“Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, ‘Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! This is what the king says: do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you from my hand. Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, “The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”” (2 Kings 18:28-30)
My recent daily readings, partly using an online Bible tool, have been in 2 Kings with its endless merry-go-round of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ kings over Israel and Judah. Chapter 18 details Hezekiah’s faith-filled reaction to an Assyrian army besieging Jerusalem. It’s an episode I was already familiar with and was looking forward to reading as Hezekiah’s faith always moves and inspires me. This time I paused though, realising that Assyrian commander would put his finger on a pertinent point: the risk to the entire nation if Hezekiah’s faith in the Lord is misplaced. The pause was prompted by an interesting juxtaposition as I opened the page.
The online Bible tool I use always shows an advertisement on start-up which normally I routinely and automatically close. On this occasion it was an investment advert for a company dealing in cryptocurrencies, the text of which caught my eye just before I clicked to delete it. I stopped long enough to read the attached warning that stated, ‘Cryptocurrency is an extremely high-risk investment. Do not invest unless you are prepared to lose everything you invest.’ The sponsoring company was touting its track record and expertise and presenting itself as a company to trust despite the dire warning. While I have no plans (or funds!) to invest in cryptocurrency anyway, it struck me that this warning would hardly entice a cautious investor to commit. It all comes down to whether or not a potential investor would trust this company. And then I realised it’s the same essential point that the Assyrian commander is making. Hezekiah’s faith is an extremely high-risk investment. If Hezekiah’s faith is misplaced then the whole nation will suffer.
And then my mind carried on: Abraham leaving his home, Moses at the Red Sea, Esther going to the king, Peter stepping out of a boat, Martha at her brother’s tomb, and so many other examples. And in our own day: we live in chaotic, violent, pressured, uncertain, volatile days. Faith is an extremely high-risk investment. Yet the Bible is replete with the stories of those who took the risk and trusted in the Lord. So are we prepared to risk everything? Do we truly ‘trust in the Lord’?