Isaiah 36 opened with Assyria invading the 46 cities of Judah, seeking to seize them. Sennacherib did not keep his word though Hezekiah had paid the agreed tribute. He wanted total capitulation of Judah. Hezekiah apparently had turned to trust the LORD. So Rabshakeh his emissary, and a large troop were sent to intimidate Judah. Verses 4-10 captured the conversation Rabshakeh had with the three representatives of Judah namely, Eliakim, Shebna the scribe, and Joah. There was no nicety or diplomacy but only harsh and hostile words from the emissary of Assyria. His words were meant and intended to sting and coerce. He didn’t even show any courtesy for the king. Calling the king by name, he condescendingly said, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says.’” What arrogance! Verse 5 went on to show that he rumbled on insinuating that Judah had put their trust in the wrong place.
Earlier Judah did turn to Egypt for help. Rabshakeh said that was a rebellion against the king of Assyria. So he began firstly in verses 4-6 to belittle Judah for seeking help from Egypt. He told the representatives of Hezekiah that Egypt was a bruised and crushed reed that could pierce the hands of those who turned to it for assistance. Rabshakeh of course was right on that and Isaiah would most surely agree with him wholeheartedly. For that was Isaiah’s earlier message to Judah to trust God and not the Egyptians.
Secondly, in verse 7, he jeered at the Judeans for trusting in
the LORD, their covenant God. Of Course this time Rabshakeh was totally wrong.
It was right for Hezekiah and Judah to trust God. For apart from Him who else could guarantee them the victory. But being a pagan idolator and a polytheist,
this envoy and Sennacherib thought that their idols were on par with Jehovah
God. To them, how could Hezekiah’s removal of the high places and the idols be
pleasing to Yahweh? Yet, there might be some among the Judeans who would
agree with this envoy because their own relationship with Yahweh was not well
established. They could still be seething with anger at Hezekiah for removing
the idols and breaking down the high places. Here is a reminder for us never to
live a life of compromise. God must be the LORD of all, or He is not LORD at
all.
Thirdly, in verse 8, Rahshakeh sarcastically
disparaged Judah by saying that even if the king of Assyria were to offer 2,00o
horses to act them, they would have no one capable
to ride on them. He even demeaned Hezekiah by saying that even the least of
Sennacherib’s soldiers would be more efficient on horses and chariots than he.
He then surmised that if Hezekiah was not even acquainted with a horse, how
dare he defy Assyria’s great king.
Lastly in verse 10, he claimed
to be acting at the behest of God. He reasoned that if God had not approved, he
would not have taken the effort to seek Judah’s destruction. He could well have
heard of Isaiah’s prophecies that God was using them as the dominant force of the day to deal with His
people.
Here we can see the boasting of
Sennacherib through Rabshakeh. All boasting, know it or not, is a sign of ignorance.
Rabshakeh, speaking on behalf of Sennacherib, was displaying how unaware he was
of the true situation. Here he failed to realize that God was in sovereign control. For us Christians, if we are to boast, be sure it’s Jeremiah 9:24’s kind of boasting. In that
verse, the Lord declares saying, “…let the one
who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that
I am the Lord who
exercises mercy, justice, and righteousness on the earth; for I delight in these
things ….” The
Apostle Paul echoing this verse added in 2 Corinthians 10:18 saying, “For it is not the one
who commends himself that is approved, but the one whom the Lord
commends.” One great motto in life to follow is: achieve without bragging
but accept defeat without giving excuses.
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