The Blasphemy We Face and the God Who Hears Text: 2 Kings 19:1-7
Introduction: When the Barbarians Blaspheme
We live in an age of sophisticated blasphemy. The modern Rabshakeh does not stand on the wall of Jerusalem and shout in Hebrew; he stands behind a lectern at a university, or sits in a news anchor's chair, or writes condescending op-eds in globally respected publications. He speaks in the calm, measured tones of reasonableness, but his message is identical to that of the Assyrian field commander. The message is this: your God is small, your faith is a private delusion, and the real power, the machinery that runs the world, is in our hands. Be reasonable. Surrender.
The Assyrians were the terror of the ancient world. They were not just a military threat; they were a worldview threat. Their policy was one of psychological warfare, of utter demoralization. They did not just conquer nations; they unmade them, deporting populations and mocking their gods. The message of Rabshakeh in the previous chapter was a masterclass in godless pragmatism. He argued from economics, from military power, and from comparative religion. "Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?" (2 Kings 18:33). It is the ancient version of "you are on the wrong side of history."
And so we come to our text. The enemy is at the gates. The blasphemous ultimatum has been delivered. All human hope, calculated by any sane metric, is gone. Jerusalem is a tiny island in the midst of a world-swallowing Assyrian sea. This is not just a historical account of a geopolitical crisis. This is a paradigm. This is a test case, preserved for us in the canon of Scripture, to teach us how the people of God are to respond when the world brings its overwhelming, blasphemous power to bear. Hezekiah’s response, and God’s subsequent answer, sets the pattern for the church in every age. When the enemy blasphemes, the saints must know what to do.
The Text
Now it happened that when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of Yahweh. Then he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, reproof, and rejection; for children have come to the point of breaking forth, but there is no strength to give birth. Perhaps Yahweh your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore, lift up a prayer for the remnant that is left.’ ” So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a report and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.” ’ ”
(2 Kings 19:1-7 LSB)
Right Repentance in the Face of Blasphemy (v. 1-2)
The first thing to notice is Hezekiah's immediate, visceral reaction.
"Now it happened that when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of Yahweh. Then he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz." (2 Kings 19:1-2)
Hezekiah does not form a committee. He does not consult his military strategists. He does not poll the people to gauge their morale. He hears the blasphemy, and his first move is vertical. He tears his clothes, a sign of profound grief and horror, not primarily at the military threat, but at the dishonor done to God's name. He puts on sackcloth, the uniform of humility and repentance. And he goes straight to the temple, the house of Yahweh.
This is the first and most crucial lesson for us. When the world blasphemes our God, our first response must be to God. We must feel the offense. A church that is not grieved by public blasphemy is a church that has lost its first love. Hezekiah understands that the central issue here is not the geopolitical survival of Judah, but the reputation of the living God. The Assyrians have not just insulted Judah; they have reproached Yahweh.
His second move is to seek out the Word of God. He sends his top officials, also in sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah. This is not a king hedging his bets. This is a king who, having gone to the house of God, now seeks the word of God. He understands that true worship and true prophecy are inseparable. He wants to know what God has to say about this situation. He is aligning himself, and his kingdom, under the authority of God's revealed will. This is the posture of faith. First, prostrate yourself before God in worship and repentance. Second, get yourself to the man of God to hear the Word of the Lord.
A Desperate and God-Centered Plea (v. 3-4)
The message Hezekiah sends to Isaiah is a model of desperate, God-centered prayer.
"And they said to him, 'Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, reproof, and rejection; for children have come to the point of breaking forth, but there is no strength to give birth. Perhaps Yahweh your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore, lift up a prayer for the remnant that is left.’'" (2 Kings 19:3-4)
Hezekiah does not sugarcoat the situation. He accurately describes their condition: distress, reproof, and rejection. The metaphor he uses is potent and visceral: a woman in labor who has no strength to deliver the child. It is a picture of utter helplessness, of a crisis at its absolute peak, where the moment of potential new life has become the moment of imminent death. They are at the end of their rope. All human strength is gone.
But notice where his hope lies. It is not in some hidden reserve of strength or some clever strategy. His hope is entirely in God. "Perhaps Yahweh your God will hear..." This is not the "perhaps" of doubt, but the "perhaps" of humble entreaty. It acknowledges that God is sovereign and is not obligated to act. Hezekiah is not demanding; he is pleading. And what is the basis of his plea? Not their own righteousness, but God's own honor. He asks God to hear the words of Rabshakeh, sent "to reproach the living God."
This is the key. Hezekiah makes God's problem God's problem. He is essentially saying, "Lord, listen to what they are saying about You. This is not about us. This is about Your name, Your honor, Your reputation among the nations." When we pray, this is how we must learn to pray. We must learn to be jealous for the glory of God. Our prayers are most powerful when they are least about our comfort and most about God's glory. "Therefore, lift up a prayer for the remnant that is left." He acknowledges their weakness. They are just a remnant. But he knows that God is mighty to save, whether by many or by few.
The Unflinching Word of the Lord (v. 5-7)
The response from God, through Isaiah, is immediate, direct, and absolute. There is no hesitation.
"So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. And Isaiah said to them, 'Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a report and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.” ’ ”" (2 Kings 19:5-7)
The first word from God is a command: "Do not be afraid." This is the constant refrain of God to His people in the face of overwhelming opposition. Why should they not be afraid? Because God has heard. Hezekiah prayed that God would hear, and God's first word back is an affirmation that He has. Specifically, He has heard the words "with which the young men of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me." God takes the blasphemy personally. The Assyrians thought they were taunting Hezekiah. God says they were blaspheming Him.
And God's response is not a vague promise of comfort. It is a specific, detailed, two-part prophecy of Sennacherib's doom. First, God will deal with the immediate threat. "Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a report and return to his own land." God is the Lord of history, the master of geopolitics. He does not need to muster an army against Sennacherib. He can defeat the world's greatest superpower with a rumor. He will put a "spirit" in him, a disposition, an impulse, that will cause him to react to a piece of news and retreat. God controls the hearts of kings, and He can turn them wherever He wishes, like channels of water (Proverbs 21:1).
Second, God declares the final end of the blasphemer. "And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land." The man who threatened Jerusalem with the sword will die by the sword. The man who boasted of his own power in his own kingdom will fall, not on a glorious battlefield, but at home, in a place of supposed security. God's judgment is always poetic. It is always fitting. The punishment will fit the crime. This is the unwavering confidence that the Word of God gives. It does not just offer platitudes; it declares the end from the beginning.
Conclusion: Our God Will Hear
The story of Hezekiah is our story. We are a remnant, surrounded by a global, Assyrian-style empire of secularism that constantly blasphemes our God. It mocks our faith in creation, in the sanctity of life and marriage, in the exclusivity of Jesus Christ. It tells us that our God is just another dead deity from a bygone era, unable to save us from the relentless march of "progress."
Our response must be Hezekiah's response. First, we must feel the offense. We must tear our clothes in grief and put on the sackcloth of humility, going to the house of the Lord. Our worship services should be the central command post in this spiritual war. Second, we must go to the Word of God, to the prophet Isaiah, which is to say, to the Scriptures. We must not trust our own wisdom but must seek a "thus says the Lord."
And when we pray, we must pray like Hezekiah. We must point out the blasphemy to God. "Lord, did you hear what the Supreme Court said about your institution of marriage? Lord, did you see that headline mocking your people? Lord, listen to the reproach against your name." We must make His problem His problem, praying for His kingdom to come and His will to be done, so that His name might be hallowed.
And the promise given to Hezekiah is the promise given to us. "Do not be afraid." God hears the blasphemies of our age. He is sovereign over the hearts of our rulers, the talking heads, and the cultural elites. He can undo them with a rumor, with an economic downturn, with a shift in the political winds. And their end is certain. He will make them fall in their own land. The kingdoms of this world, built on pride and blasphemy, will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.
Therefore, when the enemy is at the gates, do not despair. Grieve the blasphemy, run to worship, cling to the Word, and pray for the glory of God's name. For our God is a living God, and He will surely hear and reprove the words of those who reproach Him.