Rab-Shakeh's Discourse: 2 Kings 18:19-37

2 Kings 18:19‑37  •  5 min. read  •  grade level: 7
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The first part of Rab-shakeh’s discourse deals with Hezekiah’s trust in the Lord, trust which we have seen characterizing his piety. “What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?... Now on whom doest thou rely, that thou hast revolted against me?” (2 Kings 18:19-2019And Rabshakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? 20Thou sayest, (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? (2 Kings 18:19‑20)). Here the formidable pride of the Assyrian is laid bare. Could Hezekiah, deprived of his territory, shut up in Jerusalem like a bird in a cage, resist the army of the Assyrian? The last thought that occurs to the enemy is that one may confide in an invisible God, and that Hezekiah might have other governing principles, other succor than that of the world. If he were trusting in someone, it must be in Egypt. These thoughts increased the king’s wrath against Hezekiah. Egypt was exactly the enemy against whom his expedition was directed, and if Hezekiah had revolted it was, so he thought, that he was expecting its help. This was the case with all the surrounding nations who had thrown off the heavy yoke of the Assyrian. Was Hezekiah’s case different from all these? Perhaps he was pretending to trust in the Lord. “And if ye say to me, we rely upon Jehovah our God...” (2 Kings 18:2222But if ye say unto me, We trust in the Lord our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? (2 Kings 18:22)). Empty words! Hezekiah had taken away the high places and the altars of this God, for Sennacherib is ignorant of the true God and confuses Him with the idols which faithful Hezekiah had abolished. You may as well say you are trusting in Egypt! The world can never understand that Christians are not seeking to be allied with the world, and in fact there is nothing astonishing in this skepticism when we look at the condition of Christendom all around us. Is religion menaced with danger? Is it undergoing attacks or persecution? The Christian world immediately has recourse to the governments of this world to avoid this or to be delivered from it. Christendom’s behavior and works are founded upon the influence of the world or its financial aid. Their good works have no other support. The unbeliever is justified when he says to us, “But if ye say to me, We rely upon Jehovah our God..: in actual fact, you are not trusting Him any more than we are!” It was not so with Hezekiah. He could let the Assyrian speak, for he knew from what gods he had cleansed his people. He knew upon which God he could count.
But a very serious thing to consider is that the unfaithfulness of Judah had given the enemy an occasion to blaspheme the true God and to deny his existence. Since you had high places and altars, these were the Lord for you, he says. He does not know the Lord except by the idols which Judah had made its gods. He had the right to say to them, You have the same kinds of gods I do, and you serve them in the same way. And now you are saying: As for us, we trust in the Lord! What Lord, pray tell me? The Lord of the high places, or the Lord of the altar you have just set up? Are they different from one another?
And now, it is Jehovah that “said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it” (2 Kings 18:2525Am I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it. (2 Kings 18:25)). Did not the Assyrian have the right to speak about the Lord too, to say, “I have the same God as you, I know Him as well as you”? Are not these same expressions heard daily in the world today? War breaks out between two nations. Which one has God on its side? Both of them call upon His name, sure of the victory. Where is He, the true God? Alas! even among Christian nations—neither on the one side nor on the other. The true God is unknown to both. This was not the case with Hezekiah. His trust in God was being questioned by the enemy who was defying and mocking him. What should he do? Let the enemy talk, but himself hold his peace, looking humbly to God. The enemy was saying, The Lord is with me against you. Let him say so, Hezekiah, and just trust in your God whom the enemy does not know!
The Rab-shakeh speaks in Hebrew to the people upon the wall. Hezekiah’s servants beg him to speak in the Syrian language. This he refuses in words of defiance and disdain. The danger of seeing the people become discouraged may have filled Hezekiah with anguish. But the same danger leaves the believer’s soul tranquil and peaceful. He has only to keep silence. His trust in God answers to everything.
And now the Rab-shakeh attacks the person of the king. Hezekiah is a deceiver, a seducer (2 Kings 18:29, 3229Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand: (2 Kings 18:29)
32Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The Lord will deliver us. (2 Kings 18:32)). He is lying to you in persuading you to trust in the Lord (2 Kings 18:3030Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. (2 Kings 18:30)). Do not listen to Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:31-3231Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern: 32Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The Lord will deliver us. (2 Kings 18:31‑32)). Listen to the king of Assyria (2 Kings 18:2828Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria: (2 Kings 18:28)). He will let you live in tranquility; then he will carry you away to “a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive-trees and of honey” (2 Kings 18:3232Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The Lord will deliver us. (2 Kings 18:32)), a land just as full of good things as the land of Canaan. There is where you will find true abundance (cf. Deut. 8:7-107For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; 8A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; 9A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. 10When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. (Deuteronomy 8:7‑10)). No doubt you will be in bondage too, but the Assyrian will see that you are happy! Satan has always spoken thus to the hearts of men. Woe to him who listens to him, for the prince of this world never makes a man happy. Is it necessary to reason with him, to enter into controversy, or even conversation with him, even to answer him? Our first parents only proved it too well, to their own ruin and that of their posterity; the man of faith is not tempted to answer him. “But the people were silent and answered him not a word; for the king’s command was, saying, Answer him not” (2 Kings 18:3636But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not. (2 Kings 18:36)). It is only a matter of keeping silent and leaving the enemy to his threats or to his honeyed words. The people trust the words of the king, their leader, and imitate his faith. God uses this open attack of the Assyrian against God and against His anointed to strengthen and to revive the people.