This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you! – Isaiah 36:14

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 3, 2020): Isaiah 36

Truth comes in many sizes, shapes, and colors. Some of the best lies come with an element of truth. If you don’t like someone, there are a lot of truthful things that you can say about a person that places them in a bad light. And often, just the suggestion is enough to get people questioning the character of the person involved. But real truth takes in the totality of the situation and all of the evidence, not just picking and choosing facts as a partisan news outlet does, and all news outlets are partisan, including your favorite one.

And some truths are surprising and unexpected. Consider these words from Sennacherib, the high and powerful king of the Assyrians. Sennacherib speaks of an unexpected truth because it is based on a wrong assumption. Sennacherib assumes that Hezekiah has been telling the people of Jerusalem that he is powerful enough to deliver Jerusalem from out of the hands of the Assyrian King. And the King of Judah was telling this story even though all of the cities of Judah had already fallen. In the mind of Sennacherib, Jerusalem would just be one more city to fall like all of the others.

Sennacherib knew the truth. Hezekiah was not strong enough to withstand the might of the Assyrian Empire. Sennacherib probably believed that Hezekiah knew that too, but that he hadn’t told his people.

And Hezekiah did know that he was no match for Sennacherib. That was the reason why so much discussion had been spent on the possibility of allying with Egypt and inviting their armies into the fight. It was a proposition that Isaiah had opposed. It was why mercenaries had been hired to guard the city. Hezekiah knew that he would lose to Assyria in battle every time.

Even Isaiah, one of the Hezekiah’s closest advisors, knew the truth of the situation. Hezekiah was going to lose in the upcoming battle. The people knew the truth as well; no one was being deceived. They would do their best. They would gather sources of freshwater into the city and stop up the wells that existed within miles of the city walls. They could gather food and people inside the city walls. But at best, all this would do was delay the inevitable.

The hope of Jerusalem was not Hezekiah; it was God. Isaiah’s advice to the king and the people was to all that they could do so that they could wait for the deliverance that God had promised for the city. What Sennacherib didn’t understand was that this was not going to be a battle between flesh and blood Kings. It was going to be a battle between the most powerful person in the world and the God of the Universe. And in that fight, God wins every time.

Sennacherib spoke the truth while misunderstanding the situation. Hezekiah could not stand against Assyria, but he wasn’t going to attempt to do that. He was preparing the city for the deliverance that could only come from God.    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 37