The king of Assyria was laying siege to Judah having conquered the Northern kingdom of Israel. Sennacherib, as a spokesman for the Assyrian king declares to King Hezekiah, the Priests and all the people of Jerusalem the impending destruction Assyria had planned for them.
The major argument Sennacherib was "Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD by saying, The LORD will surely deliver us. ..." (Is 36:15 ESV).
He offered them an 'out': "... thus says the king of Assyria: 'Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.'" Isaiah 36:16-17 (ESV)
He says, "Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD ... Make your peace with me"
He means: "Don't put up with the difficulties of the LORD ... take it easy with us"
God's way, though it proved to be advantageous in hindsight, was really tough! The people had to listen to Sennacherib & Assyria berate their God, their King and themselves. They had to listen to a man tell them they'd eat their own filth and starve. They had to deal with angry family members who were tired of suffering. They had to deal with their own nagging suspicions that God was letting them be punished (why not, God had already condemned Israel to the Assyrians?)
Holding on to God's word
Holding on to God's ways
Holding on to God's will will be a difficult thing to do.
It means hurting family and ourselves. It means going hungry and enduring pain. It means we will be unhappy.
But it only means we'll be unhappy here. I need to remember that "this world is not my home".
(maybe I'll write a conclusion to this 'sermon' later)
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