2 Kings 18:17 – 37 Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 32:9–19; Isaiah 36:1–22)
“Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh, along with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. (Hebrew Tartan is the title of a field marshal, general, or commander in the Assyrian military. Hebrew Rabsaris is the title of the chief eunuch in the Assyrian military. Hebrew Rabshakeh is the title of a high-ranking Assyrian military officer; here and throughout chapters 18 and 19, as well as Isaiah 36 and 37.) They advanced up to Jerusalem and stationed themselves by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field. Then they called for the king; and Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, went out to them.
The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours? You claim to have a strategy and strength for war, but these are empty words. In whom are you now trusting, that you have rebelled against me?
Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?
Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? So now, was it apart from the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD Himself said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”
Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, along with Shebnah and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak with us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.” But the Rabshakeh replied, “Has my master sent me to speak these words only to you and your master, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are destined with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?”
Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you; he cannot deliver you from my hand. Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’
Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree, and drink water from his own cistern, until I come and take you away to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey—so that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, for he misleads you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’
Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”
But the people remained silent and did not answer a word, for Hezekiah had commanded, “Do not answer him.”
Then Hilkiah’s son Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Asaph’s son Joah the recorder came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they relayed to him the words of the Rabshakeh.”
Things are looking dire for the citizens of Jerusalem and King Hezekiah. The Assyrians are at the gates of the city and are screaming out threats of total destruction. Everyone knows that the Assyrian army is vicious – skinning people alive and then hanging them from the walls of their own city, walling city leaders up in closed rooms so they starve and die, ripping open the wombs of pregnant women.
Look at the arguments that the Assyrians put forth:
- King Hezekiah should never have rebelled in the first place. This argument has merit. Why Hezekiah thought he could challenge the largest empire in the Middle East is something nobody can understand.
- The Rabshakeh mocks Hezekiah for trusting in Egypt for help. This argument is also quite realistic. The description of Egypt as a splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it is pure genius.
- The Rabshakeh mocks Hezekiah for trusting in God, assuming that the Asherah poles, the Nehushtan, and the other pagan shrines Hezekiah has destroyed all are part of the worship of the One True Living God. The Rabshakeh is totally wrong, and will soon learn what a mistake it is to mock the God of Israel.
- The Rabshakeh claims that God has sent him to destroy Judah and Jerusalem. WRONG!!! The Rabshakeh knows nothing of God and is engaging in hyperbole.
- Finally, the Rabshakeh asks, “Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” Obviously, the Rabshakeh knows nothing of the power of God. Perhaps the Rabshakeh has never heard of the way in which God totally destroyed the Egyptian army, or perhaps he refuses to believe that event really happened.
APPLICATION: As this chapter ends, things look bleak for Judah and for King Hezekiah. But very soon the Rabshakeh is going to have an in – depth encounter with the power of the Living God. Before it’s over, God will miraculously deliver King Hezekiah and the kingdom of Judah. Eventually the Rabshakeh will return to his own land where he will be assassinated. God will route the most ferocious army in the Middle East just as He destroyed the Egyptian army during the Exodus.
Perhaps you feel stuck in an untenable situation with no possibility of deliverance. Perhaps you can identify with King Hezekiah and his officers as you listen to Satan’s threats. But remember that God does not play favorites. The God who delivered King Hezekiah and Judah can certainly deliver you.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to turn to You for deliverance, knowing that You can do far above anything we can possibly ask or think. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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