But with us is the Lord

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. – 2 Chronicles 32v8

Here we see yet another example of Hezekiah’s faith. The mighty Assyrian army under the command of their wicked King Sennacharib had surrounded Jerusalem. They were a mighty, vicious, cruel, and sadistic army. They are known in history for their torture and mistreatment of captives. They are one of the most feared military forces in all of history.

They came from what is now Iraq and they had swept south conquering nation after nation. They had even conquered the northern nation of Israel. Their method of conquest was to displace their conquered peoples and swap them out so that no one could ever feel the affinity for home. The ten tribes of Israel had been dispersed all over the known world to the extent that their descendants still cannot truly identify their tribe.

This is the army that came upon Jerusalem and their godly king Hezekiah. There is no way they could have stood up to this mighty army. Their conquest was certain and the nation was paralyzed with fear.

So naturally they looked to their leader. He stood before them with confidence and said – ‘He does indeed have a mighty arm of flesh. But we have the Lord to fight our battles.’ Then the people were strengthened by the king’s words.

In some parts of the world true Christians still have a major influence. In some countries well over half the population claim to be born again Christians. In our land that number is the lowest in the western world. Less than one percent of the Irish population even claim to be born again believers. In a place like this we definitely don’t have the arm of flesh on our side.

But we do have the Lord on our side. That being said let’s take confidence. Let’s be strengthened by the words of the Lord. Let’s move forward with the confidence that our labour is not in vain in the Lord and that in due season we will reap if we do not give up!