Dealing With the Impossible

He was only twenty-five years old when he became the king of Judah. Hezekiah was one of the good ones. It was said of most of the kings of Judah and especially Israel, “They did evil in the sight of the Lord.”  But the word on Hezekiah was, “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.” When Hezekiah became king he got rid of all of the idols and places where they were worshiped. The people of Judah turned to God because their leader trusted fully in the Lord their God. The Lord was with him, and he was successful in everything he did.

Hezekiah had been King of Judah fourteen years when Sennacherib, king of Assyria began attacking some of the fortified cities of Judah. Assyria’s army was a powerful force. Every nation feared Assyria. There seemed to be no way that Judah would be able to stop Sennacherib’s assault on Jerusalem. Sennacherib sent his supreme commander with a large army to the gates of Jerusalem. There he confronted King Hezekiah with a threatening message from Sennacherib. The message was full of blasphemous taunts toward the Lord God of Israel for the people of Judah to hear,  “Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Then he listed all the gods of the nations that had been defeated by Assyria. ‘How then can the Lord deliver a Jerusalem from my hand.’

Most kings and leaders of countries after hearing something like this would deliver some weak ill advised reply to Sennacherib and immediately prepare for battle. Not King Hezekiah! King Hezekiah went to the temple, humbled himself before God and prayed. “Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.” Then he sought word from God through the prophet Isaiah. Hezekiah before he acted on his own waited to hear from God.

Hezekiah got his answer from the Lord. “He (Sennacherib) will not enter the city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way he came he will return; he will not enter the city, declares the Lord. I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.” That very night God sent just one of his angels into the Assyrian camp, and he put to death a hundred and eighty thousand soldiers. The next morning Sennacherib and his surviving men were horrifically surprised to see all the dead bodies. They broke camp and high tailed it back to Nineveh and stayed there.

This story and its message are far reaching. The message speaks to nations and leaders, and it speaks to every believer who faces insurmountable odds throughout life. When there is a foe, a problem or situation that seems too big, too threatening and there are no answers what should be done? When the world laughs at us and ridicules us for standing up for what is right, and wholesome, and godly, how should we react? Maybe just a prayer, “Lord, give ear and hear, Lord, open your eyes and see, listen, Lord, how you are being ridiculed and dishonored. Lord I am trusting in you and waiting on you for the answer. May your Holy name be lifted high and may Jesus be glorified through me.”