"King
Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed about this (the
blasphamy) and cried out to heaven. And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed
every mighty warrior, commander and officer in the camp of the king of
Assyria.” (vv.20-21)
Here in
chapter 32 Sennacheribe, the king of Assyria, was planning to make war against
the city of Judah through a siege, depriving it of water and food (v.1). Hezekiah,
king of Judah, had made plans earlier to avoid such a tactic by stopping the water from the springs which were outside the city, depriving his
enemy of water instead (v.4). He also strengthened himself by making walls, towers, weapons and shields in abundance (v.5). Then he set military captains over the people and encouraged them by saying, "Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God" (vv.7-8).
Sennacheribe,
realizing he might not win this long siege, began to speak against Jehovah, the
God of Jerusalem, as if He were no different than other earthy gods (vv.14-18). This
constituted the main reason why Hezekiah cried out to the LORD against
Sennacheribe. Not that he feared war for he was prepared, but that he despised
the shameless accusations being spoken against the
LORD God of Jerusalem (v.20).
We
can see from our text that the end result was, God heard Hezekiah’s prayer and
sent a single angel to destroy every mighty warrior, commander, and officer in
the camp of the Assyrian’s. This single angel
killed 185,000 men in one night (2 Kings 19:35), defending God's people, His
city, and His Name. Thus, "He saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacheribe the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side" (v.22).
The
lessons for us here are simple: 1) God hears our prayers, 2) He defends His people and
3) He will judge the wicked. Therefore in the words of Hezekiah, "Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed - for with us is the LORD our God."
The
Truth
“I will
call upon the Lord, who is worthy
to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.” (Psalm 18:3)
