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342 gods. The Assyrians exhibited this failure when, having ex- iled the people of Israel, they resettled the land with foreign- ers exiled from their lands, letting each group continue to worship their gods. The list, one may note, counts among the idols that were thus set up that of Marduk by the Babylo- nians, of Nergal by the Cutheans, and of Adad by the Palmyrians. The newcomers to Samaria were devastated, however, by wild lions and saw this as a sign of anger by the "local god," Yahweh. The Assyrian solution was to send back to Samaria one of the exiled priests of Yahweh, to teach the newcomers "the customs of the local god.** So, while an Israelite priest was teaching them "how to worship Yah- weh," it was only an addition of one more god to the poly- theistic worship ... That Yahweh was different and that Assyria was subject to His will was demonstrated when Sennacherib (704-681 B.C.) invaded Judaea and, ignoring its tribute, sent his general Rabshakeh and a large army to capture Jerusalem. Sur- rounding the city, Rabshakeh sought its surrender by sug- gesting that the Assyrian king was only carrying out Yahweh's wish: "Is it without the will of Yahweh that I have come hither to destroy this place? Ft is Yahweh who hath said to me, 'Go forth and destroy this land.'" Since this was not much different from what the Prophet Isaiah had been saying, the people of Jerusalem might have surrendered were it not for the Assyrians' growing haughti- ness. If you think that your god Yahweh might change His mind and protect you after all, forget it, he said. Listing the many nations that Assyria conquered, "hath any of the gods of those nations, each one in his country, saved it from the king of Assyria?" he asked rhetorically; "so who is Yahweh that he would save Jerusalem from me?" The comparison of Yahweh to the pagan gods was such blasphemy that the king, Hezekiah, tore his clothes and put on sackcloth in mourning. Joining the priests in the Temple, he sent word to Isaiah, asking him to seek the help of Yah- weh "in this day of distress, of reviling and disgrace," a day on which an emissary of the king of Assyria reviled "a Liv- ing God," comparing Him to the gods of other nations "who are not Elohim but man-made of wood and stone." DIVINE ENCOUNTERS