2 Kings 19:20

GOD SENT HIS ANSWER TO HEZEKIAH THROUGH THE PROPHET ISAIAH

"Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard thee. This is the word that Jehovah hath spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. Whom hast thou defied and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. By thy messengers thou has defied the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir-trees thereof; and I will enter into his farthest lodging-place, the forest of the fruitful field. I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt."

This is the initial part of God's message, which is largely a scornful declaration of just what a fool Sennacherib actually was. He defied GOD! His ambition was unbounded; he would (so he thought) scale the highest mountains, he would even dry up all the rivers of Egypt with the sole of his feet! Here was an insane fool who thought he could drink the ocean dry! The passage begins with a statement of the utter contempt and scorn of "The virgin daughter of Zion."

"The virgin daughter of Zion hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn" (2 Kings 19:21). "Such expressions as these are not references to the morals of the citizens. They mean that the city referred to has not been conquered and raped by a foreign invader."[16]

There was an amazing amount of truth in what this beast of a heathen was saying. The Assyrians "The Breakers" as they were called, were more familiar with the human anatomy without the skin than they were with its normal appearance. This is proved by the monuments and drawings with which they decorated their buildings. One may see these `works of art' (?) in the Metropolitan Museum on Fifth Avenue, New York City. The ugly fact behind those artifacts of the past is that the Assyrians flayed their victims. It is amazing that God tolerated that evil nation as long as he did. No other nation in history ever surpassed the sadistic cruelty and ruthless passion for destruction exhibited in the ravages of the Assyrians.

THE REST OF GOD'S MESSAGE CONCERNING SENNACHERIB

The Lord had a final word for that evil beast of a world conqueror, and that came next.