The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1905-06-29
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR JULY 2.
Subject: Sennacherib's Invasion, II.
Chron. xxxii., 9-23-Golden Text. Ii.
Chron. xxxii., 8-Memory Verses, 1921
-Com,peptarv on the Day,a Iesaon

Chron. 1Ixii., 9-23-Golden Text, Ii.
Chron. 1xxii., s-Memory Verses, 1921
documentary on the Days Lesson.
l. Sennacherib's defiant messages
Tvs. 9-19). 8. After this" After re-
ceiving the present from Hezek!ah y
! Kings IS: 14-16l. "SenIacherib." The
son and successor of Sargon. He says
he built towers around Jerusalem and
shut Hezekiah in like Gagged bird"
"Assyria." This was great and pow
erful country lying on the Tigris. Its
boundaries differed greatly at different
periods. Send his servants See =
Kings IS: II. Tartan. or general; the
rabsaris. the chief Of the eunichS; and
the rab-shakeh, the chief c,fp-bearer.
these being the offices which their
names imply, with great host. None
of these are proper names. Tartan
was the ordinary title of an AsSyrian
general They were to demand the ur-
conditional surrender Of the king and
capital. ITO Jerusalem" Sernacherib
was encamped before Lachish, thirty
miles southwest Of Jerusalem. seated
in state From this proud position he
sent large detachment to Jerusalem.
They took up their position on the
north Of the city, OH spot long after
wards known as the camp OF the Assy-
rians. Hezekiah feared to appear: or
perhaps. careful of his dignity. he sent
officers of his court, who were nearer
the rank of those sent. In his place
came Eliakim, now chief minister:
Shebna, now in the office of secretary;
and Joah, the royal historian. "All his
power" All his army.
10. "Whereon do We trust:' iter-
ally. "Whereon are We trusting and it-
ting in restraint Judah was in Nl-
lance with Egypt. Assyria's arch-en-
emy; and reference is here made to
this. IL. Doth not HeZekiah.' HeZ-
ekiah is abused most vilely and over
whelmed with scorn and insult. II.
"WorShip before one altar" Rab-sha
keh was not familiar with the Jewish
law, and he naturally supposed thar
the destruction of so many affairs
would incur the diSpleaSure Of the
gods: but the reason he gave TO prCve
that Judah was weak was the very rea-
son why God was with them to make
them StroIE. 1915. Know W not
etc This boast was natural. The AS
syrians had had an uninterrupted ca
reer of success and might we'll believe
that their gods were more powerfG,
than those of the nations around them.
They had utterly over-run and de-
stroyed the kindred tribes Of Galilee.
Gilead and Samaria. They had for
years exercised lordship over Judea.
and the very king who now defied
them had purchased his safety by the
payment Of heavy fine. III. Against
the Lord" HeZekiah treated this
blasphemous speech rs he ought. He
refers the matter to Jehovah.
II. Wrote also letters A little
later another insulting message in the
form Of II letter" (R. ". margin) was
sent. The king took the letter and 1T
once went again to the house of the
Lord He spread out the letter before
the Lord and poured out his soul in
earnest prayer e Kings 10: 14-9: Isl.
81: 14-20J. is. "A loud voice" An
lusion is here made to what occurred
e Kings IS: $3.50 before Sennacherib
wrote his letter. Jews speech The
Hebrew language. The Syrian laE-
guage was not understood by the COM
mon people ITO alright them 1t
was day of great suspense. Already
there was Il rumor that the king OF
Egypt was on his way to the rescue.
Senacherib had heard the rumor. and
it was this which caused him to put
forth every effort to intimidate Jerusa-
lem into submission. 3D. "Spakc
against" etc. They saw no difference
between the Jehovah of the Jews and
the gods of the other nations.
III. HeZekiah and Isaiah call oil the
Lord ". POI. 20. Prayed King
Hezekiah rent his clothes and put on
sackcl0th and went to the house OF
God. while his messengers sought out
the prophet Isaiah to know what to do.
The prayer expressed the deepest need.
the highest faith. the utmost earnest
ness, the wiSest plea. the highest mo.
tive. 1t was united prayer. prayer
meeting. Isaiah joined with HeZekiah.
But they not only prayed. they worked.
The king built walls and towers. ana
prepared arms and shields and encour-
aged the people to be strong and cour-
ageous. and not to be afraid Of the AS
syrian king, "for there be more with US
than with him" Tvs. &. q.
III. The Lord destroys the Assy-
rianS ". 2D.
q. The word angel means n mes
senger," "one sent" and may be ap'
piled to any messenger sent from God.
whoever or whatever that may be.
Thus in Psa. 104: 1 the winds are said
to be His angels or messengers. The
use of the word "angel" here does not
determine the manner in which the de-
struction was accomplished. 1t may
have been q storm. pestilence or
food. 1t is generally understood to
have been the simeon. Cut off, In
one night Gods messenger smote lSo''
600 men e Kings 10: 3o). This gives
some idea Of the immense size OF Sen
nacheribs army. "He returned" The
king and few others were preserved.
Own land" Ninevnh. When he
was come" Just how long 4 time
ELAPSED between this calamity and Sen
nacherib's death we do not know. but
it was probably about twenty years.
He records other campaigns. but he
never again came to Palestine His
god" Nisroch. Slew him." SAdram-
melech and ShareZer his sons smotc
him with the sword; and they es-
capped" g Kings 10: 80.
IV. HeZekian is exalted Tvs. %. 23;9.
These verses tell us that God not only
saved His people from the hands OF
Sennacherib, but from all others and
guided them OH every side" Many
presents were brought to HeZekiah.
and lie was exalted in the sight or all.