By Barry Rosenfeld
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
Humble Man
In part 4 we learned how Sennacherib claimed that the Lord God of Israel had sent him to destroy Jerusalem. Hezekiah placed the letter he had received from the Assyrian king on the Temple alter and cried out to God. Isaiah then told him that God says not to fear adding, “Listen! I (God) am going to put a spirit in him so that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword’” (verses 6-7)
In Isaiah 37:10-13 we read of Sennacherib’s response in which he recounts the long list of nations that have been destroyed by the Assyrians. Again Hezekiah demonstrates his faith in the Lord when rather than panicking he takes Sennacherib’s letter into the Temple and lays it out before God. Again God speaks to Hezekiah through Isaiah (37:21-29) After recounting Sennacherib’s many victories over his foes God speaks through Isaiah saying— “‘But I know where you stay and when you come and go and how you rage against me. Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came,’” and added (33-34) “‘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.’”
What followed is truly supernatural as God sent an angel into the Assyrian camp and struck down 185,000 soldiers as they slept. Seeing this, Sennacherib fled with his entire army back the way he came sparing Jerusalem. As God had said, the Assyrian army had been destroyed without a single arrow being fired. Sennacherib’s contempt for God and His servants had proved his undoing.
The lesson we learn from this was Hezekiah’s willingness to humble himself during a time of trouble and to turn to God. God honored this and responded by bringing about the seemingly impossible and freeing Jerusalem from the grip of Sennacherib and his massive army.
Message for today
We too must learn to humble ourselves and as Hezekiah, bring our petitions before the Lord with a totally humble spirit. It is only God who can bring us through troubled times, work miracles and make the impossible happen. He did it for Hezekiah and he will do it for each one of us. We of course have the Messiah to intercede for us who is the same “yesterday, today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)
Most importantly Isaiah tells of the Messianic age which is yet to come when the Lord will reign from Jerusalem—
Behold, a king will reign righteously, And princes will rule justly. Each will be like a refuge from the wind, And a shelter from the storm, Like streams of water in a dry country, Like the shade of a huge rock in a parched land. Then the eyes of those who see will not be blinded, And the ears of those who hear will listen. The mind of the hasty will discern the truth, And the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak clearly. (32:1-4)
Knowing this we should walk in faith with the full understanding that however bleak things may seem, we have a God we can turn to who answers our prayers and who brings righteousness and justice to the world.
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