Things certainly look bleak for Judah in II Kings 18. King Hezekiah, a good ruler, refuses to bend his knee to the Assyrian king Sennacherib. Instead, he cleanses the countryside of pagan idols and urges his people to return to the Lord. However, Judah's northern neighbor, Israel, falls to the Assyrians and its Jewish identity is extinguished through a policy of forced relocation and exile. Now the Assyrian army has taken over the fortified cities of Judah and is massing against Jerusalem herself. Who can possibly save her?
If you answered, "The Lord", give yourself a gold star! This is one of the those times when God reveals Himself as staunchly on the side of His people, and He is not about to let a mocker like Sennacherib carry them off.
Up until this point in the story, the Assyrians had been content to merely collect "protection money" from Judah. With enough bribes of gold and silver, they would keep away and let Hezekiah continue to rule. But when Hezekiah got bold and began refusing to pay, things changed. So Assyria, in a show of strength, appears outside Jerusalem's walls, prepared to do to her what they had just recently done to Samaria.
The confrontation recounted in verses 19-35 is an amazingly tense moment. Three high officials of the Assyrians come forward to curse Hezekiah and his God and threaten the people of Jerusalem. In an effort to weaken their resolve, the Assyrians insult and mock the Jews. They even do so in the common tongue of the people, rather than in Aramaic as Hezekiah's officials ask them to, hoping to keep the people from getting discouraged. The Assyrians refuse the request, and continue piling up their blasphemy in Hebrew. Their argument is, if God did not protect Samaria, why would He bother to preserve Judah?
But little does Sennacherib know Who really is in charge here. He is merely a pawn and God is the grand chessmaster. The Assyrian challenge to Jerusalem is about to be answered...
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