And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out.
The destruction of Sennacherib’s army
I. That this deliverance was miraculous, because--
1. It was foretold with absolute certainty (2Ki_19:22-23). Certainty is not an element in human plans. “Ye know not what shall be on the morrow” (Jam_4:14).
2. It is described as having been wrought by direct superhuman agency.
II. That the deliverance was wrought because of the characters of three men.
1. The character of Hezekiah.
2. The character of David (2Ki_19:34). So that David’s character had an influence in saving Jerusalem at this time.
3. The character of Sennacherib: From his words here recorded, his pride, his daring opposition to Jehovah are revealed.
Therefore the narrative most impressively bears witness--
1. To the fact that God is influenced by human character in His government of the world. A God who would deal with His creatures without regard to theirmoral character would not command our reverence and love. What would be thought of a human ruler or father who acted thus?
2. That the administration of just punishment is compatible with, is indeed a necessary phase of, the purest benevolence. The angels of God are the most benevolent, because the most perfect, of God’s creatures. But they can smite the transgressor as well as succour the afflicted. The removal of the instruments of tyranny from the earth is an act of pure benevolence.
3. That those who live morally above their age, will live beyond their age. David, although an imperfect man, lived upon a higher level of goodness than most of his contemporaries, therefore he has a part in the salvation of his much-loved city long after he ceased to reign in it.
4. He alone can turn the afflictions of life into blessings who has learned to pray. Hezekiah’s prayer had much to do with averting the catastrophe which threatened his people. The message to him from God was, “that which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, I have heard.” (Outlines from Sermons by a London Minister.)
The destroying angel
The ministry of angels, for good or evil, has always been a subject of mystery and of interest to the human mind. Throughout all the creeds of the Eastern world a belief in the active and frequent interference of the angelic host is generally held. The subject of angels occupies no inconsiderable portion of the Koran. Angels good or ill form the Suras of the Persians and the Rakshusas of the Hindoos. In the Old Testament of the Jews, in the New Testament of the Christians, angels are not uncommonly introduced. That God does make His angels ministering spirits, we have the authority of Scripture for asserting; but in what way they act, what appearances they present, what divisions they consist of amidst the varied orders of “thrones, dominions, princedoms, powers,” we know not. Lessons to be learnt:
I. That anger is at times commendable. We find the Deity moved to hot anger against the Assyrian host, taking vengeance upon the multitude that formed the Assyrian army. It is true, that to say, God is angry, or jealous, is but to speak after the manner of men, is but to attribute human motives to the Godhead. Yet, if we could imagine anger to possess the Deity, even in the sense in which we use the word anger, it would be no diminution of His Divine perfections. Strife against sin, against wrong-doing, against injustice, against the oppression of the weak, against falsehood, against hypocrisy, this was implanted in us for the noblest purposes, this, in fact, is a virtue, and not a vice.
II. That we should see God’s hand in all the revolutions of history.
III. That a haughty spirit oftentimes precedes a fall. Pride, in its egotistical wilfulness, vanity, in its ridiculous pretensions, must be rooted out of the character before any good Christian seed can be developed. Every one that exalteth himself, whether in a spirit of godless self-sufficiency like Sennacherib, or of religious self-complacency like the Pharisees of old, shall be abased; and every one that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Before honour is humility.
IV. That the dispensations of providence are sometimes very sudden in their action. On the very night that Sennacherib encamped, filled doubtless with an idea of his own grandeur, and with a belief that he was about to add to his glory and power by a decisive victory on the morrow, in “that night” the angel of the Lord smote his mighty strength to the ground. “The only thing to be looked for in the conduct of the French on any occasion,” says a cynical observer, “is the unexpected” Might not the same statement, in a greater or less degree, be made about all nationalities and about all individuals?
V. That we should lay all our troubles andweaknesses before God in prayer. (R. Young, M. A.)
The destruction of Sennacherib
I. The events of this night develop the force of wickedness. How rampant was wickedness this night. Wickedness has ever had great power in this world. Wealth, dominion, and numbers, have ever been at its command. Ever since the Fall, it has been, and still is, the power whose reign is the most extensive. Like the Assyrian hosts, it invades the most sacred scenes, and carries alarm into the most sainted spirits. The fact that wickedness is allowed such power on this earth shows:
1. The regard which God has for the free agency of the human mind. At first He was pleased to endow man with a power of free action and the attributes of responsibility, and although he has sinned and abused this power, the Almighty does not check its operations. He sets before man the good and the evil, and leaves him to make his choice. If hechooses the evil, and is determined to give himself up to it, He allows him often times to run such lengths, that he becomes a Pharaoh, a Sennacherib, a Nebuchadnezzar, a Herod, or a Napoleon. The fact that wickedness is allowed such power on this earth shows:
2. The wonderful forbearance of God. How wonderful it is that He, who could with a word annihilate every rebel in His universe, should allow His intelligent creatures to live in hostility to Him and His universe. How great His forbearance! How great His forbearance with the Pharaohs who continued to oppress His chosen people for so many generations; with the antediluvian world; with the Jewish nation, etc., etc. Why does He not crush the sinner at once with the first sin? Why does He allow him to go on for years transgressing His laws? The answer is, “He waiteth to be gracious.” “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count,” etc. The fact that wickedness is allowed such power on this earth, shows:
3. The certainty of a future retribution--It will not always be thus.
II. The events of this night develop the force of justice. “The angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians.”
1. Justice will not always sleep. Indeed, it never sleeps; it only seems to.
2. Justice, when roused, does its work with ease. One angel or agent now destroyed these one hundred and eighty-five thousand armed men.
3. The work of justice involves ruin to the wicked, but salvation to the good. The waters that destroyed the old world bore in safety in its bosom righteous Noah and his family. The sea that engulfed Pharaoh and his host made a highway for the ransomed to pass through; and now the blow that crushed one hundred and eighty-five thousand men, delivered Jerusalem from destruction.
III. The events of this night develop the force of prayer. We learn from the preceding verses of this chapter, that when pious Hezekiah the king received haughty and blasphemous threats of his country’s destruction from Rabshakeh, the minister of Sennacherib, that he took the letter which contained it, read it, and went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before God (2Ki_19:14.)
1. Observe Hezekiah’s prayer (2Ki_19:15-19).
2. Observe the answer (2Ki_19:32-34). “Therefore, thus saith the Lord, concerning the King of Asyna,” etc.
From this subject we learn two things:
1. That wickedness, however triumphant, must end in ruin.
2. That goodness, however threatened, shall end in a glorious deliverance. “What are these which are arrayed in white robes, and whence came they? These are they which came out of great tribulation.” (Homilist.)
God’s method with hostile evil
As two carbon points when the electric stream is poured upon them are gnawed to nothingness by the fierce heat, and you can see them wasting before your eyes, so the concentrated ardour of the breath of God falls upon the hostile evil, and lo! it is not. (A. Maclaren,D. D.)
