Chapter 30—Deliverance From Assyria
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
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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
.
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