2022-08-14 - 2 Chronicles 32 - On What are You Trusting?

All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever

Please turn with me again to 2 Chronicles chapter 32.

Can you name the Seven Wonders of the Ancient world? It might surprise those who built them that most of us can only name one or two of them.

You probably know about the Pyramid of Giza. The Great Pyramid was built somewhere between 2700-2500 BC. Lasting almost 4600 years, though quite worn, it remains to this day.

You also probably know about the Temple of Artemis, which is referenced in the book of Acts. The final form of this temple was constructed in the late 3rd century BC, and it lasted around 700 years, having been destroyed by the end of the 4th century AD.

The statue of Zeus was constructed 435 BC and lasted 800 years. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, built around 350 BC, lasted over 1800 years. The Colossus of Rhodes stood for only 54 years before splitting at the knees and collapsing around 220 BC.

The Pharos Lighthouse in Alexandria was the tallest structure in the world for a very long time, and lasted 1500 years before being broken down by earthquakes. And finally, there is the hanging gardens of Babylon, of which no reliable records exist.

These great works were all undertaken to display the wisdom, power, wealth, and strength of men in subduing the earth and manipulating their gods. These works have impressed generations of men for their genius and beauty. Yet, they did not last. They did not last because they were but dust of the earth, built by flesh which is like grass and like the flower which perishes.

The men who financed and constructed these great works were feared for their power, yet they are all dead and forgotten. These men who struck fear into the hearts of so many now lay in the same grave as those they ruled.

From the vantage point of history, we can study their failed attempt at greatness, and we can realize that all “great” men of the world are destined for the very same fate. They gather, they conquer, they rule, they boast, they die, they decay, they are forgotten.

Yet the powers and principalities of this present darkness continue to attempt this very same thing, seeking to set themselves in the place of God, and desiring to cast off the rule of Yahweh and ravage the church of Jesus Christ.

These are dark times for our nation. As we watch the rapid advance of the enemies of God, the church seems more and more threatened. Are we tempted to be afraid? Are we tempted to doubt Gods sovereignty and his providence in these things?

Well the Lord is the same, and he continues to build his church in every age, a church which has outlasted the most powerful and ambitious empires again and again, despite so many threats and dangers.

This is evident in our text this morning and I think it should provide some much needed encouragement for us.

If you will follow along with me, the text begins,

I. The Invasion of the Assyrians (1)

After these things and these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them for himself.

The occasion of our text is the invasion of Judah by King Sennacherib and the Assyrian hordes during the reign of King Hezekiah.

We should first consider who is Hezekiah, king of Judah

King Hezekiah, upon ascending the throne in Judah, had mounted a dramatic religious and civil revival in Judah. “He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done” (2 Chron. 29:2). He repaired the temple of the Lord, re-assembled and consecrated the priests and Levites, reinstituted the Passover, and purged the land of idolatry. This is what the text refers to when it speaks of “these acts of faithfulness.”

We also need to consider who is King Sennacherib and the Assyrians.

King Sennacherib was the second king in succession to King Shalmaneser V, who besieged Samaria or the northern kingdom of Israel, captured King Hoshea, and removed the people of Israel from their land and carried them as captives into exile in 722 BC. Around two decades later, Sennacherib mounted a campaign against the southern kingdom of Judah, ruled by Hezekiah.

The Assyrians were a fierce and powerful people, and by this time, according to one source, had “earned a reputation as cruel barbarians (cf. Isa. 10:12–15). Assyrian kings boasted of their military might and harsh treatment of those they defeated, impaling their victims on spiked poles, burning cities, and carrying off much booty…the Old Testament characterized the Assyrians as barbarous heathens, often used by Yahweh as an instrument of discipline for his own people”[1]

One historian calls Assyria an “irresistible engine of war” that struck terror in all the surrounding peoples.

These are the Assyrians who have invaded the land of Judah, and now they set their sights on the capital in Jerusalem.

The faithful King Hezekiah, the Reformer of Judah, faced his greatest test in the siege of his city by the cruel Assyrians.

II. Hezekiah and Judah prepare for Battle/siege (2-5)

We are told in verses 2-5 that when Hezekiah perceives that Sennacherib was to come against Jerusalem, he took immediate strategic and military action to defend the city from the threat.

In this we see that while the people of God are to trust primarily in the Lord, and not in the arm of the flesh, yet there are wise and appropriate preparations that may be lawfully taken to resist danger posed by God’s enemies.

Our Lord uses means in order to defend His Name and to protect His people. God’s people are not simply to roll over and submit to the advance of its enemies, but they should employ wise and lawful defenses.

More importantly though, notice that Hezekiah not only prepares the people militarily, but he also prepares the people spiritually to take courage and believe upon the providence of the Lord. We see this in verses 6-8.

III. Hezekiah encourages the people to trust in God and not to fear the Assyrians (6-8)

6 And he set combat commanders over the people and gathered them together to him in the square at the gate of the city and spoke encouragingly to them, saying, 7 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. 8 With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

The faith and courage in Hezekiah’s words is remarkable and worthy of our attention.

The ground of Hezekiah’s confidence seems to be God’s past faithfulness to Israel. The language of his encouragement seems to intentionally bring to mind several word pictures from Israel’s history.

· It brings to mind the battle cry of Israel to “be strong and courageous” as Israel was led to many improbable victories in the conquest of Canaan under Joshua.

· His call to “not be afraid or dismayed” is the same instruction given by King Jehoshaphat to Judah (2 Chron. 20:17) as they faced the vast hordes of Moabites and Ammonites. The Lord turned these armies against each other so that Judah had no “need to fight this battle.”

· The words, “there are more with us than with him,” remind us of Elisha’s words to his servant as they were surrounded by the Syrians (2 Kings 6:16). Elisha’s servants’ eyes were opened to see that the mountain was full of angelic horses and chariots, and as Elisha prayed, the Syrian army was struck with blindness.

· When I hear “with him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God…” I cannot help but think of the youth David standing before Goliath, saying “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (1 Sa 17:45).

I think it is likely that Hezekiah intentionally phrases his encouragement to bring these past miraculous victories into the fearful minds of his people as they face a new and deadly foe.

What appears to be great strength to the Assyrians, more than 185,000 men, Hezekiah calls “an arm of flesh.”

What does he mean by “an arm of flesh?” Isaiah illustrates this well in chapter 40 of his prophecy, “A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lordblows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”[2]

This is the God of Israel, whom no king under heaven can subdue or thwart.

By any reasonable human estimate, it is clear that Judah is outmatched by the cruel Assyrians and will be doomed to suffer a miserable siege. Sennacherib threatens those upon the wall, that they would be doomed to “eat their own dung and to drink their own urine.” (2 Kings 18:27). Assyria had already overwhelmingly succeeded in a campaign which left so many other nations in ruins. How could Judah overcome the hordes of Assyrians?

Yet Hezekiah calls this army, a mere “arm of flesh.” The greatest army is no match for the Lord of Hosts. Hezekiah is confident that no matter the size of the army, no matter that they are surrounded, things are not always as they appear. Yahweh can work a great deliverance for them.

But how can he be so confident that Yahweh would deliver them?

Hezekiah’s courage was his confidence in the promise of God. Hezekiah was no ordinary King. Hezekiah’s confidence stemmed from a very specific promise that Yahweh had made to the offspring of David, that his offspring would sit on his throne forever. The threat that Assyria posed to Judah was a threat to eliminate the offspring of David, and to cut off the kingly line of the Messiah. Hezekiah believed God’s promise, and so believed that this would certainly not happen, notwithstanding the grave threat.

Yet even after this faith-filled speech, the situation worsens as the King of Assyria speaks against Hezekiah, and against Yahweh.

IV. Sennacherib speaks against Hezekiah, and against Yahweh (9-19)

Sennacherib attempts to persuade the Judeans to turn against Hezekiah and surrender without a fight.

10 “Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, ‘On what are you trusting, that you endure the siege in Jerusalem? 11 Is not Hezekiah misleading you, that he may give you over to die by famine and by thirst, when he tells you, “The LORD our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria”? 12 Has not this same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, “Before one altar you shall worship, and on it you shall burn your sacrifices”?

Sennacherib blames Hezekiah for the siege and accuses him of undermining Yahweh’s worship. Hezekiah had broken down the many altars and high places which were used to worship “god” in the days of Israel’s apostasy. Sennacherib accuses Hezekiah of invoking the Lord while at the same time breaking down his altars – and this to break down the confidence of the people in his leadership. But these altars were not Yahweh’s altars.

But Sennacherib does not stop at seeking to persuade the people to doubt their King Hezekiah, but tries to persuade them to disbelieve and abandon their God.

“13 Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands at all able to deliver their lands out of my hand? 14 Who among all the gods of those nations that my fathers devoted to destruction was able to deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand” (32:13-14)? And further, “And he wrote letters to cast contempt on the LORD, the God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, “Like the gods of the nations of the lands who have not delivered their people from my hands, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver his people from my hand” (17).

This is a bold and defiant challenge from the King of Assyria to the sovereignty of Yahweh. Notice that Sennacherib makes no mention of speaking on behalf of his own god. Sennacherib has issued a direct challenge to Yahweh. He is, after all, Sennacherib the god-slayer.

Well, here in the words of God’s enemy, I think we learn something critical about the heart of this text, and perhaps the reason why the story is told to us 3 times in the Scriptures.

The Scriptures teach that there is something worse than defeat and death at the hand of God‘s enemies. “Do not fear him who can kill the body and after there is nothing that he can do.” If God‘s enemies can cause us to doubt or betray our God, do they not succeed in a much more devastating way than mere physical conquest?

The Assyrians were tempting the Israelites to think “of the God of Jerusalem as…[if he were like]…the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men’s hands” (32:19). The greatest threat to the people of Judah was not imminent death at the hand of Assyria but to be made idolators and apostates out of fear for their lives. The choice for all in Judah, was whether they believed Sennacherib or not. Is Yahweh like the gods of the nations?

Sennacherib asks a very important question for the people of Judah, and for us also, “on what are you trusting, that you endure the siege?” This challenge was intended as a direct challenge to the power of Yahweh. Yet this question is a good one for us to ask of ourselves. As we face pressures from an increasingly dark culture, economic and political turmoil, personal pain, suffering & death, we should ask ourselves the question which Sennacherib asked the Judeans, “on what are you trusting?”

Many things that we have taken for granted all of our lives seem to have been shaken. Romanticized talk of possible future persecution from a decade or so ago now seems to be here in front of us. Are you afraid? Are you dismayed? What about when trouble comes? What if we find ourselves under siege? What will you do? On what are you trusting?

That hard times should come should be no surprise to any of the people of God. God has given abundant encouragement in the New Testament to his Church to endure suffering before entering the celestial city. We must walk in the steps of our suffering Lord.

“12 do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Pe 4:12–13).

But these trials and sufferings don’t just happen. God tells us that he allows them. That he planned them.

Why would God allow such a trial to come upon his people? Because, you see, it is the Lord who appoints such trials, and raises up such enemies for his glory and the good of his people.

And what is the purpose of the testing? Well one purpose is that we may learn not to trust in the arm of the flesh, but in the Lord God who fights our battles. This is the pattern throughout the old testament, that we would put no trust in the flesh, but give God all the glory.

Isaiah’s prophesy makes it clear that the Lord had raised up Assyria for a specific purpose. He says of the Assyrians conquest:

“Have you not heard that I determined it long ago? I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass, that you should turn fortified cities into heaps of ruins, while their inhabitants, shorn of strength, are dismayed and confounded, and have become like plants of the field and like tender grass, like grass on the housetops, blighted before it is grown. (2 Kings 19:25-26)

Isaiah reveals that it was Yahweh that raised up Assyria to conquer nations.

But why would God raise up his enemies to threaten the destruction of his own people? You will remember that He was the one who raised up Pharaoh to enslave the Israelites. And why did he raise him up? He says, “for this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth” (Ro 9:17).

Hezekiah knows this – at the heart of Hezekiah’s prayer is this: “That all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone” (2 Kings 19:19). The Lord wanted to display before his people and before the nations that he is not like the gods of men, created by the hands of men. He alone is God, and he alone is to be worshipped.

Matthew Henry says of calamities like these, that “God orders it so for the trial of our confidence in him and the manifestation of his care concerning us.”[3]

Now think to yourself, what would you do if you were faced with such a dilemma? What would you do after receiving such a message?

May God give us the grace to respond as Hezekiah. We are told that he prays.

V. Hezekiah prays to Yahweh for deliverance (20)

20 Then Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed because of this and cried to heaven.

Hezekiah spread the words of the king before the Lord and prayed to the Lord. We find this prayer in 2 Kings 19:15ff

O LORD, the God of Israel, 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 hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 17 Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste 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. Therefore they were destroyed. 19 So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone.”

This is the prayer of Hezekiah.

Hezekiah’s impulse in his time of trouble is to turn to the Lord in prayer. He knows that no army of human strength will withstand the armies outside of the gate.

But notice that this is no thoughtless wish of a desperate man. Hezekiah addresses Yahweh with adoration, saying, “The God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim…God alone of all the kingdoms of the earth…maker of heaven and earth.”

Hezekiah addresses Yahweh as the king of all the earth, expressing the identity of this God as the foundation of his hope and the ground of his petition.

Notice also that Hezekiah’s prayer is informed by the Word of God and directed by the will of God. Hezekiah makes it clear how the situation is conflicting with the revealed will of God, and he asks the Lord to intervene. What is the chief complaint in Hezekiah’s prayer to God? Hezekiah argues his petition, that Yahweh is not mocked as a lifeless idol, but “that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone.”

On his mind is certainly the rescue of his people and his own life. But the bigger problem in his mind is that by means of the destruction of the people of Judah, not to mention the line of the Davidic promise, Sennacherib the god-slayer will be able to boast that he has made Yahweh just like the gods of all the other nations. “You can’t let Sennacherib get away with these boasts!” Hezekiah is concerned for the glory of God.

Now I think the question must be pressed upon us in this hour, do you respond to trouble like Hezekiah? Do our prayer lives demonstrate that we serve a powerful God who accomplishes all of his holy will? Do we ask great things of God according to his revealed will, in faith that he will give them?

Or, do we show by our lack of prayer that we agree more with the assessment of Sennacherib, that we think our God is nothing more than the works of men’s hands?

We have a growing concern for the condition of our nation and the instabilities of government and what this may mean for us, for our children, and for the church of Jesus Christ. Is there not a living God in heaven who can thwart the advances of wickedness in our country and revive our hearts to fear his name?

But what about the content of our prayers? Are our prayers filled only with petitions concerned with our own preservation, prosperity, and comfort, or do they demonstrate a concern for the manifestation of God’s glory and the accomplishing of his will?

May God give us grace to pray like Hezekiah, with an eye primary to the glory of God among the nations.

But, even as good of an intercessor as he was for his people, Hezekiah’s example points us to one greater. We have a perfect intercessor who now sits at the right hand of God, Jesus Christ, Hezekiah’s greater son, who always lives to make intercession for us according to the will of God.

How often does our Savior intercede for us amidst threats from enemies in the same way that we see Hezekiah in this passage? How many times has he prayed to the Father for our blessing, for our deliverance, and more importantly, for the accomplishing of the will of God in the expansion of the church of Jesus Christ. How is he praying for His beloved bride now, as we fret and fear dark times?

“If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.” M’Cheyne

Hezekiah, a sinful man, prays and sees a great deliverance from God. What of the prayers of the Father’s dear Son, who sits at His right hand and intercedes for us according to the will of God – how much more will he work salvation for his Church? What then should we fear?

Well, we are told that “the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (Jas 5:16). And this prayer of Hezekiah is heard in the throne room of Heaven, and Yahweh rises to the defense of his people.

VI. Yahweh puts the Assyrian warriors to death, Sennacherib returns home in shame and is put to death, Hezekiah exalted. (23)

21 And the LORD sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty warriors and commanders and officers in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he came into the house of his god, some of his own sons struck him down there with the sword. 22 So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all his enemies, and he provided for them on every side.

The Lord is often working incredible and improbable victories for the accomplishment of his purposes and for the glory of his name. He gives victory in a way in which no man can boast.

Overnight, Yahweh takes one of the most powerful armies on the planet, and he slays 185,000 of them. The enemy was at the very gates, Judah could do nothing to stop it other than pray to the King of Heaven. Yahweh fought for them, destroying the army, and King Sennacherib returns with shame to Nineveh, where he is put to death by his own sons. Thus the end for Sennacherib the god-slayer. This is the end for all who dare to boast against Yahweh.

What can our Lord accomplish in our day for his Holy name? There is no limit. Should we tremble at the decline of Christianity in the West? Should we fear the authoritarian language and actions that seem to be on the rise in our government?

While we should grieve at the lawlessness on display in our world and in our country, we should not fear or despair. The Lord is accomplishing his purposes and fulfilling his promises even in the midst of what appears to be the ruthless advance of the enemy.

Our Lord is not like the gods of the nations, the works of men’s hands. He is the Creator and Sovereign ruler of all nations and peoples, whose purposes will stand. He will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail. Every one of them will bow the knee and acknowledge that he is Lord.

How many today remember the proud King Sennacherib, who struck such terror into the hearts of men? There is no country on earth today called Assyria. How many of the 7 wonders of the ancient world still stand? They have broken down and been forgotten. Yet the Church of Jesus Christ still stands, outlasting king after king, empire after empire, even those mighty ones that hated it and sought its destruction. Our Lord has promised, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. The church is a wonder that can never be matched.

The closer our life is aligned with Christ and his dear bride, the less we have to fear that we will lose anything at all.

If the Lord should tarry, our descendants will read about the rise and fall of United States of America. But let us petition our Lord, that they might also read of great things done by the Lord in this generation for the glory of his name. Let us petition the Lord for great things. As many hundreds of thousands of warriors were slain by the Lord, that millions may be brought to the obedience of faith by the Spirit of God.

VII. Conclusion

In conclusion, on what are you trusting? Are you trusting in things that will be dust and ashes in a few short years? Or are you trusting in the Lord and beseeching him according to his promises. Is your hope in this life alone, or in that life which is to come?

Brethren we should not fear, though great the boasting of any foe. The worst that can happen to us is not our deaths at the hands of wicked men, but it is that we might despair of the salvation of our God and esteem him as nothing but the works of men’s hands, the figment of man’s imagination. The enemies of God may be happy to spare your life, if you would but disown and renounce your God.

Let us be strong and courageous, and let us neither fear nor be dismayed. Our God is in the heavens and he does all that he pleases. He will keep his promises. He will build his church. Be wise in these evil days, but do not be afraid. If Yahweh will answer Hezekiah’s prayers, how much more the prayers of the Lord Jesus Christ?

But, *** If you are not in Christ, these words of comfort are not yours.

Are there any of the children of Sennacherib present in this place today? Are there any here who, swelling with pride, boast in their hearts that they can defy the Word of Yahweh without any consequence, conquering and putting the people of God to shame?

Are there any who say in their hearts with Pharoah, “who is Yahweh, that I should obey Him? Beware the day that you may find that Yahweh has raised you up, in all your pride and success, that he might show his power in you in that terrible day! The end of Sennacherib pales in comparison to the Day of the wrath of the Lamb.

Yet today is still a day of salvation, as long as the Lord tarries and as long as he gives you breath. He says, again this day, whoever comes to me I will not cast out. Come to Jesus Christ, confess and forsake your sin, place your faith in Jesus Christ alone, in his substitutionary death and his righteous life, and you too can have hope in the darkest hour.

May the Lord bless the hearing of his Word. Let us pray.

[1] Allen C. Myers, The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987), 102. [2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Is 40:6–8. [3] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume(Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 609.