Fri.’s Devo - Victory is the Lord’s

Read: 2 Kings 18:13-19:37; Acts 21:1-17; Psalm 149:1-9; Provers 18:8 In Hezekiah’s fourteenth year, King Sennacherib of Assyria came and besieged the fortified towns of Judah. He was on a campaign to take over the world. Hezekiah had stopped paying tribute to Assyria and now they were taking their revenge. Hezekiah tried to pay him to leave them alone, taking all the gold and silver he could find in the Temple. This could not stop the plans of the Assyrians. The Assyrian chief of staff sent a message to Hezekiah boasting of their strength and telling them that if they were trusting in Egypt to help them, Egypt doesn’t keep their promises. They were right about that. If they were trusting in the Lord their God, that was useless too because they had offended Him by taking down the high places in the land and making the people only worship him in Jerusalem. (They didn’t know God’s laws or understand his worship. God was pleased that Hezekiah took down the high places because that was where pagan worship was happening. And, God told the people to come to Jerusalem to worship him.) They even said that God had sent them to attack Israel. The chief of staff used intimidation and lies to beat down their morale. It was working because the Israelite commander asked him to speak in Aramaic so his soldiers couldn’t understand what he was saying. He replied that he wanted them to understand him. Then he spoke directly to the soldiers trying to intimidate them and tell them that their king would not be able to rescue them and neither would their God. He told them that if they made peace with them, they would be given land and vineyards, food and life. (What lies!) He reminded them that the gods of the other nations they conquered had not been able to save them so why did they think theirs would. The Israelites kept silent as they were instructed. When Hezekiah was told what was said, he put on burlap and went into the Temple to pray. He sent his officers dressed in burlap to tell Isaiah what was happening so he would also pray. Isaiah sent word back to tell Hezekiah not to worry about what the Assyrian officer said, God was going to fight him and the Assyrian king would get a message that he is needed at home. When he arrived, he would be killed. King Sennacherib then received word that the Ethiopians were coming to fight him so he was needed at home. He sent a message to Hezekiah saying that none of the other countries were able to save themselves and neither would they. Hezekiah took the message into the Lord’s Temple and laid it would before the Lord. He praised the Lord as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and maker of all things. He asked the Lord to rescue them. Isaiah message came to Hezekiah saying that the Lord heard his prayer. The haughty and arrogant Assyrians had offended him with their boasts and he would defend his name. He told them the proof would be that this year they would eat what grew by itself and the next year, but the third year, they would plant and harvest. God would preserve a remnant who would grow and flourish. As for the king of Assyria, he would not enter Jerusalem or even shoot one arrow at it. The king would return to his own country but not enter his city. That night, God moved and his army killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. Sennacherib and the survivors went home to Nineveh and one day, while worshipping in his temple to Nisroch, his two sons killed him with their swords. They escaped to the land of Ararat and their brother, Esarhaddon became the next king of Assyria. In Acts, Paul’s face was set toward Jerusalem. No prophecy or warning of dangers ahead or persuasion of the people could keep him from his destiny. He finally told them that he was not afraid to die or suffer for Christ’s sake. Paul’s life was to be an example of bold determination to see the kingdom of God come to the earth. He laid down his life for his mission. Lord, may we have Paul’s heart to follow you no matter how rough the road is. May we be like Hezekiah who turned to You when there was no hope and believed You were the only answer. May we see you move in our nation like you did for Jerusalem in today’s story. You are the captain of your army and you can not be defeated.