2 Kings 19 is literally another one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. I love the story, and how God defends His people.
Here in this story we see a pagan king and commanders scoffing against the power of God. In fact, Sennacherib sends messengers to King Hezekiah telling him, "Let not thy God in whom thou trusteth deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?" He goes on to mock the God of Israel, putting him in the realm of the other pagan gods. "Have the gods of the other nations delivered them? No! Don't expect your God to deliver you either!"
Well, we are told that when Hezekiah received this letter, he went up to the house of the Lord and spread the letter before the Lord. And this was his prayer:
"O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubim, thou art THE GOD, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, Lord, thine eyes and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God. Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only." (From 2 Kings 19:15-19)
And you know what, God heard Hezekiah's prayer! Hezekiah had been earnestly seeking the Lord by putting away sin in the camp, and when in distress, God answered... Fast forwarding the story we find that in one night the angel of the Lord came and killed 185,000 soldiers of the Assyria army when they came up against Jerusalem. So the scoffing king returned home with his tail between his legs, and a few days later, while worshiping his pagan god, he himself was murdered by his own sons.
Nothing is too big for our God! And while this story shares about a major victory for Israel, I think it can have very practical implications for our life now. When confronting with my own mountains, my own impossible situations, my own letters of fear, discouragement or difficulty, I have followed Hezekiah's example and spread those letters before the Lord. I too have seen God deliver and answer my cries time and time again! The same God that fought for Israel in King Hezekiah's day is still alive today! Praise the Lord!
[Personal note: In the final days of King Hezekiah, we see that he had visitors from Babylon. Hezekiah instead of talking of God's greatness showed them all his treasures. A few months ago, the Adventist Missions published an article about this story, putting it in the context of modesty for Christian women of today. I had never thought of this aspect before when looking at this story, but it fits really well. I talked about modesty this past week in my seminar at PYC, so for those PYC friends that are following this blog, here is the link to this very eye-opening article.
By the way....when this blog post is posted on Tuesday morning Maryland time, I will already be partway across the ocean on my return back to the United States. In fact, while I leave the Philippines on June 5th, I'm also arriving in California on June 5th. I have the feeling this will be a very LOOOOOONG day, as we cross the International date line once again! The joys of international travel.... :-)]
Tomorrow's Reading: 2 Kings 21-22 and 2 Cor. 9
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