2 Chronicles 32:9-15: a reflection

9After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem, (now he was attacking Lachish, and all his forces were with him), to Hezekiah king of Judah, and to all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying, 10Sennacherib king of Assyria says, “In whom do you trust, that you remain under siege in Jerusalem? 11Doesn’t Hezekiah persuade you to give you over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, ‘The LORD our God will deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria’? 12Hasn’t the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You shall worship before one altar, and you shall burn incense on it’? 13Don’t you know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands in any way able to deliver their land out of my hand? 14Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed that could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of my hand? 15Now therefore don’t let Hezekiah deceive you nor persuade you in this way. Don’t believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of my hand, and out of the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you out of my hand?”

When Sennacherib besieges Jerusalem, he sends a taunting message that measures the true God by the impotence of the idols his armies had already defeated: since no god of the nations could deliver them, how could Judah's God deliver them either? Who among all the gods of those nations that my fathers destroyed could deliver his people out of my hand, he says, that your God should be able to deliver you out of my hand? How much less will your God deliver you? The taunt rests on a fundamental error: it lumps the true and living God together with the false gods of the nations, the powerless idols that could not save, assuming he is no different, just one more god who will fail like the rest. But the true God is not like the idols; he is not to be measured by their impotence. This shows the error of measuring the true God by the impotence of false gods. Do not measure the true God by the failures of false gods. The true God is not one more idol, to fail like the rest. Sennacherib lumped the living God with powerless idols; this was his error. God is not like the idols that cannot save.

Notice the error at the heart of Sennacherib's taunt. He reasoned from the failures of the idols of the nations, which his armies had defeated, to the supposed impotence of Judah's God: since none of those gods could deliver their peoples, how could Judah's God deliver them? The error is that he lumped the true and living God together with the false gods, the idols of wood and stone that could not save, assuming that Judah's God was just one more such god, who would fail like the rest. But this was a grave mistake. The true God is not like the idols; he is the living God, the Maker of heaven and earth, not to be measured by the impotence of false gods or reckoned as one more of them. And, as the account goes on to show, God did deliver Jerusalem, proving that he is not like the idols that could not save. This holds a lesson for us. We can be tempted, in our own way, to reckon the true God as no different from the false hopes and powers of the world, to assume that he is as limited and unable to help as the idols and substitutes people trust in vain. But the true God is not like them; he is living and able, not to be measured by the failures of false gods. We do well not to lump the living God together with the impotent idols, but to trust him as the God who is not like them. Do not reckon the living God as no different from powerless idols. The true God is not to be measured by the failures of false gods. God is living and able, not one more idol that cannot save. Trust the true God, who is not like the idols people trust in vain.

That is worth taking to heart, for it is an error to measure the true God by the impotence of false gods, reckoning him as one more idol that will fail, and we do well to trust him as the living God, not like them. We can lump the true and living God together with the false hopes and powers that fail, assuming he is as unable to help as the idols people trust in vain; but Sennacherib made just this error, reckoning Judah's God as one more god that would fail, and God delivered Jerusalem. God is not like the idols. Do not measure the living God by the failures of false gods; trust him as the God who is not like them, living and able to save. Do not measure the true and living God by the impotence of false gods, reckoning him as one more idol that will fail, but trust him as the living God who is not like them, as Sennacherib, besieging Jerusalem, sent a taunting message that reasoned from the failures of the idols of the nations his armies had defeated to the supposed impotence of Judah's God, asking how their God could deliver them when no god of the nations could; for the taunt rested on the fundamental error of lumping the true and living God together with the false gods, the idols of wood and stone that could not save, assuming he was just one more such god who would fail like the rest, but this was a grave mistake, since the true God is not like the idols but is the living God, the Maker of heaven and earth, not to be measured by the impotence of false gods, and as the account goes on to show God did deliver Jerusalem, proving he is not like the idols that could not save, which holds a lesson for us, since we can be tempted to reckon the true God as no different from the false hopes and powers of the world and assume he is as unable to help as the idols people trust in vain, but the true God is living and able, not to be measured by the failures of false gods, so that we do well not to lump the living God together with the impotent idols but to trust him as the God who is not like them.

Lord, when Sennacherib besieges Jerusalem, he sends a taunting message that measures you, the true God, by the impotence of the idols his armies had already defeated: since no god of the nations could deliver them, how could Judah's God deliver them either? Who among all the gods of those nations that my fathers destroyed could deliver his people out of my hand, he says, that your God should be able to deliver you? The taunt rests on a fundamental error: it lumps you, the true and living God, together with the false gods of the nations, the impotent idols that could not save, assuming you are no different, just one more god who will fail like the rest. But you are not like the idols; you are not to be measured by their impotence. Show me the error at the heart of Sennacherib's taunt. He reasoned from the failures of the idols of the nations to the supposed impotence of your people's God. The error is that he lumped you, the true and living God, together with the false gods that could not save, assuming you were just one more such god who would fail. But this was a grave mistake. You are not like the idols; you are the living God, the Maker of heaven and earth, not to be measured by the impotence of false gods. And you did deliver Jerusalem, proving you are not like the idols that could not save. This holds a lesson for me. I can be tempted to reckon you as no different from the false hopes and powers of the world, to assume you are as limited and unable to help as the idols people trust in vain. But you are not like them; you are living and able. Take that to my heart, for it is an error to measure you by the impotence of false gods. Keep me from lumping you, the living God, together with the impotent idols; help me trust you, Lord, as the God who is not like them, living and able to save, not to be measured by the failures of false gods.