Isaiah 36: 1-12

It was their worst nightmare (1). That which they feared had come upon them. A people as cruel and barbarous as any you are currently hearing about on the news, if not more so, were camped on their door step. It looked like ‘curtains.’

The big army (2) was no doubt meant to intimidate. Bullies know how to turn the screw. They are experts at applying pressure to achieve their desired ends. Sennacherib had already demonstrated what this army could do (1).

He took a two-pronged approach. He sought to scare them with the size of his army, but also to undo their confidence with his words; words that were intended to terrify the people seeking to find shelter behind the walls of Jerusalem (11, 12). The big issue in these words is about ‘’depending’’. (See how the idea comes up in 5, 6, and 7). He was quite right to say that trust in Egypt would be futile (6). Isaiah himself had made the point clearly and well. They were not to trust in human alliances. ‘’Egypt? Don’t make me laugh. Egypt is a rubber crutch. Lean on Egypt and you’ll end up flat on your face.’’ The Message. But he was quite wrong to question the efficacy of trust in Almighty God (7). In the course of doing so, he showed that he had an imperfect understanding of what Hezekiah had done in his spiritual ‘clean up’ campaign. Hezekiah had not been telling the people that they were not to worship and trust in God anymore. He was calling them to get rid of their pagan gods.

The issue of where our confidence lies; who we depend upon; who we trust in is a major challenge to be faced day after day, and even moment by moment. Every difficulty and problem we run into forces us to choose. Will we trust in God or look to some substitute? Every ‘Egyptian’ crutch will snap under our weight and put splinters into our skin.

‘’From the words of the Rabshakeh (army field commander), you can learn much about warfare against your own spiritual enemy the devil. Satan is proud and confident of victory. He tries to frighten you into surrendering. He knows that the most important thing is where you put your faith (v.4). Are you trusting the world, yourself or the Lord (vv.6-7)? The enemy offers to give you something in return for your obedience (vv.8, 16), but there is always an ‘’until’’ involved (v.17)! He wants you to think that his gifts are as good as the Lord’s gifts and that the Lord cannot be trusted to help you (vv.14-15, 18). Use the shield of faith to quench those fiery darts (Eph.6:16) and never negotiate with Satan (v.21). Do what Hezekiah did: ask the Lord to help and believe His Word.’’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’, p.473.

Prayer: Help me to truly believe that the greatest opposition can be overcome through faith in you Lord.