Nisroch

This is what the king of Assyria says: 'Make peace with me and come out to me.

Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree, and drink water from your own cistern, until I come and take you to a land like your own, a land of corn and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.' Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, 'The Lord will deliver us.' Have the gods of any nations ever delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? Who of all the gods of these countries have been able to save their lands from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?' But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, 'Do not answer him.' Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him what the field commander had said.

Isaiah chapter thirty-seven.

When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord.

Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah king of Cush was marching out to fight against him.

When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 'Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, 'Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.' Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely.

And will you be delivered? Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?' Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it.

Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord.

It says, Then Sennacherib, king of Assyria, departed, went home, and lived in Nineveh.

And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch, his god, Adrammelech and Sherazur, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat, which is obviously in Turkey today.

And one of his sons reigned in his place.

So anyway, pretty cool.

Puppies in Pet Shop, read by Evie Maria and Jenna Eleni.

Irish Terrier, Babylonian Guard, Nisroch the Eagle God, Nice Gentleman, read by Tyler Hulagard.

Village Headman, Crowd Member, Date Seller, Lecturer, read by Lee Meredith.

Babylonian Woman, Prisoner's Wife, Imogen's Mother, Dye Master, read by Starling Reader.

Shouts of applause greeted the ending of the verse, and the king would not be satisfied till they had sung all their part songs, they only knew three, twice over, and ended up with Men of Harlech in unison.

Then the king stood up in his royal robes with his high narrow crown on his head and shouted...

"By the beak of Nisroch, ask what you will, strangers from the land where the sun never sets."

"We ought to say it's enough honor, like the dancer did,"

People.

But if you or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe my commands, if you serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them.

I will reject this temple I have consecrated for my name.

Silence! Hear now the judgment of the Lord, O giant slayer! The sword shall never leave your house.

Hezekiah had been king for fourteen years.

He was young when he started, impossibly young, twenty-five and already surrounded by the detritus of his father's apostasy.

His father, Ahaz, had gutted the temple, sold off the sacred vessels like they were pawn shop trinkets, and made treaties with gods that didn't exist.

The man had turned the Lord's sanctuary into something between a trash heap and a museum of foreign humiliation.

And then you know what he did? He brought him down like a house of cards.

Do you know how Sennacherib died? 2 Kings 19, verse 37, it came to pass as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his God.

that Adrammelech and Sherezer, his sons, smote him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Armenia.

And Ezrahaddon, his son, reigned in his stead.

The Bible gives this event exactly one verse.

2 Kings 19.37 As he was worshipping in the houses of Nisroch his god, Adramelech and Sharazer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat.

and Eser Hadon, his son, reigned in his place, end quote.

That's 28 words.

I shall speak to it, and if it answers me, you will know that I and the others are come to guard your sacred thing that we've just made the offerings to.

Will that god whose image you hold in your hand speak to you alone, or shall I also hear it?

Asked the man cautiously.

You'll be surprised when you do hear it,

As strong as peppermint,

He ended abruptly.

I know not the god,

Said Ritty-Marduk, bending timorously.

So Sennacherib, this is 701 BC, goes back And watch what happens in verse 37, last verse of the chapter.

And it came to pass as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch, his God, that Adrammelech and Sherezer, his sons, smote him with the sword.

And they escaped into the land of Armenia and

Esarhaddon, his son,