This Wayne Jackson article appeared in the Christian Courier of November 1985. It was published by the Church of Christ in Stockton, California. Jackson was also the editor.
In that era of Old Testament history known as the divided kingdom, the greatest ruler was Hezekiah of Judah. When this monarch came to the throne, he removed the idolatrous worship places and tore down the pagan shrines which the Hebrews used in those days. The Biblical record praises him in this fashion:"He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him" (II Kings 18:5).
It was while Hezekiah was reigning as king in Judah that Shalmaneseer, king of Assyria, invaded the northern kingdom of Israel. After a siege of three years (724-722 B.C.), the capital city of Samaria was taken. The Assyrian annals claim that 27,290 prisoners were captured (Journal of Cuneiform Studies, 1958, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 233-40).
Two decades later (701 B.C.), another Assyrian monarch, Sennacherib, marched against the southern kingdom. The Bible declares that he came against, "the fortified cities of Judah, and took them" (II Kings 18:13). Assyrian records affirm that he conquered 46 Hebrew cities and took 200,150 captives, along with much spoil (D.D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, 1924, Vol. II, sec. 240). Hezekiah, at the capital city of Jerusalem was terrified by the invasion. Accordingly, he offered tribute (a bribe) to the Assyrian king, who assessed him a tax of nearly $2,000,000 (as we would figure it). Hezekiah was forced to strip the temple and the palace of all their treasures in order to pay the bounty (II Kings 18:16).
Encouraged by Hezekiah's apparent weakness, Sennacherib sent a great army to Jerusalem. Through his military officials, he made a series of threats, the design of which was to bully the Hebrew king into surrender. His arguments were as follows: (a) Do not expect to look to Egypt for help, for the king of Egypt, a "bruised reed" would be unable to assist you. (b) If Israel would yield, they would be treated kindly (that was a joke in view of the well known brutality of the Assyrians!). (c) Other nations had already fallen Assyria. Their gods had been unable to save them. (d) Since Judah's "high places" had been destroyed, Jehovah would also be powerless to deliver the remnant of Judah. It is thus foolish to trust Him. What a tremendous blunder this final challenge was!
Hezekiah humbled himself before the Lord and sought the intersession of the prophet Isaiah (II Kings 19:1ff). Presently, a message was received from Jehovah. Hezekiah was not to fear the words of this heathen king who had blasphemed the living God. And then, this foreboding prophecy concerning king Sennacherib: "Behold, I will put a spirit in him and he shall hear tidings and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land" (19:7). Mark this divine prediction well, for within two decades it was amazingly fulfilled.
The Assyrians however, challenged again: "Let not your God in whom you trust deceive you saying, 'Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria'" (19:10). Once more, the examples of history were cited as proof of Assyria's invincible power.
Again though, Hezekiah laid the matter before the Lord (he literally spread the threatening document before Jehovah's presence in the temple). The king's beautiful prayer, as recorded in Second Kings 19:15-19 is a magnificent expression of faith. It concluded: "Now therefore, O Jehovah our God, save us I beseech thee, out of his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou Jehovah art God alone."
Presently, Isaiah informed the king that his prayer had been heard (cf. James 5:16b) and that the Lord had a message, first for Sennacherib then for Hezekiah. The challenge of the Assyrian was actually laughable for the fact of the matter was, it was God Himself who had used this heathen monarch as an instrument of divine wrath to punish rebellious Israel; as indeed the prophet Isaiah had vividly prophesied about a third of a century earlier (cf. II Kings 19:25-28; Isaiah 10:1ff). The Lord promised that haughty king, "I will put My hook in your nose and My bridle in your lips and send you back to way you came."
Next, directing His attention to king Hezekiah, God with comforting words, pledged that the Assyrians would not conquer the city of Jerusalem. In spite of the fact that this foreign host was much the superior in military might, Jehovah would protect His people. God declared that He would defend the city along with the remnant of the house of David, "for my servant David's sake" (cf. 19:30, 34). This was doubtless an allusion to the Messianic promise through David.
Observe how the Almighty delivered Judah. "And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses - all dead" (II Kings 19:35; Isaiah 37:36ff). What an awesome scene that must have been as the gray light of dawn made its way among the smoldering campfires and silent tents of the Assyrian army.
There are several interesting points about this narrative that warrant further consideration. First, the destruction of the Assyrian soldiers was said to have been accomplished by, "the angel of the the Lord." the Hebrew term Malac (angel) might be better rendered here as "messenger." A consideration of all the Old Testament information concerning this Person leads to the conclusion that He is to be identified with the pre-incarnate Logos, the Christ of the New Testament (cf. John 1:1, 14). For example, note that Jacob wrestled with a Being that had assumed the form of a man (Genesis 32:24) and yet, who was clearly identified as deity (32:28, 30). Later, an inspired prophet commenting upon this incident, called this Person, "the angel" (messenger), even "Jehovah, the God of hosts" (Hosea 12:3-5; cf. Isaiah 44:6; Revelation 1:17). Here is a lesson we can learn from this. Christ is not only a loving Savior. He is a demanding Judge as well (cf. Revelation 19:11ff).
Second, though critics have scoffed at this Old Testament narrative, there is other historical evidence that corroborates it. Observe the following: (a) Herodotus, the "father of ancient Greek history" records what is probably an Egyptian legend (that grew out of this historical event). He suggests that Sennacherib's fighting force was greatly reduced when, "in one night" a plague of field mice gnawed the quivers, bowstrings and shield straps of his soldiers, thus making them suddenly venerable to their enemies (cf. Edersheim, Bible History, VII, p. 155). (b) Josephus quotes the Chaldean historian Berosus as follows: "Now when Sennacherib was returning from his Egyptian war to Jerusalem, he found his army under Rabshaken his general n danger (by a plague), for God had sent a pestilential distemper upon his army; and on the very night of the siege, a hundred fourscore and five thousand, with their captains and generals were destroyed" (Antiquities, X, I, 5). (c) The Taylor Prism, now in the British Museum, which contains the Assyrian account of Sennacherib's exploits, has these words: "Himself (Hezekiah) like a caged bird I shut up in Jerusalem." And yet amazingly, there is not the remotest reference that the Assyrian king took Jerusalem! Why not?
Those Eastern rulers were always careful to document their victories and to boast of them. Their defeats were simply ignored in the records. Sennacherib's silence thus becomes quite eloquent. Too, there is another factor that tells a tale. At this point in time there was an abrupt discontinuance of Assyria's western invasions. Professor George Rawlinson of Oxford noted, "Sennacherib during his later years made no expedition further westward than Cilica; nor were the Assyrian designs against Southern Syria and Egypt resumed till toward the close of the reign of Esarhaddon" (Historical Illustrations of the Old Testament, 1873, p. 145).
Finally, we are informed that after the destruction of a major portion of his army, Sennacherib returned to Nineveh in Assyria. Some twenty years later, as he was worshiping in the temple of his pagan god, two of his own sons killed him with the sword (cf. Isaiah 37:38) and thus was the prophet's earlier warning fulfilled to the very letter (cf. II Kings 19:7).
Sennacherib learned that it does not pay to challenge Jehovah. Let us remember that these accounts are written for our learning (Romans 15:4; I Corinthians 10:6, 11).
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