2 Chronicles 32:1-33

5. The fickle, who have one doctrine to-day, but may have a different one to-morrow.

III. THE TRUST WHICH IS SOUND AND WISE. There are words on which we may build. When God speaks to us we know that we may rest on his Word absolutely; we know that we should heed his warnings, and that we may build on his promises. "Heaven and earth shall pass away," etc. But how shall we know when Christ is speaking to us? Many speak in his name who do not speak on his authority.

1. We should pay regard to the words of those who profess to speak for him, and whose character for purity and unselfishness sustains their claim (Matthew 7:15-20).

2. We should heed the words of those of his disciples who urge that which meets our spiritual necessities and accords with the deepest convictions of our nature.

3. We should consult the Master's own recorded words, always remembering that they are to be interpreted in the spirit, and not in the letter. If we do this we shall not only be "resting on words," we shall be building on the rock, for we shall be abiding in the truth; we shall be grounded on the very wisdom of God itself, or on the Wisdom of God himself (1 Corinthians 1:24, 1 Corinthians 1:30).—C.

2 Chronicles 32:9-23

Sennacherib and Hezekiah: abasement and exaltation.

We have here brought out in very vivid contrast—

I. THE HISTORY OF THE HAUGHTY.

1. Appearances are all on its side. It has apparently overwhelming numbers, superior military training and equipments, the prestige of previous success and acknowledged worldly power.

2. It is honeycombed with spiritual evil. It is

(3) pride, and its accompanying vain-gloriousness (2 Chronicles 32:13-15);

3. It draws down upon itself the decisive displeasure of the Divine Ruler. For the vauntful Sennacherib, who made so sure of an easy victory and an added honour, there was reserved, in the righteous providence of God, a calamitous disaster (2 Chronicles 32:21; and see 2 Kings 19:15) and bitter shame. "So he returned with shame of face to his own land" (2 Chronicles 32:21). Thus he that exalted himself was abased; and thus the haughty may expect to be brought low, for there are two powers working against them.

II. THE HISTORY OF THE HUMBLE. Humility, in the person of the godly Hezekiah, presents an opposite picture to that of his formidable and defiant enemy.

1. It is apparently in great peril. The outward and visible forces—those of this world—are decidedly against it. If the race were always to the swift and the battle to the strong, there would be no chance for humility. It would never clasp the goal, nor win the victory.

2. Its character is one of beauty and of piety. There is no little moral comeliness in humility; it is "fair to see;" it attracts the gaze of the purest eyes above and below. Moreover, its spirit is reverent; it knows its own helplessness, and it looks upward for the aid it needs; it "cries to Heaven" (2 Chronicles 32:20); it leans on God.

3. Its end is not only deliverance, but honour. The Lord saved Hezekiah from the hand of Sennacherib (2 Chronicles 32:22); and to the King of Judah were brought valuable gifts, and "he was magnified in the sight of all nations" (2 Chronicles 32:23). Concerning humility now, as it may appear in all men's hearts, we may say that

2 Chronicles 32:24-26, 2 Chronicles 32:31

The trial of restoration.

The incident to which the text refers was a very small one when measured against the magnitude of that with which the preceding verses deal. It concerns the sickness and the recovery of one man, together with a visit to the court at Jerusalem of a few ambassadors. But it was very much to Hezekiah himself, and it contains valuable lessons for us all.

I. THE INCALCULABLE ELEMENT IN OUR TRIALS. This is large.

1. We cannot guess when they will come. What little reason had Hezekiah to anticipate that "sickness unto death"! It sprang upon him unawares. So does our affliction. We are reckoning on prosperity, health, friendship; and, behold! immediately in front of us is trouble, sickness, loneliness. A few hours may make all the difference to us in the colour and complexion of our life.

2. We cannot calculate how far they will go. We expect the little ailment to pass away in a day or two, and it becomes a very grave and threatening illness; we think we are stricken with a mortal blow, and we find that we have nothing that need seriously disturb us. And so with other troubles beside bodily disorder. We cannot measure their magnitude or their gravity.

3. We cannot understand why they have come, or what they mean. Is it that we have sinned? or that others have erred, and we are "carrying their infirmity "? Is it a mark of Divine displeasure? or is it a sign of our Father's interest in us and care for our deeper and truer well-being?

4. We cannot enter, except in a very slight degree, into the seriousness of others' sorrow. A very special gift of the grace and power of sympathy will enable some men (and women) to understand and feel much with others; but those who have ordinary human faculties very imperfectly understand what other souls are suffering, how much other hearts are bleeding.

II. OUR REFUGE IN GOD. Hezekiah "prayed unto the Lord." We know, from the account in 2 Kings 20:1-21; how the afflicted man "poured out his heart" unto God. and how earnestly he besought the Divine compassion. In the clay of our trouble—especially in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow"—there is nothing we can do that approaches the wisdom or that supplies half the relief of seeking and finding a refuge in God. Even if we do not expectantly ask for deliverance from our adversity, we appeal (and never vainly) for Divine sympathy and succour in it. This, we are sure, can never be denied us. "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him" (Psalms 103:13). We have in Jesus Christ the "High Priest … touched with the feeling of our infirmities" (Hebrews 4:15). Our affliction tries us; it proves, not only to God, but to ourselves and to others, what is the spirit we are of; whether ours is, or is not, the spirit of filial trustfulness, of quiet acquiescence, of genuine piety, of openness of heart to learn, and of readiness of will to do, his holy will. But there is another trial, which perhaps strikes deeper and proves us more thoroughly.

III. THE TRIAL OF RESTORATION. Hezekiah bore well the trial of sickness; it drew, or drove, him to the Rock of his salvation. He did not stand well the trial which came with his restoration. Then came congratulatory embassage, and then the uplifted heart showed itself, and the unbecoming ostentation came forth; and with it came the displeasure of the Lord. The king "rendered not again according to the benefit done;" he did not respond to God's especial grace (verse 24) with corresponding gratitude, losing sight of self and keeping God's pitiful and powerful intervention in view. His heart was unchastened and "lifted up." How do we bear ourselves when the cloud has departed and the sun shines again? What is our spiritual attitude when we are strong again, or rich again, or again surrounded with friends? That is the trial-hour. Then God proves us; then we show to him and to our neighbours what mind we are of—whether our affliction has permanently purified, or only temporarily touched us. Let those who have been cast clown to the ground in any kind of affliction, and who have been raised up again by the good hand of their God upon them, ask themselves the main question—Have they proved themselves to be docile children of their heavenly Father, apt disciples of the Lord of their life? Have they learned humility, self-distrust, unworldliness, consecration? Or are they lapsing into that which is selfish, earthly, proud? God has been proving them; let them examine their own hearts. "Let every man prove his own" heart. If he can, let him "have rejoicing in himself,' in his spiritual integrity; if he cannot, let him consider well and act wisely before God, "lest a worse thing happen unto him."—C.

2 Chronicles 32:27-30, 2 Chronicles 32:32, 2 Chronicles 32:33

Hezekiah's happiness.

1. There can be no question at all as to Hezekiah's greatness. He was one of the greatest of the kings of Judah; not more than two, or three at the most, can be named as being greater than he.

2. Or as to the excellency of his estate (see text, 2 Chronicles 32:27-29). He had all that his heart could wish, so far as temporal possessions were concerned.

3. Or as to the regard in which he was held by his subjects. They evidently "delighted to honour" him, as they showed by their action when he died (2 Chronicles 32:33). When the restraints of a great man's presence are taken away, we see what his fellows really think, and how they feel about him. But was he a happy man, an enviable man, one with whose condition—"state for state with all attendants"—we should like to exchange our own? That may well be doubted. Consider—

I. THE DEEPENING SHADOW THAT LAY ALONG HIS PATH, He knew that, from the time of his sickness, he had fifteen years to live (2 Kings 20:6). Now, with such a sensitive and thoughtful spirit as his was (Isaiah 38:2, Isaiah 38:3), we may be sure that he counted the years as they went by, and that he realized with painful force the diminution of those that remained to him. How much more happy are we who are in ignorance of the number of the years before us! To know positively that only so many more remain must cast an ever-darkening shadow on the path of life.

II. THE LACK OF THE LIGHT BEYOND THE SHADOW. Hezekiah does not seem to have cherished any hope, to have entertained any expectation that could be truly called a hope, concerning the future (see Isaiah 38:9-20). And to be drawing nearer and nearer, day by day, by a distinctly measurable distance, the hour when the light of life would go out into the thick darkness,—what a saddened life must that have been to a thoughtful and imaginative spirit!

III. THE FEAR HE MUST HAVE FELT CONCERNING HIS COUNTRY'S FUTURE, Manasseh, his son, may have been too young to have given any very decided intimation of his probable future. But, looking behind him, remembering the imperfections or the reactions and apostasies of Solomon, of Jehoram, of Ahaz, he must have been seriously concerned lest his son should undo what he himself had so laboriously done. What security was there that the evil and idolatrous practices he had so fearlessly and so faithfully suppressed would not be revived? that the religion of Jehovah he had so carefully re-established would not be set aside, and thus his life-labour lost? Such reflections—especially if he had any insight into, and therefore any foresight of, Manasseh's character and course—must have tinged his thought with a melancholy hue. Yet was there one compensating and reassuring thought, which may have balanced all others, and have brightened his latter days. That was—

IV. THE REVIEW OF HIS OWN LIFE, and of the work he had wrought since he had occupied the throne. It was not the recollection of his prosperities (verse 30) which would gladden his heart in the after-years; they become of continually smaller consequence as we leave them behind us. It was the remembrance of his kindnesses and of his faithfulness as the chief servant of Jehovah, that would give gladness to his heart, as they gave lustre to his reign. Let us remember that physical enjoyments, mental excitements, earthly honours, human congratulations or landations,—all these melt away into nothingness as time comes between them and our spirit. Soon the one vital and only serious question will be—What have we done of all that God gave us to do? what have we achieved with the faculties and the facilities he placed in our charge? Prosperities and enjoyments do for the passing hour, but kindnesses and fidelities attend us to the dying pillow, and they cross the last stream and await us as we land on the other side.—C.

2 Chronicles 32:1-8

An Assyrian invasion of Judah.

1. Indefinitely. "After these things, and this faithfulness" (2 Chronicles 32:1); i.e. after the great Passover, which terminated in the destruction of the symbols of idolatry throughout the land, with the restoration of the true worship of Jehovah in Connection with the reopened and purified temple (2 Chronicles 30:1-27; 2 Chronicles 31:1-21.), and after the singular display of zeal and piety on the part of Hezekiah in furthering that good work. How long after not stated; the juxtaposition of the Passover and the invasion favours the idea that the former fell not in Hezekiah's first year, but after his sixth (see homily on 2 Chronicles 30:2), since the latter cannot be placed earlier than eight years after the fall of Samaria, B.C. 720.

2. Definitely. "In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah" (2 Kings 18:13; Isaiah 36:1). If this date be correct, the invasion referred to cannot have been that of Sennacherib, eighteen or nineteen years after the capture of the northern capital, or in Hezekiah's twenty-fourth year, but must have been an expedition of Sargon, who, ten years earlier, marched against "the people of Philistia, Judah, Edom, and Moab," who had formed an alliance with the King of Egypt—a monarch who could not save them; and in particular besieged and took Ashdod. The expedition against Ashdod (Isaiah 20:1) was conducted by Sargon's tartan, or commander-in-chief, "while Sargon himself overran ' the wide-spreading land of Judah,' and captured its capital, Jerusalem." The invasion of Jerusalem is referred to in Isaiah 10:1-34; as Calno, Carchemish, Hamath, Arpad, Damascus, and Samaria, were conquests, not of Sennacherib, but of Sargon; and beyond question this must be the invasion to which 2 Kings (2 Kings 18:13) and Isaiah (Isaiah 36:1) allude, if the date given by them be correct. If, however, Sennacherib's invasion is meant, an error must have crept into the text with reference to the date, and "twenty-fourth" will require to be substituted for the "fourteenth." Kleinert, Sayce, and Professor Cheyne ('The Prophecies of Isaiah,' 1:201-210) adopt the former view, that in 2 Kings (2 Kings 18:13), 2 Chronicles (2 Chronicles 37:1), and Isaiah (Isaiah 37:1) "Sargon" should be read for "Sennacherib"—an opinion with which G. Smith. appears to coincide; but Schrader,, Robertson Smith, Rawlinson, and Canon Driver regard this view as insufficiently established, and believe the invasion alluded to in all these passages to be that of Sennacherib.

II. THE INVADER.

1. Sargon (to adopt the alternative view above referred to). On the monuments, Sarru-kinu, "Strong is the king," or Sar-ukin, "He [God] appointed the king." One of Shalmaneser's generals, probably his tartan, or commander-in-chief, who, on Shalmaneser's death during the siege of Samaria, seized the crown and assumed the name Sargon, "in memory of the famous Babylonian monarch who had reigned so many centuries before" (Sayce). Whether, like Tiglath-Pileser II; he had sprung from the ranks (Sayce), or was of kingly descent, probably proceeding from a collateral branch of the royal family (Schrader), cannot be decided; but he was one of the most brilliant potentates that ever sat on the Assyrian throne. A rough and energetic soldier, he conquered in succession Samaria, Egypt, Ashdod, (Jerusalem?), and Babylon, and destroyed the independence of the Hittites at Car-chemish. The town of Khorsabad, Dur-Surrukin, the city of Sargon, opposite Mosul, and ten miles from Nineveh, "in the country which borders the mountains," was founded by him ('Records,' etc; 11:33).

2. Sennacherib. On the monuments, Sin-ahi-irib, or Sin-ahi-ir-ba, "(The god) Sin multiplies the brothers,"—Sargon's son, who, after his father's assassination, ascended the throne of Assyria on the 12th of Ab, B.C. 705. "Brought up in the purple, he displayed none of the rugged virtues of his father. He was weak, boastful, and cruel, and preserved his empire only by the help of the veterans and generals whom Sargon had trained". This, of course, was not the opinion of Sennacherib, who, in an inscription on one of the gigantic bulls guarding the entrance to his palace, speaks of himself as "Sennacherib, great prince, powerful prince, prince of legions, king of the land of Assyria, king of the four regions, worshipped of the great gods, valiant, the manly, the brave, chief of the kings of disobedient people, subverter of evil designs" ('Records,' etc; 7:59). Oriental sovereigns generally had not studied Proverbs 27:2, and had no notion of underrating their own virtues, or modestly concealing their own merit.

III. THE OBJECT.

1. Proximate. To besiege and capture or break down the fenced cities of Judah (Proverbs 27:1). According to 2 Kings (2 Kings 18:13) and Isaiah (Isaiah 36:1), Sennacherib (or Sargon) was in this successful (cf. Isaiah 10:5-10). This, according to the monuments, Sargon did while his tartan was besieging Ashdod, B.C. 711 (Sayce), or in connection with his earlier expedition against Hanno of Gaza and Seveh the Sultan of Egypt in b.c. 720 (Sehrader); and Sennacherib in B.C. 701 by besieging, capturing, and plundering forty-six of Hezekiah's cities, "strong fortresses and cities without number" ('Records,' etc; 7.62).

2. Ultimate. To capture Jerusalem, which also, according to the monuments, was taken by Sargon, but not by Sennacherib. The assertion of the Chronicler with reference to the Assyrian king, that "his face was to fight against Jerusalem," was applicable to both sovereigns, though only of Sargon was it true that Jerusalem was taken. Sennacherib besieged Hezekiah, shutting him up "like a caged bird in the midst of the city of his royalty" ('Records,' etc; 7:62); but Jehovah "put a hook into his nose, and a bridle into his lips," and sent him back the way by which he came, without permitting him to enter the city (Isaiah 37:29-37). If Isaiah 10:1-34. refers to Sargon's invasion (Sayce), it would seem as if the capital had been taken (see Isaiah 10:6, Isaiah 10:12, Isaiah 10:22, Isaiah 10:24, Isaiah 10:34).

IV. THE RESISTANCE. Hezekiah adopted measures to meet the attack of Sargon, or of Sennacherib, on his capital.

1. A council of war called. Attended by his princes and mighty men, i.e. his statesmen and the generals of his army (Isaiah 10:3), who advised that steps should be taken to protect the metropolis, and lent him their aid for that purpose (Isaiah 10:3). Probably they also recommended Hezekiah, besides looking for help to Egypt, to join the league Merodach-Baladan of Babylonia was forming against Sargon; or, if the later date be adopted, to seek the aid of Tirhakah against Sennacherib.

2. The water supplies outside the city stopped.

3. The city fortifications increased.

4. The city population armed. All the able-bodied men of the metropolis were enlisted, divided into companies, placed under regular military commanders, and drilled, just as is done by modem peoples when expecting an invasion.

5. The extemporized army reviewed. By the king's orders the troops were mustered in the broad place at the east gate of the city (see on 2 Chronicles 29:4).

6. The soldiers suitably addressed. He encouraged them in their work of defence, as at the great Passover he had encouraged the Levites in their temple duties (2 Chronicles 30:1-27:32).

(a) "Be strong." So the Philistine generals charged their troops when fighting against Israel (1 Samuel 4:9); so David, dying, exhorted Solomon succeeding (1 Kings 2:2); so Oded counselled Asa returning from war (2 Chronicles 15:7); so Paul recommends Christians for the fight of faith (1 Corinthians 16:13; Ephesians 6:10; 2 Timothy 2:1).

(b) "Be courageous." So Joab had encouraged David's army against the Syrians (2 Samuel 10:12); and Jehoshaphat the Levites and priests in their duties (2 Chronicles 19:11); so Peter advises the followers of Christ (2 Peter 1:5).

(c) "Be not afraid or dismayed." So Jahaziel to Jehoshaphat's troops (2 Chronicles 20:15-17); and Isaiah to Ahaz when threatened by Rezin and Pekah (2 Chronicles 7:4); so Christ to his disciples (John 6:20).

(a) General: that a Greater was with them than with the invader (cf. 2 Kings 6:16; Romans 8:31; 1 John 4:4).

(b) Particular: that he had only frail human power to lean upon—men and horses without number, but still only "an arm of flesh" (cf. Jeremiah 17:5; Psalms 56:5; Isaiah 21:3); whereas they had Jehovah their God to keep them and fight their battles, as Moses (Exodus 14:14), Abijah (2 Chronicles 13:12), and Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20:17) had; and as Christians may have (Matthew 28:20; Romans 8:31).

7. The confidence of the people raised. They rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah (verse 8). In the face of Isaiah's accusation (Isaiah 22:11) this can hardly mean that they placed an unreserved and exclusive trust in Jehovah. The prophet rather charges them with trusting less to him than to their defensive preparations.

LESSONS.

1. The military spirit essentially an aggressive spirit.

2. The best bulwarks of a nation are the pious lives of its people.

3. The necessity of combining faith and works in ordinary matters as well as in things of the spirit.

4. Confidence in God the best protection against fear of man.

5. The certainty that none can be victorious who fight against God, or be defeated for whom God fights.—W.

2 Chronicles 32:9-16

The invasion of Sennacherib: 1. A summons to surrender.

I. SENNACHERIB'S ENCAMPMENT AT LACHISH. Fifteen or eighteen hours west-south-west of Jerusalem, in the low country of Judah, on the confines of Philistia, fourteen miles north-east of Gaza, Lachish (see on 2 Chronicles 11:9; 2 Chronicles 25:27)—on the monuments Lakis—according to a slab in the British Museum, was a walled town with towers and battlements, whose power of resistance was so great as to demand a protracted siege.

1. Sennacherib's route thither. From the north—not by the military road through Nazareth, Jezreel, Sichem, Bethel, At, Michmash, Geba, Rama, Gibeah, Anathoth, Nob (Isaiah 10:28-32), Sargon's route, but by Sidon, Akko, Joppa, Bene-berak, Beth-dagon, Ekron, and Ashdod.

2. Sennacherib's employment there.

II. SENNACHERIB'S COMMISSION TO HIS GENERALS. These generals were three in number.

1. Their titles.

2. Their commission. To advance, with a detachment of the army, against Jerusalem, with the view of intimidating it into surrender; failing in this, to prosecute against it a siege. Sennacherib was most likely moved to this by the report of the approach of the kings of Egypt and Ethiopia; before encountering these, it was clearly to his advantage to reduce both Ekron and Jerusalem.

III. SENNACHERIB'S ADDRESS TO THE KING AND INHABITANTS OF JERUSALEM. Not delivered in person, but through "his servants" (Joshua 15:9), and in particular Rabshakeh (2 Kings 18:19; Isaiah 36:2-4). Nor spoken directly to Hezekiah and his people, but to Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, who was over the household, i.e. the king's high steward (Isaiah 22:20), to Shebna the scribe, or king's secretary, who had lately been deposed from the office of high steward (Isaiah 22:15-19) because of favouring the interest of Assyria, and to Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder, or king's annalist. Standing by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field, where Isaiah and his son Shear-jashub had met with Ahaz when the Syro-Israelitish invasion was threatened (Isaiah 7:3), and where the Assyrian army was now encamped, over against the Gennath Gate, in front of which the envoys of Hezekiah stood, while the inhabitants crowded round it and even sat upon the city wall, observing the scene (Isaiah 22:1-13),—Rabshakeh, in the name of his master, called upon the king and his subjects to surrender, using the Hebrew tongue, that the inhabitants might understand, and becoming alarmed, induce their rulers to submit. The points in Rabshakeh's harangue, considerably shortened by the Chronicler, were two.

1. That the hope of deliverance held out by Hezekiah was a delusion. If their confidence was based upon expected assistance from Egypt, they would soon know that Pharaoh was "a bruised reed, upon which, if a man leant, it would go into his hand and pierce it" (2 Kings 18:21); if it was Jehovah to whom Hezekiah was persuading them to turn their gaze (verse 11; cf. 2 Kings 18:22; Isaiah 36:7), that source of succour would prove as little satisfactory.

2. That their resistance would entail upon them all the horrors of a siege. They would certainly perish by famine and by thirst (verse 11), if not by the sword, since their escape was impossible. Neither Sennacherib nor his generals guessed the resources of the God of Judah; had they done so, their attitude would have been less defiant and their language less confident. Events were to teach them that what was impossible for man was both possible and easy for God.

Learn:

1. The presumption of some wicked men.

2. The impotence of all heathen gods.

3. The supremacy of the one living and true God.

4. The security of those whom Jehovah defends.—W.

2 Chronicles 32:16-23

The invasion of Sennacherib: 2. The great deliverance.

I. SENNACHERIB AND HIS GENERALS. Their renewed efforts to take the city.

1. The letter of Sennacherib to Hezekiah. (2 Chronicles 32:17.) The tartan with his assistants having failed to either storm Jerusalem or intimidate its inhabitants, returned, or more probably despatched, Rabshakeh to his master for further instructions. Sennacherib was now at Libnah, a few miles nearer Jerusalem than Lachish, which in the interval had capitulated. Learning that the King of Egypt was on the way north to give him battle, he sent back Rabshakeh, accompanied, by special messengers, bearing a letter to Hezekiah to expedite the taking of the city. The letter when received was read by Hezekiah with indignation and alarm. It contained a repetition with emphasis of what had been uttered by Rabshakeh in the hearing of the king's envoys and of the inhabitants of the city. Of course, the mere reassertion of Rabshakeh's boastings, though in the form of a letter from Sennacherib himself. did not make them the less false, insolent, or blasphemous.

2. The railings of Sennacherib's generals. As before by Rabshakeh, so a second time by the generals and perhaps also the messengers (2 Chronicles 32:18). To the people on the town wall in their own tongue were addressed words meant to terrify and persuade to capitulation—loud, boastful, arrogant, blasphemous reproaches against Jehovah. putting him on a level with idols, the works of men's hands, and declaring him to be as powerless as these (2 Chronicles 32:19), little dreaming they were so soon and so completely to be undeceived (2 Chronicles 32:21). So men often hug to their bosoms the false ideas they have formed of the Christian's God, without thinking that in a moment, by being admitted through death's portal into his presence, they may be proved to have been deceived.

II. HEZEKIAH AND HIS PROPHET. Their supplications to the God of heaven (2 Chronicles 32:20).

1. The prayer of Hezekiah. Recorded in 2 Kings 19:14-19 and Isaiah 37:15-19.

2. The prayer of Isaiah. Though not recorded by the writer of 2 Kings that Isaiah prayed along with or in addition to Hezekiah, the fact mentioned that, on Rabshakeh's first approach, Hezekiah requested Isaiah to "lift up his prayer" on their behalf (2 Kings 19:4), renders it probable that on this occasion also he joined the king in crying unto Heaven.

III. JEHOVAH AND HIS ANGEL. Their interposition on behalf of Judah and Jerusalem (verses 21, 22).

1. The destruction of Sennacherib's army.

5. That the Assyrian monuments have preserved no record of Sennacherib's humiliation is not surprising. The Egyptian monuments of the nineteenth dynasty contain no memorial of Menephtah's overthrow in the Red Sea. Nations, like individuals, do not publish their misfortunes) least of all perpetuate the remembrance of their defeats.

2. The assassination of Sennacherib himself. The usual end of kings in Assyria (Sargon, and probably Shalmaneser II. and Assurnirari), no less than in Israel and Judah. "Within the hollow crown that rounds the mortal temples of a king keeps death his court," etc. ('Richard II.,' act 3. sc. 2).

IV. THE PEOPLES AND THEIR PRESENTS. The effect produced by this deliverance on surrounding nations.

1. Gifts unto Jehovah. Brought not by Judahites alone, but by the inhabitants of nations who had been delivered from the Assyrians' yoke, and were designed as a grateful recognition of Jehovah's hand in effecting their emancipation. No benefactor more deserving of man's thanks than God (Psalms 139:17, Psalms 139:18); no duty more frequently urged upon men than gratitude to the Supreme Giver (Psalms 50:14; Psalms 100:4; Psalms 107:1; Ephesians 5:20; Philippians 4:6; Colossians 1:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:18); yet no bestower of good receives less thanks than he.

2. Precious things to Hezekiah. As the Philistines and Arabians had brought presents to Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17:10), so now the inhabitants of heathen countries, among whom may have been the Babylonians—though verse 31; 2 Kings 20:12; and Isaiah 39:1 refer not to this (see below)—sent gifts to Hezekiah in recognition of his greatness, as attested by the Divine deliverance wrought on his behalf.

Learn:

1. The heinousness of scoffing at religion.

2. The impotence of human rage against God (Psalms 2:1-5).

3. The superiority of the true God over all divinities worshipped by the heathen (Psalms 115:3, Psalms 115:4).

4. The efficacy of prayer (James 5:16).

5. The advantage of social supplication (Matthew 18:19).

6. The command of God over the resources of nature (Numbers 11:23).

7. The ability of God to save his people out of any sort of peril (1 Corinthians 10:13).

8. The sad fate of the ungodly (Psalms 75:8, Psalms 75:10).

9. The indebtedness of the world to the Church's God.—W.

2 Chronicles 32:24

Hezekiah's sickness and prayer.

I. HEZEKIAH'S SICKNESS.

1. The time of it. "In those days" (2 Chronicles 32:24; 2 Kings 20:1; Isaiah 38:1)—an indefinite expression, differently understood.

2. The nature of it. A boil (2 Kings 20:7; Isaiah 38:21); but whether an ordinary abscess or a carbuncle cannot be determined, though there is no ground for connecting it with the pestilence that cut off Sennacherib's army. It probably arose out of the bodily weakness induced by long labours in reforming religion, and heavy anxieties in meeting and resisting the Assyrian invasion.

3. The severity of it. "Even unto death." It had all the appearance of being fatal. Hezekiah himself expected nothing else than that "in the noontide of his days he should depart unto the gates of Sheol, and be deprived of the residue of his years" (Isaiah 38:10). Even had his malady not suggested this to his mind, Jehovah's message to him by Isaiah (Isaiah 39:1) would have done so. All sickness a prelude to, and premonition of, the last.

II. HEZEKIAH'S PRAYER.

1. To whom directed. The Lord; the only living and true God, as welt as the only Hearer of prayer (Psalms 65:2). Doubtless Hezekiah also recognized Jehovah's hand in his affliction, and understood that he alone could remove the malady by whose permission it had come. Asa, in his disease, sought not to Jehovah, but to the physicians (2 Chronicles 16:12); and the result with him was different.

2. By what supported.

3. In what ended. Jehovah spake unto him, granting his request, adding fifteen years to his life, and gave him a sign. The cure was effected by Isaiah laying a cake of figs upon the boil—the vis medicatrix, however, proceeding not from the fruit, but from him who had said, "Behold, I will heal thee'" Jehovah-rophi (Exodus 15:26) one of Jehovah's names. The sign granted at Hezekiah's request was the turning back of the shadow upon the sun-dial, or step-clock, of Ahaz (2 Kings 20:11; Isaiah 38:8). This sundial, or step-clock, was probably "an obelisk upon a square or circular elevation ascended 1,y steps, which threw the shadow of its highest point at noon upon the highest steps, and in the morning and evening upon the lowest, either on the one side or the other, so that the obelisk itself served as a gnomon." How the shadow was turned back is best explained by "the assumption of a miraculous refraction of the sun's rays, effected by God at the entreaty of the prophet" (Keil on 2 Kings 20:11; cf. Delitzsch on Isaiah 38:8), though it has been well said, "refraction to the extent required would be very strange and abnormal".

LESSONS.

1. The liability of all to affliction.

2. The certainty of death.

3. The contingency of many of the Divine decrees.

4. The efficacy of prayer.

5. The weakness of faith in some good men—Hezekiah needed a sign.

6. The condescension of God—in stooping to regard faith's infirmity.

7. The Divine control over nature's resources.—W.

2 Chronicles 32:25, 2 Chronicles 32:26

Hezekiah's fall and repentance.

I. HEZEKIAH'S SIN.

1. Its character.

2. Its punishment. The wrath of Jehovah was threatened

II. HEZEKIAH'S REPENTANCE.

1. The self-abasement of the king. "He humbled himself for the pride of his heart." The wrath of Jehovah, pronounced against him and his people by Isaiah, was the Babylonish captivity. When Hezekiah heard the prophet's threatening, he realized that he had sinned, and humbled himself before Jehovah, saying, "Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken" (2 Kings 20:14-19; Isaiah 38:3-8).

2. The concurrence of the people. "He and the inhabitants of Jerusalem." Probably they had not been unfavourable to a Babylonian alliance against Assyria, and were really "art and part" co-criminals with Hezekiah; if they had no share in Hezekiah's action, they had still cause to humble themselves before God on account of Hezekiah their king.

3. The clemency of Jehovah. The judgment was to fall on Hezekiah's sons rather than on himself, which Hezekiah recognized as a mercy, and acknowledged by adding, "Is it not so [i.e. good] if peace and truth shall be in my days?"

LESSONS.

1. The possibility of spiritual declension.

2. The duty of repentance,

3. The obligation of gratitude.

4. The sin of pride.—W.

2 Chronicles 32:27-30

The greatness of Hezekiah.

I. HIS WEALTH.

1. Large. "Much riches" (2 Chronicles 32:27); "very much substance" (2 Chronicles 32:29). In this he resembled Solomon (2 Chronicles 9:22) and Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17:5).

2. Varied.

II. HIS WORKS.

1. Treasuries. For his gold, silver, precious stones; for spices, shields, and goodly vessels.

2. Storehouses. For his corn, wine, and oil.

3. Stalls. For his beasts and herds.

4. Folds. For his flocks.

5. Cities—i.e. either watchtowers for his shepherds (2 Chronicles 26:10)or dwelling-places for his herds and beasts.