“Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude 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.” And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. vv.7-8
Read chapter 32
Sennacherib, the army commander of Assyria, is trying to lay siege on Jerusalem. Assyria is a very powerful nation that no one has been able to defeat...yet. This doesn't scare King Hezekiah though or at least it doesn't make him stop trusting in the One True God. Sennacherib even speaks in their Hebrew language boasting about how strong, powerful and undefeated they are. Yet Hezekiah encourages the people to be strong and courageous because they have God on their side. The Assyrians may have beat every other nation and their gods but they never encountered the Real God. Their confidence was in humans where Hezekiah's was superhuman. A confident belief in God will minimize any fear of man. Notice he says that the Lord god is with us to HELP us and FIGHT OUR BATTLES. He's not just a bystander cheering for us, but is right there in it with us. Truly Hezekiah believed that if God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31). What battle are you facing that you're fearing man more than trusting in God?
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