The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1905-06-28
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR JULY 2.

Subject, sennachsrib's Invasion. n.
Chron. sxxii., 9-e3--Goiden Text. III.
Chron. xxxii.. s--sfsrnory Verses, 1921
-Commenfary on the Days Lesson.
l. Sennacherib's defiant messages
Tvs. 0-19l. .. After this" After re.
ceiving the present from Hczekiah q
Kings 1s: 14-lG). "Scnnacherlb" The
son and successor of Sargon. He says
he built towers around Jerusalem and
shut Hezeklah in like Gagged BIRD
"Assyria." This was a great and pow.
erful country lying on the Tigrs. Its
boundaries differed greatly at different
periods. send his servants See .
Kings Is: II. Tartan, or general; the
rabsarls, the chief of the eunichs: and
the rab-shakeh. the chief cup-bearer,
these being the offices which their
names imply, with a great host None
OF these are proper names Tartan
was the ordinary title of an Assyrian
general They were to demand the IN.
conditional surrender of the king and
capital TO Jerusalem" Sennachorib
was encamped before Lachish. thirty
miles southwest of Jerusalem. seated
in state. From this proud position he
sent a large detachment TO Jerusalem
They took up their position on the
north of the city. on spot long after
wards known as the camp of the Assy.
rians. Hezekiall 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 Ellakim. now chief minister:
Shebna, now in the office of secretary; ;
and J0ah, the royal historian. "All his
power" All his army.
10. "Whereon do ye trustY' Liter.
ally, "Whereon are ye trusting and sit.
ting in restraintT Judah was in al.
lance with Egypt. Assyria's arch-en.
emy; and reference is here made to
this. II. Doth not Hezesiah" Hez.
eklah is abused most vilely and over
whelmed with scorn and insult T.
Worship before one altar" Rab-sha
keh was not familiar with the Jewish
law and he naturally supposed that
the destruction of so many affairs
would incur the displeasure of the
gods; but the reason he gave to prove
that Judah was weak was the very rea-
son why God was with them TO make
them strong. 1915. "know ye not 3"
etc. This boast was natural. The AS
syrians had had an uninterrupted ca.
reer of success and might well believe
that their gods were more powerful
than those of the nations around them
They had utterly over-run and de-
stroyed the kindred tribes of Gallee,
Gilead and Samaria They had for
years exercised lordship over Judea,
and the very king who now defled
them had purchased his safety by the
payment of heavy fine. i6. Against
the Lord Hezekiah treated this
blasphemous speech as he ought. He
refers the matter to Jehovah.
II, Wrote also letters" A little
later another insulting message In the
form of "a letter" Or. ". margin) was
sent. The king took the letter and at
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 q Kings 10: 14-9: Isa
81: 14-20j IS. "A loud voice" An al
lusion is here made to what occurred
q Kings IS: $3.50 before Sennacherib
wrote his letter. Jews speech" The
Hebrew language. The Syrian Ian
guage was not understood by the COM
mon people. 'To alright them 1t
was day of great suspense. Already
there was q 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 lntlmidate Jerusa-
lem into submission. TO- 'Spake
against" etc. They saw no difference
between the Jehovah of the Jews and
the gods Of the other nations.
III. Hezekiah and Isaiah call on the
Lord ". 20) 20. Prayed" King
Hezekiah rent his clothes and put on
sackcloth 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 Hezeklh.
But they not only prayed, they worked.
The king built walls and towers, and
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. 6. y.
III. The Lord destroys the Assy-
rians ". 2D
21. The word angel means "a mes
senger," lone sent" and may be ap-
piled TO any messenger sent from God
whoever or whatever that may be.
Thus in Psa. 104: 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 a storm, a pestllence or
food. It is generally understood to
have been the simeon. "Cut Off" In
one night Gods messenger smote 1885,
600 men q Kings 10: 35). This gives
some idea of the immense size of Sen
nacherlb's army. HE returned" The
king and few others were preserved
Gown land" Nlneveh. "When he
was come" Just how long time
elapsed between this calamity and Sen.
nacherlb'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" "Adram
melech and Sharezer his sons smote
him with the sword; and they es
capped" Y Kings 10: 80.
w. .Hezeklan is exalted Tvs. %, 23)
These verses tell us that God not only
saved His people from the hands oi
Sennacherib, but from all others an(
''guided them on every side" Many
presents were brought to Hezekiah
and he was exalted in the sight of all.
Henry n D.sz