Sennacherib tried to lure God’s people into doubting God’s positive intentions for them. He taunted them and teased them and warned them to ignore Hezekiah who promised them that God would deliver them from the hands of their enemies. He approached the city in such a way as to instill fear in God’s people. Lord Byron captured that in his poetic description of these Assyrians.
“The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold!
Imagine how intimidating they must have been in their glorious military dress, in their chariots of steel, with their long bows and spears. Sennacherib sat proudly upon his black steed as it stomped the dust while snorting breath into the morning air! “No god has ever prevented me from conquering a city before, and don’t be stupid enough to look for divine intervention in your case either,” was his message.
Have you ever been intimidated by your circumstances? Have you ever felt that you were outnumbered with no escape? Have you ever been at the end of all your resources? Hezekiah knows exactly what that’s like. Hezekiah had nowhere to turn, so he prayed. “Then Hezekiah…prayed because of this and cried to heaven.”
God is always moving our life circumstances around in a way that we’ll turn to Him. God doesn’t mind being our last resort. He will be there for us. But sometimes I think he’d like to be our first choice instead.
What happened to Hezekiah? Verse 21 says, “God sent an angel.” By the way, God never runs out of angels.
Chuck
“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.” 1 John 3:18(NLT)