Originally posted 8/7/20
When we start to look to God for direction and give him our whole life, we will face opposition. We will have people come into our life whose only goal seems to be to tell us how great they are and how weak we are. They may even have examples they throw in our faces to show us just how much we need them to come rescue us. They likely will have many awards proving just how great they are that they also use as an example of how awesome they are. What do we do when we are faced with people like that? How do we respond?
Sennacherib vs. Hezekiah
In 2 Kings 18-19 we find a great example of a king who is following God, and a king who thinks he is undefeatable. Hezekiah was a Godly king in Judah, while Sennacherib was a king in Assyria. Assyria had been a long time enemy of Israel and Judah. Fourteen years after Hezekiah took the throne in Judah, Sennacherib captured all the fortified cities of Judah. At this time fear got the best of Hezekiah because we see him tell the king, “… ‘I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear.’ And the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.” 2 Kings 18:14 (ESV)
Hezekiah thought he needed to do whatever it took to appease the king of Assyria. I’m sure he thought that if he just paid the king what he wanted, the Assyrian king would leave them alone. Sadly, he was wrong. We see just a few verses later that the Assyrian king sent his messenger, Rabshakeh, to Jerusalem to basically tell Hezekiah to be prepared for war. Sennacherib was coming to take over Jerusalem. The fortified cities were no longer enough, he wanted more.
Have you ever met someone like Sennacherib? You sacrifice for them and give them all you can; you try to do whatever you are asked to do just to make them happy, but nothing you do is ever enough. They just keep wanting more and more and more until you have literally nothing left to give. This is where Hezekiah was at this point in the story.
Rabshakeh vs. Hezekiah’s Men
At this meeting between Rabshakeh and Hezekiah’s men, Rabshakeh basically asks them what they put their trust in. He asks them if Hezekiah thinks that “mere words are strategy and power for war?” He then asks if they really can trust in the Lord since Hezekiah took down all the high places. You see, to Rabshakeh and Senneracherib the high places were where the gods they served could hear them. They didn’t understand that the God of Judah could not only hear his people but actually could act on their behalf. Rabshakeh even tries to get Hezekiah to surrender right then and there by saying, “Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.” 2 Kings 18:23 (ESV) This threat gets the best of Hezekiah’s men for they ask Rabshakeh to quit speaking in Hebrew and to start speaking in Aramaic. They are afraid that when the men who sat on the wall heard what was said, they would become afraid as well.
Rabshakeh’s Threat
Then Rabshakeh says something to anyone who could hear his voice,
“Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand. Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live, and not die. And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”” 2 Kings 18:28-35 (ESV)
Essentially he says, “Don’t be a fool and believe Hezekiah when he says that your God will save you. After all, no other gods in all the other lands have been strong enough to defeat Senneracherib.” He even offers a good life to anyone who would surrender right then and there.
Ever hear that sort of threat before? “Just do what I tell you to do and I’ll make life so great for you. Cross me and you will have to face my wrath!” I know I have. As long as I went along with whatever they said, life was fun with them in my life, but the minute I spoke up in disagreement, they lashed out at me and life was suddenly very very bad for me. What are we supposed to do in these types of situations?
Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Advice
Apparently Hezekiah was done playing by Senneracherib’s rules because he did what every good Jew did back then to show they were repentant and ready to hear from God, “As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord.” 2 Kings 19:1 (ESV) He then sent a messenger to the prophet Isaiah to ask what God wanted Hezekiah to do. God is so so good to his people, that when we surrender our problems to him, and ask him what we should do, he is faithful to tell us exactly what we need to do. 2 Kings 19:6-7 “Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’””
God knows we will face battles that are bigger than we can handle. He knows that we will sometimes become afraid because we don’t know what to do in a situation. Time and time again we see God tell his people to just be still, and let God fight the battles for them. That’s basically what he tells Hezekiah here and he told the Israelites through Moses the same thing in Exodus 14:13-14 (NLT) “But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”” In Acts we see a similar thing happen to Peter when he is in prison and the church prayed for God to rescue him. Acts 12:7-8 (ESV) “And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”” God is in the business of taking care of our battles if we only ask and surrender.
Senneracherib vs. the LORD
Senneracherib tries one last time to scare Hezekiah into submission. The Assryian king sent messengers to Hezekiah to tell him, ““Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”” Notice he is essentially saying the same thing he did a few verses ago?
Our enemy behaves in the exact same way. He only has so many tricks to play on God’s people. If you think about it, Satan is still trying to decieve us the same way he did Eve in the Garden of Eden. He always starts by trying to make us think that God is holding out on us. We are lacking because God is keeping something good from us. When that doesn’t work, he tries to convince us that we are something that God says we aren’t. He attacks our identity. We again see this in his deception of Eve. Satan tells Eve that when she eats the forbidden fruit, she will be like God (or she will become a god too). She was never meant to be a god herself. She was already created in the image of God as the daughter of God. She didn’t need to do anything to be like God since she was created in the image of God to begin with.
Satan still uses those two deceptions today. He may try to convince you that you are lacking something and if you only act this way, you won’t be lacking anymore. Sure that act is wrong and sinful, but who cares as long as you need it, right? Such a big fat lie! If that doesn’t work, he will try to convince you that you are someone who God says you aren’t. He will tell you that you aren’t good enough, you aren’t pretty enough, you aren’t seen, aren’t valued, and the list can go on and on. The fact of the matter God says you are good enough, you are his beautiful daughter, he always sees you, and he values you more than his own life. Hold on to the truth of who God says you are, especially in those times when you don’t feel those truths are accurate.
The End of Senneracherib’s Story
2 Kings 19:35-37 tells us the end of the reign of Senneracherib. We are told that the LORD sent an angel to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 men. Senneracherib went back to his home in Nineveh, and was killed by two of his sons while he worshipped his false god.
When Hezekiah stopped trying to solve his problems with the king of Assyria on his own, and started seeking God for advice, is when the battle turned around in his favor. God is willing and able to fight our battles for us. We just have to surrender the fight to him and ask him what we need to do. Often he will tell us to do or say nothing. We just need to pray for our enemies, like Jesus told us to do. Prayer changes the way we see situations, and allows us to view them the same way God does.
Recent Comments