Only an Arm of Flesh

“Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him; for the one with us is greater than the one with him. With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah (2 Chronicles 32:7, 8). Assyria was not a country to take lightly. They were the most powerful kingdom in the world at that time and no one was able to stand before them. As I understand it, the Assyrians were a powerful military nation who ruthlessly conquered and administered other nations.
They had a weakness when it came to administration, but they were so ruthless that few dared to try and point that out. Their weakness was that they only knew how to rule with terror. They were bullies and thugs, and any system based on those tactics will not last long. I call your attention to some regimes in our own recent history which have proven this theory.

Still, when the bullies and thugs of this world are powerful, it is hard not to be cowed, intimidated and overcome by them. No one wants to be the one person to die proving the point that they can be resisted successfully.

Hezekiah and the Jews had a lot of evidence of the “invincibility” of the Assyrians. Many other nations had already fallen to them. Even the northern kingdom of Israel had been captured and taken back to Assyria. The great city of Lachish (no small city in Judea) was in the process of being taken by the Assyrians. The Assyrian king was sending his emissaries to try and talk Jerusalem and her king (Hezekiah) into surrendering. His point was the same as so many overly self-confident despots that we still see. He told Jerusalem, “You might as well give up now. No other city’s god has been able to resist Sennacherib (the Assyrian king) and neither can Jehovah!” Well, you can imagine how that little contest ended. And do you know why Assyria was defeated so soundly? Because they only fought with “an arm of flesh.” How was a huge army going to stand against an angel that could kill 185,000 of their soldiers in one night while they slept? That’s what happened and that’s how the war ended!

I hope it gives you strength and encouragement this week to know that the same Jehovah is watching out for you and standing against your enemies if you have faithfully given yourself to Him. If you are like a lot of people, there are some pretty impressive and scary people opposing you this week. Don’t worry! They fight only with an arm of flesh. Your God is stronger than they are. He loves you and so do I.