Bird's-eye view
This passage details the psychological and theological warfare campaign waged by Sennacherib, king of Assyria, against Hezekiah and the people of Judah. With Jerusalem under siege, Sennacherib dispatches his officials to undermine the city's morale. Their strategy is not merely military intimidation but a full-frontal assault on the foundation of Judah's hope: their trust in Yahweh. The Assyrian argument is threefold. First, they attack Hezekiah's credibility, painting him as a deceptive leader whose religious reforms have actually angered God. Second, they present an argument from brute empirical fact, pointing to their own undefeated track record of conquest. Third, and most blasphemously, they lump Yahweh, the God of Israel, into the category of all the other failed pagan deities they have defeated. This is a classic confrontation between pagan pragmatism, which trusts in what is seen, and biblical faith, which trusts in the God who is unseen but who has spoken.
The entire episode is a master class in enemy propaganda. The message is delivered in the common language, shouted to the men on the wall, and designed to terrify them into submission. The core of Sennacherib's error, as the chronicler points out, is a fundamental category mistake: he spoke of the Creator of the heavens and the earth as if He were just another idol, another "work of men's hands." This sets the stage for God's dramatic intervention to defend not just His people, but His own holy name.
Outline
- 1. The Blasphemer's Embassy (2 Chron 32:9-19)
- a. The Setting: A Siege and a Message (2 Chron 32:9)
- b. The Question of Trust (2 Chron 32:10)
- c. The Attack on the King's Credibility (2 Chron 32:11-12)
- d. The Argument from History (2 Chron 32:13-14)
- e. The Appeal to Unbelief (2 Chron 32:15)
- f. The Summary of the Slander (2 Chron 32:16-17)
- g. The Tactics of Terror (2 Chron 32:18-19)
Context In 2 Chronicles
This passage comes at the climax of the account of Hezekiah's reign, which the Chronicler presents as a high point of revival and faithfulness in Judah. Hezekiah has led the nation in a great Passover celebration (chapter 30), purged the land of idolatry (chapter 31), and made practical preparations for the inevitable Assyrian invasion (32:1-8). Having detailed Hezekiah's faithful actions and his exhortation to the people to trust in Yahweh, the Chronicler now brings the enemy onto the stage. The spiritual health of Judah is about to be tested by the most powerful military and political force on earth. The conflict is framed not simply as Judah versus Assyria, but as the living God versus the arrogant pride of man. This confrontation serves as the ultimate test of Hezekiah's reforms and the nation's renewed covenant commitment.
Key Issues
- The Nature of Blasphemy
- Psychological Warfare
- Faith vs. Empiricism
- The Sovereignty of God Over Nations
- The Uniqueness of Yahweh
- The Use of Propaganda and Half-Truths
- Corporate Responsibility and Leadership
Theology on the Wall
All warfare is theological. Every conflict, from a marital spat to a global war, is ultimately a clash over who is God and who sets the terms for reality. Sennacherib understood this perfectly. He did not simply surround Jerusalem with siege engines and wait. He knew that the battle for the city walls had to be preceded by a battle for the hearts and minds of the men standing on those walls. And so he unleashes his most powerful weapon: a blasphemous, demoralizing, and very persuasive argument.
The logic of the world, the logic of the serpent, is always the same. It is a logic of pure, unvarnished pragmatism. "Look around you. See what works. Raw power is all that matters. History is written by the winners. Your God is a quaint local superstition, and my boot is on your throat. Be reasonable." This is the speech that Sennacherib's servants shouted in the language of Judah. It was a sermon, an evangelistic appeal to the religion of power. It was designed to make the people's faith in an unseen God seem utterly foolish in the face of the very visible Assyrian army. This is the central antithesis of all history: the Word of God versus the words of men who would be as God.
Verse by Verse Commentary
9 After this Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem while he was besieging Lachish with all his forces with him, against Hezekiah king of Judah and against all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying,
The historical setting is important. Sennacherib is not personally at Jerusalem yet; he is mopping up the last major fortified city in Judah, Lachish. The famous Lachish reliefs, now in the British Museum, depict the brutal Assyrian victory there. So when his servants arrive at Jerusalem, their words carry the weight of an immediate and terrifying reality. This is not an abstract threat. The smoke from Lachish was likely still visible. The message is directed at two audiences: Hezekiah the king, and "all Judah who were at Jerusalem." Sennacherib wants to drive a wedge between the leadership and the people.
10-11 “Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, ‘On what are you trusting that you are remaining in Jerusalem under siege? Is not Hezekiah inciting you to give yourselves over to die by hunger and by thirst, saying, “Yahweh our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria”?’
The opening shot is a direct question about the foundation of their hope. "On what are you trusting?" This is the ultimate religious question. The Assyrians assume the answer must be something tangible: an alliance with Egypt, the strength of their walls, a secret weapon. They cannot comprehend that Judah's trust is in an invisible God. The Rabshakeh then immediately reframes Hezekiah's faithful leadership as malicious incitement. He accuses Hezekiah of leading his people to a miserable death. Notice how he accurately quotes the message of faith: "Yahweh our God will deliver us." The devil's best lies are always wrapped around a kernel of truth. He doesn't deny what Hezekiah said; he mocks the content of it as dangerous and foolish.
12 Has not the same Hezekiah taken away His high places and His altars, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, “You shall worship before one altar, and on it you shall offer offerings up in smoke”?
This is a brilliant piece of propaganda, a devilish twisting of the truth. Hezekiah's greatest act of faithfulness, the centralization of worship in obedience to Deuteronomy 12, is presented as an act of impiety. The Assyrian spokesman is essentially saying, "You are trusting in a God whose own shrines your king has desecrated! Hezekiah has angered your God by tearing down his altars. How can you expect a God you have offended to save you?" This was calculated to sow confusion and doubt among the people, especially those who may have had sentimental attachments to the old high places. It is a classic tactic: accuse the righteous of the very sins they are fighting against.
13-14 Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of the lands able at all to deliver their land from my hand? Who was there among all the gods of these nations which my fathers devoted to destruction, who could deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand?
Here is the argument from brute, empirical history. "Just look at our resume." Sennacherib appeals to an unbroken string of victories. His logic is simple induction: we have defeated every nation and their gods, therefore we will defeat you and your God. The key blasphemy is in the phrase "the gods of the nations." He places Yahweh in this category. He is just one more local deity on a long list of divine failures. The question "Who was there...?" is a rhetorical challenge, daring them to name a single god who has successfully stood against the might of Assyria. He is building what he believes is an unassailable case based on the evidence of history.
15 So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or incite you like this, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?’ ”
The conclusion of the argument is a direct appeal to the people to abandon their king and their faith. "Do not believe him." This is a call for treason, both political and spiritual. The final phrase, "How much less," is the ultimate insult. The Hebrew construction here is an a fortiori argument, what the rabbis would call a qal wahomer. It means "how much more," but here it is used with biting sarcasm. The unspoken premise is that Yahweh is even weaker than the other gods, perhaps because of Hezekiah's "impious" reforms. The logic is: if the greater gods of the more powerful nations could not save them, how much less can the God of this tiny, weakened kingdom save you?
16-17 His servants spoke further against Yahweh God and against His servant Hezekiah. He also wrote letters to reproach Yahweh, the God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, “As the gods of the nations of the lands have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand.”
The Chronicler summarizes the ongoing nature of this assault. It was not a one-time speech. They kept at it. And it was formalized in writing, in official letters. This was not just the trash talk of some field commander; this was the official policy of the Assyrian empire. The core message is repeated for emphasis: the God of Israel is being placed on the same level as every other pagan deity. The phrase "the God of Hezekiah" is also a subtle jab, attempting to reduce Yahweh from the God of all creation to the personal, tribal deity of a rebellious vassal king.
18 And they called this out with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to instill fear and terrify them, so that they might capture the city.
Here the tactic is laid bare. They bypassed the official diplomats and shouted their propaganda directly to the common soldiers and citizens on the wall, and they did it in Hebrew. This was psychological warfare of the highest order. The goal was not to negotiate but to instill fear and terrify them. A terrified, demoralized army is an army half-defeated. Sennacherib hoped to win the city not by breaking down the walls, but by breaking down the will of the people inside them.
19 And they spoke of the God of Jerusalem as of the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of men’s hands.
The Chronicler provides the final, divine analysis of Sennacherib's sin. This is the root of it all. He made a category error. He equated the Creator with the created. He looked at Yahweh, the self-existent, eternal God who spoke the universe into being, and classified Him with idols of wood and stone, the "work of men's hands." This is the fundamental folly of all paganism and all modern secularism. It is the creature attempting to sit in judgment on the Creator, to place Him within a man-made philosophical system. This was an error for which Sennacherib would soon pay an extraordinarily high price.
Application
The voice of Sennacherib's Rabshakeh is not a relic of the ancient world. It is the voice of every headline, every university lecture, every political pundit that tells us to be "realistic" and abandon our foolish trust in the God of the Bible. The argument is always the same. "On what are you trusting? Don't you see how history is going? Don't you see that science has explained away your God? Don't you see that raw power, political and cultural, is what really runs the world? Your biblical morality is holding back progress. Your faith is a dangerous incitement. Be reasonable. Give up."
The Assyrians had their undefeated track record. The modern world has its technological progress and its scientific consensus. The appeal is always to the tangible, the visible, the supposedly empirical. And the goal is always to make faith in the transcendent God seem like a ridiculous fantasy.
Our response must be the same as Hezekiah's. He did not try to argue with the Rabshakeh on his own terms. He did not try to muster a better empirical case. He took the blasphemous letter, went into the temple, spread it out before the Lord, and prayed. He acknowledged the truth in the enemy's claims, yes, Assyria had laid waste to the nations. But he rested his case on the one truth the enemy could not see: that his God was not like the other gods. Our God is the Creator. He is the one who determines the course of history. Our confidence is not in our own strength or wisdom, but in the character and promises of the living God. The world will always shout its taunts. We are called to stand on the wall, refuse to be terrified, and quietly trust the God who holds all the Sennacheribs of history in the palm of His hand.