THE VOICE OF THE ENEMY

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In Christ, Mark

** Writer’s Note: Today I am currently overseas for a few weeks. I will try to post as well as I can but there may be a break in The Christian Walk if I end up without Internet access. If that happens, I will resume upon my return in early August.

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Later, when Sennacherib king of Assyria and all his forces were laying siege to Lachish, he sent his officers to Jerusalem with this message for Hezekiah king of Judah and for all the people of Judah who were there:

“This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: On what are you basing your confidence, that you remain in Jerusalem under siege? When Hezekiah says, ‘The Lord our God will save us from the hand of the king of Assyria,’ he is misleading you, to let you die of hunger and thirst. Did not Hezekiah himself remove this god’s high places and altars, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before one altar and burn sacrifices on it’?”

“Do you not know what I and my predecessors have done to all the peoples of the other lands? Were the gods of those nations ever able to deliver their land from my hand? Who of all the gods of these nations that my predecessors destroyed has been able to save his people from me? How then can your god deliver you from my hand? Now do not let Hezekiah deceive you and mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my predecessors. How much less will your god deliver you from my hand!”

Sennacherib’s officers spoke further against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah. The king also wrote letters ridiculing the Lord, the God of Israel, and saying this against him: “Just as the gods of the peoples of the other lands did not rescue their people from my hand, so the god of Hezekiah will not rescue his people from my hand.”

Then they called out in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to terrify them and make them afraid in order to capture the city. They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as they did about the gods of the other peoples of the world—the work of human hands.

King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this. And the Lord sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the commanders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons, his own flesh and blood, cut him down with the sword.

So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others. He took care of them on every side. Many brought offerings to Jerusalem for the Lord and valuable gifts for Hezekiah king of Judah. From then on he was highly regarded by all the nations.

2 Chronicles 32:9-23

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

There are two things I will guarantee as we go through life.

Number 1: God will speak to our hearts and minds seeking to lead us in accordance with His will and way.

and

Number 2: Our enemy, Satan, will also speak to us in ways that will seek to destroy every good and perfect thing that God is trying to do.

I remember the old cartoons I used to watch when I was little. In them, a person needing to make a moral decision would be advised by two little characters who would magically appear on each shoulder. The first appearing would be a little white angel who would seek to convince the person that they shouldn’t do what they were about to do because it would be wrong. And immediately after the angel finished, a little red devil would appear on the person’s opposite shoulder, urging them to do the wrong thing. It used to be something that made me laugh when I was little but as I grew older, I discovered that there was more truth to the cartoon than I ever could have imagined.

For there are indeed competing voices that seek to impact our attitudes and life decisions.

Point in case is the scripture passage from 2 Chronicles today as we continue to look at Chapter 32. You’ll recall that Hezekiah had just encouraged the people of Judah in advance of an attacking Assyrian force under the command of King Sennacherib. Hezekiah exhorted his people to be strong and courageous in the face of adversity because God was with them. His words gave the people confidence as they faced the coming battle. Picture Hezekiah as the little white angel on the shoulder of the people of Judah.

As Sennacherib and his men drew closer to Jerusalem, he decided to send his officers ahead with a message for Hezekiah and his people.  The message was as follows:

“This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: On what are you basing your confidence, that you remain in Jerusalem under siege? When Hezekiah says, ‘The Lord our God will save us from the hand of the king of Assyria,’ he is misleading you, to let you die of hunger and thirst. Did not Hezekiah himself remove this god’s high places and altars, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before one altar and burn sacrifices on it’?”

“Do you not know what I and my predecessors have done to all the peoples of the other lands? Were the gods of those nations ever able to deliver their land from my hand? Who of all the gods of these nations that my predecessors destroyed has been able to save his people from me? How then can your god deliver you from my hand? Now do not let Hezekiah deceive you and mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my predecessors. How much less will your god deliver you from my hand!”

Sennacherib also sent letters that ridiculed the Lord God Almighty saying:

“Just as the gods of the peoples of the other lands did not rescue their people from my hand, so the god of Hezekiah will not rescue his people from my hand.”

The officers even stooped as low as calling out in Hebrew to terrify the people and make them afraid so the city of Jerusalem could be easily captured by the Assyrian army and their king. Picture Sennacherib and his officials as the little red devil on the shoulder of the people of Judah.

Two competing voices. One reassuring, protecting, and comforting. The other threatening, imposing, and frightening.

Who would win out?

Back to the scriptures where we see King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah crying out to the Lord in prayer over the matter. And as a result, we read that the Lord sent an angel who annihilated the entire Assyrian army, causing King Sennacherib to withdraw to his own land in disgrace where he was cut down by his own sons after he went into the temple of his god.

Despite the efforts of the enemy, the Lord delivered Hezekiah and the people of Judah from peril.

In other places in the Bible, others weren’t so fortunate when it came to the voice of the enemy coming upon them. Go back to Genesis and you’ll see the very first example as Satan, represented by a serpent, provided a contrasting voice to God and was successful in convincing Adam and Eve to do wrong. Look at this scripture passage and observe the voice of the enemy in action:

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of fruit from the tress of the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

“You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.  Genesis 3:1-7

God said not to eat. That was all that was needed to be said. But the enemy was very crafty as scripture tells us and was able to sway Eve into believing God didn’t really mean what He said. After all, it was just a piece of fruit. What would be the harm in eating it?

The harm was unfathomable. Eve could not see that in listening in the enemy and following his guidance, she, along with Adam, allowed sin to enter into God’s perfect creation, afflicting all mankind from that point forward. One incident of falling into temptation did that and we all have faced the temptations of sin every since.

So what do we do today to battle the little red devils that pop up to sway us toward doing wrong, violating a God who despises and hates sinful behavior? How do we combat the voice of the enemy when it speaks to us?

The answer can be found in God’s word and the actions of our Savior Jesus, God’s one and only Son, the only One who can bring us to the Father (John 14:6). Look at these words from Matthew, Chapter 4:

After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. The tempter came to Him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Then the devil took Him to the holy city and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you bow down and worship me.”

Jesus said to him, “Away from me Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’”

Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended to Him. Matthew 4:1-11

Note what our Savior taught us here. Jesus, at a weak and vulnerable place, was attacked by Satan who tried to tempt Him into sinning against God. The voice of the enemy was speaking and speaking powerfully but Jesus was not to be deterred in His faithful obedience to His Father. For as scripture tells us, every attempt by Satan was rebuffed by the word of God wielded by Jesus as a weapon that fended off the enemy’s spiritual assault.

In other words, when the enemy was speaking loud, God’s voice through His holy word spoke louder. It saved Jesus from failing and falling – and it will save us as well.

Friends, we simply need to learn from this word of God for us today. For we will be facing Satan’s advances for as long as we live in this world and so we had better learn how to properly defend ourselves to avoid being defeated when temptation comes our way.

Always remember, that the voice of the enemy might be strong, but the voice of God will always be stronger and bring you the protection you need to avoid sin and sustain righteousness.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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