2 Chronicles 32:23, commentary and pictures

The verse belongs to Sennacherib's invasion, when he sought to discourage Hezekiah and Jerusalem by belittling God's power to save them. After the people's humiliation and prayers, the Lord overthrew the Assyrian forces by sending an angel against them, and Sennacherib returned to his own land in disgrace, defeat and shame. After that deliverance of Hezekiah and Jerusalem, many from the nations brought gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem and valuable presents to Hezekiah, so that he was honored and exalted in the sight of all nations from then on. Hezekiah is counted among Judah's good kings, and his story shows that doing duty brought blessing and that God was ready to help His people when they sought Him with all their heart.

The deliverance was wrought in an evidently miraculous way by the direct intervention of the God of heaven, to prevent glorying in human power and to make clear to Judah and to all nations that there is a God in heaven more mighty than the gods of the peoples. The victory, the gifts and precious things brought to Jerusalem, and the exaltation of Hezekiah impressed the nations with the power of the true God. They should have remained as constant reminders of the nothingness of man and the greatness of God, which is the essence of righteousness by faith, and as an opportunity to exalt the power and mercy of the King of heaven who wrought this marvelous thing for the salvation of Jerusalem. Instead they were perverted into evidence of human power and greatness, turning the blessing into a curse.

The account teaches that God's people need not use carnal weapons to defend themselves even when facing an armed foe.