False Gods Cannot Deliver Us
Note from today’s Bible reading: 2 Kings 18:9-19:37; Psalm 46; 80; 135
When the Assyrians besieged Jerusalem, the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh to king Hezekiah to convince him to surrender. When that did not work, Rabshakeh tried to demoralize the people and turn them against Hezekiah.
Rabshakeh told the people not to let Hezekiah convince them that the Lord would deliver them. He asked, “Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?” (2 Kings 18:33). In his mind, if the “gods” of the other nations failed to save them from the Assyrians, the God of heaven would fail to do the same thing.
However, God showed that He was not like the “gods” of the other nations. Notice how He did this: “Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead” (2 Kings 19:35). Not only did God deliver His people, He destroyed the army of the Assyrians and humiliated their king, which then led to his assassination (2 Kings 19:37).
Rabshakeh failed to recognize that Hezekiah’s God was not like the “gods” of the other nations they defeated. Idols were powerless to stop the Assyrians. However, the Assyrians were powerless against God when He was determined to defeat them.
So remember that false gods cannot deliver us. Whenever we face trouble in this life, we need to turn to the Lord. No being or thing is greater or more powerful than He is.