Saturday, December 1, 2018

Saturday - Isaiah 36 - God vs. Assyria (part 1)



T
HE 2 main national characters in this chapter are the Assyrians and the people of Judah. Isaiah said much about both groups. We can safely conclude that this account is inserted here to verify some of the predictions which Isaiah had recorded earlier.

The spokesman for the Assyrians in this situation was an evil general named Rabshakeh. With a crude vocabulary and an irreverent heart, he stood outside Jerusalem threatening its citizens. His words were aimed at King Hezekiah. He spoke directly to a squad of royal emissaries. Some of the general population of Jerusalem overheard the words of this gentile blasphemer. But, he didn't even know who his real opponent was. Ultimately, every one of his insults ended up on the desk of the Almighty.

Now, there is a lesson to be learned here that is not necessarily obvious, but it is important. Notice that Rabshakeh said something valuable and true, but followed it up with the gravest of errors.  He mocked the idea of a treaty between Judah and Egypt. Well indeed, God had the same opinion of any bilateral agreement between His elect nation and Egypt. Rabshakeh's reason and God's reason were not the same though. Rabshakeh was focused on the weakness of Egypt as a military power. God was concerned rather with the temptation of His own people to depend upon Egypt instead of depending on Him. This is where Rabshakeh really got off track though. Rabshakeh had no more respect for God's ability to help the Jews than he did in Egypt's abilities. Actually, he was speaking out of both sides of his mouth even in relation to Jehovah. On the one hand, he claimed to have the God of Israel on his side (Isaiah 36:10). On the other hand, he compared Jehovah to the smorgasbord of powerless gods whose nations the Assyrians had already defeated (Isaiah 36:15, 18 - 20). Lesson: evil men can't be trusted, even if they do occasionally say things that are true.

But, Rabshakeh (and his master) picked the wrong opponent to defy.

No comments:

Post a Comment