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Angel Destroys the Assyrian Army
163
lands have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of
Hezekiah shall not deliver His people from my hand.’”
2 Chronicles
32:17
.
The boastful threat brought with it the message: “Do not let your
God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, ‘Jerusalem shall not be
given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’”
2 Kings 19:10
.
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,” Hezekiah pleaded, “hear the words of
Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. Truly,
Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their
lands, and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods.
... Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand,
that all the nations of the earth may know that You are the Lord God,
You alone.”
Verses 15-19
.
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, ...
And come and save us!
Restore us, O God;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
Psalm 80:1-3
The Lord Responds to Judah’s Pleadings
Hezekiah’s pleadings for Judah and for the honor of their
Supreme Ruler were in harmony with the mind of God. Solomon
had prayed for the Lord to maintain “the cause of His people Israel,
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... that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God;
there is no other.”
1 Kings 8:59, 60
. Especially was the Lord to show
favor when, in times of war or oppression by an army, the leaders
of Israel would enter the house of prayer and plead for deliverance.
See
verses 33, 34
.
Isaiah sent to Hezekiah saying, “Thus says the Lord God of
Israel: ‘Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib the