Day 214

2 Chronicles 32:1–33:13; Romans 15:23–16:9; Psalm 25:16-22; Proverbs 20:16-18

IN OUR READING from 2 Chronicles today, we encountered the story of Assyria’s invasion of Israel. If we take it at face value, we could simply read the story as a piece of ancient history. However, if we look closer, we begin to understand that we are reading the story of our own lives and are being given powerful counsel on how to navigate them.

When Hezekiah faced the reality of an Assyrian invasion, he acted quite wisely. First, he did what he could to prepare himself and his army for the attack. He cut off the water flow so the invading army wouldn’t have access, he fortified and repaired Jerusalem’s defensive walls, and he built towers and additional defenses and crafted the weaponry his soldiers would need. Hezekiah then encouraged his people by telling them,

Be strong and courageous! Don’t be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria or his mighty army, for there is a power far greater on our side! He may have a great army, but they are merely men. We have the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles for us!

King Hezekiah did everything he could do and acknowledged God in all of it. We could pause here and consider the battles we are facing. Are we prepared as Hezekiah was, or have we been living completely unaware?

As the story progressed, we learned that Hezekiah was indeed prepared for battle but that the powerful weapons coming against Jerusalem were not made of wood and metal. They were made of words. Assyria’s King Sennacherib sent envoys to the walls of Jerusalem to demoralize and intimidate Jerusalem:

What are you trusting in that makes you think you can survive my siege of Jerusalem? . . . Surely Hezekiah is misleading you, sentencing you to death by famine and thirst! . . . Surely you must realize what I and the other kings of Assyria before me have done to all the people of the earth! Were any of the gods of those nations able to rescue their people from my power? . . . What makes you think your God can rescue you from me? . . . No god of any nation or kingdom has ever yet been able to rescue his people from me or my ancestors. How much less will your God rescue you from my power!

Read those taunts again. Do they not resemble the kind of heckling and insults that plague us when we are facing a battle? No matter how prepared we are, we always seem to face the taunts of the enemy —because if we can be demoralized into surrender, then it doesn’t matter how prepared we are. And when we believe the taunts, fear overtakes our faith, and God seems unavailable.

In the story of Hezekiah, all the threats were true! The Assyrian Empire had indeed destroyed many kings and kingdoms. And indeed their army was intimidating. But rather than accept defeat and a humiliating surrender, Hezekiah (and the prophet Isaiah) cried out to God. The city was prepared for battle, but they simply would not survive in their own strength.

And God came.

The LORD sent an angel who destroyed the Assyrian army with all its commanders and officers. So Sennacherib was forced to return home in disgrace to his own land. And when he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons killed him there with a sword.

What we see in this story is vigilant preparation and awareness coupled with a complete understanding that only the strength of God leads to victory. Let us remember this today as we face our own battles.

MEDITATION:

Plans succeed through good counsel; don’t go to war without wise advice.