Hope

The city was surrounded...besieged by an army in order of magnitudes bigger than its own paltry defense. Below the city walls, the top general of Sennacharib’s conquering Assyrian army shouted at...and taunted...the king’s three emissaries above. This was the last city standing in all the country. Heretofore this king had been everything one would hope for. He was a humble yet strong man with an innate faith in God and His morality and righteousness. The people and kings before him had chosen a different path and upon his ascendance to the throne, he had immediately initiated reforms to return to God as their sovereign in all aspects. Among other things, pagan sacrificial altars were torn down across the land but, so immersed in their replete decadence were they that the people of the other 10 tribes of the country had not only balked, but in effect rebelled against their king and God Himself...and now they had, every last one of them, been crushed under the foreign army’s inhuman terror tactics.

The city was Jerusalem, and the king was Hezekiah. As aforementioned, he was a godly man, but even he had his weaknesses. At the first arrival of this army, he had in cowardice paid them the demanded and substantial “tribute” of silver via treaty, but this was quickly abrogated, and now the generals demanded immediate surrender as well. Additionally, the Assyrian king personally sent a letter demanding the same whilst also denigrating Hezekiah’s faith in God.

What was to be done? His men were more than willing to fight to defend their people but they were hopelessly outnumbered. The apparently logical thing to do would be to consult with his generals to see how they could best hold out, and for how long. But that is not what he did. Instead, he took the letter and went alone over to the Temple, and as he prayed aloud, he literally laid it out before God. Jerusalem’s deliverance was subsequently not by sword or shield, and is detailed in the 19th chapter of 2 Kings.

Whether on a national level, or within the confines of our personal lives, we will all have likely come upon situations that seem to be all but insurmountable. Irrespective of our personal wants, predilections and purviews, God is ultimately our judge, and our actions are accountable. Both as individuals and collectively, there is much to learn from our history.

As I write this, by tomorrow night our country will have chosen a path locally and nationally, the results of which I can only surmise. John Adams once wrote: “Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Hezekiah inveterately trusted in the only one in Whom it truly can be placed if there is to be any semblance of true hope. This final quote applies not only to us as a people, but you and I individually: “If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Soli Christus Gratia et Laudem