Isaiah 36:20-21 (NIV) Who of all the gods of these countries have been able to save their lands from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”

In life, there’s a time to talk and a time to be silent. It’s good to know when you should speak and when you should be quiet. The Word of God teaches that when we talk too much, we talk our way into sin and trouble (Proverbs 10:19). In the passage of scripture above, King Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, had sent his field commander and his army to deliver a threatening message to King Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem. He was trying to convince them to surrender to him by opening up the gates of the wall around Jerusalem. He mocked the weakness of the king and the nation and even mocked God. He boasted that no god of any nation had been able to save them from his hand, which was true up to that point. But with all that the field commander was saying in the hearing of the people that were listening from their vantagepoint on the wall, the people gave no response. King Hezekiah had commanded them not to say a word.

Why would the king issue such a command? It’s because he knew that engaging in a back and forth talking match with the Assyrians would be a losing proposition. They were shrewd and knew how to intimidate the people of the different nations with their threatening words. King Hezekiah, being a man of God, didn’t want God’s people to dignify the vile and arrogant threats against them and against God with a response. King Hezekiah’s plan was to take the problem to the Lord in prayer. He knew that this situation did not call for an argument with words, but instead called for a demonstration of the power of God. A good example of the trouble you can fall into when you engage in talk with the enemy is the story of Adam and Eve. Eve decided to have a conversation with the serpent and got herself in trouble by being influenced by the guile, cunning and deceit of the enemy.

This is a good lesson for us as believers because we are engaged in spiritual warfare. The moment that we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we joined the battle of the ages. In this battle, you have to be sober and alert to the schemes of the evil one. He is the utmost mastermind of planting negative thoughts in your mind and will have you in a conversation in your mind that you will usually be in a negative, defensive posture about. I learned long ago that it doesn’t pay to get into a conversation with the devil. I don’t try to get smart with him or even tell him about his impending doom. The Word of God even tells us that the Angel Michael was careful in his speech when talking to the devil (Jude 1:8-9). Here’s what I recommend: don’t speak to him at all! Let Jesus deal with him for you since he trembles at the very mention of His name. Scripture tells us to resist the enemy, and you can do that without talking to him. Let’s learn a lesson from what King Hezekiah told the people of Jerusalem and keep silent with the enemy and do all of our talking with Jesus!

Pastor Joey Vazquez