Isaiah 36:1

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. (Isaiah 36:1–2)

When the enemy stands at your gate and blasphemes your God, the answer is not to argue—but to spread the threat before the Lord.

Hezekiah the Reformer

Second Kings 18 corresponds with the book of Isaiah at this point, where Isaiah is writing and prophesying during the reign of King Hezekiah. Hezekiah came to the throne at 25 years old and reigned nearly 30 years over Jerusalem. He was a good king—and that is significant, because when you study Kings and Chronicles, there were not many good kings. He was on the short list of those who sought and served the Lord.

He removed the high places, broke down the images, and cut down the groves—the places where the children of Judah worshiped their false gods. The groves were where they worshiped Asherah; the high places were where they worshiped Baal. Hezekiah put a stop to all of it.

He also took the bronze serpent Moses had made and broke it to pieces. Back in Numbers, when the people complained against the Lord, He sent fiery serpents into the camp, and everyone bitten would die. The Lord told Moses to make a serpent of bronze and put it on a pole, and whoever looked at it would be healed. Hundreds of years later, they still had that serpent—and they were burning incense to it, worshiping it. Hezekiah was the first king to decide it should be done away with.

Early in his reign Hezekiah was a reformer. He rebuilt the temple, refocused the people on the Lord, and the Lord prospered him. "The Lord was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth." He had military victory over the Philistines as far as Gaza. The people loved their king.

The Rebellion Against Assyria

But the end of verse seven tells us something that would become a problem: "He rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not." Remember back in Isaiah 7, when Ahaz was king and Syria and the northern ten tribes were gathering to war against Judah. Isaiah went out to meet Ahaz and told him the Lord would protect Jerusalem if he would trust Him—and offered a sign. Ahaz refused, and Isaiah gave the sign anyway: "A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son" (Isaiah 7:14).

Rather than trust God, Ahaz contacted Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, and paid for help. From that time Judah paid a yearly tribute to Assyria. Years later, after the deaths of Ahaz and Jotham, Hezekiah became king and declared, "We're not going to pay that tax anymore." He rebelled and served the king of Assyria no longer.

During the first half of Hezekiah's reign, the northern ten tribes were completely annihilated by the Assyrians, and Samaria was destroyed. But in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, in the second half of his reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. The king of Assyria was not happy that Hezekiah had stopped paying. He would deal with rebellion the way Assyria always did—by coming in to squash it.

Sennacherib Comes Against Judah

In Sennacherib's own annals, he records destroying 46 cities in Judah before he reached Jerusalem. Hezekiah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish: "I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear." He was ready to pay the tribute again. The king of Assyria demanded 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold, and Hezekiah gave him all the silver in the house of the Lord and the king's treasuries, even cutting the gold from the temple doors and pillars.

But once the king of Assyria received this payment and realized Jerusalem had a rich treasury, he decided to come and take everything. He sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh from Lachish with a great host, and they stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field. That is exactly where we arrive in Isaiah 36.

This event happened in 701–700 BC—we know precisely when it took place. Isaiah 36–39 is a historical interlude in the book, mirroring Kings and Chronicles. It reads like a parenthesis showing the condition of the nation at the time Isaiah was speaking. God had already prophesied in Isaiah 10 that He would use Assyria as the rod of His judgment, because the people had turned their backs on Him, worshiping with their lips while their hearts were far from Him.

The Enemy at the Water Supply

Lachish was only 30 miles southwest of Jerusalem—Sennacherib was very close to the capital. Imagine Hezekiah's mindset. One after another, his cities were falling. Refugees were fleeing to Jerusalem with news of more defeats. And now an army 185,000 strong was camped on his front lawn.

Notice where Rabshakeh stood: "by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field." That is the exact same location referenced in Isaiah 7, where Ahaz had stood surveying a strategic water supply, preparing the city for a siege that never came because God protected it. Now in Isaiah 36 it is not the king of Judah standing at that key water supply, but the enemy's army standing there outside the wall. A very strategic—and intimidating—position.

Rabshakeh's Fourfold Assault

Hezekiah sent out three ambassadors—Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah—to meet the Assyrian commander. This was the typical way a siege was negotiated: an army surrounds a city, ambassadors come out, and they try to broker peace, which usually meant servitude or heavy tribute.

Rabshakeh's message systematically tore the people down. First he belittled their plans: "Thou sayest... I have counsel and strength for war"—but these are mere vain words. Then he belittled their allies: "Thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt"—a reed that pierces the hand of the one who leans on it.

Then he attacked their God, reasoning that since Hezekiah had torn down the high places and altars, surely the Lord must be angry. The Assyrian misunderstood the reform. He thought a god would be better worshiped at a thousand altars than at one. But that is exactly the opposite of what God desired—Hezekiah was right to centralize worship in Jerusalem.

Finally he mocked their army: even if he gave them 2,000 horses, they could not find riders for them, and a single captain of Assyria would overwhelm them. Then he went further: "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." He claimed God Himself had sent him. No plan, no ally, an angry God, a worthless army—and now, he says, your God has turned against you.

Speak No Word to Him

The ambassadors leaned in and begged him to speak in Aramaic, not in Hebrew, so the men on the wall would not understand and be demoralized. Many scholars believe Rabshakeh was a turncoat apostate Jew from the northern tribes—imagine one of their own brothers standing there proclaiming Assyria's coming destruction.

Rabshakeh refused. He stood and cried in Hebrew so all could hear, telling the people not to let Hezekiah deceive them or make them trust in the Lord. He offered the easy way out: come out, make peace, pay tribute, and everyone goes home tonight to his own vine and fig tree. But notice the catch—"until I come and take you away to a land like your own land."

Isn't that exactly the devil's tactic? When we feel cornered and walled in, the enemy offers a tempting way out: "Just take a drink—everything will be fine. Just look at this—it's only a moment." But that road always ends in bondage. "A land like your own land"—but not the Promised Land. Beware lest the enemy persuade you that the Lord cannot deliver. Our God does deliver us.

Then Rabshakeh blasphemed outright: "Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?... that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?" He put the Lord on the level of carved idols. At that moment, the men on the wall should have started planning their victory party.

But "they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not." That is instructive for us. We are so often tempted in the flesh to reason with the enemy, to justify the temptations that come to us. But the command was to keep silent. It reminds me of our King in Matthew 26:63, who stood before His accusers and opened not His mouth. It reminds me of Jude 9, where Michael the archangel, contending with the devil over the body of Moses, dared not bring a reviling accusation, but said only, "The Lord rebuke thee."

Hezekiah Goes to the House of the Lord

The ambassadors returned to Hezekiah with their clothes torn—a sign of grief, disgust, and mourning—and reported Rabshakeh's words. When Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. That was the proper response.

He sent for Isaiah the prophet, saying, "This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth." That was a proverb of deep distress—a mother in hard labor at the very point of delivery, with no strength left, both mother and child at risk of death. "It may be the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh... and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard. Wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left."

Isaiah answered: "Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me." How awesome—God took the offense personally. He did not say, "How dare they tread on this great land," or "How dare they speak against good Hezekiah," or "You are My chosen people." He said, "They have blasphemed me." Therefore He would send a blast upon Sennacherib, who would hear a rumor and return to his own land, and fall by the sword there.

The Letter Spread Before the Lord

Rabshakeh returned and found Sennacherib warring against Libnah. Word came of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia advancing to fight Assyria, so Sennacherib sent a threatening letter to Hezekiah: "Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee... Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed?"

Hezekiah received the letter, read it, went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it out before the Lord. I love that. The letter no doubt made his blood pressure rise and a cold sweat come over him—and in his fear he took it straight to God and laid it out before Him.

Then he prayed: "O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth." Hezekiah was not reminding God who He is—he was reminding himself. You are the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim. You are the God, not a god—not like the idols of the nations that Assyria cast into the fire, for those were only wood and stone.

And notice his plea: "Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, even thou only." His desire was right. He did not pray, "Save us because we're such good people" or "because of our reform" or "because we have the temple." He prayed, "Save us so that You would be glorified."

God Answers the Prayer

Isaiah sent word: "Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria"—this is the word the Lord has spoken. Because you prayed, Hezekiah. If anything should exalt the importance of prayer in our understanding, it is that.

God declared that the virgin daughter of Zion despised Sennacherib and laughed him to scorn—because he would never take the city, never ravish its women as Assyria did everywhere else. "By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord," boasting of his chariots and conquests. But God answered, "Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it?" The cities fell before Sennacherib like cut grass only because God did it—not because of Sennacherib's greatness.

Then comes verse 28, which one translation renders, "I know where you sleep." When I was a teenager—every guy here understands this—you poke and prod your dad to see what he'll do. By twelve I was already taller than my dad, who is 5'7", and I'd push at him. He was very even-keeled, slow to anger, but his one threat was always, "I know where you sleep." That is exactly what God said to Sennacherib. Kings hid themselves, used lookalikes, took secret routes—but God said, "I know thy abode... thy rage against me is come up into mine ears. Therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest." That is precisely how the Assyrians led their own prisoners home—with hooks in their jaws. God would do to Sennacherib what Assyria did to others.

Deliverance for God's Own Sake

God then turned to comfort Hezekiah with a sign: for two years the people would eat what grew of itself, because they had been unable to sow under siege, and God would provide for them miraculously. In the third year they would sow and reap again. "And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward... The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this." Remember God's promise throughout Isaiah—a remnant shall return. He punished them to purify them, but would not let them be consumed.

"He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there... By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord." And indeed, in Sennacherib's own annals—the Taylor Prism in London and another in Chicago—he boasts of destroying Lachish and Libnah, but of Jerusalem he says only, "I shut up Hezekiah like a bird in a cage." He says nothing of destroying it, because he never did. God defended His city—"for mine own sake... and for my servant David's sake." Not because Hezekiah was special, but for His name and His glory, and to keep His covenant promise that the Messiah would come through David.

"Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses." The people went to bed terrified and woke up surrounded by 185,000 corpses, slain in the night.

Sennacherib's End

Sennacherib departed and returned to Nineveh, tail between his legs. One of the greatest conquering kings of Assyria, on a full-fledged rampage, simply went home—and for the next 20 years until his death he launched no more conquests.

Then, "as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god"—if you're going to have a false god, you might as well have a name like Nisroch—"Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword." This fulfilled God's word that he would fall in his own land. A rabbinical legend says Sennacherib, baffled that Jerusalem's God protected His people, was told it was because Abraham had been willing to sacrifice his son; so Sennacherib declared he would sacrifice two of his sons to his god—and they killed him and fled. Whether or not the legend is true, the point stands: God displayed His power against those who blaspheme.

The Application

This is a powerful reminder that our adversary, the devil, will come against us; the enemy will come in like a flood. When he does, we must call out to our God, for it is the Spirit of the Lord who lifts up the standard against him. The enemy will belittle you and tempt you to take the easy way out—but stand and trust in the name of the Lord your God.

Some trust in chariots, some in horses. Hezekiah was even tempted to trust in the chariots of Egypt, but God told him in Isaiah 31 not to lean on Egypt, for they could not help. Even the wicked king said Egypt was a broken reed. So Hezekiah laid the letter before the Lord and said, "God, You deal with this"—and the Lord did.

When we faithfully bring our battles before the Lord, God is able to deal with every one. It does not mean there will be no difficulty—remember, 46 cities of Judah fell. But we know our God reigns.

Closing Prayer

Father, we thank You for the testimony of Your word. Lord, I pray that the applications springing out of this passage would take root in us, and that we would take heart in them. Thank You, Lord, that for Your name's sake You stand on our behalf, because we are Your people. And we pray that when we are confronted with the enemy, we would flee to You, and not turn to the things of this world for strength, because they are nothing. We thank You that You are stronger. We praise You in Jesus' name. Amen.