What is the meaning of 2 Kings 19:25? Have you not heard? “Have you not heard?” (2 Kings 19:25) • God speaks to Sennacherib, king of Assyria, through Isaiah, challenging his arrogance. • The question reminds him— and us— that divine truth has been declared before; ignorance is no excuse. • Cross references: Psalm 75:4–5, “Do not lift up your horn on high; do not speak with stiff neck.” Isaiah 40:21, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?” Romans 1:20, where God’s invisible qualities are “clearly seen.” • The lesson: human power is never autonomous; every ruler must reckon with what God has already said. Long ago I ordained it; “Long ago I ordained it” (2 Kings 19:25 b) • God’s sovereign decree predates Assyria’s rise. • What looks like recent military success was foreknown and authorized by the Lord. • Cross references: Isaiah 46:10, “Declaring the end from the beginning…”; Acts 2:23, where Christ was delivered up “by God’s set plan and foreknowledge.” • Takeaway: history unfolds along lines God has already drawn. In days of old I planned it. “In days of old I planned it” (2 Kings 19:25 c) • The repetition deepens the point: not only ordained, but intricately planned. • Assyria was an instrument, not an independent force. • Cross references: Proverbs 16:4, “The LORD has made everything for its purpose…”; Ephesians 1:11, He “works out everything according to the counsel of His will.” • Comfort for believers: God’s plans encompass even hostile empires. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble. “Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble” (2 Kings 19:25 d) • The present success of Assyria is God’s doing, fulfilling long-standing judgment on rebellious nations, including Judah’s wayward neighbors. • Yet this same verse sets up Assyria’s downfall in the next section of the narrative (2 Kings 19:32-37). • Cross references: Isaiah 10:5-12, where Assyria is God’s “rod” yet later punished for pride; Habakkuk 1:5-11, Babylon likewise raised up for judgment. • Application: God may use even ungodly powers to achieve His righteous purposes, while still holding them accountable. summary 2 Kings 19:25 reveals the Lord’s timeless sovereignty. What Assyria boasts of achieving was ordained, planned, and executed by God Himself. Every triumph and every ruin fits within His purposeful design. Human pride fades when we grasp that history is His story, decreed long ago and brought to pass in the present for His glory and our ultimate good. |
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