Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 19

How Assyria achieved, and lost, its greatness

2 Kings 19:25-28

Clearly, Assyria had become an extremely powerful nation. It had defeated many other nations in war. It took their land for itself; it forced the people to live far away from their former homes.

So, we ask how Assyria achieved its greatness. In particular, we want to know who was responsible for these events.

We have already seen what the king of Assyria would reply to those questions in verses 23-24. He proudly insisted that he had achieved these things by his powerful leadership and his strong army. However, now in verses 25-26, God declares the truth about these matters.

It is God who is the real ruler of both heaven and earth. He appoints the rulers of this world and he takes their power and authority away from them (1 Samuel 2:6-10). Often, he does that as an act of judgment against people’s evil deeds.

God had decided long before to use Assyria in his acts of judgment against other nations. For example, God sent Assyria’s army to carry out his judgment against the evil deeds of the people in northern and central Israel (17:5-23).

However, the king of Assyria became so proud that he even dared to speak against God. So now, God’s judgment was against him, too. God would deal with him as a person deals with a fierce wild animal. That person leads the animal by a ring in its nose. Or, God would direct him as a rider directs a horse. The rider puts an object called the bit into the horse’s mouth. He uses the bit to turn the horse’s head in the direction that he (the rider) wants to go. The word-picture means that God would take control of the king of Assyria. God would force him to go where God wanted him to go. God would take him away from Judah, and back to Assyria. There, this proud king would die.

Next part: The sign of the next three years (2 Kings 19:29-31)

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