Hezekiah Spreads Sennacherib's Letter Before the LORDby emmanuel_higgins

2 Kings 19:18

And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.

The verse belongs to Hezekiah's prayer in the temple after spreading Sennacherib's taunting letter before the Lord, when with strong faith he prayed for help from heaven and admitted the truth in the Assyrian boast. He acknowledged that the kings of Assyria had indeed destroyed the nations and their lands and had cast their gods into the fire. He explained that this was possible because those gods were no gods but human-made idols of wood and stone, and therefore destructible, with their burning by fire demonstrating their powerlessness. He said this to set those helpless idols apart from the living God of the Hebrews, who still lives and reigns and alone could bring deliverance to Judah, with His honor at stake. He pleaded for rescue so that all the kingdoms of the earth might know that He alone is the Lord God.