“This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.” (Isaiah 37:22)
Sennacherib king of Assyria sent messages to Hezekiah king of Judah to surrender to him. All of Judah was troubled. Hezekiah sent for a word from the Lord from Isaiah. He prayed against Sennacherib. And verse 22 is God’s reply concerning Sennacherib. That night the angel of the Lord killed 285,000 of their army. Sennacherib returned home and was murdered by his sons.
Hezekiah was fearful because of Sennacherib’s threats. And although we know our God is almighty and willing and able to rescue us, we too get fearful in the face of the devil’s threats. Is his threat death? Is it the inability to care for oneself and one’s family? Is the threat financial ruin? But whatever lie the devil brings to us, God’s reply to him is the same.
We will despise and laugh in his face. And we will shake our heads because we are children of the Most High God. The devil’s threats are not merely against us but against the Holy God of heaven Who has created everything. He is threatening against God’s Word and the promises God has made to His children. He is brazenly calling God a liar. And although we may not have the power to fight against hell, God’s Word which is living is able to destroy the devil’s lies. No matter how dire the situation, we have a rescuer.
Like Hezekiah, let’s turn to the Lord and find mercy and help. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16) The Lord will give us the strength we need to go through the trouble and rejoice in the victory. As God spoke to Joshua, He speaks to us. “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” (Joshua 1:9) He is with us and will not leave us. “... and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:20)
We have His Word and God is not a liar. He will take us by the hand and will be with us in the fire as He was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the furnace. We will not burn up no matter how hot the devil makes the trial. (Daniel 3:1-25) But we must say like they said, “...we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” (Daniel 3:18) We won’t bow down to fear. It may appear as big as Nebuchadnezzar's Golden Image which was as big as a ten-story building, (Daniel 3:1) but we will serve the God Almighty and choose to believe Him and choose to believe His Word which is yes and amen, for us and not against us.
The Lord never promised we’d be free from affliction. In fact, the opposite is true. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) And we may wonder, why can’t the Lord keep us sheltered and free from trouble? The answer is that He does. Living in the spirit is just that. When our natural senses see, hear and feel the world oppressing us, we can live in the spiritual and see, hear and feel with our spirits God’s protection, help and victory. The oppression from the world is there because of sin. This world is a sinful world ruled by the devil. He only knows evil and nothing of this world is useful. It’s all temporal and fading. But God is eternal. Everything that comes from God is eternal. So, in the oppression of the world, we turn to God. We turn to what is true, to what is Truth. And we are kept free of this world, of its oppression, of its pain and hardship. And we live in God’s peace and the world of eternity in the spirit.
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