Commentary - 2 Kings 18:17-37

Bird's-eye view

This passage records one of the great biblical showdowns, a contest not primarily of swords and shields, but of words and worldviews. The Assyrian war machine, the terror of the ancient world, is parked outside Jerusalem. But before the siege engines are brought forward, the psychological warfare begins. Sennacherib sends his chief spokesman, the Rabshakeh, to preach a sermon of despair from the walls of the city. This is a master class in demonic propaganda. The speech is a brilliant and blasphemous cocktail of truth, half-truth, and outright lies, all designed with one goal in mind: to sever the people's trust from their God, Yahweh, and their king, Hezekiah. Rabshakeh argues from pragmatism, from history, from military might, and even offers a twisted theological argument. This is the voice of the serpent in the garden, the voice of the tempter in the wilderness. The central issue is faith. Where will Judah place her trust? In the visible power of Assyria, or in the invisible promises of the covenant-keeping God?

The response of Hezekiah's men, and of the people, is just as instructive as the assault. Under orders from their king, they meet blasphemy with disciplined silence. They do not engage in a debate where the enemy has set the terms. They recognize the spiritual nature of the attack, grieve appropriately, and take the matter to their lawful authority. This entire episode serves as a paradigm for the church under pressure. We are constantly besieged by worldly philosophies that mock our faith, misrepresent our obedience, and promise a counterfeit peace. The lesson here is to know the enemy's tactics, to stand firm in disciplined faith, and to take every blasphemous assault straight to the throne of our great King, Jesus Christ.

Outline

Context In 2 Kings

This event is the dramatic climax of the Assyrian crisis. The northern kingdom of Israel had already been conquered and deported by Assyria in 722 B.C. for their persistent idolatry (2 Kings 17). Now, Sennacherib has swept through the ancient Near East and has conquered forty-six fortified cities of Judah. Jerusalem is the last holdout. This confrontation comes in the context of King Hezekiah's sweeping religious reforms. He had cleansed the Temple, smashed the idols, and even destroyed the bronze serpent of Moses because it had become an object of worship (2 Kings 18:1-8). He had, in short, led the nation in a great act of covenant renewal. This siege is therefore the great test of that reformation. Will their renewed trust in Yahweh hold up under the most extreme pressure imaginable? The narrative is a hinge point: will Judah go the way of Israel, or will God preserve a remnant in His holy city for the sake of His promise to David?

Key Issues

The Devil's Apologetic

What we have in the Rabshakeh's speech is a masterful example of the devil's apologetic method. He does not show up with horns and a pitchfork; he shows up sounding reasonable, pragmatic, and even theological. His entire argument is a presuppositional assault on the knowledge of God. Notice his tactics, for they have not changed in millennia.

First, he isolates and attacks the foundation of his opponent's position: "What is this trust that you have?" He knows that everything for Hezekiah and Judah depends on their trust in Yahweh. Second, he employs damning truths. He is absolutely correct about Egypt being a "crushed reed." The devil loves to tell you a truth that will lead you to a damnable lie. Third, he misrepresents genuine obedience as rebellion. Hezekiah's righteous reforms are twisted into an attack on Yahweh. Fourth, he argues from a position of brute, materialistic power, mocking the unseen resources of the faithful. Finally, and most blasphemously, he claims God is on his side. "Yahweh said to me, 'Go up against this land...'" This is the final move in all pagan apologetics: to co-opt the authority of God for a godless agenda. This is not a negotiation; it is a sermon from the world, the flesh, and the devil, and it demands a response not of debate, but of resolute faith.

Verse by Verse Commentary

17-18 Then the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rab-saris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a heavy military force to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the fuller’s field. Then they called to the king, and Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them.

The scene is set with deliberate, ominous detail. Three high-ranking Assyrian officials arrive, but the Rabshakeh, whose title means "chief cupbearer" but who functions here as the chief spokesman, is the main actor. They don't just arrive at Jerusalem; they take their stand at a very specific spot: the conduit of the upper pool. This is the very same place where the prophet Isaiah stood to deliver a message of faith to Hezekiah's father, the faithless King Ahaz (Isaiah 7:3). The enemy has come to the place of prophetic utterance to deliver a counter-prophecy, a sermon of faithlessness. Three of Hezekiah's top officials come out to meet them, setting the stage for a formal confrontation between two kingdoms.

19-20 Then Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “What is this trust that you have? You say (but they are only empty words), ‘I have counsel and might for the war.’ Now on whom do you trust, that you have rebelled against me?

The Rabshakeh begins by mimicking the language of a prophet. "Thus says the great king..." is a blasphemous parody of "Thus says the Lord." He immediately identifies the central issue: trust, or confidence. He frames Hezekiah's rebellion not as a political act, but as a crisis of misplaced faith. He dismisses Judah's war council as "empty words," mere lip service. This is the world's constant accusation against the church: your faith is just talk, just empty words that have no bearing on reality.

21 Now behold, you trust in the staff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt; on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

Here is the brilliant use of a half-truth. Hezekiah had likely made some overtures to Egypt for an alliance against Assyria, a standard political move. And the Rabshakeh is absolutely right in his assessment of Egypt. The prophets, particularly Isaiah, had said the very same thing (Isaiah 30:1-7). Leaning on Egypt for help was like leaning on a broken reed that would splinter and pierce your hand. The devil's tactic is to get you to agree with him on a point of truth, in hopes that you will then follow him into his lie. He wants to move from "Egypt cannot save you" to "Therefore, Yahweh cannot save you."

22 But if you say to me, ‘We trust in Yahweh our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?

This is the most insidious argument in the speech. The Rabshakeh shows a surprising familiarity with Judah's internal religious affairs. He knows about Hezekiah's reforms. But he interprets this great act of obedience, centralizing worship in Jerusalem as the Torah commanded, as an act of impiety. "You have offended your God by tearing down his shrines! How can you expect Him to help you now?" This is a satanic twisting of righteousness. He re-frames obedience as sin. It is a poison-tipped arrow aimed at the heart of Hezekiah's confidence before God.

23-24 So now, come, make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to give riders for them. How then can you turn away one official of the least of my master’s servants, and trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

From theology, he moves to mockery. The offer of two thousand horses is a contemptuous taunt designed to highlight Judah's military weakness. "You are so pathetic you couldn't even field riders for horses if we gave them to you." The argument is simple and materialistic: we are big, you are small. We are strong, you are weak. How can you possibly resist even the lowest-ranking officer in our great army? It is an appeal to abandon faith in the unseen God for the terrifying reality of the seen army.

25 So now, have I come up without the approval of Yahweh against this place to make it a ruin? Yahweh said to me, ‘Go up against this land and make it a ruin.’ ” ’ ”

This is the blasphemous climax. The Rabshakeh claims to be the agent of Yahweh. And again, this is a devilish half-truth. God, in His sovereignty, was indeed using Assyria as the rod of His anger to punish the nations, including unfaithful Israel (Isaiah 10:5-6). But the Assyrian's motive was pure arrogance and lust for power, and God had already promised to judge him for that arrogance (Isaiah 10:12). The Rabshakeh twists God's sovereign decree into a divine endorsement of his own wicked campaign. He is saying, "Your own God is on my side."

26-27 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak with us in Judean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

Hezekiah's officials make a reasonable diplomatic request. They ask him to speak in Aramaic, the international language of diplomacy, so as not to incite panic among the common soldiers on the wall. The Rabshakeh's reply is brutal and contemptuous. He refuses, stating that his message is precisely for the common people. He wants to bypass the leadership and sow terror and division. His crude and shocking language about the consequences of the siege is calculated to break their spirit and turn them against Hezekiah.

28-32 Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in Judean, saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria... Do not let Hezekiah deceive you... make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat each of his vine and each of his fig tree... until I come and take you away to a land like your own land...

Now he preaches his false gospel directly to the people. He presents himself as their true savior and Hezekiah as the deceiver. He offers them a counterfeit covenant of peace. The language of "each of his vine and each of his fig tree" is a direct echo of the description of peace and prosperity under King Solomon (1 Kings 4:25). It is a satanic offer of blessing and security apart from God's covenant king. The promise of deportation to a "land like your own" was a lie. Assyrian policy was to scatter conquered peoples to destroy their national identity. He is offering them a cheap, immediate, and false salvation.

33-35 Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad?... Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their land from my hand, that Yahweh would deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’ ”

This is the Rabshakeh's final, and in his mind, unanswerable argument. It is the argument from comparative religion. He lays out his empirical evidence: Assyria has conquered everyone, and none of their gods could stop us. His worldview has no category for the one true Creator God. He places Yahweh on the same level as the petty tribal deities of Hamath and Arpad. His question is a presuppositional challenge: on what basis do you believe your God is any different? It is a challenge that can only be answered by faith, not by sight.

36-37 But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.” Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

The response of God's people is magnificent. They obey their king and remain silent. They do not get drawn into an argument with a blasphemer. You cannot reason a man out of a position he was not reasoned into. The Rabshakeh's position is based on rebellion, not reason. Silence in the face of such an attack is not weakness; it is strength and discipline. The leaders then do the right thing. They tear their clothes in horror at the blasphemy they have heard, and they go directly to their king. They take the problem to the authority God has placed over them, which is the first step in taking the problem to God Himself.

Application

The Rabshakeh is gone, but his voice is everywhere. It is the voice of the news anchor who mockingly asks how Christians can believe in a good God. It is the voice of the university professor who presents Hezekiah's reforms as oppressive and Sennacherib's pragmatism as enlightened. It is the voice of the advertiser who offers a counterfeit peace of vines and fig trees if we will just "make a deal" and bow to the spirit of the age. It is the voice in our own heads that whispers, "Look at the evidence. The other gods are losing. The world is winning. What makes you think your God can deliver you?"

Our response must be the same as that of the men on the wall. First, we must have a king who tells us, "Do not answer him." We must be commanded by Christ, through His Word, not to engage the world on its own blasphemous terms. We do not need to win shouting matches with fools. Second, we must cultivate a disciplined silence, a quiet confidence that refuses to be rattled by the enemy's propaganda. Third, when we hear the blasphemies of the world, our hearts should be broken. We should tear our clothes, spiritually speaking, grieving that the God we love is so dishonored. And last, we must take the report straight to our King. We must turn every taunt, every threat, and every blasphemy into a prayer, laying the enemy's proud words at the feet of the throne of Jesus Christ, and then wait for Him to answer.