In 2 Kings 18:1-19:19 we find the story of God’s miraculous answer to Judean King Hezekiah’s prayer for deliverance from certain defeat at the hands of the most powerful military on earth at that time. God did not hear and answer Hezekiah’s petition because he had been selected to be king over His people. There was a specific reason why the Judean leader’s petition was granted. Before examining the reason, let us do a little background study.

At the beginning of chapter 18 we find that at the age of 25 Hezekiah has been crowned king over the people of God–Judah, comprised of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and most of the tribe of Levi. In the first six verses of the chapter the unknown author of First and Second Kings lists the virtues of the Jews’ new ruler: He did what was right in the sight of the Lord; he removed the high places and cut down the groves (places of pagan worship); he destroyed the heathen idols the people had been worshiping; he broke up the brazen serpent Moses had erected to save the people after they had been bitten by serpents (Num. 21) because the Jews had begun to worship before it; he trusted in the Lord; he cleaved to the Lord and did not depart from following (obeying) Him.

In 18:17-37 we find that the king of Assyria has sent his representative Sennacherib to Jerusalem to give Hezekiah an ultimatum–surrender or else. In his hate-filled, ridiculing diatribe Sennacherib warned the king not to depend on his God to protect him. He reminded him that other nations had relied on their gods for protection and had been broken asunder by the Assyrian army. King Hezekiah knew that the Jews had no chance against the mighty Assyrian army. So he did what any wise follower of the Lord would do. Beginning in 19:14 we are told that he went directly to the Temple to meet with the Lord. From 15-19 we read his prayer, which is a model for all of us to emulate in our prayer life. I will relate what he said to God in our vernacular: Hezekiah confessed Who God was, where He dwelt, what He had created. Then the king asked God to listen to his prayer and to visualize the situation. Then he reminded Him that Sennacherib had spoken reproach on Judah, and in so doing, had spoken reproach on the Lord Himself. Hezekiah then reminded the Lord of what the Assyrians had done to all the kingdoms they had warred against, killing the people, destroying the lands and burning their gods. Then Hezekiah confessed that God and God alone could deliver the kingdom of Judah out of the hand of the Assyrians. Lastly, the king reminded the Lord that by delivering Judah in the face of certain defeat He would be showing the world that He and He alone was the Lord God.

In 19:20-34 God answers Hezekiah, telling him, among other things, that he had heard the king’s prayer, that when Sennacherib badmouthed him he had indeed badmouthed the God of the universe. Then He said something totally unexpected–He prophesied that in the future there would go out of the Holy Land a “remnant” of true believers who would “take root downward and bear fruit upward,” that “the zeal of the Lord shall do this.” This was a prophecy foretelling the establishment of the New Covenant Church and its work in the last days. Though this saintly remnant is numerically tiny relative to Satan’s world-encompassing religious system, it is mighty in message. This website is part of the root-taking, fruit-bearing “tree” being used by the Lord to spread that gospel message.

In verse 35 we find a written description of how God answered Hezekiah’s prayer: “And it came to pass that night that the angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand (185,000 soldiers), and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.”

The key to answered prayer is the word “Lord.” We must not take Jesus as our Savior, but rather as our Lord. He will BECOME our Savior only if He has BEEN our Lord. This is born out in Luke 6:46 where Jesus asks His followers why they called Him their Lord but refused to do what He said. A Lord is one whose words are obeyed. The vast majority of church prayers go unanswered because those doing the praying have embraced Him as their Savior but have rejected Him as their Lord. That formula does not work. If He is not our Lord in this life He will not be our Savior in the next one. It is for this reason that the vast majority of prayers never get through the brass ceiling (Deut. 28:23). See Hope and Salvation and read Deuteronomy 28. Also, remember that what happened to Israel of old was recorded as a warning to the New Covenant Church (1 Cor. 10:11/Eph. 2:20). L.J.