Read Isaiah 37
The angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and
eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp.
Isaiah 37:36
Sennacherib boasted of his military might and his great conquests. But
the king of Assyria forgot that he was only God’s tool for accomplishing His purposes on the earth, and the tool must not boast against the
Maker (10:5–19). God would humble Sennacherib (37:7, 29).
The Assyrian commander had joked that one Assyrian junior
officer was stronger than 2,000 Jewish horsemen (36:8–9), but it
took only one of God’s angels to destroy 185,000 Assyrian soldiers!
Isaiah had prophesied the destruction of the Assyrian army. God
would mow them down like a forest (10:33–34), devastate them with
a storm (30:27–30), and throw them into the fire like garbage on the
city dump (vv. 31–33).
After Sennacherib left Judah a defeated man, he returned to
his capital city of Nineveh. Twenty years later, as a result of a power
struggle among his sons, Sennacherib was assassinated by two of his
sons in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy (37:7), and it happened in the
temple of his god (v. 38)! The field commander had ridiculed the gods
of the nations, but Sennacherib’s own god could not protect him.
Something to Ponder
What can you learn from this story to apply to stressful situations you
are currently facing?