What can we learn about pride from the Assyrian king's claims in this verse? Text in Focus “Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the other lands? Were the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my fathers able to deliver their people from my hand?” (2 Chronicles 32:13) Setting the Scene • King Sennacherib of Assyria has surrounded Jerusalem (32:1). • Hezekiah trusts the LORD; Sennacherib trusts his military record. • The Assyrian boasts publicly, challenging God’s ability to save. Spotting the Seeds of Pride • Self-glorification: “what I and my fathers have done” • Comparison that belittles others: “the gods of the nations…were [they] able…?” • Forgetting history’s true Author: claiming victories as solely human achievements (cf. Isaiah 10:12-15). • Measuring power only by visible results, ignoring the unseen hand of the LORD (2 Kings 19:15-19). The Misplaced Confidence of Sennacherib 1. Basing security on past success – Proverbs 16:18 reminds us “Pride goes before destruction.” 2. Dismissing the one true God as equal to idols – Psalm 135:5-6 emphasizes the LORD’s unrivaled sovereignty. 3. Ignoring God’s covenant with His people – Genesis 12:3 foretells protection for Abraham’s line; Sennacherib stands opposed to that promise. 4. Speaking words that mock the LORD – Isaiah 37:23 records God’s rebuke: “Whom have you reproached and blasphemed?” 5. Trusting military might over divine authority – Psalm 20:7 draws the contrast: “Some trust in chariots… but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” Lessons for Our Hearts Today • Past victories can breed presumption if we forget Who granted them. • Pride thrives when we elevate human power and diminish God’s. • Mocking or minimizing the Lord is never merely verbal; it invites divine response (Isaiah 37:36-38). • God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6); Hezekiah’s humble prayer contrasts Sennacherib’s boast. • History repeatedly vindicates God’s supremacy: Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4), Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:21-23), and here Sennacherib all fall when pride peaks. The Takeaway Pride claims credit, questions God’s power, and ultimately crumbles under His hand. Humble dependence on the living LORD, echoed in Hezekiah’s trust, brings deliverance and preserves life. |
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