Theological Commentary: Click Here
Today we
begin one of my favorite teaching stories on the topic of faith. We meet Hezekiah the king, who is one of the
elite among the faithful kings of Judah.
We hear about Sennacherib, who is one of the great kings of
Assyria. We hear about a great defiance,
a lie, and the faithful response of the people.
Before we
get to all of this, make sure that we understand the context of what is going
on. The Assyrians have been chosen by
God to be His punishment upon Israel.
The Assyrians take possession of the land and pull the Hebrew people of
the northern kingdom away from their inheritance. There has been no nation that has stopped the
Assyrians. Whatever the Assyrians have
wanted, they have taken by force.
Now,
however, the Assyrians come to Judah and plan to take Jerusalem. They have even taken many of the fortified
cities of Judah. It looks bleak,
especially when no help arrives from Egypt.
The Assyrian army encircles Jerusalem and begins to lay siege against
it.
In this
context the mouthpiece of Sennacherib comes to the wall around Jerusalem. He announces their impending doom. He tells the people of the city, especially
the guards upon the wall, that their city will fall and there is no hope on the
horizon. He even indicates that they
shouldn’t rely upon God. After all, what
god has any nation believed in that has saved them from the hand of the
Assyrian onslaught?
Here’s the
thing that Hezekiah understands, though.
He knows that God will deliver them.
He tells the people to not even acknowledge the Assyrians. He knows that God may have brought Assyria
upon Israel, but God has not brought Assyria upon Judah. Hezekiah holds fast.
I praise
Hezekiah for this bold stance. Here is a
faithful response in the face of an overwhelming enemy. Here is a response where Hezekiah draws a
line in the sand and says, “Here I stand, I can do no other.” He then turns and invites the people around
him to stand upon the same line in the stand.
This is what leadership looks like.
This is why the story of Hezekiah is one of my favorite faith teaching
stories form among the kings.
Tomorrow we’ll
see how the story ends.
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