Isaiah 36: 1 – 22
No Need To Worry No Need To Fret, His Love Hasn’t Failed Us Yet
Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 2 Then the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And he stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field. 3 And Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him. 4 Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: “What confidence is this in which you trust? 5 I say you speak of having plans and power for war; but they are mere words. Now in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? 6 Look! You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 7 “But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’?”’ 8 Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses—if you are able on your part to put riders on them! 9 How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 10 Have I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? The LORD said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’” 11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 12 But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?” 13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you; 15 nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, “The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”’ 16 Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern; 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? 20 Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’” 21 But they held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.” 22 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.
The next few chapters will certainly ground all that Isaiah has been saying to us in the context of history, and reveal the might and arrogance of Assyria, demonstrating at the same time how easily Yahweh Elohe Yisrael – The Lord God of Israel - can dispose of them when He wishes. These chapters also reveal our Great God’s Sovereign Power actually at work in even controlling the sun. We will be taught a valuable lesson in how our Ruler brings out Hezekiah’s folly in not trusting wholly in God, and they will confirm why in the end the only hope for the future is the Coming One, the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are going to read about this session and the next about the description of the ‘contest’ between Sennacherib and Jehovah Yahweh – our Lord Most High. They are confirmation of the fact that in spite of all his boasts and fearsome armies God can deal with Sennacherib whenever He wishes. They lead up to the deliverance of Jerusalem by a great wonder, and the humiliation and death of Sennacherib at the hands of his own family. This puts things everything in stark contrast. The great Sennacherib may boast, and strut around and even seem invincible, but mighty Yahweh our Creator can smash the vaunted power of Assyria with one wondrous blow, while, when it comes down to it, helpless Sennacherib, a mere piece of dirt cannot defend himself against his own family.
Perhaps we may consider at this point a brief resume of the history of the time as far as we know it. When Sennacherib came to the throne of Assyria in 705 BC on the death of his father Sargon II the opportunity was taken by many subject nations to rebel and break free from Assyria, refusing tribute. The great tyrant who had had them in submission was now dead, and their hope was that internal problems would keep Sennacherib busy. This kind of insurrection regularly happened on the death of powerful tyrants, when their successors were seeking to establish their positions.
So Merodach Baladan (Marduk-apla-iddina II) of Babylon, taking advantage of the situation, searched far and wide seeking to ferment trouble, and he included Judah in his plans. If you want you can skip over to chapter 39 and read verses 1-8 to read about this. Those who expressed interest included the king of Tyre, who played a major part in the rebellion, together with associated Phoenician cities; the Philistine cities of Ashkelon and Ekron; probably Moab, Edom and Ammon; and some of the Arabian tribes. But Sennacherib did not take long to establish his position in Assyria and he then moved against Babylon and its near allies, including Elam, defeating them totally.
Once he had accomplished this we know from Assyrian records that he then turned his attention to the rebels elsewhere. Firstly he crushed Tyre, along with their associated cities, although being unable to take the island city. It was, however, in dire straits, and had to be provisioned from the sea. This resulted in a number of the other tentative rebels hastily resuming tribute. Then he turned his attentions further south and advanced on Judah whom he saw as a major rebel, for it was Hezekiah who held captive Padi, king of Ekron, the king who had remained faithful to Sennacherib and had refused to join the rebellion.
At his approach, once a number of his cities had been taken, Hezekiah submitted and paid a huge ransom which we read about in the book of 2 Kings 18.13-16. This included some of his royal daughters, concubines, and male and female musicians, who were carried away to Nineveh, a ransom which was apparently accepted. Meanwhile other men of Judah had already been carried off as captives on the surrendering of their cities, as Sennacherib claims in his annals.
Under the treaty thus arranged Hezekiah had to release Padi, the king of Ekron whom he held as a prisoner, lost a large amount of territory which was divided among kings loyal to Sennacherib, and was required to send certain of his daughters to Nineveh as proof of his loyalty. He did not, however, have to appear before Sennacherib in person, for Sennacherib’s annals say, ‘he sent a personal messenger to deliver the tribute and make a slavish obedience’. This being interpreted may basically mean ‘he surrendered, but would not do it in person, and I had to give way on that point, because I had other matters to deal with’.
Under the treaty thus arranged Hezekiah had to release Padi, the king of Ekron whom he held as a prisoner, lost a large amount of territory which was divided among kings loyal to Sennacherib, and was required to send certain of his daughters to Nineveh as proof of his loyalty. He did not, however, have to appear before Sennacherib in person, for Sennacherib’s annals say, ‘he sent a personal messenger to deliver the tribute and make a slavish obedience’. This being interpreted may basically mean ‘he surrendered, but would not do it in person, and I had to give way on that point, because I had other matters to deal with’.
This is quite significant, for it demonstrates that Sennacherib was so keen to make peace that he did not enforce absolute demands. This was possibly because news had reached Sennacherib of the gathering by Egypt of an army to attack him so that he wanted to guard against attacks from all sides. It may even be that it was the fact that he was then later informed that the Egyptian army contained elements from, or was supported by, Judah, that made him feel that Hezekiah had betrayed him, thus causing him to think that the new treaty had already been broken. It would not be the first time that a king acted on inaccurate intelligence. On the other hand there may have been truth in it for Egypt may have had Judean mercenaries in its army. But whatever the case might be he broke the new treaty and again besieged Lachish preparatory to an advance on Jerusalem. That is where this account begins.
Perhaps it should be noted here that Sennacherib’s own records themselves confirm that Jerusalem was never taken, for he lays great stress on his capture of Lachish, which he would not have done if he had captured Jerusalem. The principle for recording history was simple. You put the best gloss on things, and ignored all failures. All that he does claim is that he besieged Jerusalem and shut up Hezekiah there like a caged bird. Had he captured it, it would have been headline material.
Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.
‘The fourteenth year of king Hezekiah.’ This was in 701 BC, which appears to conflict with 2 Kings 18.1, 9 which would make this the twenty eighth year of Hezekiah’s reign. The probable explanation for this is that 729/8 BC was when Hezekiah began to reign as co-regent with his father, his father dying around 715 BC. Co-regency was favored by the kings of Judah as it ensured a secure succession, the successor thus already being in a position of authority and recognized as the heir. This then assured the preservation of the line of David.
2 Then the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And he stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field.
‘The Rabshakeh.’ This was probably the king’s most powerful officer. It will be noted that he acted as spokesman. The word may mean ‘chief cupbearer’ or ‘head of rulers’. In the former case it does not mean that he was a table servant. Official Cupbearers were highly important, for they would receive the cup on the king’s behalf and taste it prior to handing it on, thus demonstrating that it was free from poison. They alone were in a position to slip in poison after they had drunk to test the drink. The chief cupbearer at court did the same for the king, taking the cup from a servant, testing it, and then handing it to the king. He was thus very exalted, and was chosen because he was seen as totally trustworthy. The title thus indicated a powerful overall position of which the ‘cupbearing’ was but a small part. The title ‘head of rulers’ would more accurately describe what he was.
The book of 2 Kings chapter 18 verse 17 tells us that he was accompanied by the Rabsaris (possibly rabu sa resi - ‘chief one who is at the head’) and the Tartan (turtanu - ‘commander in chief’). Such a powerful messenger as the Rabshakeh would not come alone but would also be attended by the chief’s of his officers. That the Rabshakeh took precedence demonstrates how important he was. His presence, and the presence of the other powerful men, also serves to indicate how important the submission of Hezekiah was seen to be.
‘And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the launderer’s field.’ Look back to our study of chapter 7 verse 3 for some reason why this location was picked. The comparison is deliberate. It was the same place as the one where the son of David, Ahaz, had rejected God’s offer of deliverance. The implication is that had he accepted God’s offer, no enemy would ever have stood there. But now an enemy did stand there, who was the fruit of Ahaz’s choice. And he would once again give the house of David an opportunity to choose whether to follow Yahweh or not. It is a reminder to the reader that this is the result of Ahaz’s failure. Failure to trust God will always come back to haunt us by its consequences.
3 And Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him.
‘Came out’ signifies that they came out on to the wall to speak to him from it. These names were popular names at the time and the names, though not necessarily the persons are attested to on seals that have been discovered. Eliakim is mentioned in chapter 22 verse 20. He was the royal chamberlain, acting in the king’s name. Shebna, however is a scribe and probably not the one mentioned in chapter 22 verse 15 who was the ‘treasurer’. The recorder (or ‘remembrance’) would be there to keep a strict record of what was said. The presence of these three powerful men might serve to confirm that there were three important Assyrians waiting to speak to them, ensuring a balancing of the sides.
4 Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: “What confidence is this in which you trust? 5 I say you speak of having plans and power for war; but they are mere words. Now in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me?
‘Hezekiah.’ Note the lack of title which expresses extreme disdain. He is being treated as not worthy to be called a king. In deliberate contrast the king of Assyria is called ‘the great king’, He wants the people of Judah to recognize the contrast. Are they going to trust in this Hezekiah creature or in the Great King?
‘What confidence is this on which you now rely?’ He is questioning the very basis on which Hezekiah’s confidence is placed. It may well be that he is quoting words put together by Sennacherib’s chief advisers.
‘I say your counsel and strength for war are but vain words (‘a word of lips’).’ He recognizes all the discussions that will have gone on about purpose, strategy and arms assessment, and the decisions that have been reached, and dismisses them all as ‘vain words’, a ‘word of lips’. That is, they are spoken but carry no power. They were just words. They were a waste of time because whatever they decided will prove useless. It may even be that spies had brought back the details to him of what had happened in those meetings.
‘On whom do you trust now that you have rebelled against me?’ Let them contrast those on whom they are relying with his own great king. Note that he only recognized two possible rivals on whom they might be relying, the Pharaoh of Egypt or their God Yahweh. Hezekiah was dismissed as a possibility. Well, let them consider the facts about them both.
6 Look! You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.
If they are trusting in Egypt let them consider how unreliable Egypt was. His words about Egypt would have gained Isaiah’s approval. That was just what he thought as well. Egypt was but a battered reed, which if a man used it as his stay, would go into his hand and pierce it. There is here both a reflection on Egypt’s comparative weakness (a bruised reed) and on the fact that she tended to let her allies down (piercing the hand that looked for help). In fact, he says, this is what Pharaoh is like, incapable and unreliable, just as he had proved in the past.
7 “But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’?”’
But what if they claimed to trust in Yahweh? This was the second possibility. That they trusted in their God, Yahweh. And it is now that he reveals how efficient the Assyrian intelligence system was. For they had received reports on what Hezekiah had been doing in Judah and Jerusalem, in getting rid of high places and altars and insisting on worship in the one place on the one altar. And to them this suggested an insult to Yahweh. So did Judah really think that Yahweh would support such a king, this destroyer of His sanctuaries?
The Assyrians clearly saw what Hezekiah had done as an anti-Yahweh act, a belittling of Yahweh, for to them the more high places and the more altars and the more images the greater the appreciation of a god. What they did not appreciate was that the religion of Judah was totally different, a unifying religion, meeting at the one sanctuary which was alone valid (like the Tabernacle of old). It was a religion that avoided a proliferation of altars which could result in the introduction of innovations which would mar the purity of their beliefs and religious thought and behavior, and would really belittle God. For their God was a unique God, the only God, and could not be proliferated.
But he may also well have known the resentment that the reforms had caused, and be playing on the fact in the hearing of the people. ‘And has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar?” ’ This is a phrase guaranteed to stir up any grievance that there was, a dictatorial king demanding acknowledgement only of what he had established, rather than what they loved, the old traditions. He was not to know that that was what Yahweh had told him to do as well.
8 Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses—if you are able on your part to put riders on them!
Now he sought to emphasize Hezekiah’s weakness by further derision. Let them simply compare the size of their cavalry. The verb ‘arab means ‘to pledge’ and the hithpael ‘to pledge oneself’, for example in a wager. The challenge was as to whether Hezekiah could produce two thousand capable horsemen. Then, if he succeeded in doing so, the king of Assyria would give them two thousand horses for them to mount. The purpose of the offered wager was in order to demonstrate both Judah’s poverty with regard to capable manpower in that regard, and also in order to emphasize that they had few horses of their own. That they had no cavalry to speak of. In contrast Assyria for their part could easily spare two thousand horses, and not notice it. The emphasis is on how weak Hezekiah’s cavalry were, comparatively a mere handful, in contrast with the huge Assyrian cavalry which all could see there, eagerly awaiting their opportunity. It was intended to weaken the resolve of the listening people on the wall.
9 How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
His contempt is openly expressed. The cavalry position being what it was, how can they hope to turn away even the very lowest of the Assyrian captains? Or perhaps they are looking for cavalry and chariots from Egypt with which to do it? The impression given is, ‘what a hope!’
10 Have I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? The LORD said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’”
But what about trusting in Yahweh? Let them now consider this. It is in fact at the behest of Yahweh that they have come, in order to teach this altar-destroyer a lesson. This may reflect some knowledge of what Isaiah had already been declaring, but represented as having been said by Yahweh to Sennacherib himself. After all Sennacherib is favored by all the gods! (In his annals Sennacherib actually gives the credit for his victories to Ashur).
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”
The three were becoming concerned about the effect on the people of the Rabshakeh’s words, and requested that the Rabshakeh continue in Aramaic, the official international language. There is an implied rebuke here, the suggestion that it was not polite for him to proclaim an official message to Hezekiah in such a public fashion. It should be made in the language of diplomacy. There was also possibly an indication of offence being taken because he seemed to be implying that they could not speak Aramaic.
12 But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?”
The Rabshakeh’s reply is that it was in fact to these people that his master wanted to send his message. It was not intended to be an official secret; it was intended to be received by all. Then he points out to the people the straits to which the siege will soon bring them. They will have nothing to eat and drink but their own excrement and urine (‘waters of the feet’). ‘With you.’ It will eventually be true of the leaders too.
There may in all this be an intended contrast, stressing the polite diplomacy of Judah, and the arrogant and crude diplomacy of Assyria. Judah are clearly gentlemen, whereas Assyria are merely bullies.
13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you; 15 nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, “The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”’
The Rabshakeh now turns his attention more directly to the people. All pretence is now thrown overboard. Note again the reference to the Great King and the disdainful reference to ‘Hezekiah’. The insult clearly shows that they do not expect Hezekiah to yield (he is not attempting to win him over) and that his words are therefore simply seeking to undermine the confidence and morale of the people. The message is simple. Hezekiah will not be able to deliver them. Nor will Yahweh be able to deliver them.
It is clear that his intelligence sources had informed him that there were voices in the city saying, ‘Trust in Yahweh’, which was, of course, the message of Isaiah. This explains his words here. Let them recognize that such an idea was ridiculous. This latter was his first mistake, which he would shortly develop, for what his intelligence sources had failed to explain to him was the real power of Yahweh, and that Yahweh was the living God.
Note the constant reference to ‘the king of Assyria.’ He wants them to recognize who they are dealing with. What chance do they have against this great and mighty king, the Great King? Notice also the impersonal ‘there will not be a giving’. He does not want their minds to associate the words too directly with Yahweh in case they thought that Yahweh might deliver them. It is a perfect example of balanced diplomacy.
16 Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern;
The contrast is again drawn out. On the one hand this nonentity Hezekiah, on the other the king of Assyria. Whose word are they going to listen to? The blessing was a form of greeting, thus he is saying here, ‘Greet me in a welcoming way, and come out and receive me.’ It was a specific offer that if they did so they would be dealt with leniently. Alternately it may mean ‘make a pact with me and thereby receive a blessing’.
Let them but surrender and they will immediately again have access to all their possessions and food and water in plenty. He is seeking to appeal to their recognition of the hardships of the siege, and to their personal interests. All must have had nightmares about what was happening to their fields and vineyards. And they could have them again as soon as they surrendered.
17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
But he is offering a treaty and therefore recognizes that he must lay out the terms fairly. If he did not do so it would rebound on the honor of his master, for treaties were treated very strictly. So he now acknowledges that his offer was not strictly true. Many of those listening must rather expect deportation, but he makes it sound as appetizing as possible. They need not fear. Even if they are deported they will be taken to a land of plenty. He omits the details of how unpleasant the deporting will be. As all knew, deportation of important people in the case of rebellious states was Assyrian policy. Its purpose was in order to weaken the leadership (by removing many of them) and to divide the nation, thus making them more amenable.
18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand?
The Rabshakeh now called on them to consider the experience of all the other nations. This demonstrated quite clearly that no gods could deliver a nation out of the hands of the king of Assyria, for his gods were too powerful. Let them consider Hamath, Arpad and Sepharvaim. And above all let them consider Samaria. Samaria even included Yahweh among their gods, and yet they fell. Thus how can Jerusalem expect to be any different? Do they really think that Yahweh, on His own is superior to all these gods?
These words were a mistake for two reasons. Firstly because Judah did see their God as different from the gods of the nations and he was therefore by these words stirring latent faith. But secondly because Yahweh was in fact different, and would react accordingly. It was a direct challenge being laid down to Yahweh.
20 Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’” 21 But they held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.” 22 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.
His words were heard in disdainful silence. They returned no answer because Hezekiah had commanded that no reply be given. The matter was not to be decided in front of the people, and time for thought was required. The disdainful silence was also a reply to the insults of the Rabshakeh.
So the three went to Hezekiah bearing the message that they had been given, symbolically tearing their clothes to indicate their mourning over the content of the message. It would also alert the king to the fact that the message they brought was negative. And they told him what had been said.
A pretty amazing story huh? So, what are we suppose to learn from this lesson? What have you received from our Wonderful Holy Spirit?
Well, for me I have come away with the conclusion that this world is one seeping crock pot of evil. It in itself testifies of our Good and Holy God. For if our Holy Adoni Elohim mankind would just kill itself off this planet.
The most important thing I take away from this story is that our God Is in complete control. No matter how difficult, insane, or fearful, there is nothing our God cannot just interrupt and correct. We all have a fear that some day He will not come to our rescue. This is what the enemy of our souls keeps playing over and over in our minds. Yet, in the long run. I do not care. For even if He will not rescue us we still win. We are His now and forever. Thank you our precious Father.
