Words Of A Dead Man

“This message is for King Hezekiah of Judah. Don’t let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you with promises that Jerusalem will not be captured by the king of Assyria. You know perfectly well what the kings of Assyria have done wherever they have gone. They have completely destroyed everyone who stood in their way! Why should you be any different? Have the gods of other nations rescued them—such nations as Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Tel-assar? My predecessors destroyed them all! What happened to the king of Hamath and the king of Arpad? What happened to the kings of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?” [Isaiah 37.10-13]

These are the words of a dead man.

This story of Sennacherib attacking Jerusalem is proof positive that just because someone says something does not make it so. Just because someone thinks they are going to do something does make it happen. Just because Sennacherib thought he would destroy Jerusalem did not cause it to be.

The problem was that Sennacherib thought he knew about Israel's God - even called Him by name (the LORD, Yahweh). But 2 Chronicles 32.10-12 proves that Sennacherib had his facts all wrong:

“This is what King Sennacherib of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you think you can survive my siege of Jerusalem? Hezekiah has said, ‘The LORD our God will rescue us from the king of Assyria.’ Surely Hezekiah is misleading you, sentencing you to death by famine and thirst! Don’t you realize that Hezekiah is the very person who destroyed all the LORD’s shrines and altars? He commanded Judah and Jerusalem to worship only at the altar at the Temple and to offer sacrifices on it alone.

Yep, these were the words of a dead man. An uninformed dead man at that.

Hezekiah sought God and God's man, Isaiah, spoke for God in response to Hezekiah:

After King Hezekiah’s officials delivered the king’s message to Isaiah, the prophet replied, “Say to your master, ‘This is what the LORD says: Do not be disturbed by this blasphemous speech against me from the Assyrian king’s messengers. Listen! I myself will move against him, and the king will receive a message that he is needed at home. So he will return to his land, where I will have him killed with a sword.’” [Isaiah 37.5-7]

Oh, and for the record, that is exactly what happened. Sennacherib's threats were the words of a dead man. He did return home and was killed by his own sons.

So, what's the takeaway from this story? Just because "voices" out there speak doom upon God's people, doesn't mean it is so! 

Sin in our lives requires repentance. Repentance was carried out in Hezekiah's time with the outward expressions of tearing of one's clothes and putting on burlap. Hezekiah was repentant before God (tore his clothes and put on burlap) and God accepted his humility and prayer. Hezekiah didn't need to fight, he needed to pray in repentance and surrender to God.

Sin in our lives causes us to hear the voice of the enemy. 

Repentance shuts out the noise of sin and causes us to hear the voice of God.

Father, help me to see that our enemy's taunts against us are the words of a dead man - the futile, powerless words of one forever condemned to hell. Forgive me for sin in my life that tunes my ears to the enemy and not to You.