the Rabshakah, please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for

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Speaker 1: we understand it. Do not speak to us in the

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Speaker 1: language of Judah within the hearing of the people who

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Speaker 1: are on the wall. But the Rabshaka said to them,

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Speaker 1: has my master sent me to speak these words to

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Speaker 1: your master and to you, and not to the men

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Speaker 1: sitting on the wall who are doomed with you, to

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Speaker 1: eat their own dungu and to drink their own urine.

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Speaker 1: Then the Rabshaka stood and called out in a loud

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Speaker 1: voice in the language of Judah. Hear the word of

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Speaker 1: the great King, the King of Assyria. Thus says the King,

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Speaker 1: do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not

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Speaker 1: be able to deliver you out of my life hand.

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Speaker 1: Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord

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Speaker 1: by saying the Lord will surely deliver us, and this

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Speaker 1: city will not be given into the hand of the

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Speaker 1: King of Assyria. Do not listen to Hezekiah, For thus

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Speaker 1: says the King of Assyria, make your peace with me,

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Speaker 1: and come out to me. Then each one of you

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Speaker 1: will eat of his own vine, and each one of

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Speaker 1: his own fig tree, and each one of you will

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Speaker 1: drink the water of his own cistern, until I come

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Speaker 1: and take you away to a land like your own land,

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Speaker 1: a land of grain and wine, a land of bread

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Speaker 1: and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that

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Speaker 1: you may live and not die. And do not listen

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Speaker 1: to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, the Lord

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Speaker 1: will deliver us. Has any of the gods of the

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Speaker 1: nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of

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Speaker 1: the King of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath

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Speaker 1: and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hennah, and Eva?

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Speaker 1: Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who among

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Speaker 1: all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands

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Speaker 1: out of my hand? That the Lord should deliver Jerusalem

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Speaker 1: out of my hand? But the people were silent and

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Speaker 1: answered him not a word, For the King's command was

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Speaker 1: do not answer him. Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah,

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Speaker 1: who was over the household, and Shebnah the secretary, and Joah,

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Speaker 1: the son of Asaf the recorder, came to Hezekiah with

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Speaker 1: their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakah.

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Speaker 1: Let's pray, Lord, we thank you for your word, and

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Speaker 1: we thank you for the fact that, after reading many

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Speaker 1: chapters of people who did not honor you with their lives,

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Speaker 1: we come to this chapter that speaks of Hezekiah, who

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Speaker 1: loved you and who worshiped you as Lord, and who

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Speaker 1: put you as first in his life. And Lord, as

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Speaker 1: we look at this portion of scripture, we can see

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Speaker 1: that Hezekiah's faith was tested and the faith of the

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Speaker 1: people was tested as they were threatened by the king

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Speaker 1: of Assyria. Lord, we know that likewise, throughout the course

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Speaker 1: of our lives, our faith will be tested. There will

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Speaker 1: be times when we'll be tempted to look to false

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Speaker 1: messiahs instead of trusting in your son, Jesus Christ. There'll

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Speaker 1: be times when we're tempted to feel overcome by our trials,

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Speaker 1: and instead of looking to you for help, we may

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Speaker 1: be tempted to express anger toward you for the adversity

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Speaker 1: that we experience. But Lord, we know that you make

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Speaker 1: great use of our adversity. You use the adversities that

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Speaker 1: come into our lives as tools to strengthen our faith

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Speaker 1: in you. So, Lord, we pray that, as men and

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Speaker 1: women who trust in your son Jesus Christ, that we

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Speaker 1: would walk by faith in you today, that we would

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Speaker 1: put you first in all things, and that we would

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Speaker 1: be confident of your power and your presence in our lives.

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Speaker 1: We love you, Lord, and we thank you for all

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Speaker 1: these things, and we commit this day to your care

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Speaker 1: and pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen,