Rabshakeh's Psychological Warfare

“Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: ‘What confidence is this in which you trust?’” (Isaiah 36:4)

God’s people faced war. Isaiah had prophesied that the king of Assyria and his armies would come into their land like flood waters and reach up to the neck of Judah-Jerusalem. The time for fulfillment had come, and Assyria was invading. Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, swept through Judah just as the prophet had predicted, taking fortified city after fortified city, and Jerusalem was next on the list.

During this time, Sennacherib received word about his own problems back in Nineveh, and his hope was to convince Hezekiah to surrender quickly so that he could return. He sent a messenger to Jerusalem, called Rabshakeh (General, Field Commander), with one goal in mind: To destroy Judah’s confidence from every angle, and in so doing to convince them that their only option was to surrender. Sennacherib wanted Hezekiah to feel completely broken, lost, and without hope at Rabshakeh’s words.

Hezekiah’s messengers held their composure in front of the messenger, but later fall to pieces and tear their clothes when they return with news to the king (21-22). The message that so threatened Judah is one that continues to threaten Christians today, as we face those bent on destroying the Christian’s confidence from every angle. Let’s examine the speech of Rabshakeh, and learn from the surrounding events.

“You Don’t Have An Army”

“I say you speak of having plans and power for war; but they are mere words. Now in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me?…Give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses’if you are able on your part to put riders on them! How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master’s servants?” (Isaiah 36:5,8-9).

The first strike of Rabshakeh’s clever speech is directed at Judah’s internal insufficiency. Rabshakeh knew that trust in oneself is quite powerful, and that breaking that trust would be the first of many powerful blows to Hezekiah. Right he was that Judah should not have trusted in her own power and strength to defend herself against Assyria, but the truth is that Judah could have been unstoppable if she had trusted in Jehovah for help and protection rather than herself!

“Your Friends Will Betray You”

When Judah faced war, famine, or other struggles, her kings were often inclined to seek help from surrounding nations, namely the major powers of Egypt to the West and Assyria to the East. Though Jehovah made it clear to His people that both of these nations would have their day of judgment, the people many times refused to listen and faced the consequences of turning to heathen nations for help and protection rather than trusting in their God.

Rabshakeh’s goal in portions of his speech is to discredit Judah’s power of choice at the time, Egypt, by deeming it, “this broken reed…on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it” (Isaiah 36:6). Rabshakeh is right in saying this, though not because of any righteous motive-it was true that Judah should not have turned to Egypt, but only true because their real source of help and protection would be Jehovah Himself!

“Your God Will Fail You”

“Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you…Have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed?” (Isaiah 37:10,12)

The harshest words of the Rabshakeh are those aimed at discrediting Jehovah Himself, and destroying any confidence Judah may have had in Him. Heathen nations usually judged the power of their idols by comparing them to the idols of other nations-whichever idols had more victories and fewer defeats were the stronger idols in their eyes. Assyria viewed the people of Judah as essentially the worshippers of ONE idol (in reality, Jehovah, the ONE true and living God!), and so they felt that their many idols would easily gain victory.

Rabshakeh seems to demonstrate his knowledge of Jewish religion and prophesy when he says to the Jews, “Have I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? The LORD said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it’” (Isaiah 36:10). Jehovah had revealed through His prophets that He would use Assyria as the arm of His wrath, a pawn in His work of judging the heathen nations and even His own people for their sin. However, Jehovah made very clear the fact that Assyria and her kings would face judgment as well-it was by no means a righteous nation, and Rabshakeh fails to remember, “Assyria shall fall by a sword not of man, and a sword not of mankind shall devour him. But he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall become forced labor” (Isaiah 31:8)!

A Victory in Faith

When his messengers brought word of Rabshakeh and Sennacherib’s threat, and shortly after a final threatening letter, Hezekiah consulted with Isaiah and made an astounding decision to trust in Jehovah. He went up to the house of the Lord, spread the letter out for Him to see, and prayed to Jehovah God expressing total trust and confidence in Him and pleading, “O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the LORD, You alone” (Isaiah 37:20). In one night, an angel of the Lord killed 185,000 of Sennacherib’s troops, forcing Assyrian armies away from Jerusalem-the faith of her king had saved God’s people for a time.

Christians today may face fewer “sticks and stones” situations than the Jews of old, but often words of psychological warfare can prove extremely destructive for one’s faith! We may encounter Rabshakeh’s who will attempt to destroy our confidence in ourselves, our friends, our leaders, and even our God. Though they may be right about some things - We don’t have an army, our friends may at times betray us, and our leaders may even deceive us - We must never forget that we serve the almighty God whom Hezekiah prayed to: “O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth” (Isaiah 36:16)! May our confidence in Him never be shaken!

Related

Abundant Life: July 2010

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