“Be strong and courageous… for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles” —2 Chronicles 32:7-8

How do you respond when you are completely surrounded by the enemy and the situation looks very, very dark? Some might have the tendency to presume that if we are faithful to God then we will be immune from attacks and never have to worry about being surrounded by certain opposition—much attributed to that well traveled “prosperity gospel,” which might be good for religious consumerism, but is in blatant contradiction to the whole of scripture.

If we read our Bible from cover to cover, we will see that God’s people often found themselves in some of the bleakest of circumstances. Today’s passage in 2 Chronicles 32 is one of those accounts. Hezekiah, the exemplary king of Judah, had to figure this out for himself when the enemy king of Assyria invaded the region and encamped against Jerusalem with the intent to bring her down.

Sennacherib was a masterful intimidation tactician who used high-grade psychological warfare to demoralize the people behind those city walls, and was convinced that he had Hezekiah locked up “like a bird in its cage” (Sennacherib’s Annals). Maybe the enemy thinks he’s got you trapped right now like a bird in its cage, but Jesus gives us a different reality: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

Isaiah, a prophet and contemporary of Hezekiah, declared: “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” I think it’s very noteworthy to consider when the enemy came in like a flood against Hezekiah. It was right after this godly king had given himself to worthy reforms throughout all of Judah. He had been about taking care of God’s business! It said in the previous chapter that Hezekiah “did what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered” (2 Chronicles 31:20-21). He was winning the day… then the armies of hell were unleashed against him in the next chapter!

The battle didn’t come to Hezekiah because he had slacked off spiritually. The crisis didn’t meet him in a time of mediocrity or lukewarmness. The attack wasn’t unleashed because he was backslidden or on the wrong path, but because he was on the right path—while he was seeking the Lord with all his heart.

Have you ever found yourself under attack while being about your heavenly Father’s business? It says that after Hezekiah did all “these acts of faithfulness,” he and his people were surrounded. Faithful acts were followed by an aggressive invasion. They were under siege from a powerful adversary, who had already defeated many of Israel’s neighbors. It will become an occasion of testing the king’s faith and resourcefulness in the face of sheer intimidation tactics. He draws inspiration and boldness from God’s track record—specifically citing an incident from Elisha’s time when God delivered His people in miraculous fashion after they had been surrounded by the enemy (2 Kings 6:16). He encourages his people:

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.”

I don’t care how big, how intimidating, how many, or how bullish your enemy, it will never change this immutable fact: The arm of flesh cannot withstand the arm of your God, no matter the horde behind the attack. The people took confidence in these words and Hezekiah went to the prayer chamber with his prayer partner (Isaiah). They cried out to heaven and the Lord sent His angel to deliver them. The enemy was turned away “with shame of face to his own land,” where he would later be assassinated by his own sons.

God always has plan for your redemption, and the greater the horde of your opposition the greater will be His glory. So the next time you find yourself surrounded, take a page out of Hezekiah’s playbook. Follow his strategy: meditate on God’s track record and take confidence in His faithful history, find your prayer team and trust God against all odds to defeat the undefeated and stop the unstoppable.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, we do well to meditate on your faithful track record. You’ve never failed us. Our welfare and redemption has never been compromised in your book of life. The enemy is real, the struggle is real, but so is the arm of our God. You will save, deliver, heal, restore, replenish, provide, revive, and complete your work of redemption in our lives. We trust this on the merit of Christ’s righteousness alone, and in His name, Amen.

Questions for personal reflection, small group discussion, or dinner table conversations:

1. What types of things tend to unsettle you or freak you out? How well are you handling the pressures of life right now?
2. What king and nation invaded Judah? (2 Chronicles 32:1) How did Hezekiah prepare for the threat of attack? (vv.3-6)
3. What did Hezekiah tell his army and from where did he draw his confidence? (vv.7-8)
4. How did Sennacherib try to intimidate the people and in what way did he mock God? (vv.9-17) How did God respond when Hezekiah and Isaiah prayed? (vv.20-22)
5. How can you make sure that prayer will be a regular part of your problem-solving this week? What fellow believer could you encourage with the story of Hezekiah’s faith in the face of great odds?

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