The Way
Night in the Assyrian Camp
What happened in a single night
Story
That night Jerusalem held its breath. The great Assyrian army was still camped in the land of Judah, and the only thing the people in the city had to hold on to was the word Isaiah had brought them. The Lord had said, “The king of Assyria will not enter this city; he will go back the way he came.” Holding on to that one word, the people stayed awake through the long night.
That very night the angel of the Lord went out and struck the Assyrian camp. When people got up early in the morning, a hundred and eighty-five thousand soldiers never rose again. The army that had seemed ready to swallow Judah collapsed in a single night. Only a heavy silence settled over the camp.
Sennacherib king of Assyria withdrew his army and went back to Nineveh. Later, while Sennacherib was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, two of his sons killed him, and another son, Esarhaddon, became king. One of the psalms sings it this way: be still, and know that I am God.
Walk this scene on the map →Words of God and the Prophets
That night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When people got up early in the morning, they were all dead bodies.
He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter this city. This is what the Lord says.
So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp, went home, and stayed in Nineveh.
The sayings are fresh renderings of the original meaning in today's language. Text: 2 Kgs 19:35–37
Background
Sennacherib's chronicle prism says he shut Hezekiah up in Jerusalem “like a bird in a cage,” but it says nothing about capturing the city. Sennacherib was murdered by his sons around 681 BC.
Pause and Reflect
Am I trying to fix everything on my own and forgetting to pray?