Strength Under Siege

2 Chronicles 32:1-8 (NASB)

¹  After these acts of faithfulness Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities, and thought to break into them for himself.

²  Now when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to make war on Jerusalem,

³  he decided with his officers and his warriors to cut off the supply of water from the springs which were outside the city, and they helped him.

⁴  So many people assembled and stopped up all the springs and the stream which flowed through the region, saying, "Why should the kings of Assyria come and find abundant water?"

⁵  And he took courage and rebuilt all the wall that had been broken down and erected towers on it, and built another outside wall and strengthened the Millo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in great number.

⁶  He appointed military officers over the people and gathered them to him in the square at the city gate, and spoke encouragingly to them, saying,

⁷  "Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him; for the one with us is greater than the one with him.

⁸  "With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles." And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

1.     Prepare In Wisdom For The Physical Assaults

2 Chronicles 32:1-8 (NASB)

¹  After these acts of faithfulness Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities, and thought to break into them for himself.

²  Now when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to make war on Jerusalem,

³  he decided with his officers and his warriors to cut off the supply of water from the springs which were outside the city, and they helped him.

⁴  So many people assembled and stopped up all the springs and the stream which flowed through the region, saying, "Why should the kings of Assyria come and find abundant water?"

⁵  And he took courage and rebuilt all the wall that had been broken down and erected towers on it, and built another outside wall and strengthened the Millo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in great number.

⁶  He appointed military officers over the people and gathered them to him in the square at the city gate, and spoke encouragingly to them, saying,

⁷  "Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him; for the one with us is greater than the one with him.

⁸  "With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles." And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

2.     Fortify Yourself Against The Spiritual Attack On Your Heart & Mind

2 Chronicles 32:9-19 (NASB)

⁹  After this Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem while he was besieging Lachish with all his forces with him, against Hezekiah king of Judah and against all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying,

¹⁰  "Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, 'On what are you trusting that you are remaining in Jerusalem under siege?

¹¹  'Is not Hezekiah misleading you to give yourselves over to die by hunger and by thirst, saying, "The LORD our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria"?

¹²  'Has not the same Hezekiah taken away His high places and His altars, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, "You shall worship before one altar, and on it you shall burn incense"?

¹³  'Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of the lands able at all to deliver their land from my hand?

¹⁴  'Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed who could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand?

¹⁵  'Now therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?'"

¹⁶  His servants spoke further against the LORD God and against His servant Hezekiah.

¹⁷  He also wrote letters to insult the LORD God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, "As the gods of the nations of the lands have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand."

¹⁸  They called this out with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, so that they might take the city.

¹⁹  They spoke of the God of Jerusalem as of the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of men's hands.

2 Kings 18:23 (NASB)

²³  "Now therefore, come, make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.

2 Kings 18:25 (NASB)

²⁵  "Have I now come up without the LORD'S approval against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, 'Go up against this land and destroy it.'"'"

2 Kings 18:26-33 (NASB)

²⁶  Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, "Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak with us in Judean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall."

²⁷  But Rabshakeh said to them, "Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?"

²⁸  Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in Judean, saying, "Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.

²⁹  "Thus says the king, 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you from my hand;

³⁰  nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, "The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."

³¹  'Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria, "Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat each of his vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the waters of his own cistern,

³²  until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live and not die." But do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying, "The LORD will deliver us."

³³  'Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

2 Kings 18:36-37 (NASB)

³⁶  But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's commandment was, "Do not answer him."

³⁷  Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

3.     Remain Hopeful & Bring Your Problems To The Lord

2 Kings 19:14-19 (NASB)

¹⁴  Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.

¹⁵  Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said, "O LORD, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

¹⁶  "Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God.

¹⁷  "Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands

¹⁸  and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them.

¹⁹  "Now, O LORD our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God."

2 Kings 19:20-21 (NASB)

²⁰  Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah saying, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard you.'

²¹  "This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: 'She has despised you and mocked you, The virgin daughter of Zion; She has shaken her head behind you, The daughter of Jerusalem! …

2 Kings 19:32-36 (NASB)

³²  'Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, "He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it.

³³  "By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,"' declares the LORD.

³⁴  'For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David's sake.'"

³⁵  Then it happened that night that the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead.

³⁶  So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at Nineveh.