2 Kings 18:17-37
17 Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh from Lachish, with a great army against Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they had come up, they went and stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool, which was on the highway to the Fuller's Field. 18 And when they had called to the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them. 19 Then the Rabshakeh said to them, "Say now to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: "What confidence is this in which you trust? 20 You speak of having plans and power for war; but they are mere words. And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? 21 Now look! You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 22 But if you say to me, 'We trust in the LORD our God,' is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem'?"' 23 Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses—if you are able on your part to put riders on them! 24 How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 25 Have 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.'"
26 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people who are on the wall." 27 But the Rabshakeh said to them, "Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?"
28 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and spoke, saying, "Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 Thus says the king: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you from his hand; 30 nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, "The LORD will surely deliver us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."' 31 Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: 'Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern; 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive groves and honey, that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, lest he persuade you, saying, "The LORD will deliver us." 33 Has any of the gods of the nations at all delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim and Hena and Ivah? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? 35 Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?'"
36 But the people held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king's commandment was, "Do not answer him." 37 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.
The king of Assyria sent messengers with a great army against Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah, with boasts against the LORD as they flaunted their power and might. The threats began with a mocking of Hezekiah trusting in Egypt for help, then taunting that the LORD sent Assyrian troops to conquer Jerusalem and God’s people if they did not surrender. He even had the gall to say that the LORD was with him and sent him to destroy the city and conquer Judah. He had done so to Israel in Samaria, and must have thought that was enough to fool or persuade Hezekiah. The emissary even argued that the king of Assyria sent him to talk to the defenders on the wall and not king to king in order to move them to giving up. They kept silent and brought the news back to Hezekiah instead of falling for the psychological operations. The messenger then tried to dissuade those on the walls of Jerusalem that Hezekiah could not deliver them, nor even the LORD! He said that the LORD could not do so because none of the gods of other nations were able to save them; he turned from saying that their LORD sent them for surrender to the LORD being just another diety among the plethora of all other nations. He blasphemed God. Those on the wall reported all this to king Hezekiah when the ranting and posturing threats of boasting against the LORD ended. This example teaches us to stand firm in the deliverance, the salvation, which we have in Christ to not be persuaded to give up the battle for the gospel and souls of men, nor our own eternal security in Christ Jesus our one and only Lord of lords and King of kings (1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 17:14). We who are called to and in Him are saints made holy by Christ’s righteousness, and we will persevere to the end by His promise, power, and authority in His finished work from the cross to the resurrection. We know the threats and boasts by the deceiver and are unmoved from victory in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57). Battles may appear lost at times, but the war is certainly won forever in eternity because He who is in and with us is greater than he who is in the world with a temporary rule. Let us go on in this certain hope as Romans 5:1-5 reassures us.
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