Faith fortifies God’s people. But facts fortify us, too. And a face-off between God and the foe would be nice!
As a result of his encouraging speech to the army and the general population in Jerusalem, “the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah” (2 Chron 32:8). But, as you might expect from your own experience, it wasn’t long until the enemy showed up to try to neutralize the power of the king’s words and demoralize the people. Here were the arguments of Sennacherib’s delegation. “In what do you trust, that you remain under siege in Jerusalem? Does not Hezekiah persuade you to give yourselves over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, ‘The Lord our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria’?” (vv 10- 11). God knows the enemy’s tactics, but often the enemy knows God’s tactics, too. Remember Eden? “Has God indeed said…?” Or the devil quoting Scripture to our Lord in the wilderness? The Assyrian spokesman continues: “Has not the same Hezekiah taken away His high places and His altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You shall worship before one altar…’?” (v 12). Like the serpent’s ploy concerning the tree, saying, God is so restrictive; He’s keeping the best back from you. Then the devil’s advocate closes in for the final blow. “Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands in any way able to deliver their lands out of my hand?” (v 13). When atheists argue, “You Christians are atheists, too. You don’t believe in Zeus or Vulcan or Thor. I just believe in one less god.” Cute, but completely specious. You can’t compare fictional deities with the God we know, who proves Himself to His people every day. So instead of arguing, Hezekiah prayed. All he needed was for the real God to show up!