“Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me” (2 Kings 18:31).

King Hezekiah was in big trouble. Sennacherib had bulldozed through 46 cities of Judah and surrounded Jerusalem. He boasted, “As for him (Hezekiah), I confined him inside the city Jerusalem, his royal city, like a bird in a cage. I set up blockades against him and made him dread exiting his city gate.”¹ Sennacherib’s envoys stood before Jerusalem’s walls to negotiate Israel’s surrender. Their five tempting arguments still speak to ministry leaders considering debt to solve their financial problems.

Your Friends Won’t Help You
“Egypt is a splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it” (2 Kings 18:21). Sennacherib dismissed Egypt as unreliable. We’re afraid our donors won’t be there when we need their support. Sometimes the “unreliable allies” excuse masks our own reluctance to make the ask.

We Have What You Need
“Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses” (2 Kings 18:23). Sennacherib offered immediate resources to solve immediate problems. Today’s equivalent might be bridge loans, lines of credit, or bond financing promising quick solutions to your cash flow challenges. Consider all your options carefully before “making a bargain” with your lending master.

God Told Me
Note Sennacherib’s arrogance, “The Lord himself told me to march against this country and destroy it” (2 Kings 18:25). Perhaps you have a well-meaning advisor suggesting, “God brought us this great deal.” One Christian institution seriously considered bond funding which would have restricted spiritual programming to only 40% of their new facility. Somehow, that doesn’t seem like an answer to prayer.

Take the Easy Way Out
“Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern, until I come and take you to a land like your own” (2 Kings 18:31-32). Sennacherib’s offer sounded appealing: maintain your lifestyle, avoid the struggle, accept our terms. Borrowed money can build buildings and fund programs, but it often comes with hidden costs, not just financial, but organizational and spiritual.

Everybody Else is Doing It
“Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?” (2 Kings 19:12). Sennacherib argued that every other kingdom had fallen to his superior resources. Ministry leaders often hear “all successful organizations leverage debt” or that fundraising simply “isn’t realistic” in today’s economy. Financing isn’t necessarily wrong, but it may not be God’s intended path for your organization’s current challenge.

Think About This: Hezekiah took Sennacherib’s letter and “went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord” (2 Kings 19:14). “That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp.” (2 Kings 19:35). The same God who delivered Jerusalem from overwhelming odds can provide for your ministry’s needs.

Response: Lord, give us wisdom to discern between human solutions and divine provision. Help us trust you to meet our financial needs according to your perfect timing and methods.

Resource: ¹Inscription on Sennacherib’s Prism is housed at the Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago