The
following quote is taken from evilbible.com:
"The
Angel of Death - "That night the angel of the Lord went forth and
struck down one hundred and eighty five thousand men in the Assyrian
camp. Early the next morning, there they were, all the corpses of the
dead." (2 Kings 19:35 NAB)
This passage is part of a larger
story, concerning King Hezekiah's conflict with King Sennacherib of
Assyria. You can read the full story
here:
King Hezekiah of
Judah (reigned circa 716-687 BCE), witnessed the destruction of the kingdom of
Israel by the kingdom of Assyria in 722 BCE.
In 701 BCE, after capturing all the fortified cities of Judah, King
Sennacherib of Assyria sent messengers to Hezekiah to threaten Jerusalem. The field commander threatened Hezekiah and
the people of Jerusalem publicly, in their language, in front of the city walls
(2 Kings 18:17-37, NIV). It was
Sennacherib's intention to destroy Jerusalem and take the people into
captivity, as the Israelites had been conquered. Among other things, the Assyrian field
commander told the people of Jerusalem: “Was it only to your
master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the
people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement
and drink their own urine?” (2 Kings 18:27, NIV). The field commander urged the people to
betray their king and surrender to Sennacherib, or face destruction. Worst of all, he repeated Sennacherib's
message of blasphemy, insulting not only Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem,
but God himself. “Do not listen to
Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation
ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?" (2 Kings
18:32-33, NIV). In saying such things,
Sennacherib and his men were openly mocking the God who created them, and
falsely boasting that they were more powerful.
In
response to these threats and insults, King Hezekiah prayed for God to deliver
them: "Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then
he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: 'Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are
God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You
have made heaven and earth. Give ear, Lord,
and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has
sent to ridicule the living God. It is
true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their
lands. They have thrown their gods into
the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone,
fashioned by human hands. Now, Lord our
God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know
that you alone, Lord, are God.'” (2 Kings 19:14-19, NIV).
God
heard Sennacherib's insults and Hezekiah's prayer for deliverance, and he
responded through the prophet Isaiah with a message to Sennacherib: "Who is it
you have ridiculed and blasphemed? Against
whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!... Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: 'He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he
will return; he will not enter this city, declares the Lord. I
will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for
the sake of David my servant.’” (2 Kings 19:22, 32-34, NIV). That very night, God sent his angel, who took
the lives of 185,000 Assyrian soldiers, sending a powerful message not only to
Sennacherib, but to people of all nations: God does not tolerate threats and
abuse against his people, nor does he tolerate being mocked.
After
this incident, Sennacherib withdrew from Jerusalem and returned to
Nineveh. 20 years later, in 681 BCE, he
was murdered by two of his sons, Adrammelek (aka Ardi-Mulishi)
and Sharezer (2 Kings 19:36-37).
