2Ki 18:28 Then 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:
2Ki 18:29 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand:
2Ki 18:30 Neither 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.
2Ki 18:31 Hearken 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:
2Ki 18:32 Until 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.
2Ki 18:33 Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
2Ki 18:34 Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?
2Ki 18:35 Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?
Sermon Transcript
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We're going to our young people's address now and we're going to the Book of 2 Kings. So once again, turn with me please to 2 Kings and chapter 18. 2 Kings chapter 18. But we're not going to read yet. We're not going to read quite yet. We're going to read in a moment or two because I want to give a little bit of an introduction before we think of the words that the gentleman, not really very much of a gentleman, but the man that we're going to be speaking about begins his speech. So we're in 2 Kings chapter 18. 2nd Kings chapter 18 and that's where we will read from in a moment or two.
We ended last time with news that Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, was getting ready to come and attack Jerusalem and its king, a man called Hezekiah. And we reminded ourselves that Hezekiah was a man who loved the Lord. He was a man who trusted in the Lord. And he was a man whom the Lord blessed. But Hezekiah had made a move. He had withheld the annual tribute that used to be paid by his father to the king of Assyria. And he had withheld it for a number of years.
During the period that he had withheld that tribute, the king of Assyria had attacked Israel, the northern tribes, the ten tribes, and their capital, Samaria. Samaria had fallen, Israel had been destroyed, and the people, having been defeated, were deported to foreign lands. They were then replaced by other nations from different parts of the Assyrian Empire and effectively Israel was lost to history.
Now only Judah remains and Sennacherib turns his attention to Judah, to Jerusalem and to Hezekiah. When Hezekiah realized that Judah was about to be attacked He apologised, he panicked a little bit and he apologised and he agreed to send the wealth of Jerusalem including all the gold from the temple to Sennacherib. The Assyrians, well they happily accepted the payment that he gave them. but that did not stop them from marching against Judah. Sennacherib took the money and yet he still sent his army to conquer the land. and they came into the border cities of Judah, into a city called Lashish, and they besieged that city. They besieged other fortified cities as well until they fell one by one, and they planned to move on to Jerusalem next. But Jerusalem was not going to be such an easy city to take. It was a strong city. It was a tough city to breach. It had strong, formidable, natural defenses.
Indeed, that is why when the Israelites came into the Promised Land at first, the Jebusites retained control of Jerusalem for many, many years. And they lived as a little enclave within the tribes of Israel for a long time because Jerusalem was so difficult to conquer. And it was only in the time of David, long after the time of Joshua, in the time of David, that David succeeded. in conquering Jerusalem. And because it was such a stronghold, he made it his own palace and his own castle, fortified castle. And that is where the kings of Judah had always thereafter had their throne.
It had these natural defenses. steep ravines and valleys that went down several sides of the city and it had high walls. It meant that any army would be hard-pressed to gain entry. And furthermore, Hezekiah built tunnels and he built these tunnels Obviously they were underground. He built these tunnels under the city and he brought water from outside of the city into the city, from a series of springs into the city. And the construction of these tunnels, which are still in Jerusalem and can still be seen today, the construction of these tunnels ensured that those inside the city walls always had plenty of water, while those outside had none. The Assyrians realized that Jerusalem would be hard to conquer.
So, the king of Assyria, Sennacherib, formed another plan. He would defeat all the other cities in Judah. But while he remained at Lachish, he sent generals with a large intimidating force to negotiate with Hezekiah in order to take Jerusalem without a fight. The main speaker that Sennacherib sent was a man called Rabshakeh and he was a wily man. He stood close to the city walls and he delivered a devious but a well-crafted speech.
Who knows what it means to offer someone a carrot and a stick? Who knows what I mean when I'm talking about a carrot and a stick or a carrot or a stick as a means of motivation? A carrot and a stick is a way of getting someone to do what you want them to do using the promise of a reward, that's the carrot, with the promise of a punishment if you don't do what you're told, that's the stick. And it refers to an old method of getting a stubborn donkey to move, to move forward by dangling a carrot in front of it while threatening to hit it with a stick from behind. Rabshake, the spokesman of Sennacherib, used a carrot and a stick approach to Hezekiah, or more directly, to the men that Hezekiah sent to speak to him.
He sent three of his own men to speak to these three generals that came from Sennacherib's army to address the walls of Jerusalem. And this is his speech that we're about to read. It was intended to intimidate Hezekiah. It was intended to dishearten his people and cause them to rebel against the king. Perhaps even to hand over Hezekiah to Rabshakeh and the Assyrian force that was present there. Rabshakeh came to the walls of Jerusalem and he shouted to the people on the city wall and this is what he says in 2nd Kings chapter 18 and verse 19. And 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?
Thou seest, 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? Now behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand and pierce it.
So is Pharaoh the king of Egypt unto all that trust on him. But if ye say unto me, We trust in the Lord our God, is not that he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord, the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee 2,000 horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
Am 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. Then said Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language, for we understand it. And talk not with us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall. But Rabshake said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? Hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung and drink their own piss with you?
Then 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. Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand. Neither 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. Hearken 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 every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern. until 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.
With any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and of Arpad? Where are the gods of Seraphim, Hena, and Eva? Have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand? Who are they among all the gods of the countries that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?
But the people held their peace and answered him not a word, for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not. Amen. May the Lord bless to us this reading from his word. The first point that Rabshakeh made in his speech against Hezekiah and to the men that stood on the wall of Jerusalem was designed to strip away any hope of outside help. He said, don't think Egypt is going to come and help you. You are on your own.
And this is interesting because remember I said, was it last week, that there were two great regional powers at this time. To the northeast, there was Assyria and Babylon as well, but that Assyrian empire. And to the southwest, there was Egypt and Ethiopia. And these two powers were rubbing up against one another and wondering who was going to be more dominant. And some of the smaller nations that were around at the time tried to find a way of weaving their existence between these two regional superpowers. So Rabshaki said, don't imagine for a moment that Egypt is going to come and help you.
You are on your own. He likened Egypt to a broken stick. You know how when you have a walking stick, it's got a nice rounded top where you can lean on it? Well, if you had a broken stick and you tried to lean on a broken stick, well, the shards would pierce your hand and make them bleed, make it bleed. And that's what he described Egypt as being.
He said, lean on Pharaoh and it will cut your hand. You cannot trust Pharaoh. But he went on, this is his carrot and stick. He went on, he said, don't think you can trust the Lord either. Hezekiah has just knocked down all the high places in Judah. He's knocked down the groves.
He's, I don't know whether Rabshakeh, he didn't mention it, I don't know whether he knew it, but Yes, Moses had destroyed the brass serpent as well. And perhaps there were many people in Israel at that time who had worshipped the brass serpent who thought to themselves, Hezekiah is going against God. It was Moses who gave us this brass serpent. And Rabshakeh made use of this. And he tried to say that Hezekiah was not speaking the truth when he said God would help them because Hezekiah had knocked down all of the places where God was worshipped.
He said to them, thirdly, swear allegiance to Assyria and the king will give you horses. He will make you strong again. He will give you a force, an army, at least cavalry. If you can put men on them, he will give you the horses. And then he said, and oh, by the way, it was the Lord who told me to come up against Judah and destroy it.
I'm actually here doing the Lord's business. Perhaps he was suggesting that the people had been wicked and God was using Assyria and Sennacherib and Rabshake. Rabshake used the first person. He said, I, but he was really speaking on behalf of the king of Assyria, Sennacherib. But he says, I'm actually here doing the Lord's business. The Lord sent me to punish you.
You see how wily this man's speech was? And upon hearing Rabshakeh speak thus of having God's command and having God's blessing, Hezekiah's officers started to panic. And they asked him to speak in Assyrian or speak the Assyrian language that they could understand. Don't speak in the language of the Jews. We don't want the people on the wall to hear you. Well that was a pretty stupid thing to say. It was a pretty foolish thing to ask. Clearly Rabshake was there to cause as much trouble as he could. And realising that he was being successful, he shouted more loudly. And he began again.
He said, don't let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you. He said, don't... Listen when he tells you to trust the Lord. Don't believe him when he says the Lord will surely deliver us and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the King of Assyria. He said, Rabshakeh said, here instead, the king of Assyria, come out of the city, give it up, and you can stay here, living as you're used to, living as normal, until a suitable place can be found for you.
A place just like this place, a land of corn and wine, of bread and vineyards. of oil, olive, and honey. That's interesting, he didn't say olive oil. He said oil, olive. So that might mean there's different kinds of olives and he was speaking about the oil, olive. Anyway, he says the oil, olive, and honey, that ye may live and not die. So again, he is offering these wonderful things to the people. Why die when you can have all these good things?
And then he asked, have any of the gods of the other nations delivered at all their lands out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Not one. Do you think that your god is going to be any different? Do you think the Lord will deliver Jerusalem out of Assyria's hand?
And when he had finished speaking, we're told that nobody said a word. This was interesting because what that meant was that no one had believed what he was saying. No one had taken what he was offering or what he was threatening to heart. They had been obedient to Hezekiah and had remained silent as he had instructed. So that Rabshake realized that despite all his clever words and despite all his blasphemous statements, his words were not going to convince anyone.
Hezekiah's three officers returned with Rabshakeh's message to the king. And we read in the next chapter, I'm just looking ahead a little bit, but it says, So Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libna, for he heard that he was departed from Lashish. So the king of Assyria, Sennacherib, had probably destroyed Lashish by this time. He had moved on to another city called Libna, and Rabshakeh went back and told him, it's no use.
Jerusalem is not going to give up. They're not going to open the gates and let us in. We're going to have to battle with them. And the offer had been made and rejected. And now the two nations must prepare for battle or at least for a siege. Judah was in no fit state to battle against Assyria. It was a siege that now would have to take place. We'll come to that another day, but I want to just draw a few little lessons from what we have thought about here today.
Some people will say that Hezekiah was foolish to stop paying the annual tribute to Assyria. He should have let well alone, and so long as he paid his dues, There's no pun intended there. Judah could have survived and lived quietly while the Assyrians got on with dealing with their other problematic peoples and nations. But I doubt that that was true.
Sennacherib was building an empire and Judah was just a little part in his plans. Nevertheless, when Assyria rose up, as it were, to pounce on Judah, little Judah, Hezekiah wavered. He trusted the Lord. but he wondered if he had made a mistake here, that he had got it wrong and he apologised to Sennacherib.
He agreed to pay a fine, a penalty and Sennacherib set a very high price. Hezekiah paid it. though he had to strip the palace and the temple of all its gold. Do you know he even had to strip the gold off the walls? He had to strip the gold plate off the walls of the temple. But that wasn't enough. You know, it never is. Sennacherib took the money but he wanted Jerusalem too. Assyria was a bully, and Judah was weak, and Sennacherib wanted it all. However, Assyria did not reckon with the Lord God.
And sometimes the Lord gives His enemies, and ours, because if they're our enemies, they're His enemies. He gives His enemies little triumphs. before he crushes them and delivers his people from their trouble. That's sometimes how God works. And he does this to exercise our faith, to see if we will trust him even when times are hard and the enemy seems to be winning. And he does it as well for another reason. He does it so that in the end, the enemy's destruction will be even more severe, and his own victory the more glorious. When we trust in the Lord and follow His ways, this world will oppose us, and sometimes it will appear to get the better of us. But as we keep trusting the Savior, He has promised we shall have the victory in the end. Here's another lesson to draw.
Rabshake was a most devious and blasphemous man. He was also clever and he was well informed. He knew of Hezekiah's reforms and what had been happening in Judah in recent years. and he twisted the facts to suit his argument. Just like very often some people can twist the facts of the Bible in order to make their argument. Rabshakeh spoke in half-truths. He sowed doubt. He even used the Lord's own name to give the appearance of truth to his claims. And Satan is most dangerous to God's people when he comes dressed as an angel of light and whispers half-truths in our ears.
False teachers, men and women, who can quote the Bible are dangerous, whether they are religious or whether they are secular. As you grow up, You will meet people who are very convincing, very convincing, very persuasive in their arguments, just like Rub Shacky. And they will take great pride in beating you in a discussion and mocking you when you tell them that you believe the Bible and you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. I know, I've met such people and I couldn't hold my ground against them in debate.
But actually Hezekiah was clever too. And he told his men not to get involved with Rabshakeh, not to get into a shouting match with him. In fact, not even to answer him. And I think there's wisdom in that. I'm not saying that we should stay quiet if someone is asking what we believe, but I do think that there is very little value in arguing with people who simply want to make themselves look good and win the argument. Let them be in their pride. You may not be able to overcome them in the discussion, and therefore it is better simply to let the argument go. But you can be sure of this, the Lord will find a way to bring them down in due course. You don't need to worry about the honour of the Lord. Here's another point that I want to make.
Rabshaki said two blasphemous things. First, he claimed that the Lord had sent him to destroy Judah. Judah, mind you, the nation of David, the nation from whom the Messiah would come and of whom the Lord Jesus would be born to save his people from their sins. How could God destroy Judah? The Lord may discipline his people for their sin, but he will never destroy those whom he loves and delights to bless. It could never happen. Despite what Rabshakeh said, our Lord Jesus must be born from the house of David.
And I'm sure that that was even part of Hezekiah's confidence. One little city against this vast empire, this vast army. Hezekiah was confident because he trusted the Lord. He trusted that the promise given to David would be fulfilled, that a king would always sit upon David's throne.
Even when things looked bad, if Sennacherib had destroyed Judah, you and I who trust the Lord Jesus Christ could not have been saved. Heaven would be empty and God's eternal purpose would have failed. Such a thing could never be. Hezekiah was a man of faith and he believed God. The second blasphemy was to claim that the living and true God was no different, was no more powerful than all the idol gods of the nations already destroyed by Assyria. Their gods could not help them.
Why should your God deliver you? Why indeed? because he is God Almighty, because he has promised to save his people, because he is faithful and loving and gracious to his elect. In the coming weeks, we'll learn how the army of Assyria was broken and smashed and destroyed outside Jerusalem's city walls. And I feel sure that part of the ferocity and the scale of that destruction was due to Rabshake's blasphemy against our Lord. Be not deceived, Rabshake. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. May the Lord bless these thoughts to us today. Amen.
About Peter L. Meney
Peter L. Meney is Pastor of New Focus Church Online (http://www.newfocus.church); Editor of New Focus Magazine (http://www.go-newfocus.co.uk); and Publisher of Go Publications which includes titles by Don Fortner and George M. Ella. You may reach Peter via email at peter@go-newfocus.co.uk or from the New Focus Church website. Complete church services are broadcast weekly on YouTube @NewFocusChurchOnline.
Pristine Grace functions as a digital library of preaching and teaching from many different men and ministries. I maintain a broad collection for research, study, and listening, and the presence of any preacher or message here should not be taken as a blanket endorsement of every doctrinal position expressed.
I publish my own convictions openly and without hesitation throughout this site and in my own preaching and writing. This archive is not a denominational clearinghouse. My aim in maintaining it is to preserve historic and contemporary preaching, encourage careful study, and above all direct readers and listeners to the person and work of Christ.
Everything that exists is a thought in the mind of God.
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I spent the majority of my adult life building something I didn't know had a name. It started with the Scriptures and a lot of late nights. It ended with one sentence that generates every theological position I hold, from the nature of God to the nature of heaven and hell, without contradiction. One sentence. Thirty chapters. Sixteen appendices. And if you accept the sentence, everything else follows.
Most systematic theologies start with a list of doctrines and work through them one by one. This book starts with an ontological claim - that everything that exists is a thought in the mind of God - and derives everything from that single proposition. This is not a rearrangement of existing theology. This is a paradigm shift. Since Augustine imported Plato's metaphysics into the church in the fourth century, every major system of Christian theology has been built on a foundation the Scriptures never laid. This book identifies that foundation, names it, traces its influence across sixteen centuries, and replaces it with an ontology derived from Scripture alone. If the claim holds, this is the most significant shift in the theological starting point since Augustine. And I believe it holds.
This is not a devotional. This is not a commentary. This is a systematic theology built from the ground up by a computer programmer with no seminary degree, no denominational backing, and no one's permission. It uses the vocabulary of information theory, computer science, and quantum physics to describe realities that traditional theological language has never been able to reach. If you are a scientist who suspects that information is fundamental to reality but can't bring yourself to call it God, this book speaks your language. If you are a sovereign grace believer looking for a system that follows the logic all the way, this book does that. And if you have been told that the sharpest doctrine produces the coldest heart, this book ends with the widest arms you have ever seen in a Reformed theology.
The digital edition is free. The truth doesn't come with a price tag. - Brandan Kraft
Where this book stands in the tradition
4th century BC
Plato
Idealism — forms over particulars
The Republic ethic: “God is not the author of evil”
“Everything that exists is a thought in the mind of God, sustained by His will, authored by His purpose, and held together by personal covenants of love.”
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