A Better Offer

Passage: Isaiah 36:1-22

If you're trying to sell a house in this economy, you'll hear the following piece of wisdom: “Your first offer’s going to be your best offer.” To back it up there are plenty of disheartening stories circulating about sellers turning down their first offers in the hopes of getting something better. After holding out as long as they could, many have settled for far less than the original offer. It seems the prudent response is to go with the offer you have instead of holding out for a better offer.

In Isaiah 36, King Hezekiah of Judah is given what appears to be his best offer. Hezekiah and his people are in the shadow of the looming threat of the Assyrian Empire. Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, has sent a message to Hezekiah: “If you surrender now, we’ll go easy on you. We’ll only cart you out of your homes and take the best of your women and children to be our slaves. We’ll treat you relatively humanely. Or you could hold out, in which case we’ll send an army that outnumbers your population ten to one. We’ll surround your cities and you and your people will resort to eating your young to survive. Really, it’s up to you.”

Hezekiah maintains a brave face in public. But in private the king falls apart. Faced with the inevitability of an Assyrian onslaught, Hezekiah only has one choice: take the first offer. There will be no better offer. Hezekiah and his people have no choice but to submit themselves to the Assyrians and become their slaves.

Then Hezekiah receives a second message, this time from the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah says, “The Assyrians have blasphemed the name of the LORD, and for this the LORD will destroy them. Trust in God, and he will deliver you. Don’t surrender to Sennacherib!”
All of a sudden, Hezekiah has a choice. But it’s a tough one. If he holds out hope in God’s better offer, he risks incurring the wrath of the Assyrians. The sure shot still seems to be surrender to the enemy. The only thing God offers is his word.

Hezekiah takes the chance. And miraculously, God delivers. Hezekiah and his people don’t lift a finger, and the Assyrian horde is defeated. God proves himself able to overcome any adversity. All God asks is that his people trust him.

God continually invites his people to place our trust in him, rather than in property, earning potential, health, government, or military. God says, “Those things may seem like the best offer. None of them is as good as what I have for you.” Hold out. God always has the better offer.