“Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him: with him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.” — 2 Chronicles 32:7–8
Walking through the doors of the huge gymnasium, my team stared silently at the high ceilings, row upon row of bleachers, vast hardwood floors, and the single net set up on the court. As the volleyball coach of a small Christian high school in southern California, I had taken the team to games against several other small schools in the area. This was intimidatingly different. We would be facing the team of a public high school with an enrollment twenty times that of our school! Their facilities dwarfed our small gym. And when the opposing team began to filter in, it was obvious by their attitudes and actions that they had little respect for our team.
To encourage my awestruck players, I took inspiration from a scene in a motion picture that I had seen sometime before and sent the team captain and another player onto the court with a tape measure. I instructed them to measure the height of the net and the size of the court. They reported back that the dimensions were exactly the same as those in our little gymnasium back home. I asked my assembled team how many players our opponents could place on the court at one time and the answer was, “Six, just like us.” Finally, I advised them to forget the size of the school, the enormity of the gym, and the attitude of our opponents. I reminded them that we had prepared and if we did our best, we would have nothing to be ashamed of when the tournament concluded, no matter which team prevailed.
In our text today, Judah faced overwhelming odds against King Sennacherib and the Assyrian army. They did what they could to prepare. Hezekiah ordered his men to stop up the springs and wells around Jerusalem and channel the water underground into the city. They built up the broken walls of the city and raised up another wall outside it. They prepared weapons and appointed captains to organize the people for impending conflict. Then King Hezekiah reminded Judah of their not-so-secret weapon. While Sennacherib had a large army, God was with the people of Judah, helping them and fighting their battles. They could confidently lean upon Him.
My volleyball team played well against the larger team, winning several individual games before finally losing the match. We earned the respect of the other team and left with our heads high, even though we were ultimately defeated by our opponent. In the case of King Hezekiah and Judah, though, they were not defeated. The angel of the Lord slew over 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. Sennacherib and his remaining army returned to Assyria, giving Judah a great victory.
Are you facing a challenge today in which the odds look unsurmountable? Don’t fear! If you have aligned yourself with God, your day-to-day battles can be won when you depend on Him to bring you through.
Chapter 32 concludes the record of the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah. In previous chapters, the king had ordered the purification of the Temple and reestablished Temple worship (chapter 29), restored the Passover (chapter 30), and instituted the further reforms described in chapter 31. In this final chapter about Hezekiah’s life and reign, he faced an invasion by Assyria (verses 1-23) and was stricken with illness and recovered (verses 24-26). The concluding verses of the chapter summarize his wealth (verses 27-31) and describe his death and burial (verses 32-33). The events in this chapter are covered more extensively in 2 Kings 18:13–20:21.
Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, invaded Judah’s fortified border cities with the purpose of compelling the people to pay tribute, thereby enforcing the previous agreement made by King Ahaz of Judah that Hezekiah had broken (see 2 Kings 18:7). Verses 2-8 describe the diligent efforts Hezekiah made to fortify Jerusalem against the expected assault of Sennacherib. One action he took was to divert the spring outside the city that provided Jerusalem with water, channeling the water through an 1800-foot-long underground tunnel. That tunnel still exists in Jerusalem and includes an inscription stating that it was constructed by two groups of workers (one inside the city and one at the Gihon Spring) tunneling toward each other until they met in the middle.
According to verse 8, while taking measures to protect the city, Hezekiah also encouraged his men to rely upon the Lord to help them fight their battles. He understood that the defense of Israel did not rely solely on walls and towers and shields and water supplies, but also on the courage of the soldiers, and most importantly, on the power and help of God.
Sennacherib’s military campaign brought him to the city of Lachish, which was about thirty miles southwest of Jerusalem. While most of his army was laying a siege at Lachish, Sennacherib sent men to Jerusalem to engage in psychological warfare. His propaganda campaign of verbal and written threats against Hezekiah and the people of Judah is described in verses 9-19.
Proof of this Biblical account has been found by archaeologists, who discovered a pit near Lachish with the remains of about 1,500 casualties of Sennacherib’s attack. An Assyrian carving depicting the siege is displayed in the British Museum, and a wall relief taken from the excavation of Sennacherib’s royal palace in Nineveh is also preserved there. It portrays the Assyrian king on a movable throne in his military camp outside Lachish. Prisoners of war are marching by him, and the spoils from the city are piled on ox-wagons.
Verse 20 of this chapter reveals that the prophet Isaiah joined King Hezekiah in praying for the nation’s protection. Isaiah’s encouragement to Hezekiah and the divine revelation concerning how the city would be spared are recorded in Isaiah 37:21-35. The fulfillment of his prophecy is described in verses 21-22 of today’s text. The Assyrian army was turned back before they shot a single arrow into Jerusalem. God destroyed the mighty army in one night, when 185,000 men died at the hand of the angel of the Lord (see 2 Kings 19:35).
According to verse 24, during this same period, Hezekiah became critically ill. A more complete record of his illness, his prayer for healing, the supernatural sign that his life would be extended by fifteen years, and his miraculous recovery are found in 2 Kings 20:1-11 and Isaiah 38. Sadly, after Hezekiah was healed, verses 25-26 indicate that he became proud, although he eventually humbled himself before God and God’s retribution was averted.
Verses 27-31 summarize the wealth of Hezekiah and some of his notable achievements. His failure in showing Judah’s treasures to the Babylonians is also recorded (see 2 Kings 20:12-19). Verse 33 indicates that Hezekiah received great honor and a royal burial at his death.
III. The history of the kings of Judah
M. The reign of Hezekiah
3. The Assyrian invasion of Judah (32:1-22)
a. The invasion of Sennacherib (32:1)
b. The encouragement of Judah by Hezekiah (32:2-8)
c. The envoy from Sennacherib (32:9-19)
(1) The threats upon the people (32:9-15)
(2) The insults toward Jehovah (32:16-19)
d. The angelic destruction of the Assyrians (32:20-22)
4. The sickness and recovery of Hezekiah (32:23-26)
5. The wealth of Hezekiah (32:27-31)
6. The death of Hezekiah (32:32-33).
No matter how large the spiritual enemies we face are, they will always be smaller than God. We can be strong and courageous, confident in God’s promise that “there be more with us” than with our opponents.
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