“Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: He will not enter this city or shoot am arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege camp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the Lord. I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”
-2 Kings 19:32-34, NIV
In 2 Kings Chapter 18, King Sennacherib of Assyria sent 3 of
his men to King Hezekiah to ridicule his confidence, the whole army of Jerusalem,
and even blaspheme the power of the Lord, the real living God when the field
commander said that “the gods of the nations Assyria has destroyed could not
deliver them from Assyria’s hand, so how will the Lord, the God of Israel
deliver Jerusalem from the hands of Assyria?” They persecuted King Hezekiah and
the whole of the kingdom
of Judah, but King
Hezekiah, still, didn’t lose his trust in the Lord. He knows that all the
nations that Assyria has destroyed have
worshiped false gods and idols, unlike Judah who worships the real living God.
And so, King Hezekiah prayed to the Lord for deliverance in order to show that
the Lord alone is God. And through prophet Isaiah, God answered King Hezekiah’s
prayer and said that He, Himself will defend the city of Judah against Assyria.
And God fulfilled it when He sent an angel to kill 185,000 men in the Assyrian
camp, and when the sons of King Sennacherib killed him while he was worshiping.
From this event, God revealed to me that even in the times of
persecution, He will never leave us and He will always be there, and that He
will fulfil His promise. Like King Hezekiah whose trust and confidence in the
Lord was ridiculed by the men of the king of Assyria but was delivered from
their hands, God will never let down all of those who are being persecuted
because of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Matthew 5:11-12, the Lord Jesus Christ said that all of
those who are being persecuted because of Him are blessed – and that they
should rejoice because they have a great reward in heaven for they were being
persecuted the same way as the prophets were persecuted! The Lord Jesus Christ
has given us this promise for us to hold on to, and He will not let us down and
He will fulfil this promise just like what the Lord did when He rescued King
Hezekiah and the whole city of Judah from the hands of Assyria – and He will do
this to show that He is the real living God!
What the Lord wants us to know here is that in times of
persecution, it will all be God’s work – for the fulfilment of His promise and
for His own glory. Like King Hezekiah, the only thing we could do is pray for
our deliverance from these persecutions and never lose our trust to the Lord.
We should continue to hold on into our faith, endure all persecutions until the
end, and never doubt on the power of the real living God – for He has already
proved His faithfulness all throughout our lives. We should continue to hold on
to the truth of God’s word for He will surely fulfil it. And also, the Lord
Jesus Christ told us to rejoice in the times of persecution, for we are blessed
and we have a great reward in heaven.
Original link for the photo: http://www.ellenwhite.info/images/chapt-illus/GC/PP-EarlyPersecutionOfChristians_JS_0027.jpg
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