|
T
|
HE Assyrians, conquerors of the northern kingdom of Israel,
were gathered outside the walls of the Holy City of God. They were there to breathe violence,
blasphemy and conquest in the ears of King Hezekiah's people. But, Hezekiah responded beautifully to this
dilemma. He humbled himself before God, went to the temple to pray and sent
messengers to the man of God (Isaiah).
Isaiah had some good news for the king though. God was
willing to fight Judah's enemies for them. So, although God did not silence the
blasphemy of Rabshakeh right away, He did foil his short-term strategy. Yet,
Rabshakeh did not get the message that Providence intended. He continued his
blasphemy, and this time in writing, and with the direct involvement (or
approval) of his king.
We are thrilled to find that Hezekiah's response was the
same after the second barrage of threats as it had been the first time. He
took the matter to the Lord. In this case, he took the letter which had been
sent to him by the Assyrians and he spread it before the Lord in the temple
(Isaiah 37:14). In response to Hezekiah's prayers, and in answer to the
continued arrogance in the hearts of the Assyrians, God destroyed an entire
division of the Assyrian army (185,000 troops), and sent their wicked king
running back home to Nineveh, there to die at the hands of his own family
members (Isaiah 37:36-38).
No comments:
Post a Comment