2 Chronicles 32:9-19
The Voice
9 While Sennacherib, with his forces, was busy besieging Lachish in a bloody battle, the king of Assyria sent messengers to Jerusalem to persuade Hezekiah and all the Judahites to surrender.
Sennacherib’s Message: 10 Why are you remaining in Jerusalem when you know I am about to come destroy your city? What could you possibly be trusting that could save you from my army? 11 Hezekiah must be entertaining you with lies, telling you how the Eternal God will save you from my conquest. If you listen to him, we will certainly conquer you while you die of hunger and thirst inside those walls.
Sennacherib cleverly poses the question to those inside the walls of Jerusalem: Do you really think your God will defend a king who has made it harder for His people to worship Him?
Sennacherib’s Message: 12 Hezekiah removed His high places and altars from all over the country, forcing everyone to come to Jerusalem to worship. 13-14 Haven’t you heard how my empire’s army has destroyed peoples and nations for years? We even conquered your own brothers in the Northern Kingdom. Where were their gods when their nations needed defending? Where will your True God be when you are being tortured and murdered? 15 Stop listening and being deceived by Hezekiah. He is only giving you false hope. No god has ever rescued his people from me or my royal fathers before me, so what makes you think your God will?
Of course, Sennacherib completely misunderstands the nature of God and the reforms of Hezekiah. Hezekiah is only ingratiating himself to God when he consolidates the religion in Jerusalem. Sennacherib’s taunting of God, saying that He could never save His people, leaves the Assyrian king wide open for a display of God’s power.
16 Sennacherib’s servants continued blaspheming Hezekiah and the Eternal God. 17-19 The Assyrian king himself wrote additional letters insulting the Eternal God of Israel, reminding the people that no god had ever saved his people from the Assyrians, and Israel’s God couldn’t either. Furthermore, Sennacherib wrote that God was a creation of humans, just as all the other pagan gods are. These letters were shouted in the common Judahite language of Hebrew as the people of Jerusalem stood on the city wall listening. The messengers thought their words would terrify and disturb the people into surrendering the city.
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