One of the Biblical Middle Eastern Empires

Last night my brother and I were discussing the following story about King Hezekiah of Judah, and noticing similarities between this ancient Middle East conquest and the current conflicts involving that region. It's a two-chapter study from Isaiah.

Isaiah 36-37 -

"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 Rabshakeh 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, sayest 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?"

Compare to the current situation of America. Is this not the same argument the enemies of our country use? You can't win. We can't be beaten. Are you trusting in these other countries to be your allies? They will desert you. You'll be much better if you give up. Be our friends. Buy our oil. And always let us do whatever we want.

"...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."

The messenger of Assyria is certainly lying. So do our enemies claim that God is on their side. The god who would destroy Israel is no god at all. If God was telling the king of Assyria to destroy Israel, why would the king be willing to negotiate? It is a feint. Compare to Iran today, the land of ancient Assyria.

"...Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh,

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 Rabshakeh 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..."

Hear the wisdom of these counselors, and the cunning of the invaders. I heard it said this week that the war in Iraq is the first war in American history in which the American people got their news from the enemy. Many of our stories are received through the Middle Eastern news networks. In Judah, these counselors wanted to protect the people from the propaganda of their enemies lest it cause dissent and disunity and doubt.

At this point the Rabsakelah disregards the emissaries' request and continues in Hebrew to offer the people release from the siege, good food, and relocation to a land "like" their own.

"...But they held their peace, and answered him not a word:

for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not."

Here is how the Israelites were different from Americans. The newspapers in our country refuse the leader's request that they not publish information.

"...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."

And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe,

and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth,

unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

And they said unto him,

Thus saith Hezekiah,

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.

It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh,

whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God,

and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard:

wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left."

What was the ruler's reaction to a threat? First: he recognized the motivation. The spiritual assault here was that Assyria was reproaching the living God of Israel.

"...So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

And Isaiah said unto them,

Thus shall ye say unto your master,

Thus saith the LORD,

Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard,

wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

Behold, I will send a blast upon him,

and he shall hear a rumour,

and return to his own land;

and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land."

God's favor brings confidence. In a sermon preached in England before the American revolution, the preacher worried that no matter how just the cause of the English, if the Americans were sheltering under the protection and favor of God, not even the mighty armies of England would prevail.

"...So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah:

for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.

And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia,

He is come forth to make war with thee."

I want to point out the massive scale of Assyria's military campaigns. Part of the army is in Israel. Another portion is just finishing a war in Libnah (in Africa?), and the worried king of Ethiopia declares a defensive war against the empire-making conqueror.

"...And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah,

saying, Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying,

Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee,

saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands

by destroying them utterly;

and shalt thou be delivered?

Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed,

as Gozan,

and Haran,

and Rezeph,

and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?

Where is the king of Hamath,

and the king of Arphad,

and the king of the city of Sepharvaim,

Hena,

and Ivah?"

The Assyrians have to go fight another battle, but they send a threatening note "Don't think you're off the hook. We'll be back, and you won't have a chance." What does Hezekiah do?

"...And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it:

and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD,

and spread it before the LORD.

And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,

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.

Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear;

open thine eyes, O LORD, and see:

and hear all the words of Sennacherib,

which hath sent to reproach the living God.

Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations,

and their countries,

And have cast their gods into the fire:

for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone:

therefore they have destroyed them.

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."

Hezekiah still worries, because his enemies have a mighty army that has already laid waste to much of Judah and taken a lot of Israelites captive. BUT, he recognizes who is the God whom he serves.

"...Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying,

Thus saith the LORD God of Israel,

Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria:

This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him;

The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn;

the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.

Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed?

and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice,

and lifted up thine eyes on high?

even against the Holy One of Israel.

By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord,

and hast said,

By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains,

to the sides of Lebanon;

and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof,

and the choice fir trees thereof:

and I will enter into the height of his border,

and the forest of his Carmel.

I have digged, and drunk water;

and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.

Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it;

and of ancient times, that I have formed it?

now have I brought it to pass,

that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.

Therefore their inhabitants were of small power,

they were dismayed and confounded:

they were as the grass of the field,

and as the green herb,

as the grass on the housetops,

and as corn blasted before it be grown up.

But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in,

and thy rage against me.

Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, 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.

And this shall be a sign unto thee,

Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself;

and the second year that which springeth of the same:

and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.

And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah

shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:

For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant,

and they that escape out of mount Zion:

the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.

Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria,

He shall not come into this city,

nor shoot an arrow there,

nor come before it with shields,

nor cast a bank against it.

By the way that he came,

by the same shall he return,

and shall not come into this city,

saith the LORD.

For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake,

and for my servant David's sake."

Doom, doom. Sennacherib is in trouble. His victories have been easy because God, who created the land ages ago, enabled him to conquer. Now since the king of Assyria has made vocal his hatred for God, God is ending his winning streak at Jerusalem, and taking his life in short order.

"...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."

Let me translate. God made a point by smiting (killing) 185,000 of the Assyrian army.

"...So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed,

and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god,

that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword;

and they escaped into the land of Armenia:"

The land of Armenia is north of western Iran, covering the hill- and mountain- country of Ararat. A good cover for assassins and terrorists.

"...and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead."

Why a pair of brothers would murder their father so another brother could reign and they could leave - I can't figure out. In any case Assyria never recovered the greatness they had under Sennacherib. Babylon soon took over the world scene.

To God be all glory.