Are you facing “bad news”? Whether it’s the reality of difficult circumstances or just the worried imaginations of what bad things could be coming, the Lord highlighted this hope in the story of Hezekiah. Hear the hope the Lord is speaking in the face of your fears.
It’s Not Who You Are
We see in the description of Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18:3-7 that “he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, he trusted God, and he held fast to the Lord and the commandments given through Moses”. It says “the Lord was with him and he was successful in everything he undertook”, and that he defeated his enemies from “a fortified watchtower” (2 Kings 18:7-8 NIV). Then something happened. For three years the enemy had him under siege until, at the end of the three years (!), Samaria was captured and Israel was deported.
Siege is defined as “the surrounding and blockading of a city, town, or fortress by an army attempting to capture it” (The Free Dictionary). It’s not an all-out attack. It’s a slow, painful, wearing down. It’s a constant intimidation. It’s a deprivation of resources. The goal of a siege is to enforce the mental stress of the situation long enough that the city surrenders. They give up. No attacks needed. Have you ever been in a season of spiritual siege?
What happened to Hezekiah through the external circumstances of the siege began to creep into his internal circumstances of identity. He went from feeling secure in his favor with the Lord to thinking it was all his fault. He says in 2 Kings 18:14 “I have done wrong”. We see earlier in verse 12, however, the real cause of their circumstances. It says, “This happened because they (the people) had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant—all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened to the commands nor carried them out.” This is a stark contrast to what is said of Hezekiah which is “He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses.” (2 Kings 18:6). The reason for his season was being in a fallen world, to put it simply. For Hezekiah, however, it seems that the enemy had been whispering to his heart that it was his fault, he had missed it, and he had to fix it. In our own times of being worn down by the siege of circumstances we can fall into the same lies. “It’s my fault.” “I missed it.” “I have to fix it”. Or the worst lie of all, “God isn’t for me anymore.” It's crucial we remember that what is happening to us or around us is not who we are.
Don’t Take the Bargain
In his worn-down state, Hezekiah is contacted by the commander of the enemy army. He makes fun of Hezekiah for relying on God, he highlights his weaknesses, and he attempts to strike a bargain. It’s in the height of our weariness the enemy comes to us with a bargain. A bargain is an exchange, a compromise, a giving something up in order to get something. It’s called a bargain because, as dictionary.com puts it, it is “an advantageous purchase, especially one acquired at less than the usual cost.” When the enemy comes to you with a bargain- tempting you to give something up- it is always because he knows that what you already have is way more valuable than what he's tempting you to “gain”.
Looking at the “bargain” offered to Hezekiah, the enemy offered him two hundred horses. In that day horses were both wealth as well as war power. "You could use these horses to fight!" is the effective taunt of the enemy, "if you could even find the warriors to ride them". Yet while the enemy tempts him with the strength to fight the battle in his own power, God had a plan which involved him not even having to fight. Looking ahead to 2 Kings 19:35, this story ends like this; “That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!”
Don’t Answer the Enemy
After the enemy commander finishes his speech mocking Hezekiah and offering his bargain, he turns to the people and tells them to not believe Hezekiah when he says the Lord will deliver them. He tries to support his argument with statistics. He asks (in 2 Kings 18:33-35) “Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? 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?”
In other words, how many people facing this have you seen come away victorious? The enemy often uses statistics or bad news stories to sway our faith in what is possible. The truth is, we are not made to live by the world’s statistics or prognoses but by the Word of God. Had Moses, Noah, or any other accounts we read in the Bible consulted the statistics to assess the probability of God coming through for them, they would have never proceeded!
No one answers this taunt because Hezekiah had told the people “Do not answer him”. It reminded me of a time recently when my 5-year-old got a bike for her birthday. My two-year-old could not grasp that it wasn’t his bike or his birthday and was arguing with his sister that the sparkly pink bike that was far too big for him was his. Knowing his insisting wouldn’t make it his (he couldn’t even ride it!), I told our daughter (who had been desperately trying to convince him it was hers), “Stop arguing. You know the truth”. Sometimes we need to hear the same thing about the lies the enemy is wanting to convince us of. Stop arguing. You know the truth.
Hear What God Says
The whole time the Lord is seemingly silent. It can feel that way in our own “bad news” seasons. But the Lord’s silence wasn’t apathy. It was confidence in what He had already spoken to Hezekiah and confidence in what He had planned. When God does speak (through the prophet Isaiah), we hear Him say four important things. “ Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’” (2 Kings 19:6-7).
God says first, “Don’t be afraid of what you hear”. All Hezekiah was hearing were empty threats. Much of what we hear is the same. Don’t be afraid of what you hear. Second, He says to listen. We all try to hear the Lord, but listening is more than hearing. Any of us with children know they can hear you but not be listening. Listening is hearing and responding in a way that acts as if it’s true. God then says to watch for a “certain report”. Another word for a report, spiritually, is a testimony. Watch for the coming testimony that will make the enemy flee! Then, He says the most important part. He says “I will have him cut down with the sword”. God plans to fight that battle and do it in a way we couldn’t even dream of. While Hezekiah had been used to being involved in many good works for the Lord, this time the Lord wanted to give him victory while he slept. Sometimes the Lord does the same for us so that we can know it’s never by our works but by His Word. God cuts down our enemy with the sword of His Word, and all we need to do is remember what He said, believe He is faithful, and rest in His goodness despite the siege around us.
Take a minute to ask the Holy Spirit today:
What is Your report for the “bad news” I’m fearing?
To what situation in my life are You saying “Don’t be afraid”?
What testimony are You building that will make the enemy flee?
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