In a time of grave national peril, when the hosts of
Assyria were invading the land of Judah and it seemed
as if nothing could save Jerusalem from utter destruction,
Hezekiah rallied the forces of his realm to resist with unfailing
courage their heathen oppressors and to trust in the
power of Jehovah to deliver. "Be strong and courageous,
be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for
all the multitude that is with him," Hezekiah exhorted the
men of Judah; "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." 2 Chronicles
32:7, 8.
It was not without reason that Hezekiah could speak
with certainty of the outcome. The boastful Assyrian, while
used by God for a season as the rod of His anger for the
punishment of the nations, was not always to prevail. See
Isaiah 10:5. "Be not afraid of the Assyrian," had been the
message of the Lord through Isaiah some years before to
those that dwelt in Zion; "for yet a very little while, . . .
and the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according
to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as
His rod was upon the sea, so shall He lift it up after the
manner of Egypt. And it shall come to pass in that day,
that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder,
and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be
destroyed because of the anointing." Verses 24-27.
In another prophetic message, given "in the year that
King Ahaz died," the prophet had declared: "The Lord of
hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall
it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
that I will break the Assyrian in My land, and upon My
mountains tread him underfoot: then shall his yoke depart
from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.
This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole
earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all
the nations. For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who
shall disannul it? and His hand is stretched out, and who
shall turn it back?" Isaiah 14:28, 24-27.
The power of the oppressor was to be broken. Yet
Hezekiah, in the earlier years of his reign, had continued
to pay tribute to Assyria, in harmony with the agreement
entered into by Ahaz. Meanwhile the king had taken
"counsel with his princes and his mighty men," and had
done everything possible for the defense of his kingdom.
He had made sure of a bountiful supply of water within
the walls of Jerusalem, while without the city there should
be a scarcity. "Also he strengthened himself, and built up
all the wall that was broken, and raised it up to the towers,
and another wall without, and repaired Millo in the city
of David, and made darts and shields in abundance. And
he set captains of war over the people." 2 Chronicles 32:3,
5, 6. Nothing had been left undone that could be done in
preparation for a siege.
At the time of Hezekiah's accession to the throne of
Judah, the Assyrians had already carried captive a large
number of the children of Israel from the northern kingdom;
and a few years after he had begun to reign, and while he
was still strengthening the defenses of Jerusalem, the
Assyrians besieged and captured Samaria and scattered the ten
tribes among the many provinces of the Assyrian realm.
The borders of Judah were only a few miles distant, with
Jerusalem less than fifty miles away; and the rich spoils to
be found within the temple would tempt the enemy to return.
But the king of Judah had determined to do his part in
preparing to resist the enemy; and, having accomplished
all that human ingenuity and energy could do, he had
assembled his forces and had exhorted them to be of good
courage. "Great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of
thee" had been the message of the prophet Isaiah to Judah;
and the king with unwavering faith now declared, "With
us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles."
Isaiah 12:6; 2 Chronicles 32:8.
Nothing more quickly inspires faith than the exercise of
faith. The king of Judah had prepared for the coming
storm; and now, confident that the prophecy against the
Assyrians would be fulfilled, he stayed his soul upon God.
"And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah."
2 Chronicles 32:8. What though the armies of
Assyria, fresh from the conquest of the greatest nations of
earth, and triumphant over Samaria in Israel, should now
turn their forces against Judah? What though they should
boast, "As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols,
and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and
of Samaria; shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and
her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?" Isaiah 10:10, 11.
Judah had nothing to fear; for their trust was in Jehovah.
The long-expected crisis finally came. The forces of
Assyria, advancing from triumph to triumph, appeared in
Judea. Confident of victory, the leaders divided their forces
into two armies, one of which was to meet the Egyptian
army to the southward, while the other was to besiege
Jerusalem.
Judah's only hope was now in God. All possible help
from Egypt had been cut off, and no other nations were
near to lend a friendly hand.
The Assyrian officers, sure of the strength of their
disciplined forces, arranged for a conference with the chief
men of Judah, during which they insolently demanded
the surrender of the city. This demand was accompanied
by blasphemous revilings against the God of the Hebrews.
Because of the weakness and apostasy of Israel and Judah,
the name of God was no longer feared among the nations,
but had become a subject for continual reproach. See
Isaiah 52:5.
"Speak ye now to Hezekiah," said Rabshakeh, one of
Sennacherib's chief officers, "Thus saith the great king, the
king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
Thou sayest, (but they are but vain words,) I have
counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou
trust, that thou rebellest against me?" 2 Kings 18:19, 20.
The officers were conferring outside the gates of the
city, but within the hearing of the sentries on the wall;
and as the representatives of the Assyrian king loudly urged
their proposals upon the chief men of Judah, they were
requested to speak in the Syrian rather than the Jewish
language, in order that those upon the wall might not
have knowledge of the proceedings of the conference.
Rabshakeh, scorning this suggestion, lifted his voice still higher,
and, continuing to speak in the Jewish language, said:
"Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.
Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he
shall not be able to deliver you. Neither let Hezekiah make
you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver
us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king
of Assyria.
"Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of
Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and
come out to me: and eat ye everyone of his vine, and everyone
of his fig tree, and drink ye everyone the waters of
his own cistern; until I come and take you away to a land
like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of
bread and vineyards.
"Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The Lord
will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered
his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are
the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of
Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my
hand? Who are they among all the gods of these lands,
that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the Lord
should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?" Isaiah 36:13-20.
To these taunts the children of Judah "answered him
not a word." The conference was at an end. The Jewish
representatives returned to Hezekiah "with their clothes
rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh." Verses 21, 22.
The king, upon learning of the blasphemous challenge,
"rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and
went into the house of the Lord." 2 Kings 19:1.
A messenger was dispatched to Isaiah to inform him
of the outcome of the conference. "This day is a day of
trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy," was the word the
king sent. "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." Verses 3, 4.
"For this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet
Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to Heaven."
2 Chronicles 32:20.
God answered the prayers of His servants. To Isaiah
was given the message for Hezekiah: "Thus saith the Lord,
Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with
which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed
Me. Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear
a rumor, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause
him to fall by the sword in his own land." 2 Kings 19:6, 7.
The Assyrian representatives, after taking leave of the
chief men of Judah, communicated direct with their king,
who was with the division of his army guarding the approach
from Egypt. Upon hearing the report, Sennacherib wrote
"letters to rail on the Lord God of Israel, and to speak
against Him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other
lands have not delivered their people out of mine hand,
so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver His people out
of mine hand." 2 Chronicles 32:17.
The boastful threat was accompanied by the message:
"Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying,
Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king
of Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of
Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly:
and shalt thou be delivered? Have the gods of the nations
delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan,
and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which
were in Thelasar? Where is the king of Hamath, and the
king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of
Hena, and Ivah?" 2 Kings 19:10-13.
When the king of Judah received the taunting letter,
he took it into the temple and "spread it before the Lord"
and prayed with strong faith for help from heaven, that
the nations of earth might know that the God of the Hebrews
still lived and reigned. Verse 14. The honor of Jehovah
was at stake; He alone could bring deliverance.
"O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the
cherubims," Hezekiah pleaded, "Thou art the God, even
Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; Thou hast
made heaven and earth. Lord, bow down Thine ear, and
hear: open, Lord, Thine eyes, and see: and hear the words
of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living
God. Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed
the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into
the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands,
wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. Now
therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech Thee, save Thou us
out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may
know that Thou art the Lord God, even Thou only." 2 Kings
19:15-19.
"Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock;
Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.
Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up Thy
strength,
And come and save us.
Turn us again, O God,
And cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
"O Lord God of hosts,
How long wilt Thou be angry against the prayer of Thy
people?
Thou feedest them with the bread of tears;
And givest them tears to drink in great measure.
Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbors:
And our enemies laugh among themselves.
Turn us again, O God of hosts,
And cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
"Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt:
Thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
Thou preparedst room before it,
And didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.
The hills were covered with the shadow of it,
And the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.
She sent out her boughs unto the sea,
And her branches unto the river.
"Why hast Thou then broken down her hedges,
So that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?
The boar out of the wood doth waste it,
And the wild beast of the field doth devour it.
Return, we beseech Thee, O God of hosts:
Look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;
And the vineyard which Thy right hand hath planted,
And the branch that Thou madest strong for Thyself. . . .
"Quicken us, and we will call upon Thy name.
Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts,
Cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved." Psalm 80.
Hezekiah's pleadings in behalf of Judah and of the honor
of their Supreme Ruler were in harmony with the mind of
God. Solomon, in his benediction at the dedication of the
temple, had prayed the Lord to maintain "the cause of His
people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require: that
all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God,
and that there is none else." 1 Kings 8:59, 60. Especially
was the Lord to show favor when, in times of war or of
oppression by an army, the chief men of Israel should enter
the house of prayer and plead for deliverance. Verses 33, 34.
Hezekiah was not left without hope. Isaiah sent to him,
saying, "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which
thou hast prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria
I have heard. This is the word that the Lord hath spoken
concerning him:
"The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee,
and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath
shaken her head at thee.
"Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and
against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up
thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.
By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast
said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to
the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and
will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir
trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his
borders, and into the forest of his Carmel. I have digged and
drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I
dried up all the rivers of besieged places.
"Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and
of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought
it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities
into ruinous heaps. Therefore their inhabitants were of
small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they
were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the
grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be
grown up.
"But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy
coming in, and thy rage against Me. Because thy rage
against Me and thy tumult is come up into Mine ears,
therefore I will put My hook in thy nose, and My bridle
in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which
thou camest." 2 Kings 19:20-28.
The land of Judah had been laid waste by the army of
occupation, but God had promised to provide miraculously
for the needs of the people. To Hezekiah came the
message: "This shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year
such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year
that which springeth of the same; and in the third year
sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits
thereof. And the remnant that is escaped of the house of
Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit
upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant,
and they that escape out of Mount Zion: the zeal of the
Lord of hosts shall do this.
"Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of
Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an
arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a
bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same
shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith
the Lord. For I will defend this city, to save it, for Mine
own sake, and for My servant David's sake." Verses 29-34.
That very night deliverance came. "The angel of the
Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians
an hundred fourscore and five thousand." Verse 35. "All
the mighty men of valor, and the leaders and captains in
the camp of the king of Assyria," were slain. 2 Chronicles
32:21.
Tidings of this terrible judgment upon the army that
had been sent to take Jerusalem, soon reached Sennacherib,
who was still guarding the approach to Judea from Egypt.
Stricken with fear, the Assyrian king hasted to depart and
"returned with shame of face to his own land." Verse 21.
But he had not long to reign. In harmony with the prophecy
that had been uttered concerning his sudden end, he was
assassinated by those of his own home, "and Esarhaddon
his son reigned in his stead." Isaiah 37:38.
The God of the Hebrews had prevailed over the proud
Assyrian. The honor of Jehovah was vindicated in the
eyes of the surrounding nations. In Jerusalem the hearts
of the people were filled with holy joy. Their earnest
entreaties for deliverance had been mingled with confession
of sin and with many tears. In their great need they had
trusted wholly in the power of God to save, and He had
not failed them. Now the temple courts resounded with
songs of solemn praise.
"In Judah is God known:
His name is great in Israel.
In Salem also is His tabernacle,
And His dwelling place in Zion.
There brake He the arrows of the bow,
The shield, and the sword, and the battle.
"Thou art more glorious and excellent
Than the mountains of prey.
The stouthearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep:
And none of the men of might have found their hands.
At Thy rebuke, O God of Jacob,
Both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep.
"Thou, even Thou, art to be feared:
And who may stand in Thy sight when once Thou art angry?
Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven;
The earth feared, and was still,
When God arose to judgment,
To save all the meek of the earth.
"Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee:
The remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain.
Vow, and pay unto the Lord your God:
Let all that be round about Him bring presents unto Him
that ought to be feared.
He shall cut off the spirit of princes:
He is terrible to the kings of the earth."
Psalm 76.
The rise and fall of the Assyrian Empire is rich in lessons
for the nations of earth today. Inspiration has likened
the glory of Assyria at the height of her prosperity to a
noble tree in the garden of God, towering above the
surrounding trees.
"The Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches,
and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and
his top was among the thick boughs. . . . Under his shadow
dwelt all great nations. Thus was he fair in his greatness,
in the length of his branches: for his root was by great
waters. The cedars in the garden of God could not hide
him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut
trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the
garden of God was like unto him in his beauty. . . . All
the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied
him." Ezekiel 31:3-9.
But the rulers of Assyria, instead of using their unusual
blessings for the benefit of mankind, became the scourge of
many lands. Merciless, with no thought of God or their
fellow men, they pursued the fixed policy of causing all
nations to acknowledge the supremacy of the gods of Nineveh,
whom they exalted above the Most High. God had
sent Jonah to them with a message of warning, and for a
season they humbled themselves before the Lord of hosts
and sought forgiveness. But soon they turned again to idol
worship and to the conquest of the world.
The prophet Nahum, in his arraignment of the evildoers
in Nineveh, exclaimed:
"Woe to the bloody city!
It is all full of lies and robbery;
The prey departeth not;
"The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling
of the wheels,
And of the prancing horses, and of the jumping
chariots.
The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword
and the glittering spear:
And there is a multitude of slain. . . .
"Behold, I am against thee,
Saith the Lord of hosts."
Nahum 3:1-5.
With unerring accuracy the Infinite One still keeps
account with the nations. While His mercy is tendered,
with calls to repentance, this account remains open; but
when the figures reach a certain amount which God has
fixed, the ministry of His wrath begins. The account is
closed. Divine patience ceases. Mercy no longer pleads in
their behalf.
"The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and
will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath His way
in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the
dust of His feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry,
and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel,
and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. The mountains
quake at Him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned
at His presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.
Who can stand before His indignation? and who can abide
in the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like
fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him." Nahum 1:3-6.
It was thus that Nineveh, "the rejoicing city that dwelt
carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none
beside me," became a desolation, "empty, and void, and
waste," "the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding place
of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked,
and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid." Zephaniah
2:15; Nahum 2:10, 11.
Looking forward to the time when the pride of Assyria
should be brought low, Zephaniah prophesied of Nineveh:
"Flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts
of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall
lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in
the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for
He shall uncover the cedar work." Zephaniah 2:14.
Great was the glory of the Assyrian realm; great was
its downfall. The prophet Ezekiel, carrying farther the
figure of a noble cedar tree, plainly foretold the fall of
Assyria because of its pride and cruelty. He declared:
"Thus saith the Lord God; . . . He hath shot up his
top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in
his height; I have therefore delivered him into the hand
of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal
with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness. And
strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and
have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys
his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all
the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are
gone down from his shadow, and have left him. Upon his
ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the
beasts of the field shall be upon his branches:
to the end
that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for
their height. . . .
"Thus saith the Lord God; In the day when he went
down to the grave I caused a mourning: . . . and all the
trees of the field fainted for him. I made the nations to
shake at the sound of his fall." Ezekiel 31:10-16.
The pride of Assyria and its fall are to serve as an object
lesson to the end of time. Of the nations of earth today
who in arrogance and pride array themselves against Him,
God inquires, "To whom art thou thus like in glory and
in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be
brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts
of the earth." Verse 18.
"The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble;
and He knoweth them that trust in Him. But with an
overrunning flood He will make an utter end" of all who
endeavor to exalt themselves above the Most High. Nahum
1:7, 8.
"The pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the
scepter of Egypt shall depart away." Zechariah 10:11. This
is true not only of the nations that arrayed themselves against
God in ancient times, but also of nations today who fail
of fulfilling the divine purpose. In the day of final awards,
when the righteous Judge of all the earth shall "sift the
nations" (Isaiah 30:28), and those that have kept the truth
shall be permitted to enter the City of God, heaven's arches
will ring with the triumphant songs of the redeemed. "Ye
shall have a song," the prophet declares, "as in the night
when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as
when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of
the Lord, to the Mighty One of Israel. And the Lord shall
cause His glorious voice to be heard. . . . Through the
voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which
smote with a rod. And in every place where the grounded
staff shall pass, which the Lord shall lay upon him, it shall
be with tabrets and harps." Verses 29-32.