This lesson continues in the life of King Hezekiah and teaches the students how he handled the threats of the king of Assyria by prayer. The students will discover lessons how to apply what they learn from Hezekiah’s response to their lives when they are confronted with difficulties. The lesson is prepared for older elementary students. Please adapt to your ministry needs.
This lesson is only a guide to help you to prepare for your class. It was created for older students but can be adapted for your individual needs. Click here to see all the Bible lessons in this series.
Bible Story Title: Hezekiah prays when threatened by Assyria
Bible Passage: 2 Chronicles 32:1-23
Target Age Group: Age 9 – 11 (U.S. 3rd – 5th Grade)
Learning Context: Sunday School
Target Time Frame: 60 minutes
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Supply List: Bibles, Bible map, Index cards, pens/pencils,
Learning Goal: Students will learn that believers have a real enemy (the devil) and can stand up against his attacks by trusting in God alone.
Learning Activity #1: Have a Sword Drill. (This lesson plan has many different verses that can be used for the Sword Drill) It is helpful for visual learners if you write the passage on the board or have it written before hand on a piece of paper.
Learning Activity #2: Fighting Enemies with God’s Word: This activity allows students to see enemies that attack them in their daily walk with God. They will discover Scriptures that will help them overcome their enemies (difficulties that they are confronted with). Have students make individualized index cards with the name of an enemy on one side and Scriptures to fight those enemies on the other side. (Here are some examples: Fear (Deuteronomy 31:6, Hebrews 13:6), Pride (Proverbs 18:12, Philippians 2:3), Jealousy (Proverbs 27:4, 1Corinthians 3:3), Insecurity/lacking confidence (Jeremiah 17:7, Philippians 4:13), laziness (Proverbs 12:24, Hebrews 6:12), anger (Proverbs 29:22, Ephesians 4:26), hate (Proverbs 8:13, Luke 6:27) These cards will be for them to use at the different times when they are being attacked and have Scriptures readily available to help them overcome.
Test: Review Questions
Memory Verse: 2 Chronicles 32:8a “With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.”
Bible Lesson: King Hezekiah Part 3: Hezekiah prays when threatened by Assyria
Before an army fights the enemy the captain receives orders from the king. The captain prepares the soldiers to fight the enemy. The captain teaches his soldiers what kinds of weapons the enemy uses. He prepares them for their possible fighting tactics and where the enemy is usually located. A strong army that wins battle is made up of soldiers who prepare well before going into battle.
As a believer we are in God’s army. Believers are the soldiers, Jesus is our King and the Holy Spirit is our captain. Jesus knows how to defeat the enemy and the Holy Spirit prepares believers by giving instructions from God’s Word and power to defeat the enemy. The Holy Spirit helps believers understand that God alone can be trusted to win the battle against the enemy. The enemy believers face is the devil or Satan. He is God’s enemy and he attacks believers. Believers are daily in a battle against the attacks from the enemy. The attacks come in different forms. Difficulties that confront us and sin are enemies that every believer is faced with on a daily basis. Each time we are tempted to disobey God’s Word we are being attacked by the enemy.
Since believers have a real enemy and are in a daily battle with sin, only God, who knows all things, has power over all things and is everywhere can help believers in this battle. He knows everything about Satan, his tricks and his tactics. God has given us every weapon (The Bible, Prayer) we need to not be defeated in the battle. (Hebrews 4:12)
The only way believers can win against Satan is to trust fully in God’s promises and allow Him to fight our battles.
Today we are going to see an example we can follow from studying the life of Hezekiah. Let’s turn in our Bibles to 2 Chronicles 32.
(If you have taught part 1 and part 2 of Hezekiah’s reign, review what the students remember) King Hezekiah was faithful to the Lord. He brought change to the Southern kingdom by getting rid of pagan worship and restoring worship at the temple. He invited all of God’s people to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.
Read 2 Chronicles 32:1. King Hezekiah was faithful to God and Sennacherib the king of Assyria attacked his kingdom. Whenever God’s people are doing great things for God and turning people’s hearts back to Him, God’s enemy the devil is never happy. The devil’s motto is: Lie, steal and destroy! (John 8:44, 10:10)
2 Chronicles 32:2-5 Hezekiah takes action against his enemy
Hezekiah blocks off the springs of water so the enemy cannot drink. Water is a necessity for life. By cutting off the flow of water the enemy could not stay camped in that area for long without water to drink. (Verses 2-4)
- What are some ways that you can stop the ‘flow of water’ to the sins that are enemies in your life? (James 4:7 Obey God and the enemy will have to flee)
Read verse 5. Hezekiah worked hard to strengthen the protective walls around Jerusalem. He repaired the broken sections and built towers on it. He built another wall around the original wall. He made large numbers of weapons and shields.
- How do you prepare to protect yourself from an inescapable attack? (Believers face situations that we know that are going to be difficult (Peer pressure)) Do you study God’s Word daily? Do you pray and ask God for wisdom every day? Are you memorizing Scriptures? God is our strength and shield and His Word is our weapon to fight against all the enemies we face.)
- Do you pray for your pastor and leaders? By praying for them you are protecting them from the enemy who wants to destroy them.
2 Chronicles 32:6-8 Hezekiah encourages his army
Read verses 7 and 8. King Hezekiah encouraged the people to be strong and courageous. He encouraged them to trust God to fight their battles. The people gained confidence from the King’s encouragement.
- How strong is your faith in God? Is your faith strong enough that you can point others to trust God and have courage when they are in a battle? (Hebrews 3:12-13)
2 Chronicles 32:9-19 The enemy’s tactics
Read selected verses: 9 (Sennacherib is laying siege (harassing) Lachish (show on map) and sends his messengers to threaten Hezekiah and his kingdom), 10-11, 15 (messengers cast doubt on Hezekiah’s instruction to have confidence in the Lord), 16-17 (Messengers insult God), 18 (Messengers try to terrify the men on the wall)
Satan (the enemy-Ephesians 6:12) uses these same tactics in the lives of believers. Have you ever doubted God’s ability to rescue you from the enemy? (Did God really say? Genesis 3:1) Have you ever been bullied? Has anyone every made fun of your faith in God? If so, you can relate to how the people in Hezekiah’s kingdom felt.
2 Kings 18-19; 2 Chronicles 32:20 Hezekiah’s Battle Strategy
King Hezekiah trusted God to fight against the King of Assyria. The following are some of his strategies to help his people when they were attacked by the enemy. Each strategy can be used by believers when they are attacked by the enemy. (Depending on how much time you have available you can have the students look up the verses and read.)
- Keep silent before the enemy. (2 Kings 18:36)/ (1 Peter 2:23)
- Humble yourself before God. (2 Kings 18:37-19:2)/ (Micah 6:8)
- Seek Godly Counsel. (2 Kings 19:2-4)/ (Proverbs 15:22)
- Take your troubles to the Lord. (2 Kings 19:14-19; 2 Chronicles 32:20)/ (Philippians 4:6)
- Trust your Defender (2 Kings 19:34)/ (Psalm 35:23)
2 Chronicles 32:21-23 God Responds and Rescues
God can be trusted to hear and answer prayer. His answers are above and beyond what we could ever expect. (Ephesians 3:20)
Let’s turn to 2 Kings 19:35-37. How many Assyrian soldiers were killed by the angel of the Lord? (185,000)What happened to Sennacherib? (He was killed by his sons while he was worshiping his god)
Read 2 Chronicles 32:22-23. King Hezekiah faced a dangerous, intimidating enemy. He chose to trust God. God defeated the king of Assyria and his army. We too can trust God to rescue us from the enemies we face. We will never be disappointed when we trust God with every aspect of our lives (Psalm 22:5).
At the beginning of our lesson we talked about believers being in God’s army. If you have never been saved you are not in His army. To be a soldier in God’s army you must admit that you are a sinner. Your sin separates you from God. You must believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, was buried and rose again on the third day. When you call upon Jesus to save you from your sins you are now an enlisted soldier in the Lord’s army (2 Timothy 2:3-4). If you are a believer are you obeying King Jesus and following the Holy Spirit’s instructions each day? It is important to walk closely with God each day so you will be fully prepared for attacks from the enemy.
Close in prayer.
- What did King Hezekiah do when the King of Assyria invading his land? (Blocked the springs, repaired broken walls, made weapons)
- How did Hezekiah encourage the people? (Told them to be strong and courageous and trust God)
- What did Sennacherib’s messengers say? (Tried to cause the people to doubt that God could save them, insulted God and frightened the people)
- What did Hezekiah do? (Humbled himself, sent a message to Isaiah, prayed)
- How did God respond to Hezekiah’s prayer?
- How did this lesson encourage you to trust God when faced with difficulty?
- What changes do you need to make so you can stand firm when faced with difficulty?
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