2 Kings 18:31–32:
“Thus says the King of Assyria: ‘Make 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 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, 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.’”
Observation: If
the reader isn’t careful, these sound like sweet promises of God, don’t they? But
the opposite is true: these are the siren songs of Satan himself. Hezekiah was one of
kings. He trusted God (2 Kings 18:5), clung to the Lord (verse 6), and kept all
His commandments. When the powerful King of Assyria attacked and conquered
Judah, Hezekiah prayed to God while the Assyrian king’s envoys taunted the
defeated Judeans. But God promised miraculous deliverance, a rescue so complete
that the enemy would not be able to shoot a single arrow against Jerusalem, nor build any
siege mound. God said, “I will defend Jerusalem,” and that night an angel came
to the Assyrian encampment and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers, utterly
defeating the enemy army (see 2 Kings 19:34–35).
Application: The saying, “They never knew what hit them!”
comes to mind as I read of God’s supernatural defense of
reading to highlight the carefully crafted claims of the enemy, as this one does
today. His lies are so appealing: make peace with me, and you will eat of your
vine and fig tree and drink from your cistern. Follow me and I will give you a
wonderful place to live with plenty of grain, wine, olive trees, and honey.
In short, we see the enemy’s clear strategy: taunt, lie, and
make captivity seem appealing. It is little wonder that I so easily succumb to
his appeals. After all, would he be called the father of lies if he weren’t
really good at it? (see John 8:44). But God is faithful. Holy Spirit truth is always
speaking to my heart. There is a veritable river of information rushing toward
me from heaven targeting my heart rather than my ears. The
problem is that heaven’s broadcast seems generally
to come through small tweeters rather than the booming woofers used by the enemy.That’s why
it is so critical that I work aggressively to do all I can to pursue quiet time
with Him, to shut out extraneous sights and noises that continually accost me.
His peace results; I am then able to notice that He has slain 185,000 of my
enemies, exposing their impotence for all to see.
Prayer: Father
God, make me wise enough to arrange my life so I can hear what You are saying
and see what You are doing.