The king of Assyria sends three of his military leaders to the city of Jerusalem to let Hezekiah and the people know that they are going to take over. Hezekiah responds by sending three of his royal court out to discuss it with these bullies. The balance of 2 Kings 18 contains the threats and description of how the three outsiders work to manipulate the people of Jerusalem. They stand outside the city walls and speak loudly so everyone can hear. When asked to speak in Aramaic rather than Hebrew so the city doesn’t understand the discussion, they refuse and go to greater efforts to make sure everyone knows what they intend to do. They put up a whole lot of threats and share many examples of how they have carried out the exact same things in other places. These three pretty much spit in God’s face and tell the men of Hezekiah that it is over for them so they might as well just give up now and save the wasted effort of trying to resist. A lot of the tactics that the enemy uses on us are exhibited here. He tries to cut us down, to cause us to lose confidence in ourselves and God. They were playing all kinds of mind games here which is exactly what the enemy does. Satan wants us to lose faith and become confused about the God we serve. Never forget that our side has already WON the war. Even if we lose a battle along the way, JESUS WON on the cross. That will never change. We need to live victoriously!
Posted by asorensen 
