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2 Kings 18:25 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this place without word from the LORD?  The LORD himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.’”

Sennacherib, the powerful, world-conquering King of Assyria, was using every device he could to intimidate Hezekiah, King of the Southern Kingdom of Judah.  Although Sennacherib had many other impressive conquests to his credit, he had heard about Hezekiah’s indomitable trust in his God, the LORD, and in spite of all his bravado and boastful claims (see verses 33-35), deep down he must have been fully aware of what he was up against in confronting Hezekiah’s faith!

So his ultimate stratagem was to claim that Yahweh himself was the originator of his plan to add Jerusalem to his list of triumphs.  We can learn two important lessons from this action.

Firstly, we need to be aware, and therefore cautious, of how our opponents can claim that they are ‘just doing the Lord’s will’ in pursuit of their own personal ‘missions’.  At a Church meeting it is not easy to oppose the the proposal of someone who says, “The Lord spoke to me this morning and said …”!

But the other helpful thing we learn is that, in spite of Sennacherib’s blatantly false claim, “The LORD himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.”, the king of Assyria was, in fact carrying out the LORD’s sovereign purposes, in exact fulfilment of what he had warned through his faithful prophets.  This is all in keeping with the wise words Joseph spoke to his brothers who had sold him into slavery in Egypt: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20)

How comforting and reassuring it is to have all this biblical historical evidence of God’s absolute sovereignty in all things, even when his Providence in our own experience is beyond our comprehension.  Even a devoted, godly man like William Cowper, in the midst of the deep depression that so plagued his life, could write with strong conviction,

“God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform; he plants his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm.  Deep in unfathomable mines of never-failing skill he treasures up his bright designs and works his sovereign will.  Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take – the clouds ye so much dread are big with mercy, and shall break in blessings on your head.  Judge not the Lord by feeble sense but trust him for his grace; behind a frowning providence he hides a smiling face.  His purposes will ripen fast unfolding every hour; the bud may have a bitter taste but sweet will be the flower.  Blind unbelief is sure to err and scan his work in vain; God is his own interpreter and he will make it plain.”

Yes, the old saying is so true of wicked people like Sennacherib, that ‘many a true word is spoken in jest’, or, in his case, ‘deceptive mocking’.  There was a very real sense in which unbeknown to him, “the LORD himself did ‘tell‘ him to march against this country and destroy it”.

– Bruce Christian