Isaiah chapter 36 and we'll read
from verse 1. Now it came to pass in the fourteenth
year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against
all the defenced cities of Judah and took them. And the king of
Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto King Hezekiah
with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of
the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field. Then came
forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house,
and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder. And Rabshake said unto them,
Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king
of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? I say, saiest thou, but they
are but vain words. I have counsel and strength for
war. Now on whom dost thou trust,
that thou rebellest against me? Lo, thou trustest in the staff
of this broken reed on Egypt, whereon, if a man lean, it will
go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
to all that trust in him. But if thou say to me, We trust
in the Lord our God, is it not He whose high places and whose
altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem,
Ye shall worship before this altar? Now therefore, give pledges,
I pray thee, to my master, the king of Assyria, and I will give
thee two thousand 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? And
am I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy
it? The Lord said unto me, Go up
against this land and destroy it. Then said Eliakim and Shebna
and Joah unto Rabshake, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants
in the Syrian language, for we understand it, and speak not
to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that
are on the wall. But Rabshake said, Hath my master
sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? Hath
he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they
may eat their own dung and drink their own piss with you?' Then
Rabshake stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language
and said, Hear ye the words 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. Neither let Hezekiah make you
trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us.
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 eat ye every one of his vine,
and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters
of his own 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. Beware, lest Hezekiah persuade
you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the
nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? Where are the gods
of Sepharvaim? And have they delivered Samaria
out of my hand? Who are they among all the gods
of these lands that have delivered their land out of my hand, that
the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? But they held
their peace and answered him not a word, for the king's commandment
was, saying, Answer him not. Then came Eliakim the son of
Hilkiah that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah
the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes
rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh. Amen. May the Lord bless this reading. The inclusion of this historical
chapter and the three chapters that follow it, so four chapters
in all, the inclusion of these chapters by the Holy Spirit and
the prophet Isaiah in the heart of this prophecy serves, I think,
to remind us how the Lord's people should at all times remain alert
and attentive for fulfillment of God's prophetic revelations. What is prophecy today is history
tomorrow. as the Lord's purpose unfolds
in time. True indeed it is that most Old
Testament prophecy has already been fulfilled with the coming
of the Messiah. The history of the remnant church
is watching and waiting to behold the glory of God. That was what
the Old Testament church did. They were encouraged by Isaiah
to note what was happening and interpret the events of their
ages in the context of the prophecies that they had been given. It
was designed to encourage and comfort them that as they saw
these things being fulfilled, so the messianic fulfillments
would also come to pass. Today we are in a similar situation. Now we can also incorporate New
Testament prophecy as we await with similar anticipation for
what yet remains undone and still to be completed. And holding
this thought in mind gives greater meaning, I suggest, to the phrase
that begins our reading, our chapter today. The phrase being,
now it came to pass. You see, Isaiah had been speaking
prophetically about Assyria and Sennacherib and the king of that
empire. And here we find the very fulfilment
of some of Isaiah's Assyrian prophecies. And Isaiah tells
us in these historic chapters, now it came to pass. So there's
a lesson here for Isaiah's readers that these things that Isaiah
prophesied of will indeed come to pass. And here are the examples. This is what John Gill in his
commentary actually tells us. He says at the commencement of
his comments on this passage, he says, the following piece
of history is inserted from the book of Kings and Chronicles
as an illustration of some preceding prophecies and as confirmation
of them. And another commentator that
I looked at, a gentleman called E. J. Young, Edward Young, he
says that these chapters are a bridge between the Assyrian
prophecies of the earlier chapters and the Babylonian prophecies
that are to follow. And that's perhaps going to be
interesting as we read these next few chapters, just to bear
this in mind. Because as we will see, as we
spend time thinking about Hezekiah, as we then reach chapter 40 and
Isaiah's prophecies begin again, that we will be looking forward
one more time to the coming of Christ and the comfort that is
to be found in his incarnation. So it's almost like a little
bracket, a little insert here of these four historic chapters. And another point just about
that before we turn to what is said in them. In scripture, we
take repetition to signify emphasis. Repetition signifies emphasis. Now, the Lord need only to say
something once, and that's true, and I'm not undermining that
in any way. The Lord needs only to say something
once, but, Should he say something twice or more, we ought to give
it double attention. And this meeting between Sennacherib's
envoy, a man called Rabshake, or at least that may have been
his title if not his personal name. But we will call him Rabshake
because the scripture does. This envoy of this officer of
Sennacherib so that the meeting between Rabshake and Hezekiah's
officers outside the walls of Jerusalem is repeated multiple
times in scripture. Let me just mention something
as a little aside. I think last week I said the walls of Jericho
when I meant the walls of Jerusalem. So forgive me for that little
mistake. But this meeting that took place
with Rabshake and Hezekiah's officers outside the walls of
Jerusalem is repeated multiple times in scripture. It not only
supplies us, therefore, with a fine example of true faith
in Hezekiah, but it teaches us repeatedly, emphatically, how
the church and the gospel continues to be attacked by the enemies
of the Lord Jesus Christ today. So, for today, I had initially
intended to highlight each of Rabshake's allegations and his
lies against Hezekiah. But then I thought, no, I'm going
to do it a different way. That method would be to give
too much prominence to the enemy of the gospel and to the false
professor. better rather dwell on Hezekiah's
positive faith and witness than to give undue attention to the
wild claims of an apostate. So here we have a few fine responses
from Hezekiah to Rabshake's offensive rant. The testimony of Hezekiah,
therefore, will be our subject today, and I think it will be
a blessing to the Lord's people as long as time lasts. Hezekiah is set before us in
Scripture as an honourable and a faithful man, and while he
is not without sin, he is a man who experienced forgiveness and
who knew where his salvation was to be found. So that the
following qualities, which we're going to highlight over the next
few minutes, are representative of Hezekiah's faith and trust
in his Lord and Saviour, and as such, are appropriate examples,
emphasised repeatedly in scripture, for men and women, boys and girls
like you and like me. So here is the first one of these
qualities that we find in Hezekiah. Hezekiah could say, we trust
in the Lord our God. We trust in the Lord our God. And this first feature of Hezekiah's
faith is principally uncovered by Rabshake's mockery. Rabshake said this effectively. He said, don't say to me, we
trust in the Lord our God. don't tell me that, don't, he
says to Hezekiah, don't tell me that you trust in the Lord
your God. Well, Hezekiah's response is,
yes, Rabshake, the Lord our God is precisely the one in whom
we trust. And here, we emphasise that he
is our God. We trust in the Lord our God. Now he surely was not Rabshake's
God. Rabshake, despite presumptuously
claiming that he knew the Lord God, did not know the Lord our
God. but the remnant of Israel does. The Church of God does. And in a few weeks, When we get
into, through these historical chapters and back into Isaiah's
prophetic chapters, we're going to encounter this verse from
chapter 43. Let me quote it here, though,
for the sake of illumination in this matter of the Lord our
God, which was Hezekiah's profession. Here's what the Lord says. Thus
saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee,
O Israel. Fear not, for I have redeemed
thee. I have called thee by thy name,
thou art mine. This is the Lord our God who
is speaking. This is the Lord our God in whom
Hezekiah trusted. There is a people in this world
formed by God for his special purpose. There is a people in
this world created in Christ Jesus, named particularly by
grace, redeemed individually on the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ, called personally in time and owned collectively as
the Church of God and the Bride of Christ. Hear this, Rabshake, as you stand
there by the fuller's field and shout out to the walls of Jerusalem. Hear this. The God who created,
formed, redeemed, called, and possesses his people is the Lord
God in whom we trust. He is our God. Did not Isaiah
say in the previous chapter, verse four, say unto them that
are of a fearful heart, be strong, fear not, behold, your God will
come with vengeance, even God with a recompense. He will come
and save you. Our God has said he will come
and save us and we trust he will. Our God has said he will come
and save us and we trust he will. He did on the cross. He has fulfilled
that messianic aspect of this prophecy and he will come and
save us in time and he will come and save us in and for eternity. We trust in our God, whose word
is true and who cannot lie. Rabshake knew nothing of a personal
God who loves, protects and preserves his people. Men and women speak
of personal faith, meaning the faith of an individual fixed
upon their God. but God's elect speak of the
personal faith of Jesus Christ, empowering and enlivening and
formed within his people for the salvation of their lives
and their souls. Hezekiah could say, we trust
in the Lord our God. And we, brothers and sisters,
add We have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified
by the faith of Christ. We trust in the Lord our God
for all our salvation and deliverance. So that was the first testimony
that Hezekiah made against Rabshake. He was able to say, we trust
in the Lord our God. Here's the second one that I
want to leave with you today. We worship at this altar. We worship at this altar. Rabshaki condemned Hezekiah for
taking away the altars of God and this showed his ignorance. Hezekiah didn't offend God by
removing idolatrous altars of human making. He honoured God
by returning the people to the altar of God's making and the
sacrifice of atonement that prefigured the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Just in the same way as the Reubenites
and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh had honoured the
altar Shiloh, so too Hezekiah had honoured the altar in the
temple by removing the altars throughout the land. Rabshake's
error has not disappeared in our own age and in our own day. Today, men and women imagine
that they can worship God at their own altars, bring their
own sacrifices, like Cain, bringing the works of their hands and
their own righteousness as an offering to God. But it will
not do. The psalmist says in Psalm 43,
verse three, send out thy light and thy truth, that's the gospel,
send out thy light and thy truth, let them lead me. Then will I
go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy. What is the altar of God? God
himself. my exceeding joy. And this again is messianic,
it is pointing us to Christ, it is pointing us to the altar
of sacrifice of the Lamb of God, that one act of redemptive and
atoning work that the Lord Jesus Christ performed for us. There
is but one way to God. There is but one acceptable righteousness
and it is found at the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hezekiah
knew this so he dismantled the altars of man's free will and
works righteousness that the uniqueness of Christ might be
revealed. and the light and truth, the
gospel of free grace might be sent to God's elect and be viewed
by them in all its glory. Rabshake would have men and women
make their own way to heaven if they can, but the Lord Jesus
Christ opened the one and only way of forgiveness and cleansing
when he died on the cross. Christ is our altar. This is
our God. Here's the third point. Hezekiah could say, we trust
in the Lord our God. He could say, we worship at this
altar. And he says, the Lord is with
us. Or can I say it like this? The Lord is with us. Sometimes one wonders why the earth does
not open up and swallow those who so brazenly blaspheme and
disparage Christ and his gospel, as Rabshake did here. Listen to what Rabshaki says
to Hezekiah, to his officers and to the people on the wall.
Listen to what he says. Verse 10. He says, And am I now
come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? The
Lord said unto me, Go up against this land and destroy it. Rabshakeh is claiming on Sennacherib's
behalf that the Lord had told him to go up against Judah, to
go up against Zion, to go up against Hezekiah and to destroy
them. No, he did not. That was a bare-faced
lie and Rabshakeh knew it. The land is Judah, the city is
Zion, the people whom God has chosen, the church that he loves,
his remnant people. And Rabshakeh presumes to suggest
that the Lord sent him to destroy it. I dare say Satan himself
would hardly conceive such a thing. But Rabshakeh insisted, the Lord
is with me. Well, Hezekiah contended and
contradicted. He says, no, the Lord is with
us. And I want to pause here and
realize the implication of this. The Lord was with one of these
two. He was either with Hezekiah or
he was with Rabshakeh. He could not be with both. And
that is still true. There are many who claim the
Lord is with them in their doctrines, in their practices, in their
ministries, in their denomination. And they cry out, Emmanuel, God
with us. But they go on. in their preaching
and their teaching and their doctrine and their practice to
deny the person and the work and the accomplishments of Christ
on the cross. Nor have they time for those
who preach a gospel of sovereign grace and the work of effectual
redemption. Indeed they would rather destroy
the doctrines of sovereign grace and the message of effectual
redemption. Who then is the Lord with? The
gospel is not merely a matter of interpretation and your ideas
as good as mine or splitting hairs or it's too much doctrine. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. It is the message of divine authority
in the salvation of sinners. It is the message of efficacious
grace. Christ either died to save his
people from their sins or he died to make salvation possible
for everyone. Which is it? Who is Christ with? Rabshakeh came to Zion to slay
Christ and destroy his kingdom. Rabshakeh was Haman. Rabshakeh was Herod. Rabshakeh
was Pharaoh. Rabshakeh was everyone who tried
to slay the Christ child which was Satan's great effort at all
times throughout the history of the Jews. That was Rabshake's
purpose and yet he claimed to be doing the work of God. Let me tell you something and
I say this with seriousness and I trust the degree of solemnity.
I'm willing to stand before God and denounce universal atonement
as a lie of hell. Are you willing to stand before
God and denounce particular redemption likewise? Because I ask the question
to these preachers of universal atonement, who is Christ with? Rabshake asked, am I now come
up without the Lord? There are many who come up into
pulpits without the Lord. What will it be to be arraigned
before the bar of God's judgment without the Lord? God be merciful. Here's the fourth thing that
Hezekiah testifies to. The Lord will surely deliver
us. Rabshakeh said in verse 14, Let
not Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver
you. Neither let Hezekiah make you
trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us.
Rabshakeh continued, hath any of the gods of the nations delivered
his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Nor shall the
Lord deliver Jerusalem out of my hand. How brazen this man
was to speak thus against God, blasphemously comparing the eternal
holy God with the idols of wood and stone carved by the hands
of men. And yet, still today, men and
women conceive of God formed in the image of their own imagination. Let Rabshaki come. Let him come, whoever or whatever
he may be. And I say this, I'm not going
to start enumerating things, but you and I, we have issues
in our lives. We have challenges that we face.
We have assaults that we must contend with. We all have Rabshakis. We all have our individual Rabshakis
who come and rail against God and Christ and the Gospel and
our testimony and our witness and try to bring us down just
as Rabshaki tried to destroy the city of Zion. Let Rabshaki
come, whoever he may be, whatever he may be, with his rantings,
with his ravings, and stand before Zion, the church of Christ, and
speak thus. We shall not listen. We shall not hear him. We shall
not give attention to these allegations. We know and believe that whatever
may befall us in this world, the Lord will surely deliver
us. not by our own strength, not
by the strength of men and women in their ways and in their works
or by their will, but the Lord himself will assuredly deliver
us. We look to the blood and the
sacrifice and the grace and the mercy and the sovereign love
of God towards us in Christ. We plead the name of Christ.
We plead the honour and the glory of God. We ask for his help for
his own namesake. We place our faith in Christ,
trusting only the merits of his blood. We rest our hope in Christ
and we are ready to die if we may but die in him. Say what you will, Rabshake,
we believe the Lord will surely deliver us. And finally, Hezekiah could testify, we shall
eat of our vine and rest under our fig tree and drink at our
sister. Rabshake cried out, make an agreement
with me by a present and come out to me, and eat ye every one
of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink every
one of the waters of his own sister." But Rabshakeen made
an offer he couldn't deliver. Oh, there may be pleasure in
sin for a season in this world. but there's no peace in time
or eternity for those who make a deal with the devil and sell
their souls to sin. Woe to the false prophet, woe
to the false preacher who offers peace where there is none and
to the ministers who comfort where there is none. There's
no peace outside of Zion. There's no rest outside of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
bread of life and the fountain of living water. Christ is our
sister. Christ is our vine. Christ is
the fig tree that nourishes and feeds our souls with sweetness. It is as we trust in Him that
all our needs are fulfilled and all our blessedness secured. All our hunger and thirst after
righteousness is supplied. And whatever this world has to
offer, it is scant recompense for missing Christ. What shall
it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose
his own soul? For some people the lies of Rabshake
doubtless sounded attractive. Perhaps there was a way of escape,
perhaps Sennacherib would show mercy and grant the peace that
he promised. But all who knew the truth stayed
securely behind the walls of Zion and they trusted the Lord
to keep its gates. There are many today who preach
lies and offer a peace they cannot deliver. Brothers and sisters,
let you and me follow our great King Hezekiah, our King Jesus,
knowing this. We trust in the Lord our God. We worship at his altar. The Lord is with us. He will
surely deliver us. and resting in Christ we shall
eat of our vine, rest under our fig tree and drink at our cistern,
the fountain of living water evermore. Lord bless these thoughts
to us.