Battle Plan

 "When King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the Temple of the Lord to pray 2 Kings 19:1....."After Hezekiah received the letter and read it, he went up to the Lord's Temple and spread it out before the Lord." 2 Kings 19:14

I have always loved this chapter in 2 Kings as it details the threats of the mighty Assyrian Empire against the small kingdom of Judah. The Assyrians had conquered all the lands around them and now they and their king, Sennacherib had turned their attention upon King Hezekiah and his people. Sennacherib had sent messengers to the very walls of Jerusalem, threatening the city and its people with total destruction if they didn't yield to him. Even more, his messengers mocked the trust of Hezekiah and the people in their God. He related all the nations he had destroyed, how their gods hadn't been able to save them, and how their God Jehovah would be helpless against him as well. Hezekiah's officials listened to the threats. They alone conversed with the messengers as Hezekiah had instructed the people to not "answer them a word." The officials took the message to Hezekiah, and it is in his response that we see how to deal with any and all threats hurled at us by the enemy of our souls. Hezekiah knew the heavy reality of the threats and the power behind them. He didn't panic or lose heart. He went into the presence of His God.....and worshiped Him. The first thing he did in the crisis was to seek the face of His God. In our moments of crisis, what is our "first thing?"

The immediate result of this act was that God spoke directly to his heart telling him, "Do not be disturbed by this blasphemous speech against Me......I Myself will move against him." And the Father did so. Sennacherib soon received reports of disturbances at home, and he returned there, but before he left, he sent Hezekiah a letter, reaffirming his promise to utterly destroy Jerusalem. Hezekiah's response was to once again go before his God and give all the details of the letter and all of its threats to Him. In his prayer he said, "Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power, then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that You alone, O Lord, are God." Sennacherib did return home, but he never returned to Jerusalem. He was murdered by two of his counselors. What God had promised had happened, and what had seemed an almighty and unbeatable foe had been overcome by the One who is truly Almighty and truly unbeatable. All of this is historical fact, and in these facts God has been glorified. A tiny nation that had no chance against the mightiest empire on earth withstood all of that nation's power. Not because they were mighty, but because their God was Almighty. Can we, can you, believe that He will be the same for us? Even in the face of the greatest threats, dangers, and adversaries we may ever face?

I titled this writing "Battle Plan." I did so because we need to recognize that we have a powerful spiritual enemy in the person of the devil. He's real and He despises the human race that God loves. He especially hates those who have given their lives to this God. He will ceaselessly appear before us, breathing threats, mocking our faith in Him, painting the horrifying portrait of what he means to do to our nations, church fellowships, ministries, marriages, families, and livelihoods. In ourselves we have no power against him. In Him, in Christ, he has already been conquered. Satan counts on our, your, fear and panic. Refuse to give in to it. Take the threats, the dangers, the "letters" he sends us, into His presence. Worship Him. Praise Him. Bring it all to Him and give it all to Him. James Robison once said, "If we won't put it in His hands, into whose hands will we put it?" Satan came against Hezekiah in the person of Sennacherib. He will come against us in many other persons and forms. Stand firm. Stand tall and look to the King. He will deliver. He will be glorified. And all, including us, will know anew that He alone is God.

Blessings,

Pastor O