God is so creative in His choices of methods of delivering His people. During the time of the kings of Israel, they had trouble with the Assyrian army. Hezekiah was king at the time of this story and Isaiah was the prophet.

King Sennacherib wanted to take over Jerusalem. Hezekiah sent messengers to Sennacherib with silver and gold hoping that giving him money would satisfy him. But the king wanted more money. It seemed he just wanted to take over.

Hezekiah talked things over with the princes. They prepared for battle by drying up available water to any army that might camp outside their walls. they built up the walls of Jerusalem. They made weapons and shields.

Gathering all his army leaders together, Hezekiah encouraged them not to be afraid of the king of Assyria, for he had so many with him. He told them that even though they could not see them, they had more on their side because the Lord was with them and would help fight.

Hezekiah had wonderful faith. The captains were inspired to have the same faith as the king.

The king began yelling loudly that there was no use to trust in God. He mentioned that God had not stopped him from taking other Jews in battle. He said his gods were stronger than the God of heaven.

Hezekiah told his leaders not to answer back even one word. All that was shouted at them was repeated to Isaiah the prophet. Hezekiah was very upset.

Isaiah's response was a fabulous statement from the Lord. The message from the Lord was: "Be not afraid...I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumor, and shall return to his own land." Hezekiah must have relaxed as he thought about God blasting out the enemies. I wonder if he wanted to see it happen.

Nothing more happened for awhile. Finally one day a letter arrived from Sennecharib, the king of Assyria. This letter demanded that they all surrender.

When Hezekiah read the letter, he carried it to the house of the Lord. He laid it out before God and began praying. He asked God to listen to the words of king Sennecharib. He reminded God that the foolish gods of these people had been set up everywhere and brought disgrace to the God of heaven. He prayed such a beautiful prayer that God sent Isaiah over immediately to tell him not to worry. God promised Hezekiah that the king of Assyria would not come into the city or shoot an arrow or even throw up a bank against it or use their shields. God promised to defend the city. God Himself was going to defend it. Everyone could sit back and relax.

That very night the angel of the Lord went into action. The Bible does not say exactly how it happened. But since God said he planned to blast them, that must be what he did. By morning there were 185,000 dead soldiers lying all over the countryside around Jerusalem.

People crowded to the walls to see the amazing sight. They could hardly believe their eyes, but not an arrow had been shot or a stone thrown. Yet there were their enemies sleeping in death. The Assyrian army was dead.

Sennacherib went home in shame. When he got home, two of his boys killed him.

When God is called on for help, there is no limit to what He can do. He has a bigger army than there ever has been seen on this earth. He is more powerful than the biggest bomb explosions. He can control who gets wiped out too. All those on the inside of the Jerusalem wall were unharmed. The wall was intact. There were no radiation burns on any of God's people. There was no mention of having heard a loud noise. The Bible said that the enemy would hear a rumor and return to his own land. Perhaps Sennnacherib heard it and went home in shame. All the cursing he did on the God in heaven was heaped back upon himself. God came to the rescue as He can do for you if you need it.