2 Chronicles 32:9-16
9 After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying,
10 Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide in the siegef in Jerusalem?
11 Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
12 Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it?
13 Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of mine hand?
14 Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand?
15 Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand?
16 And his servants spake yet more against the LORD God, and against his servant Hezekiah.
Let us read the character of modern hostility to Christianity in that of Sennacherib and his marshals.
I. The first thing which attracts our notice is their boastful-ness. The Assyrian monarch evidently had no mean opinion of himself. "Know ye not," he says, "what I and my fathers have done?" Self-conceit is the most obvious quality of the enemies of God.
II. A second quality by which this kind of hostility to religion is characterized is its special animosity to the ministers of the Gospel. It is noticeable that the Assyrian does not address his appeal chiefly to the Judaean king and his official representatives. His attempt is to stir up revolt among the populace, by appeals to their superstition and their fears. So now the people are exhorted to revolt against "the priests." The popular name which infidelity gives to Christianity is priestcraft.
III. Avowed enmity to religion is often characterized also by the plausibility of its reasonings against the destiny of Christianity. Much can be plausibly said against religion and its friends. Facts can be made to seem conclusive against them. The confident predictions of the downfall of Christianity often seem morally certain.
IV. The history of the avowed enemies of Christ is characterized by the certainty, the suddenness, and the unexpected means of their disappointment. Somebody made very short work with Sennacherib. One night was time enough to answer his gasconade against the people of God. One angel of the Lord was a match for the Assyrian battalions. The history of our religion develops often a similar phenomenon in God's dealings with His enemies. They are sure to be disappointed in the result. Something keeps Christianity alive today, centuries after, by the logic of its foes, it ought to have been dead and buried. It never had a deeper hold upon the world's faith than now. Never before did its friends look out upon a more resplendent future.
A. Phelps, The Old Testament a Living Book,p. 147.
Reference: 2 Chronicles 31:20; 2 Chronicles 31:21. Christian World Pulpit,vol. xiii., p. 52.