Take It To the Lord

2 Kings 18-19

Hezekiah received the letter from the [Assyrian] messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: "O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God." Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria." (19:14-16, 19-20)

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Hezekiah was yet another man of action.

We find them all over the Old Testament. Some are big shots -- guys like Abraham, Joshua, David and Jehu Others are just simple folks who did the right thing when faced with a decision, like Benaiah the mighty man and, most recently, Jehoiada the priest, who hid Joash from his evil grandmother.

But unlike the stories of many other men of action, the author of Kings chooses to slow down his rapid narrative pace and dwell on Hezekiah's reign in depth. He focuses particularly on one battle -- more of a siege than a fight -- that defined the king and solidified his spiritual clout before his people and before the Lord. The king of Assyria, fresh off his conquest of the northern kingdom of Israel marched towards Jerusalem in a campaign that is well recorded in ancient history. He sacks Lachish, an important city and military post west of Jerusalem. He then surrounds the walled capital itself and orders Hezekiah and his officials to surrender the city.

They refuse.

The story of what happens next is told in three different books of the Bible: Kings, Chronicles and Isaiah. The Assyrian king, Shalmaneser, sends his commander with a small army to the gates of Jerusalem and a dialogue ensues between the Assyrians and the Judahite officials. The message from the invader is clear: upon what great power is the king of Judah, Hezekiah, depending? Who can save them from the great and mighty Assyrian army? If they surrender Jerusalem, the Assyrian king will make Hezekiah king over an Assyrian Judah and give him power. The people can live in the land under Assyrian peace. Why hold out?

A short time passes, a new Assyrian king rises to the throne, Sennacherib, but the threat is the same. Once again the king wants to know why Hezekiah thinks Jerusalem will be spared the Assyrian might. Upon whom is the king placing his hope?

Hezekiah's trust was in the Lord his God. And his answer to a king of man was to go directly to the King of heaven and earth. So he rushed to the Temple, spread out the Assyrian's written communication before the Lord and left it in God's hands. He prayed, "Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God." Isaiah the prophet sent Gods response to Hezekiah. He said, "Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: "He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the LORD. I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant (32-34)."

That night an angel of the Lord went through the Assyrian camp. One hundred and eighty thousand soldiers died. Archaeological history speculates that the cause of death was bubonic plague or something of its sort. God can use anything to accomplish His will, even disease. Sennacherib returned home humiliated and was assassinated some time later. Assyria was never a world power again. The zeal of the Lord saw to this.

Be God's.