And his servants spake yet more against the LORD God, and against his servant Hezekiah.
This verse belongs to the account of Sennacherib's invasion, recording that his servants continued speaking against the Lord and against Hezekiah. Its setting is Sennacherib's campaign against Judah and his attack on Hezekiah and Jerusalem, a history confirmed by excavated records from Nineveh describing his siege and capture of Lachish and his campaign against Hezekiah's fortified cities. The servants intensified their master's insults and attack against the Lord and against Hezekiah as the Lord's servant, reinforcing the Assyrian effort to discredit both God and the king during the invasion of Judah. That intensified speaking was part of their effort to undermine Judah's trust in God.
Unable to prevail by legitimate contention, Assyria resorted to slur and contempt to belittle God and to make light of Him. The aim was to make God and His servant look mean and insignificant in the eyes of the people of Jerusalem, to discourage Hezekiah and Jerusalem and to frighten them. This was done by claiming that the God of Israel could not deliver them any more than the powerless gods of other nations could, treating Him like those powerless gods. It was repeated with much emphasis that no god of any nation or kingdom could deliver from Assyria, how much less theirs. That contempt failed, for the Lord sent an angel that cut off all the mighty men of valor and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria, delivered His people, and brought the Assyrian king to shame so that he returned with shame of face to his own land.
After Hezekiah resisted Assyrian rule, the Lord overthrew the besieging army by His angel in response to the humility and prayers of Hezekiah and his people. In that overthrow the angel killed 185,000 men while the Assyrian army was with the king of Assyria at Libnah rather than near Jerusalem. The verse stands in the reign of Hezekiah as a good king, whose record illustrates that doing duty brought blessing and that God powerfully helped His people when they sought Him wholeheartedly. The account teaches that God's people need not defend themselves with carnal weapons against an armed foe, because their warfare is not against flesh and blood.
This verse belongs to the account of Sennacherib's invasion, recording that his servants continued speaking against the Lord and against Hezekiah. Its setting is Sennacherib's campaign against Judah and his attack on Hezekiah and Jerusalem, a history confirmed by excavated records from Nineveh describing his siege and capture of Lachish and his campaign against Hezekiah's fortified cities. The servants intensified their master's insults and attack against the Lord and against Hezekiah as the Lord's servant, reinforcing the Assyrian effort to discredit both God and the king during the invasion of Judah. That intensified speaking was part of their effort to undermine Judah's trust in God.
Unable to prevail by legitimate contention, Assyria resorted to slur and contempt to belittle God and to make light of Him. The aim was to make God and His servant look mean and insignificant in the eyes of the people of Jerusalem, to discourage Hezekiah and Jerusalem and to frighten them. This was done by claiming that the God of Israel could not deliver them any more than the powerless gods of other nations could, treating Him like those powerless gods. It was repeated with much emphasis that no god of any nation or kingdom could deliver from Assyria, how much less theirs. That contempt failed, for the Lord sent an angel that cut off all the mighty men of valor and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria, delivered His people, and brought the Assyrian king to shame so that he returned with shame of face to his own land.
After Hezekiah resisted Assyrian rule, the Lord overthrew the besieging army by His angel in response to the humility and prayers of Hezekiah and his people. In that overthrow the angel killed 185,000 men while the Assyrian army was with the king of Assyria at Libnah rather than near Jerusalem. The verse stands in the reign of Hezekiah as a good king, whose record illustrates that doing duty brought blessing and that God powerfully helped His people when they sought Him wholeheartedly. The account teaches that God's people need not defend themselves with carnal weapons against an armed foe, because their warfare is not against flesh and blood.