[Imagine the following newspaper story.]
ASSYRIANS WARN OF COMING INVASION: Foreign Diplomats Speak Hebrew to People of Jerusalem, Warn Them Not to Trust King, Promise Warm Welcome in New Land.
Jerusalem. 701 B.C.
Three top officials from Assyria arrived today with a message for King Hezekiah: Surrender to King Sennacherib of Assyria and you and your people will be given a new life in Assyria. The Assyrians warn that if Israel resists, the nation will be conquered like all others.
The three top officials warned our nation not to expect help from Egypt, calling Egypt a walking stick that will splinter your hand when you lean on it.
The men added King Hezekiah’s faith is misplaced, arguing our God will not protect us after Hezekiah removed all the altars and the high places for worship. (But this is propaganda: the king removed only those places dedicated to the worship of idols.)
Next, the diplomats promised if Hezekiah would surrender, they would give him a gift of two thousand horses “if only he could find riders,” a suggestion Israel’s army is so small as to be of no consequence.
At that point, several of King Hezekiah’s officials asked the foreigners to speak to them in the Syrian language, hoping to keep the citizens of Jerusalem from being alarmed by their words.
But the Assyrians reacted by speaking even more loudly in Hebrew. One of them shouted to the crowd that had gathered: Don’t let King Hezekiah deceive you! Your god will not deliver you! Come to us and every one of you will have your own home, your own farm, your own vineyard!
But you must ignore King Hezekiah when he says ‘the Lord will deliver us.’ After all, have any of the gods of the nations been able to deliver them from the King of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? What god of all the gods has delivered any nation from the hand of Assyria? And who is the Lord, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
But no one answered. This reporter was astonished at the silence of the people of Jerusalem. King Hezekiah had warned the citizens to keep quiet and they obeyed. No one said anything to the envoys from Assyria, and no one was willing to be interviewed for this story. Hezekiah’s people obeyed him. Yet many of them surely went home feeling anxious and afraid. [Isaiah 36:1-21.]
This obscure story is actually reported in three places: Isaiah 36 and 37, 2 Kings 18-19, and 2 Chronicles 32. The events must have been horrifying. The men from Assyria stood on the city wall and shouted threats to the people of Jerusalem. These were not empty threats. Assyria was taking over the world.
Not only that, the Assyrians were brutal, torturing captives for entertainment, blinding them, pulling off pieces of skin until a person died, and putting hooks in the noses of those they desired for slaves. In fact, the Assyrians are believed to have invented crucifixion. They were a brutal, barbaric people, entirely devoid of compassion. The people of Jerusalem must have been terrified.
In response to these threats from the larger, wealthier nation, King Hezekiah did several things: he tore his clothes, covered himself in sackcloth, went to the temple to pray, and sent for the prophet Isaiah.
And though the situation was difficult, Hezekiah does not appear to have ever considered any option but following God. The Assyrians promised to generously provide food and homes. That may have been a lie, but it is the sort of comforting lie that can be easy to believe when you are scared. Yet Hezekiah never considered surrender. He took this huge, scary challenge to God. He held onto his faith and hope. He KNEW God could rescue Israel. But he was not certain whether God would.
“And Isaiah said … Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard … Behold, I will send a blast upon him … and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own hand” Isaiah 37:6-7.
The angel of the Lord entered the Assyrian camp that night and wiped out the army. The king and his entourage returned to Ninevah, the capitol of Assyria, and the king’s own sons murdered him in his palace with his own sword, Isaiah 37:36-38.
No matter how terrifying the threats are, God can deliver us.
“When I am afraid, I will put my trust in thee” Psalm 56:3.
Dear God, give us courage when we hear terrible news. Remind us to bring it to you, whether it is news about the entire world, news of wars or famines or natural disasters or pandemics, or whether it is smaller and personal and only terrible for a few of us. Remind us that you are seated on your throne. You are sovereign over everything. And we can trust in you. Thank you for your peace that exceeds all comprehension, Philippians 4:7.
AΩ