Isaiah 36

Isaiah 36:1

II. HISTORICAL TRANSITION: THE BOOK OF HEZEKIAH (Chaps. 36-39)Chapters 36 through 39, sometimes called “The Book of Hezekiah,” form the historical section of the Book of Isaiah. Except for Isa_38:9-20, they are almost an exact repetition of 2Ki_18:13, 1720:19. A. Hezekiah’s Deliverance from Assyria (Chaps. 36, 37)

1. Assyria’s Defiance of God (Chap. 36)36:1-3 In chapter 36, the Rabshakeh (lit. chief wine-pourer, but used of a governor or chief of staff), an envoy of the King of Assyria, meets three delegates of Hezekiah by the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field. This is the same place where Ahaz had stood when he was bent on trusting Assyria rather than Jehovah to save him from the Syrian-Ephraim alliance (Isa_7:3). 36:4-10 The Rabshakeh warns them that it is folly to trust in promises from Egypt because that base kingdom will wound anyone who leans on it. To any claim that they were trusting in Jehovah, he says that Hezekiah had removed the high places and altars of Jehovah. This was either ignorance or deliberate misrepresentation; Hezekiah had removed the high places of the idols and strengthened the worship of Jehovah at the temple. The Rabshakeh further taunts that the King of Judah couldn’t provide enough riders if Sennacherib were to donate two thousand horses. Since Judah is so undermanned, how can they hope to defeat the Assyrians, even with Egypt’s help? Finally he falsely claims that the LORD has commanded the Assyrians to destroy Judah. 36:11-20 Hezekiah’s envoys fear that the Rabshakeh’s insolent boasts and threats, spoken in Hebrew, will undermine the morale of the men of Judah, so they ask him to speak . . . in Aramaic. He not only refuses, but begins another loud harangue, charging that Hezekiah is deceiving the people into false security. He promises the men of Judah plenty of food if they surrender to him, plus eventual relocation in a land of equal fertility. He lists a series of conquered cities (including Samaria) whose gods had not been able to save them from the Assyrian juggernaut, and pointedly asks what chance Jerusalem has. The Rabshakeh arrogantly decides that God’s people should surrender. 36:21, 22 Following their king’s commandment Hezekiah’s men do not try to answer him but go and report his words to the king.