Hezekiah means “God is Mighty”. He was Judah’s great king because of his overall faith in God.

1. Hezekiah fights wars

• War against idolatry (2 Chronicles 29:3-31:21 & 2 Kings 18:4-6.) He restored temple worship. He won this war.
• War against Assyria. See Isaiah 36-37. This was Assyria’s second attempt at invasion. The first time they came Judah paid them tribute and they left. Now they have broken their promise and they are in big trouble.
• War against death. See Isaiah 38.
• War against pride. See Isaiah 39.

2. The king of Assyria sends Rabshakeh to get Judah to surrender (vs. 1-5)

The year was 715BC, and the Assyrians had completely overtaken the northern kingdom of Israel. But they weren’t done yet. The kingdom of Judah lay to the south, and the Assyrian King Sennacherib desired to possess Judah’s lands as well. See Isaiah 8:7-8. The Assyrian flood had drowned everything but the head of Judah: Jerusalem.

See 2 Kings 18:14-16. Once Sennacherib had the silver and gold, there was really nothing to stop him from taking Jerusalem anyway, was there? This is the fallacy that mankind has never understood: When you “give the devil his due,” he simply demands more.

Rather than try to attack the city, or – as would most likely happen – have to put it to siege for months or even years. And so, Sennacherib sent a commander, Rabshakeh, along with a large army, to offer surrender – rather than destruction – to King Hezekiah.

3. Rabshakeh tells Judah not to trust in Egypt or in Jehovah (vs. 6-7)

He was right that they could not trust Egypt but wrong that they could not trust in Jehovah. They had misunderstood the reports describing the destruction of the high places. These altars had been an abomination to Hezekiah’s God.

4. Rabshakeh mocks Judah (vs. 8-10)

He offers to give 2,000 horses to their army if they had enough soldiers to ride on them. Since they can’t, then how do they think you’re going to win this conflict? Rabshakeh then claims to be sent by Jehovah to destroy Jerusalem.

5. Rabshakeh claims that their God will not deliver (vs. 11-22)

They asked Rabshakeh to speak in Aramaic instead of Hebrew, so that their conversation would remain private. But he had no intention of doing so. He yelled that their King Hezekiah was not going to be able to deliver them. And if they thought that their God could, they should consider that every other land which the Assyrians had attacked also had god, but every one of those land had fallen to the Assyrians. Why should they think that their God was any different?

This is where faith is really tested: When it can’t be determined with sight. Common sense says, “Every other nation has fallen. We will, too.” But faith says, “I have put my trust in God, and He is able to deliver.” See Psalm 91:7-10. Does your faith stand the visual test? When all odds are stacked against you, does your faith remain?

Categories: Isaiah