By Waiting and By Trust
One
The Threat of Sennacherib
In 701 BC, in the days of the kings of Judah and Israel, when Hezekiah was king of Judah, Sennacherib, King of Assyria, invaded Judah. Now Assyria was at this time one of the Super-Powers and nation after nation had fallen before their armies. So Sennacherib sends In 701 three of his “big guns,” the Tartan, the Rabsarist, and Rabshakeh to Jerusalem. They stand at the entrance of Jerusalem and begin to taunt the Jews. Rabshakeh yelled up that they should not put their trust in their God and then he started listing all the other nations who had put trust in their gods. Gozan, Haran, Rezeth, Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, Avva. All these cities and peoples had trusted in their gods. All these cities, all these peoples, had fallen.
If the Jews had any sense, said the Assyrian general, they wouldn’t make the same mistake. They’d surrender now. The Jews didn’t answer this challenge. They didn’t say a word. What could they say?
On the surface of it, everything the invaders had said was true.
Two
The Lord’s Deliverance
In 2 Kings 19, in response to the challenge by Rashakeh Hezekiah first turns to prayer in the Temple and then he turned to Isaiah for spiritual direction. Isaiah speaks for God, as the Rabshakeh speaks for Sennacherib.
The Rabshakeh said, “Be afraid.” Isaiah says, “Do not be afraid.”
The Rabshakeh said, “Surrender.” Through Isaiah God says, “Wait and Trust” Isaiah 30: 1-7; 15, “By waiting and by calm you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
As it turned out, Hezekiah and his people didn’t have to fight to defend Jerusalem. They didn’t have to negotiate. They didn’t have to lift a finger. It all turned out to be very simple.
At night, while everyone was sleeping, the entire Assyrian army died in its sleep. One hundred and eighty-five thousand troops just went to bed, and never woke up. When we face something bad, there is a two-fold temptation: Take matters into your own hand and act or fold.
The most important first step is to turn to God and let him tell you what to do. Sometimes we must take massive action, sometimes it’s better to wait and trust. Either way, we need to listen to God for direction.
Three
The Virtue of Waiting
It’s the chief mark of maturity, it’s the chief mark of strength, it’s the chief mark of courage if you can wait. Kipling lists it as one of the first criteria for manhood, “if you can wait and not be tired of waiting.”
And that was the greatness of the Chosen People. They were willing to wait.
The Chosen People had been promised the Messiah. They had been promised God’s deliverance. It took years. It took centuries. And they were willing to wait. Scripture instructs us to “be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord.”
Hezekiah reflected the strength of the Jews when it looked like everything and everyone was doomed, and yet he quietly waited for the Lord. And then one day, morning dawned, and everything had changed. Because the Lord’s deliverance had come. And, in a way, the Hezekiah represented the strength of Israel, who struggled under the yoke of one oppressive nation after another, quietly waiting for the Lord’s deliverance.
And then one day, morning dawned, and a child was lying in a stable, and everything had changed. Because the Lord’s deliverance had come.
Four
When the Waiting Is Over
Imagine the joy of Hezekiah and his people when they realize that the Lord has saved them. Jerusalem is safe! God has delivered on his promise! That’s the joy you get in the Gospel of Luke, when you read those hymns of happiness from Mary, from Elizabeth, from Zachariah, and especially from Simeon. These are the hymns of gladness every priest prays every day in the liturgy of the hours – the Canticle of Zachariah, the Magnificat of Mary, the Canticle of Simeon.
Simeon, the old man whose strength was so great that he had waited all his life, and now he the infant Christ in his arms, and he cries out, “Now Lord, you can let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples!”
Simeon trusted in God. Simeon waited. And Simeon’s waiting was repaid. He saw God’s deliverance and his joy was complete.
That’s what this season is about. It’s about waiting for God’s deliverance. Advent is about waiting. And the better we wait, the more we will rejoice when God’s promise is fulfilled, and our deliverance is accomplished in the person of Christ.
Five
Don’t Give Up. Even if it Looks Hopeless
So how do we live advent? How are disciples of Christ supposed to carry on the great virtue of patient waiting? By quiet perseverance, even when things look hopeless. Hezekiah was quiet. The armies that faced him were overwhelming. But he didn’t surrender. The Jews believed the savior was coming. Even when the years and centuries dragged on, and nothing seemed to change. Simeon never stopped going to the temple, even as he grew old and frail and the Messiah had still not been revealed.
And we, we have to keep praying, keep going to confession, keep spreading the good news. Even if the state of the world and the Church seems bleaker and bleaker. Even if the dysfunction in our families seems irreparable. Even if our finances and our health just keep getting worse. Even if our psychological problems and our destructive behaviors don’t show any signs of getting better.
We know that God has promised us the victory, victory in our souls and victory in the providential scheme if we keep trying and wait for Him.
Christ, our deliverance, has come. And our enemies will melt like snow before Him, when it pleases Him to reveal His power.