Isaiah 36:1-11
Isa 36:1
Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king
Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the
defenced cities of Judah, and took them.
The Assyrian records date the time of Sennacherib’s
invasion of Judah at 701 B.C.
Hezekiah ruled as a co-regent with his father Ahaz in 722 B.C.
When Ahaz died in 715 B.C., then Hezekiah began his full reign.
So the fourteen years would include his co-regency with his father.
Sennacherib invaded Judah and took all the cities which he attacked.
He did not take all the cities of Judah.
Isa 36:2
And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to
Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of
the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field.
One of the greatest mistakes a conqueror makes is to
leave a fortified city in their rear which means that they could mount a
counter-offensive. So what
Sennacherib did was to dispatch Rabshakeh which was one of his field commanders
to Hezekiah. By sending Rabshakeh,
Sennacherib had broken the treaty which he made with Hezekiah.
The troops stopped just outside the wall of Jerusalem.
It was on the north side of Jerusalem close to the Damascus Gate.
Isa 36:3
Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which
was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder.
Then Eliakim came out to speak with them.
Eliakim was in charge of the palace.
Shebna the scribe also accompanied him.
He would have been like a Secretary of State.
Joah was the recorder who kept the official records.
They had gone out to meet them in hopes that they were still under the
treaty that Sennacherib made with Hezekiah.
Isa 36:4
And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah,
Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this
wherein thou trustest?
Hezekiah may have been assuring his people in Jerusalem
that nothing would happen to them and that they were safe.
Rabshakeh, whose name means “cupbearer of the prince” began to taunt them
and asked them where their confidence lies.
They wanted to know by what authority they did not surrender the city of
Jerusalem to Sennacherib?
Isa 36:5
I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain
words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust,
that thou rebellest against me?
Rabshakeh then tries to assault the confidence that
Hezekiah had by reminding him that Assyria took all the fenced cities of Judah
which were attacked. The cities of
Judah had no defense against the Assyrian army because of their strength and
numbers. He reminded Hezekiah that
there is no one to help him in his rebellion against Assyria.
Rabshakeh was sitting outside the gates of Jerusalem reminding Hezekiah
that all he had to do was give the word and the siege would begin.
Isa 36:6
Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on
Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is
Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.
Then Rabshakeh mocks them and asks them if they are
placing their trust in Egypt which would be no help to them.
Egypt is compared to a staff made up of a reed and broken at the top and
if a person leans on it, then it, being broken, will penetrate the hand and
cause bleeding. The imagery here is
that Pharaoh may come across as a powerful nation but he will turn his back on
those he made treaties with to build himself up.
So Egypt would not be one to trust in simply because they cannot be
trusted plus they would be no match for the power of Assyria.
Isa 36:7
But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God:
is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away,
and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?
Then Rabshakeh attacks the religious nature of Judah.
He did not know about the true worship of the true God.
He was associating the high places and groves with the worship of Jehovah
and thought that Hezekiah had removed them.
Hezekiah instituted reforms whereby all the false gods, idols, and their
altars were removed and destroyed and brought back the worship at the temple
because there was only one temple because there was only one true God.
Rabshakeh simply did not make the association between the single temple
and the true God of Israel.
Isa 36:8
Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the
king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on
thy part to set riders upon them.
Then Rabshakeh makes a wager with Hezekiah and in essence
he was asking Hezekiah to join him on his quest to conquer Egypt.
It was a common practice for Assyria to invite conquered people to join
them. Basically, Rabshakeh was
asking Hezekiah to surrender to them.
He was also taunting them that if they could find two thousand riders,
then he would give them two thousand horses.
What they do is with each town conquered they take the spoils from them
and re-strengthen themselves for the next engagement.
Rabshakeh would have picked up two thousand more soldiers if Hezekiah
would have acquiesced.
Isa 36:9
How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of
the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and
for horsemen?
Rabshakeh is using a tactic that must elicit a response
from Hezekiah. How would Judah be
able to resist such an offer which means they would not be destroyed in lieu of
placing their misguided trust in Egypt which would only turn around and stab
them in the back? Plus Assyria is
right outside the walls and there would be no time to send a courier to Egypt
and for them to get there on time to deliver them.
Rabshakeh almost has them in a situation where the answer to their
dilemma was obvious.
Isa 36:10
And am I now come up without the LORD against this land
to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
One of the psychological methods to destroy the morale of
those being conquered was to convince them that it was their own gods who
decided that they were to be destroyed.
This is precisely what Rabshakeh was doing when he was trying to convince
Judah that it was the LORD who told him that he was to conquer Judah and destroy
it. Maybe Sennacherib knew of
Isaiah’s prophecy which he prophesied back in Chapter 10.
O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger,
and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. (Isaiah 10:5)
However, he didn’t take into consideration the rest of the prophecy.
Isa 36:11
Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh,
Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand
it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people
that are on the wall.