Fight all battles on my knees . . .

2 Chronicles 32; Zechariah 14; John 17; Revelation 18

In modern times, there is much saber-rattling. That is, heads of nations threaten other nations with attack and defeat, creating tension and unrest. Again, world leaders would do well to read and pay attention to what happened with the kings of Israel and Judah when they were threatened.

Today’s reading is about an Assyrian king named Sennacherib who decided to take over Judah and capture cities for himself. Hezekiah was king at the time and began his plan to foil this pagan threat. He stopped up the water that was part of the appeal to the Assyrian king, fortified the city walls, made weapons, and organized his army. However, all of this was not his greatest weapon of defense. Instead, it was his faith:

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, “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. 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. (2 Chronicles 32:6–8)

Sennacherib was not worried. He had the notion that the God of Israel was just like the gods of all the other nations he had conquered. He wrote letters of contempt 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.” His army shouted this to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, speaking of God as the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men’s hands. (2 Chronicles 32:17–19) This was a big mistake. Hezekiah prayed and . . .

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. (2 Chronicles 32:21)

Added to this, the enemies of the people of God should also read about their fate in Zechariah 14. As sure as God took care of Sennacherib, He will deal with all those who go against His people in our day and in the future when they gather against us.

Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward . . . Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him . . . . And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one. (Zechariah 14:3–9)

The passage goes on to describe the fate of all who wage war against His people. It makes me shudder and so it should.

Revelation 18 is like it with its graphic description of the fate of Babylon. Some of this literally happened yet it also reads as an example of a future time when God’s wrath is poured out against all those who are vile, immoral and concerned more with the temporal pleasures and riches of life than with being right with God.

For those concerned, John 17 tells what being right with God means. Jesus prays and begins with a description of eternal life: “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)

He is not meaning ‘knowing about God’ or being introduced to God, but about having an intimate relationship with Him through faith in His Son. It is about receiving Him and His Word in humble and joyful obedience. It is about being set apart as His, saved from sin and serving Him with all our hearts, loving Him and one another  with the same love that He has shown us.

APPLY: The power of God is overwhelming yet so is the love of God. He protects His people, weak and foolish as we are, and deals with all that goes against us. Again, today I bow before Him in worship and submit to His will knowing that He is good and wise and that I am his beloved child, protected and in His care.