What is this your Confidence?

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez

The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours? 2 Kings 18:19

During the reign of Hezekiah, Assyria attacked and besieged Samaria.  After a while, another king came into reign his name was Sennacherib, and he came against Judah. At first, Hezekiah gives in to him and sends him what he asks for. (2 Kings 18:14-16)

However this wasn’t enough to make the Assyria king leave Judah alone, eventually he came after him. But he had heard that Hezekiah was saying he was able to go against him in battle. He sends a messenger to Hezekiah to ask him the reason for his confidence.

KEY TAKEAWAY:

Hezekiah’s confidence

There was a reason for Hezekiah’s confidence. We are told, Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. 2 Kings 18:5-7

Hezekiah’s trust was in God, it wasn’t in the might of his army. It wasn’t in the help of other kings. We are told that the Lord was with him. This right here was the secret of his confident trust. He knew God was with him therefore he had nothing to fear. He knew that God was his help and defense so, he could be confident even when Sennacherib was coming against him.

The lies of the enemy

But if you say to me, “We are depending on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem”? 2 kings 18:22

Notice how the enemy speaks. First, he tried to devalue their worship. He reminds Hezekiah that the high places of God had been removed. This wasn’t true Hezekiah had only removed all the idol altars and redirected Judah back to God.

Sometimes, the enemy does not have all the facts right, (or he does but knows we don’t). It is important for us to have the facts right. Hezekiah and Judah knew that God, not idols was deserving of their worship and how He was to be worshipped, Sennacherib didn’t.

Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 2 Kings 18:30

Second, he attacks their trust in God’s deliverance. He taunts them that their trust was based on a false notion that God was going to be able to deliver them from his hands. This is the enemy’s tactic against us. He attacks our confident trust in God by using our circumstances to lie to us that God hasn’t been faithful before and he won’t be faithful now. He whispers, “God didn’t come through for you last year, what makes you think He will now?” He reminds us of our disappointments and uses them against us to tear down our faith and trust in God.

Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” 2 kings 18:32-34

He uses other people’s circumstances to lead us into fear. He asks them since you are so confident in this God of yours, has any other god delivered the nations that I have destroyed? Satan will use other people’s situations to plant fear and try to dissuade us from trusting in God. There was something Sennacherib didn’t know that the God of Judah wasn’t like any other god he had dealt with before. He was the Almighty, all-powerful, Lord of hosts and He was the one who fought for His people.

When the enemy comes to you with what he has done to other people. Remember, you don’t know their God but you do know your God, He is the living God, creator of heaven and earth, nothing is too hard for him and he is able to save and deliver you from anything and everything the enemy throws at you.

Hezekiah’s response

When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth, and went into the temple of the Lord. 2 Kings 19:1

Before Sennacherib, Hezekiah seemed confident, but when we read here we know that’s not the case. Hezekiah’s response wasn’t to taunt and insult Sennacherib back. He ran to the temple. He ran to the secret place. He resorted to prayer and fasting.

What is our response when we face trouble? Do we come after the enemy with carnal weapons? Do we come against him with our ideas or do we do as Hezekiah does and run to the One who is our only help?

And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”2 Kings 19:15-19

Hezekiah wasn’t presumptuous about God’s deliverance. He also doesn’t play down what was coming against him. Sennacherib was a powerful king. Hezekiah knew he wasn’t powerful enough to fight against him. He needed a miracle and that’s what he prayed for. he asks God to show himself mighty on Judah’s behalf.

That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. 2 Kings 19:35-36

God fought Judah’s battle in one night. Hezekiah didn’t even need to go to battle. He only heard what God had done. This is how God fights for those who put their confidence in Him. When people come against us, we will hear of their quiet withdrawal. When things come against us, the morning will come and we will find that those things no longer remain in our lives. When the enemy wages war, God will send angels on our behalf to win the battle for us. Ours is to make sure that our trust in Him and Him alone.

Our confidence

So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Hebrews 10:35 NLT

We are exhorted not to throw away our confident trust in the Lord for it brings us a great reward. What is this confident trust? It is the confidence that God will keep His promises to us. It is the confidence that He will finish that which He has begun in our lives. It is the confidence that He will fight all our battles. It is the confidence that the enemy is already under our feet and we have nothing to fear. It is the confidence that when what is coming against us is greater than us, there is one who is mighty and able to deliver us. This is our confident trust in the Lord.

Hezekiah’s confident trust had a great reward; God fought the battle against the king of Assyria for him. And we can be confident that He is and will do the same for us.

Continue confidently trusting in God!

Related posts:

Hezekiah’s Prayer