Certainly you must have heard!
2 Kings 19:25a NET
Long ago I worked it out.
In ancient times I planned it;
and now I am bringing it to pass.
The Assyrian army had conquered many nations, including the kingdom of Israel. And now they were fighting against Judah. Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, sent messengers to Hezekiah, the king of Judah, taunting him and the God he trusted. According to the Assyrian king, no other god had been able to deliver its people from the Assyrian army. So, he asked Hezekiah, why should you think the Lord would be able to do any better?
The Lord’s response to Sennacherib is found in 2 Kings 19:21-28. Sennacherib had boasted and bragged about all he had accomplished as if he were somehow responsible for all of his success.
But, God told him, “Haven’t you heard? Your success has all been a part of a plan I laid out long ago. You have merely been a tool I have used to accomplish my purpose. Rather than being a great and powerful king, you are only a pawn I am using.”
God went on to tell Sennacherib that there would be a price to pay for his taunting. God would put a hook in his nose and lead him back to where he had come from. The chapter then goes on to record the disaster that struck his army, Sennacherib’s return to Nineveh, and his assassination.
According to God’s Plan
What I find interesting in God’s response to Sennacherib is that all he had accomplished was according to God’s plan. Does that rule out free will? Did Sennacherib have no choice but to follow God’s plan? Or did God arrange for Sennacherib to be king, knowing he would accomplish what God wanted to see done?
In Isaiah 10:5-19, God proclaimed his judgment against Assyria. While God had sent them out, in their pride and arrogance, they had gone beyond the limits God had set for them. And they would be judged accordingly.
This would indicate that God is sovereign and uses nations and individuals to accomplish his plan for creation. But he does not force us to act in specific ways. And he holds us accountable for our actions.
Understanding the interplay between God’s sovereignty and human free will is challenging. But it is comforting to know that, regardless of what we as humans might do, even in our rebellion against God, he is still in control and continues to work out his long-term plan. And nothing we can do will ever change that.
