Is it always better to have God defend us than trust our own plans? Can God give us seemingly impossible divine protection? Let’s look at 2 Kings 19.
What did Hezekiah do when threatened by a blasphemous Assyrian?
And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. It may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left. (2 Kings 19:1-4 KJV)
What was the message from God via his prophet Isaiah to Hezekiah?
So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a report and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’” (2 Kings 19:5-7 LSB)
Did the Assyrian Rabshakeh or commander try to deceive Hezekiah once more?
Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. When he heard them say about Tirhakah king of Cush, “Behold, he has come out to fight you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, “This is what you shall say to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, “Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” Behold, you yourself have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be saved? Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed save them: Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’” (2 Kings 19:8-13 NASB)
Was Hezekiah discouraged by the commander's bluff or did he have faith in God?
Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.” (2 Kings 19:14-19 NIV)
Was God pleased that Hezekiah took the dilemma to Him in prayer? What was God’s answer to the Assyrians?
Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard.’ This is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning him: ‘The virgin, the daughter of Zion, Has despised you, laughed you to scorn; The daughter of Jerusalem Has shaken her head behind your back! ‘Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice, And lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel. By your messengers you have reproached the Lord, And said: “By the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, To the limits of Lebanon; I will cut down its tall cedars And its choice cypress trees; I will enter the extremity of its borders, To its fruitful forest. I have dug and drunk strange water, And with the soles of my feet I have dried up All the brooks of defense.” ‘Did you not hear long ago How I made it, From ancient times that I formed it? Now I have brought it to pass, That you should be For crushing fortified cities into heaps of ruins. Therefore their inhabitants had little power; They were dismayed and confounded; They were as the grass of the field And the green herb, As the grass on the housetops And grain blighted before it is grown. ‘But I know your dwelling place, Your going out and your coming in, And your rage against Me. Because your rage against Me and your tumult Have come up to My ears, Therefore I will put My hook in your nose And My bridle in your lips, And I will turn you back By the way which you came. (2 Kings 19:20-28 NKJV)
What proof did Isaiah offer to Hezekiah, king of Judah?
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Here is the proof that what I say is true: “This year you will eat only what grows up by itself, and next year you will eat what springs up from that. But in the third year you will plant crops and harvest them; you will tend vineyards and eat their fruit. And you who are left in Judah, who have escaped the ravages of the siege, will put roots down in your own soil and will grow up and flourish. For a remnant of my people will spread out from Jerusalem, a group of survivors from Mount Zion. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen! (2 Kings 19:29-31 NLT)
What did God say about the threat from the king of Assyria?
“Therefore Yahweh says concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there. He will not come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it. He will return the same way that he came, and he will not come to this city,’ says Yahweh. ‘For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.’” (2 Kings 19:32-34 WEB)
How did God protect Judah from the Assyrian threat? Was Isaiah’s prophecy fulfilled?
That night the Lord’s messenger went out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand soldiers in the Assyrian camp. When people got up the next morning, there were dead bodies everywhere. So Assyria’s King Sennacherib departed, returning to Nineveh, where he stayed. Later, while he was worshipping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with a sword. They then escaped to the land of Ararat. His son Esarhaddon succeeded him as king. (2 Kings 19:35-37 CEB)
Can we also rely upon God’s divine protection from enemies?
In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us. I am sure that nothing can separate us from God's love—not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God's love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord! (Romans 8:37-39 CEV)
Is it always better to have God defend us than trust our own plans? Can God give us seemingly impossible divine protection? You decide!
