Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of II Kings Chapter 19
Metaphysically Interpreting II Kings 19:1-7
19:1And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of Jehovah. 19:2And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. 19:3And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of contumely; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. 19:4It may be Jehovah thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which Jehovah thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.19:5So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 19:6And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith Jehovah, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 19:7Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear tidings, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
June 1, 1947: II Kings 19:5-7
On what occasion does faith prove most effectual? In great crises, when all other help is beyond our reach, we turn in full faith to the power of the Highest as our last resort. Faith, being undivided, then proves its power.
In ordinary circumstances does faith work unnoticed? The effects of faith are less evident in ordinary circumstances, but its work is never interrupted. Since the allegiance of most persons is divided between belief in the good and fear of evil, their faith likewise is divided.
What is the significance of Hezekiah's reliance on Isaiah in time of national danger? The name Hezekiah means “power of Jehovah”; the name Isaiah “Jehovah is salvation.” The two are interdependent, for without the power of God there can be no salvation, and the salvation of God is divine power in action. Hezekiah relied on God and looked to Isaiah as the one who best understood divine power and how to make contact with it.
If divine power is unlimited, is chance ruled out? It is. Everything happens according to divine law, which is at work always and everywhere even though its action is not readily apparent.
Why did Isaiah warn Hezekiah against fearing the words of challenge of Rabshakeh, the officer of the Assyrian king's army? The words of the Assyrian officer had back of them the power of the king of Assyria, at that time a mighty ruler. However Assyria represents the intellectual realm or the realm of sense, whereas Judah here represents the spiritual realm. Whatever appearances may be, the intellect is less powerful than the spirit in controlling the destinies of mankind.
How do we make the power of God our salvation? By availing ourselves of it through prayer.
Metaphysically Interpreting II Kings 19:8-13
19:8So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. 19:9And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee, he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying, 19:10Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 19:11Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered? 19:12Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden that were in Telassar? 19:13Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?
Metaphysically Interpreting II Kings 19:14-34
19:14And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up unto the house of Jehovah, and spread it before Jehovah. 19:15And Hezekiah prayed before Jehovah, and said, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, that sittest above the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. 19:16Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; open thine eyes, O Jehovah, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, wherewith he hath sent him to defy the living God. 19:17Of a truth, Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 19:18and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them. 19:19Now therefore, O Jehovah our God, save thou us, I beseech thee, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou Jehovah art God alone.
19:20Then 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. 19:21This 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. 19:22Whom 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. 19:23By thy messengers thou hast 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 his fruitful field. 19:24I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt.
19:25Hast thou not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? now have I brought it to pass, that it should be thine to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps. 19:26Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as grain blasted before it is grown up. 19:27But I know thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy raging against me. 19:28Because of thy raging against me, and because thine arrogancy is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
19:29And this shall be the sign unto thee: Ye shall eat this year that which groweth of itself, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. 19:30And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 19:31For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they that shall escape: the zeal of Jehovah shall perform this. 19:32Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it. 19:33By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come unto this city, saith Jehovah.19:34For I will defend this city to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
November 13, 1898: II Kings 19:20-32
Hezekiah is king of Judah and stands before us as an illustration of what confidence and trust in the power of God will do for one who claims it with absolute faith. He did not attain to this trust in a single day, but reached it through varied and sometimes painful experiences. Like him we have trusted in material things, like gold or intellectuality, to which we ascribed power and gave tribute of service. In time of our greatest need we found we had relied upon broken reeds and we then turned to God and found a tower of strength which never fails.
19:20Then 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. -- Seeking freedom from the assaults of worldly thoughts (Assyrians), we claim the power of the indwelling Spirit, the I AM to deliver us.
19:21This 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. 19:22Whom 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. -- Then are we shown that the “daughter of Zion,” “the holy one of Israel,” which is the Christ within us, is so strong in its conscious power that it cannot be moved by the boasted strength of the Assyrians.
– UNITY magazine.
Metaphysically Interpreting II Kings 19:35-37
19:35And it came to pass that night, that the angel of Jehovah went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 19:36So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. 19:37And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.
November 13, 1898: II Kings 19:28-37
19:28Because of thy raging against me, and because thine arrogancy is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. -- Because these error thoughts have produced much discord in our world by their struggle for supremacy, then does the Christ put a check upon them and send them back by the way they came, the Way of the thought force.
19:29And this shall be the sign unto thee: Ye shall eat this year that which groweth of itself, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. -- After this cleansing we turn our attention to promoting Spiritual growth, and we find it the experience of many that it takes three years for us to reach the point where we can stand firm in this Truth and demonstrate for ourselves.
19:30And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 19:31For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they that shall escape: the zeal of Jehovah shall perform this. -- The Science of Being has struck its roots down deep in our consciousness and its fruits are borne upward for all men to see and the glory of God.
sup>19:32Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it. 19:33By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come unto this city, saith Jehovah.19:34For I will defend this city to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. -- Being filled with the knowledge of God and having absolute trust in this wonderful power of which we are a part and which is operative for us when we recognize and claim it, we are beyond all harm from evil thoughts, either racial, projected upon us by individuals or those which rise within us. Like David we are “beloved of the Lord” and our holy city is saved.
19:35And it came to pass that night, that the angel of Jehovah went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. -- “The battle is the Lord's.” Having done our part in turning from the errors of our old thoughts and beliefs and concentrating our faculties on the Spiritual plane, we leave the rest to God. Then the “angel of the Lord,” the Truth, destroys the false thoughts. We do not need to be troubled over old conditions of mind or body, for it follows as sure as effect follows cause that when we realize the truth of our Being, and think only true thoughts, the false ideas are dead already and then manifestation will disappear.
19:36So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. 19:37And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead. -- Intellect, the king of the Assyrians, not being able to capture Spirituality, departs and is slain by its own children, false thoughts. Intelligence then works wholly on the Spiritual plane and the Christ is made manifest in us.
– UNITY magazine.
June 1, 1947: II Kings 19:32-37
Why have wars continued throughout civilized history despite the many prayers for peace that have been offered? Because more people have believed in war and worked actively to promote war than have believed in and worked for peace. “Faith without works is dead,” and believers in peace have been largely content to believe without working to prove their faith.
Can peace-loving people the world over combine to make peace the accepted rule instead of the exception? They can if they will stand together and pray, believing that it can be done. Isaiah's realization of divine power turned back the army of Assyria, when it was already in Judah. The host of peace lovers can make peace the accustomed state of the world by establishing a consciousness of universal peace.
Transcribed by Lloyd Kinder on 02-07-2014
