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.

    I never tire of reading the story of Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah. As king of Assyria, Sennacherib was the leader of the mightiest army on earth and the heir of men who had conquered every where they turned. He and his predecessors had defeated many nations, all of whom worshiped gods other than those of Assyria. None of those gods had been able to save those nations. Therefore Sennacherib assumed that the god of Israel would be no different. I suspect that Sennacherib did not believe in any gods. He was convinced that nothing could stop him from doing whatever he wanted to do. Hezekiah knew that there certainly was nothing he could do to stop Sennacherib.

    However, Hezekiah did know that Sennacherib was wrong in thinking that nothing could stop him. God’s response to Hezekiah’s plea and Sennacherib’s arrogant posturing was absolute. God declared that not only would Sennacherib fail to conquer Jerusalem, he would fail to even lay siege against it. Sennacherib’s armies would not come with range to fire an arrow at Jerusalem. Sennacherib thought that it would take a mighty army to stop him, and he knew that no such army existed. But God did not need an army, at least not the type of army Sennacherib envisioned. Sennacherib had broken off his attacks against Judah and gone to engage another army which threatened him. Somewhere along the way, disease struck his camp and Sennacherib had to retreat to his homeland and regroup. The lesson here for us is that no matter how hopeless things seem, God is still in charge. Our enemies may seem so powerful that there is no way they will fail, that we must surrender to them. However, as long as we follow God’s will and trust in Him, He will not let us down.