King Hezekiah’s devotion to God was well-known not only by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, but also by people in the surrounding nations who were enemies of Israel. In order to undermine Hezekiah’s godly influence, and to keep the people of Judah from trusting in God, Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem with a message. The message stated:

“‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.’ But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master’s servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it.’” (2 Kings 18:19-25)

Sennacherib reminded the people of Judah of their past mistake of trusting in Egypt to fight on their behalf instead of trusting in God to deliver them from their enemies. Sennacherib implied that Hezekiah had offended God by taking down the high places and altars that people were worshipping at rather than God’s temple, and then, lied about being sent by God to destroy Judah. Sennacherib’s intention was to confuse the issues and to instill fear in the people so that they would stop trusting in God. Hezekiah had warned the people about Sennacherib’s tactics 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’” (2 Chronicles 32:7-8).

The Rabshakeh who delivered the king of Assyria’s message spoke in the language of Judah so that everyone listening could understand what he was saying. The people were instructed to remain silent (2 Kings 18:36), so the Rebshakeh continued unabated with his verbal attack, stating:

“Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand. Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live, and not die. And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of 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 delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’” (2 Kings 18:28-35)

Sennacherib painted a pretty picture of captivity, making it seem as if the people of Judah would be better off living under his control. His claim that none of the gods of the nations had been able to deliver his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria was actually true, and was probably taken to heart because the northern tribes of Israel had been captured and the Israelites living there carried away to Assyria (2 Kings 17:6). The mistake that Sennacherib made was comparing the Israelites situation to that of the other nations. Sennacherib asked, “Who among all the gods of those nations that my fathers devoted to destruction was able to deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand?” (2 Chronicles 32:14). Sennacherib likely understood that the Israelites reliance upon God was necessary for them to be delivered from his hand. Therefore, he did everything he could to undermine their faith. Sennacherib argued, “Now, therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you in this fashion, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you out of my hand?” (2 Chronicles 32:15).

We are told in 2 Kings 17:7 that God allowed the northern tribes of Israel to be taken into captivity because of their sin against him. Second Kings 17:9 states, “And the people of Israel did secretly against the LORD their God things that were not right.” It says in 2 Kings 18:37 that the men who had received the message from Sennacherib, “came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabeshakeh.” And after the men arrived, “As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD” (2 Kings 19:1). Tearing ones clothes and covering oneself with sackcloth were signs of mourning and of deep distress. These acts demonstrated Hezekiah’s humility and his willingness and ability to approach God with a reverential attitude. Second Kings 19:14 tells us, “Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD.” Spreading it out before the LORD meant that Hezekiah recounted the message, emphasizing the particular points that he thought would be of interest to the LORD. It says in 2 Kings 19:15-19:

 And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said: “O Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone.”

King Hezekiah realized that although Assyria had triumphed over the gods of the nations, they “were not gods, but the work of men’s hands” (2 Kings 19:5). Hezekiah said of the God of Israel, “you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth” (2 Kings 19:15). Hezekiah’s prayer request was based on God’s ability to do what he could not, defeat the Assyrian army. Hezekiah knew he didn’t stand a chance if he went up against Sennacherib using the same tactics that the other nations had, “an arm of flesh” (2 Chronicles 32:8) or physical strength. Hezekiah prayed, “O LORD our God, save us, please” (2 Kings 19:19). The Hebrew word that Hezekiah used that is translated save, yashaʿ (yaw-shahˊ) refers to “compassionate aid in time of need (2 Kings 6:26, 27; Psalm 12:1 [2]); the salvation that only comes from God (Isaiah 33:22; Zephaniah 3:17)” (H3467).

Isaiah the prophet was sent to Hezekiah with a message from the LORD. He said, “Your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard” (2 Kings 19:20). As a result of Hezekiah trusting in God, an angel was sent, “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 god, some of his own sons struck him down there with the sword” (2 Chronicles 32:21-22). The word of the LORD that was spoken through Isaiah concerning Sennacherib indicated that he had been used by God to destroy the nations, but because Sennacherib had raged against God in his letter to Hezekiah, his power was revoked. Isaiah prophesied:

“Have you not heard
    that I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
    what now I bring to pass,
that you should turn fortified cities
    into heaps of ruins,
while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
    are dismayed and confounded,
and have become like plants of the field
    and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops,
    blighted before it is grown.

“But I know your sitting down
    and your going out and coming in,
    and your raging against me.
Because you have raged against me
    and your complacency has come into my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
    and my bit in your mouth,
and I will turn you back on the way
    by which you came. (2 Kings 19:25-28)

God said that he had determined Sennacherib’s role long ago and that he brought to pass all that Sennacherib claimed he had accomplished. Even though Sennacherib was not trusting in God, God used him to fulfill Israel’s destiny. God told Sennacherib, “I will turn you back on the way by which you came” (2 Kings 19:28). The phrase turn you back means that God made Sennacherib retreat. The basic meaning of the Hebrew word shuwb (shoob) “is movement back to the point of departure” (H7725). Shuwb is also associated with the process of conversion. “The process called conversion or turning to God is in reality a re-turning or turning back again to Him from whom sin has separated us, but whose we are by virtue of creation, preservation and redemption.” In Sennacherib’s case, God demonstrated his superiority and caused Sennacherib’s plan to overthrow Judah to come to nothing. As a result, Sennacherib, ”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).