Sometimes, the opposing God is difficult to recognize, but it's always obvious that the war is always between another god and Jehovah. When the opposing god is difficult to identify, Paul did that for us: He proclaimed the "unknown God" and he is Jesus (Acts 17:23). It's not that Jesus is on their side, but that their god is not genuine for there truly is only one God! All others are fighting God without even having a god on their side.
I know that most readers dislike reading about wars and so forth in the Old Testament, but they are there for a purpose. Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, had wiped out all the nations around Judah, including the northern kingdom of Israel. Judah itself was in jeopardy because Jerusalem was about to fall. Through his emissary Sennacherib taunted the Jews:
Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you. Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, the Lord will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? (Isa 36:14-20).Sennacherib was essentially challenging them with my god is stronger than your God. Sennacherib was symbolic of the Serpent in the Tree of Knowledge. He is imploring them to eat of his "tree" (the fruits of Nineveh where he wished to deliver them into servanthood), and forsake the land of milk and honey - the Promised Land. The Serpent had deceived Adam and Eve into relinquishing trust in God. Sennacherib did the same thing! His argument was that if they did not surrender they would die, but surrender and they would not. Like Eve's it was a great decision: trust in God or the Serpent, or trust in the gods of Sennacherib or the One True God! This time, God's children did it right:
And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth. Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear; open thine eyes, O Lord, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God. Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries, And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, even thou only. (Isa 37:15-20)Hezekiah, King of Judah, as usual, turned to God! He asked God to fight the battle for them because he trusted in the power of God. He diminished the enemies false gods as "work's of men's hands." Then, he provided a reason: "that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord." Let's consider that last statement for a bit. Judah was the remnant of the Promised Land where God had promised Abraham a Savior. This battle was between gods - the real one and false gods! If the battle was lost, the covenant with Abraham would be broken, and there would be no Messiah. This was Satan's strongest stand against Jesus until that time!
The reason for Judah's victory was that all the kingdoms know the Lord. Where have you heard that before? "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come" (Mat 24:14). Jesus said that hundreds of years later, but God told Hezekiah the same thing: the end won't come yet because all the nations must hear! Then Jesus gave all his "army" specific instructions:
Afterward he (Jesus) appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. (Mark 16:14-16)Hezekiah is symbolic of Jesus. God gave him confidence to face his adversaries just as He did Jesus. God won the day for Hezekiah because the purpose of the coming Messiah had to be fulfilled because God promised Abraham that! Hezekiah and Isaiah had their confidence in the Savior, not merely to win the battle but defeat Satan forever. The war with the Assyrian Empire is a foreshadowing of the Battle of Armageddon, both of which God wins handily. Do you want to know who wins the battle for existence in the end? Well read this:
And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward: For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this. Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. (Isa 37:31-36)Isaiah credited God with saving a remnant - those in Jerusalem. That was to keep His promise to Abraham. Jerusalem would bear good fruit again! God defeated the Assyrians using "Jesus" - the Angel of the Lord - to fight the battle and defeat Sennacherib. After the battle was fought, what happened to this Antichrist?
And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead. (Isa 37:38)Sennacherib was killed by his own sons, totally the opposite of what God would someday allow to happen to his own son! Sennacherib's false gods could not save him, but Hezekiah's true God did save the Jews. The root of Sennacherib's name is from his "savior" - the god named "Sin". If this isn't a clear picture of how God destroys sin, nothing is.
God still has the same plan - a remnant will be saved. There will be no end to his promise. Salvation isn't for a period in time but forever. Just as God came through for the Jews of Jerusalem, his "temples" will be saved in the end, and they are us!
Right now, things look bleak for both the Jews and Gentiles. It is the world against us. The gods of today are better hidden; many do not even have statues, but they are still there. Evil people are their own gods and their desire is for everyone to do their will. Our God is stronger than all those trillions of gods trying to defeat us. In the end, the Valley of Armageddon will flow with blood as possibly a billion of all those false gods drown in their own blood. It may look bleak, but we know when the beast Sennacherib awakes again, and is finally destroyed.
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