The Strength of His Hand

by Lynn Austin

  “Are you King Hezekiah?”

  “No.”

  “Then who are you?”

  “I am Eliakim ben Hilkiah.”

  “Where’s King Hezekiah?”

  “In his palace. I’m his spokesman.”

  The Assyrian sputtered for words. “Doesn’t he know who I am?”

  “Yes. He knows you are Emperor Sennacherib’s spokesman, just as I am King Hezekiah’s spokesman.”

  Iddina’s dark face flushed with speechless rage, and Eliakim knew he had won the first round. He suppressed a smile.

  “I refuse to accept surrender from you! Hezekiah must appear before me in person!”

  “King Hezekiah has no intention of surrendering.”

  “What?” The Assyrian charged forward, his face so terrifying that for a moment Eliakim feared the man would tear him limb from limb. Eliakim wanted to back away, but he was too paralyzed to move. Iddina halted a few feet from him and suddenly broke into chilling, mirthless laughter.

  “King Hezekiah isn’t going to surrender?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Is the man insane? Either he surrenders peacefully or we’ll tear the city apart!”

  “You’ll have to take it by force.”

  “Very well. He’ll get his wish. And when we finally break through these walls, you’re mine, Eliakim ben Hilkiah! I want the pleasure of slowly slicing you into pieces myself!”

  Fear chased through Eliakim. Iddina’s ferocious face was inches from his own. In the background the screams of the tortured men seemed to grow louder.

  “Give this message to King Hezekiah,” Iddina shouted. “The great king of Assyria says, ‘No one can save you from my power! You need more than mere promises of help before you rebel against me. But which of your allies will give you more than words? Egypt? If you lean on Egypt, you will find her to be a stick that breaks beneath your weight and pierces your hand. The Egyptian Pharaoh is totally unreliable!’ And if you say, ‘We’re trusting the Lord to rescue us’—just remember that He is the very one whose hilltop altars you’ve destroyed. For you require everyone to worship at the altar in Jerusalem!”

  Iddina’s knowledge of Judean affairs staggered Eliakim. How had the Assyrians learned all of this? And how did they know to use this propaganda to erode morale? Iddina’s proud, mocking voice carried clearly to the top of the wall.

  “I’ll tell you what: make a bet with my master, the king of Assyria! If you have two thousand men left who can ride horses, we’ll furnish the horses! And with an army as small as yours, you are no threat to even the least lieutenant in charge of the smallest contingent of my master’s army. Even if Egypt supplies you with horses and chariots, it will do no good. And do you think we have come here on our own? No! Yahweh sent us and told us, ‘Go and destroy this nation!’ ”

  Eliakim shuddered. That was exactly what Isaiah and Micah had been telling the people—that the Assyrians were the rod of Yahweh’s judgment. He glanced behind him at the men crowded on top of the wall and knew that he had to silence the Rabshekah before he convinced the people to revolt.

  “Speak in Aramaic,” Eliakim said, changing to that language. “We understand it quite well.”

  “Yes, do not use Hebrew,” Shebna added. “The people standing on the walls will hear you.”

  “Has my master sent me to speak only to you and to your master?” Iddina said, laughing. “Hasn’t he sent me to the people on the walls, too? For they are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine!”

  The Assyrian was shouting now, his voice haughty and arrogant. He no longer addressed his words to Eliakim but talked directly to the men on the wall.

  “Listen to the great king of Assyria! Don’t let King Hezekiah fool you. He will never be able to save you from my power. Don’t let him fool you into trusting in Yahweh to rescue you. Don’t listen to King Hezekiah. Surrender! You can live in peace here in your own land until I take you to another land just like this one—with plentiful crops, grain, wine, olive trees, and honey. All of this instead of death!”

  His voice was smooth and persuasive, and his soothing tone said Trust me. Eliakim didn’t dare turn around again to see the effect of Iddina’s speech—he feared it was devastating. Surprisingly, the men on the wall remained silent, as King Hezekiah had commanded.

  “Don’t listen to King Hezekiah when he tries to persuade you that Yahweh will deliver you,” Iddina continued. “Have any of the gods of the other nations ever delivered their people from the king of Assyria? What happened to the gods of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did they rescue Samaria? What gods have ever been able to save any nation from my power? So what makes you think Yahweh can save Jerusalem?”

  Iddina’s blasphemy sent shivers of rage through Eliakim. This Assyrian had compared Yahweh to worthless idols! Eliakim grabbed the front of his robe and tore it. Iddina gave him a final look of utter contempt and strode away.

  Eliakim stood rooted in place. “‘Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us,’ ” he quoted softly. “ ‘We have endured much ridicule from the proud, much contempt from the arrogant.’ ” Finally Joah touched his shoulder and motioned for them to go.

  None of them spoke as they climbed the hill to the palace. Eliakim kept his gaze straight ahead as he walked, avoiding the eyes of the townspeople watching him pass. He didn’t want to see their faces and witness the demoralizing effect of the Rabshekah’s words.

  “What happened?” King Hezekiah asked when they reached the throne room.

  “I told him you wouldn’t surrender, Your Majesty. He tried to convince the people to rebel against you, and he offered peaceful deportation in place of famine and war. He said the Egyptians aren’t coming to save us.”

  “Why are your robes torn?”

  “He blasphemed God. He compared Yahweh to the worthless gods of our neighbors and said He wasn’t able to deliver us.”

  Hezekiah closed his eyes and tore the front of his robes too. “ ‘O Lord, you have seen this; be not silent… . Awake, and rise to my defense! … Do not let them gloat over me. Do not let them think, “Aha, just what we wanted!” or say, “We have swallowed him up.” ’ ”

  An atmosphere of deep hopelessness engulfed them all, and Eliakim prayed that the king wouldn’t change his mind and decide to surrender. Shebna finally broke the tense silence. “What are you going to do, Your Majesty?”

  “You and Eliakim gather the chief priests and go find Isaiah. I want you to deliver a message to him from me. Joah and I will go to the Temple and pray.”

  Everyone, including King Hezekiah, changed into sackcloth, and Eliakim led Shebna and the priests down the hill to find the prophet’s house. The overwhelming events left Eliakim dazed. The siege had happened so quickly that he was still reeling from the shock of it. But at the same time it seemed as if weeks had passed since he had eaten breakfast with his family that morning. He glanced at his house as they hurried past his street, hoping that Jerusha had listened to his advice and stayed home.

  “Do you know where Isaiah lives?” Shebna asked as they wove through the maze of streets.

  “Yes. I’ve been there before.”

  By the time all of the chief priests had jammed behind him into the rabbi’s tiny house, Eliakim could barely move. Isaiah gestured to a wooden stool.

  “Please sit down, Lord Eliakim.”

  Eliakim dropped down on the stool, grateful to rest his trembling legs and catch his breath. “Rabbi, the king asked me to give you this message.” He held out the rolled square of parchment, but Isaiah shook his head.

  “Read it to me.”

  Eliakim unrolled the page and read it aloud. “‘This is a day of trouble and frustration and blasphemy; it is a serious time, as when a woman is in heavy labor trying to give birth and the child does not come. But perhaps the Lord your God heard the blasphemy of the king of Assyria’s representative as he scoffed at the living God. Surely God won’t let him get away with this. Surely
God will rebuke him for those words. Oh, Isaiah, pray for those of us who are left!’ ”

  The prophet stared silently at the floor for several minutes without speaking. Eliakim slowly rolled up the parchment and laid it on the table. The room was suffocating with so many men crowded inside it, and the scratchy sackcloth robe made Eliakim squirm with discomfort. “‘O Lord, be gracious to us,’ ” Isaiah prayed softly. “ ‘We long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.’ ” Eliakim saw that in spite of the one hundred thousand enemy troops surrounding their city, this great man of God was at peace.

  “Why do you say … ‘My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God’? ” Isaiah asked. “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his under- standing no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

  The prophet’s words nourished Eliakim’s hope. He felt Isaiah’s peace begin to flood through him, as well, and he smiled faintly.

  Isaiah continued speaking, his voice confident. “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! I am going to put a spirit in him so that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’ ”

  Eliakim felt limp with relief. God had spoken through His prophet; they had nothing to fear. He knew that Isaiah’s prophecy would come to pass.

  __________

  Hezekiah knelt on the royal dais at the Temple with his forehead pressed to the ground, trying to calm himself enough to pray. God was merciful. He had answered Hezekiah’s desperate prayers before, allowing him to live. Now he prayed for his nation’s life, for his people, young and old, whose lives would all be lost unless Yahweh intervened.

  Once again he stood helpless before an overwhelming enemy, and he remembered Yahweh’s promise to him, long ago: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.” He closed his eyes and cried out to God in prayer using the words of his ancestor David.

  “ ‘Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me. I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God. Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal.

  “‘You know my folly, O God; my guilt is not hidden from you. May those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me, O Lord, the Lord Almighty; may those who seek you not be put to shame because of me, O God of Israel… .

  “‘But I pray to you, O Lord, in the time of your favor; in your great love, O God, answer me with your sure salvation. Rescue me from the mire, do not let me sink; deliver me from those who hate me, from the deep waters. Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up or the pit close its mouth over me.

  “‘Answer me, O Lord, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me. Do not hide your face from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in trouble. Come near and rescue me; redeem me because of my foes… .

  “‘Pour out your wrath on them; let your fierce anger overtake them. May their place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in their tents… . I am in pain and distress; may your salvation, O God, protect me.’ ”

  When Hezekiah finally lifted his head and looked around, Eliakim had returned. Hezekiah dreaded to ask the question.

  “What did Rabbi Isaiah say?”

  “It was good news, Your Majesty. Yahweh said not to be afraid of the Assyrians. He is going to cause them to return to Assyria, where Emperor Sennacherib will be slain.”

  “Do you think that means the Egyptians will come to drive them back?”

  Eliakim shrugged. “I don’t know. What else could it mean?”

  Hezekiah closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to the ground in prayer once more. “ ‘I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving… . The Lord hears the needy and does not despise his captive people. Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that move in them, for God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah. Then people will settle there and possess it; the children of his servants will inherit it, and those who love his name will dwell there.’ ”

  When he finished praying, Hezekiah stood and began walking back to the palace with Eliakim. But as they passed the Women’s Court, he heard the sound of women wailing as if in deep sorrow and mourning. It sent shivers through Hezekiah. He stopped to listen. The women of Jerusalem were weeping and praying for their families and for their lives.

  “Is the entire city this fearful?” he asked Eliakim.

  “Yes, my lord. Morale is very low. The Rabshekah’s words, the sight of such a powerful army outside our gates—they have everyone terrified. General Benjamin had to put some of his own soldiers under guard after they threatened mutiny.”

  “Then it’s up to us to convince them that God is able to deliver us. Come on.”

  He stepped up to the gate of the Women’s Court, and the wailing stopped abruptly when the startled women realized who he was. “Listen,” King Hezekiah said. “You don’t have to be afraid. I know the King of Assyria has a vast army with him, but there is a greater power with us than with him. He only has the arm of the flesh. But we have the arm of the Lord our God to help us. He will fight our battles for us.”

  “But the Assyrian leader spoke the truth,” one of the women cried. “No one has ever escaped from them!”

  “What will happen to our children?” another wept.

  Hezekiah wondered how he could calm their fears and restore their faith; then he recalled how his grandfather had reassured him and strengthened his faith so long ago.

  “‘The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?’ ” he quoted gently. “‘The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? … Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident… . For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock… .Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.’ ”

  He saw that his words had calmed them. The women wiped their tears and bowed to him in gratitude. “Come with me, Eliakim,” he said, and instead of returning to the palace, they walked down the hill into the city. As they mingled with the frightened people in the streets, a large crowd quickly gathered around them.

  “What’s going to happen to us?”

  “Your Majesty, the Assyrians promised they would take us to a land like our own. They’ll let us live if we do what they say.”

  “King Hezekiah, why don’t you accept the Assyrians’ offer and surrender?”

  “Yes, please! Before we’re all slaughtered!”

  “Listen to me,” Hezekiah said. “The Torah says, ‘When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you … to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.’ ”

  “But the Assyrians have battering rams and siege towers! What if the city walls can’t keep them out?”

  “‘God is our refuge and strength,’ ” Hezekiah replied, “ ‘an everpresent help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea … The Lord Almighty is
with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.’ ”

  All afternoon Hezekiah walked among his people, calming their fears with words of assurance, soothing them with the psalms of David. Eliakim took over for the king after his voice went hoarse and gave out. Gradually, the two heard less talk of surrender, more words of faith and trust.

  “‘Do not fret because of evil men,’ ” Eliakim told one group in the marketplace, “ ‘or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away… . Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him… . For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.’ ”

  “But how can God possibly save us?” someone cried from the crowd. Before Hezekiah could answer, Isaiah suddenly stepped up beside him and rested his hand on Hezekiah’s shoulder.

  “May I answer his question, Your Majesty?”

  His sudden appearance stunned Hezekiah. He hadn’t seen Isaiah since their confrontation on the palace steps. “Certainly, Rabbi!” He took a step back and waited as the power of God filled the prophet.

  “‘Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath!’ When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, ‘I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes. For he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of nations, I plundered their treasuries; like a mighty one I subdued their kings… .”’

  “Therefore, the Lord Almighty will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors; under his pomp a fire will be kindled like a blazing flame… . In a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers. The splendor of his forests and fertile fields it will completely destroy, as when a sick man wastes away. And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few that a child could write them down.