The Rabshakeh, an officer in the Assyrian army, is talking with advisors of King Hezekiah outside the walls of the City of David. The question he asks is, “What confidence is this in which you trust?” Are you counting on your superior military strategy, or weapons, or even the Egyptians? Then he wonders if they are trusting in their God (v22): But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ …
What could be wrong with that? His understanding of the situation is
interesting to say the least. 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 in Jerusalem?’ The Assyrians had heard about what Hezekiah
did when he restored true worship in Judah.
We have shown pictures from Beersheba (the altar stones that had been
part of worship in that city) and Arad (the miniature temple, even with a ‘holy
of holies’). These cities of Judah had
first been fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chr. 11:5-12). They had these “high places” that were
sometimes being used for worship and sometimes not. But as recent as the reign of Ahaz, Hezekiah’s
father, “in every single city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to
other gods, and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers” (2 Chron.
28:25). Hezekiah had removed all this
idolatry and destroyed the high places.
I can imagine there were some people who opposed this, though they may
not have been very vocal lest they be guilty of a crime. But look what happened: there was no longer
worship in these cities, and all these cities were now under Assyrian control. Perhaps the Rabshakeh has that in mind.
The fact is, of course, that Hezekiah’s insistence
on worship (meaning the temple worship with it’s sacrifices and offerings) in
Jerusalem was God’s plan from the beginning (Deut. 12). But that is not the only misunderstanding on
the part of the Assyrians. In 18:25 we
hear the Rabshakeh say these words: “Have I now come up without the LORD
against this place to destroy it? The
LORD said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’” It is true that the LORD had sent the King of
Assyria as the rod of His wrath on His people (Isa. 10:5-6). But the prophet then says that because the
king’s heart was lifted in pride, thinking he would do to Judah just as he did
to Israel (Isa. 10:7-11), the LORD will use Assyria to work on Judah and
Jerusalem but then God would “punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king
of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks” (Isa. 10:12).
So what the Rabshakeh, and the King of
Assyria, did not know was the mercy of the God of Israel?
They did not realize that God could pour out his judgment on His people,
and that He could also have mercy on them. In both situations, judgment and mercy, God
would totally honor His name!
The Rabshakeh took his verbal attack to
another level by yelling out his threats so that the people on the wall would
hear. He knew the people understood the
terrible trial they would experience if Assyria set up their siege ramps at
Jerusalem, that they would “eat and drink their own waste with you” (Isa.
36:12). They heard his harsh words, but
they did not respond, as per Hezekiah’s command (Isa. 36:21).
So far the Assyrian officer’s words show the
pride of the Assyrians. His attack on
God would get ratchetted up once again, which we will talk about in the next
post. But for now we should remember
that the LORD is God and there is no other God.
He will not share His glory with another. In this situation the pride of the Assyrians
is becoming obvious; and the faith of Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem who
know the LORD will begin to rise. The
LORD will honor His name, and the more the Rabshakeh speaks against God, the
greater will be God’s response. That is
still true for God’s people today.
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