The Language of Intimidation Text: Isaiah 36:11-12
Introduction: The War of Words
We live in an age that imagines all conflict can be resolved through negotiation, through finding a common language, through diplomatic niceties. The modern assumption is that if we are just reasonable enough, polite enough, and accommodating enough, the enemies of God will see the wisdom of our position and meet us halfway. This is a profound and deadly delusion. It is a failure to understand the nature of the antithesis that God Himself established in the Garden. The seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman are at war, and that war is not fundamentally a misunderstanding. It is a clash of kingdoms, a battle of ultimate loyalties.
Here in Isaiah 36, we are not witnessing a mere geopolitical dispute between Assyria and Judah. We are on the front lines of a spiritual war, and the primary weapon being deployed is language. Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, has sent his chief mouthpiece, the Rabshakeh, to the walls of Jerusalem. And his task is not to negotiate a treaty. His task is to demoralize, to dismantle faith, to wage psychological warfare. He is a propagandist, a blasphemer, and a heckler, all rolled into one. He is the voice of the pagan state, full of arrogance, contempt, and intimidation.
The scene is set with meticulous care. The Rabshakeh stands by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field. This is the very same spot where Isaiah stood to confront King Ahaz, Hezekiah’s father, and called him to faith (Isaiah 7:3). Now, on that same ground, the voice of raw, pagan power issues a very different kind of call, a call to despair. The choice is always the same: faith or fear. Trust in the Lord, or trust in the blustering threats of godless men. And as we will see, the enemy of our souls does not want a quiet, private conversation. He wants a public spectacle. He wants to shout his blasphemies in the hearing of all the people, because his goal is to make faith look foolish and obedience look suicidal.
The Text
Then Eliakim and Shebna 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, “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?”
(Isaiah 36:11-12 LSB)
The Request for a Private Heresy (v. 11)
We begin with the response of Hezekiah’s officials. They are good men, loyal men, but their strategy here is born of fear, not faith.
"Then Eliakim and Shebna 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.'" (Isaiah 36:11 LSB)
Their request seems reasonable on the surface. Aramaic was the language of international diplomacy. Judean, or Hebrew, was the language of the common people of Judah. Eliakim and the others are essentially saying, "Let's keep this professional. Let's contain this. We are the educated elites; we can handle your threats and your blasphemies. But please, don't upset the common folk. Don't speak your poison in their language."
This is the classic blunder of the well-meaning conservative establishment. They believe that heresy can be managed. They think that the acid of unbelief can be contained in the sterile environment of the negotiating room. They want to treat a declaration of war as a simple diplomatic disagreement. They are asking the wolf to please whisper his intentions so as not to frighten the sheep. They are requesting a private heresy.
But the devil does not do private heresies. The world does not whisper its rebellion against God. It shouts it from the rooftops, it broadcasts it into every home, it teaches it in every school, and it sings it in every pop song. The goal of the enemy is never to have a quiet chat with the leadership. The goal is always the subversion of the people. The enemy wants to get past the gatekeepers and speak directly to the men on the wall, because faith is a corporate affair. A city is defended by the courage of all its men, not just the cleverness of its diplomats. If the people lose heart, the city will fall.
Eliakim's request, however understandable, is a sign of weakness. It signals to the Rabshakeh that his words are having an effect. It shows that they are more concerned with managing the morale of the people than they are with the public dishonor being done to the name of their God. When blasphemy is spoken, the first response should not be, "Shh, not so loud," but rather a holy indignation that the name of the living God is being dragged through the mud. Their fear of panic has momentarily eclipsed their zeal for God's glory.
The Public Nature of Unbelief (v. 12)
The Rabshakeh's reply is brutal, crude, and it lays bare the enemy's entire strategy. He has no interest in a polite, Aramaic debate.
"But Rabshakeh said, '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?'" (Isaiah 36:12 LSB)
The Rabshakeh mocks their request. He says, in effect, "You think this is about you? You think my master, the great king of Assyria, sent me here to parley with a few court officials? No, I was sent to speak to the men on the wall. They are the ones who will bear the consequences of your foolish faith. They are the ones who will starve in this siege. I am here to talk to them."
Notice the tactic. He drives a wedge between the leaders and the people. He portrays Hezekiah and his officials as insulated elites who will be fine, while the common soldiers will suffer the horrific realities of the siege. This is classic class warfare, a tool of demagogues in every generation. The enemy always wants to isolate the faithful from their leaders and from one another.
But look at the language he uses. It is intentionally vile. "Doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you." This is not the language of diplomacy. This is the language of utter contempt. It is designed to shock, to disgust, and to terrify. He is painting a picture of the logical end of their resistance. He is saying, "This is what your trust in Yahweh gets you. Filth, degradation, and a disgusting death." This is psychological warfare at its most raw. He bypasses their intellect and goes straight for the gag reflex. He wants them to feel the hopelessness in their guts.
And in a blackly ironic way, the Rabshakeh is preaching a sermon. He is describing the consequences of the covenant curses found in Deuteronomy 28. He is unwittingly describing the fruit of sin. But his application is all wrong. He attributes this coming judgment to the power of Assyria, not to the justice of God. He presents himself as the master of their fate. What he is really offering is the logical conclusion of turning away from God to trust in any earthly power, whether it be Egypt or Assyria. If you do not serve King Jesus, you will eventually be forced to eat the dung of the master you do serve. All idolatry ends in degradation.
The enemy's message is always public, it is always divisive, and it is always aimed at making obedience to God seem like the most disgusting and foolish path imaginable. He wants the men on the wall to hear, because he wants them to believe that God cannot or will not deliver them, and that surrender to the world's system is the only sensible option.
Conclusion: Answering Filth with Faith
So what is the proper response to this kind of assault? Eliakim and his friends wanted to manage the problem. The Rabshakeh wanted to overwhelm them with filth and fear. But Hezekiah shows us the right way. The instruction he gave his men was this: "Do not answer him" (Isaiah 36:21).
You do not get into a shouting match with a blasphemer. You do not debate a demagogue on his own terms. You do not answer the language of intimidation with the language of panic. You answer it with the quiet confidence of faith. Silence in the face of such taunts is not weakness; it is strength. It declares that your trust is not in your own clever rebuttals, but in the God who is being mocked. It is a refusal to be drawn down into the mud with the enemy.
This is the posture of our Lord Jesus. When He stood before His accusers, as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth (Isaiah 53:7). He faced the ultimate public shaming, the ultimate crude mockery of the men on the wall at Golgotha, who shouted, "He trusts in God; let God deliver him now!" (Matthew 27:43). And His answer was not a clever comeback. His answer was a quiet trust in His Father, followed by the deafening thunder of the resurrection three days later.
The Rabshakeh’s words are the voice of the world, the flesh, and the devil. It is a voice that is loud, arrogant, and foul. It promises freedom but delivers slavery. It promises life but brings a siege that ends in eating your own filth. It is the voice that whispers and shouts at every Christian, on the wall of their own particular calling, that trusting God is for fools and that surrender is the only smart move.
We are not to be intimidated by that voice. We are not to try and negotiate with it in a private room. We are to stand on the wall, in public, and refuse to answer. Our confidence is not in our own strength, but in the God who, with no army at all, would soon send one angel to silence 185,000 Assyrian mouths forever. The war of words is won by the Word made flesh, who has already defeated every proud blasphemy at the cross. Therefore, let us stand firm, let us be silent before our accusers, and let us trust in the God who always has the final, victorious word.