Bird's-eye view
In these opening verses of Isaiah 36, we are thrown headlong into one of the great biblical case studies of faith versus sight. The historical situation is dire. The Assyrian war machine, the terror of the ancient world, has rolled over the ancient Near East and is now parked on Judah's doorstep. This is not just a political or military crisis; it is a theological examination. The central question being posed is this: Who runs the world? Is it the king of Assyria, with his battering rams and his legions? Or is it Yahweh, the God of a tiny, beleaguered nation now cornered in its capital city? This confrontation is a physical manifestation of the spiritual war that is always raging. It is the city of man, full of swagger and blasphemous self-confidence, coming up against the city of God. What happens here will serve as a lesson for God's people in every generation. God is about to demonstrate that the most fearsome human power is but a leaf in the wind of His sovereign purposes.
The scene is set with meticulous historical detail, grounding the spiritual reality in the grit of real-world events. Hezekiah, a reforming king, finds his faithfulness tested by an overwhelming force. The arrival of Sennacherib is not an accident of history; it is a divine appointment. God has brought this crisis to Judah. As we have seen earlier in Isaiah, Assyria is the rod of God's anger (Is. 10:5), a tool He is wielding to chastise and purify His people. The events that unfold are a staged drama, designed by God to teach His people, and us, where true security lies. It is not in fortified cities or political alliances, but in the character and promises of the living God.
Outline
- 1. The Historical Crisis: A Test of Faith (Is. 36:1-3)
- a. The Invasion of the Sovereign Instrument (v. 1)
- b. The Psychological Attack Begins (v. 2)
- c. The Human Response: Judah's Leadership Faces the Threat (v. 3)
Context In Isaiah
This chapter does not appear in a vacuum. It is the historical climax and proof of the prophecies that have come before it. For chapters on end, Isaiah has been warning Judah about the folly of trusting in foreign alliances, particularly with Egypt, and calling them to a radical trust in God alone. King Ahaz, Hezekiah's father, had failed this test spectacularly, choosing to trust Assyria rather than God (Isaiah 7). Now, Hezekiah, who has instituted religious reforms and sought to trust the Lord, faces the consequences of his father's faithlessness and a direct test of his own.
Furthermore, Isaiah has already prophesied both the coming of the Assyrian scourge and its ultimate limitation by God's sovereign decree. God declared that the Assyrian would come like a flood, reaching even to the neck (Is. 8:7-8), but that God Himself would break him (Is. 14:25). This narrative section (chapters 36-39) serves as the historical vindication of Isaiah's prophetic word. It is the story of God proving that He does, in fact, declare the end from the beginning, and that His counsel will stand (Is. 46:10). The events here are the curriculum; the theology was laid out beforehand.
Clause-by-Clause Commentary
v. 1 Now it happened in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them.
The narrative begins with the cold, hard facts of the matter. The year is specific, grounding us in history. This is not a myth or a parable; it happened. And what happened was a military catastrophe. Sennacherib, the great king, the undisputed superpower of the day, has come up. The language is that of a rising flood. He is on the move, and his objective is Judah. Notice the scope: "all the fortified cities." This is not a border skirmish. This is a systematic dismantling of Judah's defenses. One by one, the strongholds that Hezekiah had likely spent years and vast resources building up, are falling. The verb "seized" is blunt. They were taken, captured, conquered. From a human perspective, the situation is hopeless. Judah is being devoured. But from a biblical perspective, we must ask the question: who sent Sennacherib? The text says the king of Assyria came up, but we know from earlier in Isaiah that God is the one who whistles for the fly from Egypt and the bee from Assyria (Is. 7:18). Sennacherib thinks this is his campaign, his grand strategy. He is deluded. He is an instrument, a tool, and God is wielding him according to His perfect and sovereign purpose. This invasion is not a sign of God's absence, but of His active, chastening hand.
v. 2 And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a heavy military force. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway of the fuller’s field.
Having crushed the outlying cities, the focus now narrows to the heart of the nation: Jerusalem. Sennacherib dispatches his high-ranking officer, the Rabshakeh, whose title essentially means "chief cupbearer," but whose role here is that of a propagandist and psychological warfare expert. He doesn't come alone; he is backed by a "heavy military force." This is a show of overwhelming power, designed to intimidate before the first arrow is even fired. The Assyrians were masters of this. Their goal was to make resistance seem utterly futile. And where does this confrontation take place? The location is pregnant with meaning. He stood "by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway of the fuller's field." This is the very same spot where Isaiah confronted King Ahaz decades earlier (Is. 7:3). At that spot, Ahaz refused to trust God and instead put his faith in Assyria. Now, at that very same spot, the bitter fruit of that faithless decision has ripened. The nation is now facing the full fury of the "savior" Ahaz chose. God is a master dramatist. He is staging this confrontation at a place loaded with historical irony to remind His people of the long consequences of unbelief.
v. 3 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him.
In response to this formidable threat, Hezekiah sends out his top cabinet members. These are the senior officials of the kingdom. Eliakim is the palace administrator, the prime minister. Shebna is the royal secretary. Joah is the official historian or recorder. This is the A-team. They come out to meet the Assyrian envoy. It is a formal parley between two kingdoms. But it is more than that. It is a meeting of two worldviews, two faiths. On one side stands the representative of raw, human, military power that acknowledges no authority higher than itself. On the other side stand the representatives of a covenant people, whose king has been trying to lead them back to dependence on Yahweh. The stage is now fully set. The human actors are in place. The threats are about to be made, the blasphemies will be uttered, and the faith of Hezekiah and his people will be put to the ultimate test. Everything hinges on whether these men, and their king, will remember the sermons of Isaiah or be mesmerized by the glint of Assyrian steel.