King and Pawn

2 Kings 18:13-19:37; Psalm 149; Proverbs 18:8

 

Israel had been deported by Assyria and their king Sennacherib, but Judah had not. Now, however, Sennacherib had his eyes on the kingdom of Judah, too. And he sent some officials to encourage Judah’s people to give in and surrender quickly. One of the arguments these officials made was a claim that Judah’s God had given the people into Sennacherib’s hands:

 

Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this place without word from the LORD? The LORD himself told me to march against this country and destroy it. – 2 Kings 18:25

 

This was obviously possible. God had already given Israel into Assyria’s hands because of Israel’s sins (2 Kings 18:12).

 

But Sennacherib and his Assyrian army were clearly not interested in serving the LORD. They were using His name as a scare tactic, trying to convince Judah that their own God had forsaken them. If Sennacherib had actually been interested in serving the LORD, he could never have said:

 

Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand? – 2 Kings 18:35

 

His arrogance caught the attention of the LORD, the true God whom Sennacherib could not imagine possibly being powerful enough to save Judah from Assyria. And these were God’s words for Sennacherib:

 

Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone…. But I know where you stay and when you come and go and how you rage against me. Because you rage against me and your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came. – 2 Kings 19:25, 27-28

 

Sennacherib – king of men, pawn of God. Sennacherib was powerless to accomplish anything without the LORD’s permission. That night the LORD’s angel killed 185,000 of his troops, and when Sennacherib returned to his home city and his home god, his own sons killed him (2 Kings 19:35-37).

 

Father, not only those who love You, but even the most powerful of those who oppose You and Your people are mere pawns in Your hands. You can do whatever You want. But even the most powerful man is weak and vulnerable. I find myself thanking You all over again that You choose to love any of us. We are so despicable. We are so blindly arrogant. Even those of us who aren’t rulers and world leaders strut around town as if the world should bow at our feet. Thank You for Your patience with us. You alone are truly glorious, powerful, wise, wealthy, strong. Thank You for loving little, shameful, foolish, sinful people like me.