I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Isaiah 36-38.

    This is the third time I have read the account of the Assyrian invasion of Judah this year. There is an account in Kings, an account in Chronicles, and now this account in Isaiah. In each account when the envoy from the king of Assyria first talks to the officials sent from King Hezekiah to parlay with them he suggests that King Hezekiah cannot rely on God because Hezekiah had torn down the various shrines and forced everyone to worship God in Jerusalem. This initial message focused on the military weakness of Hezekiah’s army, the unreliability of Egypt as an ally, and suggested that the Assyrians had been called by God to invade and conquer Jerusalem. This strikes me as a reasonable position. One which misunderstood God’s commands for the Jewish people, but nonetheless respectful of God.

    However, when the officials requested that the Assyrians conduct the negotiations in secret, the Assyrian delegation’s arrogance took over. They revealed that their initial position claiming to be serving God was not one that they believed. Rather they believed that God was unable to stop them from doing as they pleased. They bragged about the fact that the gods of other nations had failed to stop them. From that they predicted that God would be unable to do so as well. The Assyrian delegation was called back to the King of Assyria and from there the King of Assyria needed to go face an Ethiopian army which had marched to challenge him. Before setting out, the King of Assyria sent Hezekiah a letter doubling down on the arrogance of his envoys. The King of Assyria proclaimed that he had the power to do whatever he pleased, no matter what God might do.

    King Hezekiah’s response to the Assyrian boasts was to turn to God through the prophet Isaiah (and directly by prayer). Hezekiah acknowledged Assyria’s power, but declared his faith that the God of Israel was different from the gods of other nations. Through Isaiah God sent word that the Assyrians would never again threaten Jerusalem. Isaiah prophesied that the King of Assyria would return home from his current battle with no more conquests and die without ever marching forth from his capital again. The Assyrians were confident that no army on earth at that time could defeat them and that no defensive fortifications could stop them. They were probably right, but their mistake was in thinking that God would need to raise an army to defeat them. This mistake has been repeated throughout history. Time and again people believe that evil must be stopped by human agency and become depressed because no human agency seems capable of doing so. In this account we learn that God is not dependent upon human action to bring about His will. The Assyrians were correct, no power on earth could stand against their army. But God is not a “power on earth” and He showed that He had the ability to prevent them from executing their plans.