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2 Chronicles 32:19-21
19They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as they did about the gods of the other peoples of the world窶鍍he work of men's hands. 20King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this. 21And the LORD sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons cut him down with the sword.
Assyria was conquering the known world at this time in history. Its forces were unstoppable. They took Egypt and the nations around Judah. Israel had fallen. When they came to Judah, they took the fortified cities to the south. Archeologists have found pottery shards on which notes were written during the fall of Lachish and Azekah. There are still great murals in existence of the siege of Lachish by Assyria. But when they reached Jerusalem, they were unable to breach the walls. They began with a propaganda war by saying that the God of Judah was like all the other gods that could not protect them from their great army. They had heard how Hezekiah had destroyed all the other gods and encouraged the worship of the one true God. The testimony had gone out into the world.
Here is something you rarely see. The king and the prophet cried out to God. They presented the Assyrian mockery of God to the throne of God. Hezekiah told the people of Judah that the Assyrian army had only physical power and military might, but the Jews had the LORD God of the universe helping them!
The LORD heard their prayer and sent and angel that annihilated huge numbers of Assyria's fighting men. History records that when the king or Assyria wrote his poem of conquest he said, "I shut up Hezekiah like a bird in a cage." Reading between the lines, you see he was unable to take Jerusalem and had to give up his siege. Upon returning to Assyria, some of his sons assassinated him as he worshiped in the temple of his god. His god could not deliver Jerusalem into his hands nor could he save his life. Now whose god is a sad record of not being able to protect? The possession of military superiority does not matter. What matters is who is on the LORD's side. I hope you are.
Consider: Anything other than the true God will fail and leave you disappointed and empty.
