2 Kings 18 and Isaiah 36 show us yet more ways that Satan tries to deceive us. This time we see them in the person of the Rabshekah, a diplomat or high ranking court official for King Sennacherib of Assyria. Already the Assyrians have not only conquered Samaria in the Northern Ten Tribes, but also most of Judah's fortified cities. Next they come up against Jerusalem. Evidently we see some sort of face-off between the Rabshekah and King Hezekiah's emissaries, Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah. One has a mental picture of a man with a bullhorn standing outside the closed city gates. I doubt that is even close to accurate, but you get the idea of what is happening. Notice all the "devices" used to persuade the Judahites to simply ignore their king and surrender. (All the following verses are from Isaiah 36.)
In verse 4 he does a subtle putdown of their king by giving King Hezekiah no honorific at all—he is simply "Hezekiah," while he calls Sennacherib "the great king." It reinforces the idea that the Assyrian king is stronger than the King of Judah and therefore unconquerable.
He continues to try to make Hezekiah suspect in their eyes in verse 7, when he asks why they should expect their God to come to their aid when their king has torn down all the high places where they worshipped him.
In verse 8 he uses sarcasm to create doubt: "I will give you 2000 horses, if you can find enough men to sit on them." You can hear the heh-heh in his words.
He claims, in verse 10, to have God's support in his attack. "God told us to do this," and how could they argue about what he was told (they might think).
He speaks in the common man's language so they can all hear what he is saying. When Eliakim asks him to speak in Aramaic, evidently the diplomatic language of the time, he just shouts louder (verses 11ff).
Then he verbally attacks Hezekiah himself, claiming he is deceiving his own people and does not have their best interests at heart, verses 14 and 18.
He lies in verses 16,17 about how wonderfully the King of Assyria will treat them if they just leave Jerusalem and surrender, but by now he hopes they feel so desperate they will believe it.
After laying this foundation he comes to his final point in verse 20. None of the other gods has beaten us. How can you think yours will?
All through this, the man uses ridicule, half-truths, threats, and lies to try to get the people on his side. He blasphemes God by equating him with the idols of the nations around them and shows his complete ignorance of God when he talks about the high places as if God approved of them. Don't believe for a second that Satan won't use the same things against you, and he will do it with people you know, and with some you like or even trust. You simply must be wise enough to see what is really being said, and strong enough to stand against it. Now, more than ever, the world will blaspheme God and ridicule you for believing. They will call you stupid fools and ignorant rubes while showing themselves to be totally ignorant of what they mock. Hang onto that when you hear it. They are ignorant. They do not truly know what they are talking about, so how can you trust anything they say? Those people so long ago did not do very well very often, but this time they were not taken in and stood firm. Be sure you do, too.
“They will be Mine,” says the LORD of Hosts, “a special possession on the day I am preparing. I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him. So you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him Malachi 3:17-18
Dene Ward
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