The Final Oracle Of Deliverance Which Will Result In Its Own Fulfilment (2 Kings 19:32-34).
The final oracle was put in plain and straightforward terms that could leave no doubt. It was the policy of great kings to be personally present when, at the end of a long siege, the city was about to fall. Thereby they could claim the victory for themselves and it became attached to their name. See for a clear example of this 2 Samuel 12:26-31. And it was even customary for them to pick up a bow and shoot an arrow, or to take up a shield or supervise the building of a mound, so that it could be portrayed on the reliefs made of the event (very much like our modern artificial photo-calls), making quite clear who was responsible for the victory. It was all staged.
Thus the promise was that deliverance would come so soon that the king of Assyria would not even come to the city, or shoot his arrow there, or pick up a shield, or order the building of a mound. Rather he would soon be scurrying back to Assyria by the way in which he had come, and this would be because YHWH was defending Jerusalem, for the sake of His own glory, and for the sake of His servant David who had chosen it, to whom He had made such great promises.
This ties in quite adequately with the promise in 2 Kings 19:7, and yet also contains within it the seed of the glorious coming event that no one expected, the actual destruction of a large part of the mighty Assyrian army. The fact that what will now happen was never prophesied indicates the genuineness both of the prophecies and of the event itself.
Analysis.
· “Therefore thus says YHWH concerning the king of Assyria, He will not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor will he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it” (2 Kings 19:32).
· “By the way that he came, by the same will he return, and he will not come to this city, says YHWH” (2 Kings 19:33).
· “For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake” (2 Kings 19:34).
Note that in ‘a' Sennacherib would not come to the city and in the parallel that would be because YHWH was defending it. Centrally in ‘b' he would return home having failed in his purpose.
“Therefore thus says YHWH concerning the king of Assyria, He will not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor will he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it.”
Like modern politicians ancient kings could not resist a ‘photo-call'. They wanted to go down in history. Thus at any great victory, especially towards the end of a siege, they would arrive and make some military gesture towards the enemy that could later be recorded on stone. This might take the form of shooting an arrow, brandishing a shield and sword, or ostentatiously supervising the building of siegeworks. But in this case YHWH promised that this would not happen, simply because the victory would not be achieved. There would be no crowning moment.
“By the way that he came, by the same will he return, and he will not come to this city, says YHWH.”
Indeed far from gaining victory he would shortly be returning home (with YHWH's hook through his nose, and YHWH's bridle in his mouth) from Libnah. He would never even approach Jerusalem. Thus it would not only be the end of his operations against Jerusalem and Judah, it would also be the end of all his current operations outside Assyria. This could only indicate real trouble at home which necessitated his presence. It would also turn out to be because he would need to re-establish his army. “By the way that he came, by the same will he return.' Compare 2 Kings 19:28.
“For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake.”
And the reason for it would be because YHWH was defending Jerusalem for His own sake (so that He might be seen to be faithful to His promises to David) and for His servant David's sake, who had chosen Jerusalem and dedicated it to YHWH, Who accepted it and had also thereby chosen it (compare 1 Kings 11:12-13). God had not forgotten His promises to David, and would stand by them at all costs.