“Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
2 Kings 19:32-34
And with this promise, God protected Jerusalem for what looked like certain destruction. Hezekiah, king of Judah, had already stripped the temple of gold to pay tribute to Assyria as Sennacherib threatened to invade Jerusalem. Most of the cities of Judah had already fallen to the unstoppable Assyrian army. It didn’t look good for Jerusalem.
But Hezekiah sought the Lord in tearful prayer. And the answer came back through Isaiah the prophet. Jerusalem would be spared. And the Assyrian army would be humiliated without a battle even beginning. The very night of the reassuring prophetic message, the angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers as they slept. And Sennacherib quietly left Jerusalem’s outskirts with a meager few troops. Once he returned to Ninevah, he was assassinated by his own sons. All his boasting against God was silenced.
God protected His people for His own name’s age. He delivered and kept covenant with David because of His own name. God’s name is great. His word never fails. His power always prevails. Great is God to His people!
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