The Path of Least Resistance

Hitler and his army moved into one country after another. They threatened, intimidated, and made examples of people and people bowed in fear. As we look back in history, we say, “Why didn’t they stand up to him right from the beginning? Why did they let him have control? What were they thinking?”

As I read Isaiah’s version of Sennacherib and Assyria threatening Hezekiah and Jerusalem, it sounds very familiar. Sennacherib shouts to the leaders of Jerusalem in the language that the people can understand in order to intimidate them. But he coats it with honey. “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.’ Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says; make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, until I come and take you to a land like your own – a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.’” Isaiah 36:15-17

It sure looked tempting – not too sure about the resettling in another land – but at least it would be without bloodshed. The people had been under siege for some time and were getting hungry and in need of supplies. Sennacherib knew this. What he didn’t know was that God had a better plan for Jerusalem at that time. Hezekiah called for Isaiah to come and asked God for wisdom. Isaiah told Hezekiah’s envoy, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard – those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! I am going to put a spirit in him so that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’” Isaiah 37:6-7

Hezekiah laid out Sennacherib’s threats before God and asked God to save them. He put all his trust in God and not in the words or history Sennacherib put out before him and his people. Through Isaiah, God told Hezekiah, “I will defend this city and save it for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!” Isaiah 38:35 And God did save them by sending an angel to put to death 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. Sennacherib withdrew and was killed while worshiping his god Nisroch.

We know the end of the story and we assume it was easy for Hezekiah and the people to follow what God said at that time. But when you have an army of 185,000 camped outside your city threatening to destroy you if you don’t give in to their demands, it would be easy to give in. The easy way to peace would be to not fight it. I imagine Hezekiah was in anguish when he went to the Lord and asked him to save them from the Assyrians. He had to decide if he would trust Isaiah’s words and God or if he would take the easy way out and cave in to the demands of Sennacherib. He was responsible for all the people in his kingdom as well as he made that decision.

Where did Hezekiah get the strength to stand up to Sennacherib and the Assyrians? I think it started in the early years of his life. II Chronicles tells us that his first official action as king was to open the doors of the temple of the Lord and repair them. He restored the priests and Levites to positions in the temple and taught the people from the wisdom of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. He led them in rededication of themselves to the Lord. He invited them all to celebrate Passover and remember what God had done for them. (II Chronicles 29-30) It is from that basis, then, that Hezekiah could stand up to Sennacherib in spite of all Sennacherib had done to other nations. Hezekiah had rebuilt the relationship between his people and God. He trusted God in the good times and he trusted God in the hard times.

I wonder how many times I take the path of least resistance and miss what God is ready to do for me. I wonder how many times I listen to the false wisdom of Sennacherib’s in my life and miss the true wisdom of God. Lord, please help me to keep seeking your wisdom and discern the times when you are destroying the Sennacherib’s in my life. I put my trust in you. Help me to hear your voice.