City Walls

Two Lies and a Half-Truth

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Have I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’” (2 Kings 18:25)

The general of the armies of Assyria had the title, “The Rabshakeh.” The Assyrians brought their armies against Syria and Israel, and they completely conquered them. Now, that army surrounded the city walls of Jerusalem, the only unconquered city of any importance in the kingdom of Judah.

City Walls

The Rabshakeh spoke boastful words: Have I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? This enemy of God was bold enough to say that the God of Israel actually helped him to come against this land to destroy it. The Rabshakeh wanted the leaders of Judah and King Hezekiah to think that God was on his side.

It would have been easy for King Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem to believe this lie. After all, the Assyrians was wildly successful? Surely, God must be on their side. Didn’t the Assyrians have the most powerful army? Surely, God must be on their side.

That was a convincing lie. But the Rabshakeh had an even more persuasive deception. He told Hezekiah and the leaders of Jerusalem this: The LORD said to me, “Go up against this land, and destroy it.” This was the finishing strike of a brilliant attack. The Rabshakeh basically said, “Hezekiah, God told me to destroy you. I’m just doing His will, and there is nothing you can do to stop it, so you may as well surrender.”

Significantly, we can say that the Rabshakeh was partially correct! God was with him, and his attack on Judah did fulfil God’s prophesied plan. In conquering Syria, in conquering Israel, and in bringing Judah to the brink, the Assyrians did the will of God. God prophesied that all this would happen, and it is recorded in Isaiah 8:3-4, 7:16-17 and many other passages in Isaiah. The LORD did in fact raise up the Assyrian army to carry out His will and to allowed it to happen so His judgements would be carried out and His prophesied plan would be fulfilled.

However, we should never think that God tempted an innocent man with an evil plan. In fact, even though God predicted and planned this invasion of the Assyrians, the Rabshakeh was indeed lying when he said, “The LORD said to me.” The king of Assyria and the generals under his command did to seek the will of God or care about it.

God did not have to do anything special to direct the bloodthirsty, conquest-hungry Assyrians to attack. He simply allowed them to carry out the corrupt desires of their evil hearts. Therefore, the Assyrians could neverexcuse themselves by saying, “We were doing the LORD’s will,” even as Judas could never legitimately make that excuse regarding his wicked betrayal of Jesus.

God’s great plan never makes us less responsible for our actions.

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Kings 18

Don't Give Up

Gib nicht auf

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Laß dich doch jetzt einmal ein mit meinem Herrn, dem König von Assyrien: Ich will dir 2000 Pferde geben, wenn du die Reiter dazu stellen kannst! (2. Könige 18,23)

Die Armee von Assyrien hatte die nördlichen Nachbarn von Juda vernichtet, und sie hatten auf grausame Weise die zehn Stämme aus Israel verschleppt. Nun umlagerten die Soldaten die Stadt Jerusalem, nachdem sie nahezu alles andere in Juda erobert hatten.

Don't Give Up

Der General, der die Armeen von Assyrien befehligte – mit dem Titel „der Rabschake“ – hielt eine lange, öffentliche Rede in Hörweite von Hiskia, dem König von Juda. Der Assyrische General sagte Hiskia, dass Juda schon besiegt war, Jerusalem belagert und dass es keine Hoffnung und keinen Grund dafür gab, weiter Widerstand zu leisten.

Juda hatte auf eine Partnerschaft mit Ägypten vertraut. Vielleicht hatten noch einige in Juda geglaubt, dass Jahwe, der Gott Israels, sie retten würde – doch der Rabschake sagte ihnen, dass es keinen Sinn mehr hatte, auf Gott zu vertrauen. Er meinte sogar, dass Gott böse auf sie sei und sie niemals verteidigen würde! Der Rabschake bot Hiskia 2000 Pferde an – doch auch das würde ihnen nicht helfen. Er sagte sogar, dass er eigentlich auf einer Mission von Gott war, um Juda zu erobern.

Das war hart für König Hiskia. Doch in den Worten: Laß dich doch jetzt einmal ein mit meinem Herrn, dem König von Assyrien, erkennen wir den Plan des Assyrischen Generals. Seine ganze Strategie lief darauf hinaus, Hiskia zum Aufgeben zu bringen. Das war der einzige Grund, warum der Rabschake sich am Aquädukt aufhielt und diese Worte zu den Obersten von Hiskias Regierung sprach.

Der Rabschake hatte weitaus überlegene Armeen; er hätte Jerusalem auch ohne diese kleine Rede angreifen können. Doch der Rabschake bevorzugte es, wenn Juda einfach aufgegeben hätte, aus Angst, Entmutigung oder Verzweiflung.

Der Feind unserer Seelen macht es ganz genauso. Viele von uns stellen sich Satan so vor, dass er immer auf einen Kampf mit uns aus ist. In Wahrheit will Satan nicht mit dir kämpfen. Erstens, weil die Chance sehr groß ist, dass du gewinnst. Zweitens, ob du gewinnst oder verlierst, der Kampf kann dich näher zu Jesus bringen. Drittens, was Jesus in deinem Leben durch diesen Kampf tut, kann ein großer Segen für andere sein. Nein, Satan würde am liebsten gar nicht gegen dich kämpfen! Er würde dich viel lieber zum Aufgeben bringen.

Wir sehen genau diese Strategie, als Jesus in der Wüste versucht wird. Als Satan Jesus alle Königreiche der Welt verspricht im Austausch gegen Seine Anbetung, versuchte Satan einen Kampf zu vermeiden und Jesus mit Worten zum Aufgeben zu bringen (Lukas 4,5-8). Es funktionierte bei Jesus nicht, und es sollte auch bei uns nicht funktionieren.

Denke an die trügerischen Worte, die Satan flüstert – oder schreit. Sie haben nur eine Absicht. Satan will, dass du – ein Kind Gottes – aufgibst. Widersetze dich ihm und seinen Lügen mit Gottes Hilfe im Namen Jesu!

Mount Arbel

Remember How Great God Is

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Dear Pastor, Preacher, or Bible Teacher –

I hope you had a blessed weekend of serving Jesus, His people, and a needy world. For some of you, it was an exhilarating time; for others, there were more than a few discouragements. Whether it was an easy or a difficult ministry weekend for you, I pray God will bless, refresh, and empower to keep going and growing in serving Jesus Christ.

Here is a brief thought from Psalm 36:5-6 for you to consider today:

Your mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the great mountains;
Your judgments are a great deep;
O LORD, You preserve man and beast.

Today, take some time to remember just how great, how mighty, how wonderful the God you serve is. David understood it in Psalm 36. After spending the first four verses of Psalm 36 writing about wicked men in all their wickedness, David turned his mind to more pleasant thoughts.

Mount Arbel

We can picture David standing on a height overlooking the land of Israel – maybe even on Mount Arbel. As David looked up into the blue sky, he said: Your mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens.

Then he saw beautiful clouds drifting through the sky and said, Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

He turned his eyes north and saw Mount Hermon in the distance, and sang Your righteousness is like the great mountains.

Then he looked down at the beautiful Sea of Galilee and said, Your judgments are a great deep.

Finally, some well-fed rabbits eating grass caught his eye, and he thought about how God provides for all His creatures: O LORD, You preserve man and beast.

When David thought of the mercy, the faithfulness, the righteousness, and the judgments of God, he could only describe these attributes of God with the biggest things he could think of – the heavens, the clouds that fill the sky, the great mountains, and the great deep of the sea.

I don’t think there really are any great servants of God. We are all just serving Him in whatever way He gives and gifts us to do. It’s easy to think of ourselves more highly than we should!

But I do know this: we serve a great God. That in itself makes our work great! Be assured, there are no small servants before such a great God.

Blessings to You in Jesus’ Name – David Guzik

Click Here to Receive Email from David for Pastors, Preachers, and Bible Teachers

Don't Give Up

Don’t Give Up

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Now therefore, I urge you, 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! (2 Kings 18:23)

The armies of Assyria crushed the northern neighbor of Judah, and the cruelly carried away the ten northern tribes of Israel. Now those soldiers surrounded the city of Jerusalem, after having conquered virtually everything else in Judah.

Don't Give Up

The general commanding the armies of Assyria – who had the title “The Rabshakeh” – gave a long, public speech in the hearing of Hezekiah, the king of Judah. The Assyrian general told Hezekiah that Judah was already defeated, Jerusalem was surrounded, and there was no hope and no point in resisting any longer.

Judah had trusted in a partnership with Egypt – the Rabshakeh told Hezekiah that it would fail. Perhaps some in Judah thought that Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel, would rescue them – but the Rabshakeh told them there was no use in trusting God. He even said that God was mad at them and would never defend them! The Rabshakeh offered to give Hezekiah two thousand horses – but even that wouldn’t help them. He also said that he was actually on a mission from God to conquer Judah.

This was hard for King Hezekiah to hear. But in the words give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, we see the plan of the Assyrian general. The Rabshakeh’s whole strategy was to make Hezekiah give up. This was the entire reason the Rabshakeh was at the aqueduct, speaking to these leaders of Hezekiah’s government.

The Rabshakeh had vastly superior armies; he could have just attacked Jerusalem without this little speech. But the Rabshakeh would prefer it if Judah would simply give up, to surrender out of fear, discouragement, or despair.

The enemy of our soul uses the exact same approach. Many of us picture Satan as “itching for a fight” with us. Truthfully, Satan doesn’t want to do battle with you. First, there is the strong chance you will win. Second, whether you win or lose, the battle can draw you closer to Jesus. Third, what Jesus does in your life through the battle can be a great blessing for other people. No, Satan would much rather not fight you at all! He would much rather try to talk you into giving up.

We see this exact strategy used against Jesus during His temptation in the wilderness. When Satan promised Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in exchange for Jesus’ worship, Satan was trying to avoid the fight, and trying to talk Jesus into giving up (Luke 4:5-8). It didn’t work with Jesus, and it shouldn’t work with us.

Think of the deceptive words and lies Satan whispers – or shouts – to you. They all have one purpose. Satan wants you, the child of God, to give up. God helping you, stand against him and his lies in the name of Jesus!

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Kings 18

When the Enemy Makes Sense

Wenn der Feind vernünftig ist

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Und der Rabschake sprach zu ihnen: Sagt doch dem Hiskia: So spricht der große König, der König von Assyrien: Was ist das für eine Stütze, auf die du vertraust? Wenn du sagst: »Es ist Rat und Macht zum Krieg vorhanden«, so ist das leeres Geschwätz! Auf wen vertraust du denn, daß du dich gegen mich aufgelehnt hast? (2. Könige 18,19-20)

Der Feldherr der Assyrischen Armee (der den Titel Rabschake trug) repräsentierte den Assyrischen König Sanherib. Als die Assyrische Armee Jerusalem belagerte, tat er alles, damit König Hiskia aufgab. Er stand an einem öffentlichen Platz und sprach zu allen, die ihm zuhörten.

Wenn der Feind vernünftig ist

Der Rabschake schien die Situation völlig im Griff zu haben. Er konnte einfach in die Stadt Jerusalem gehen und an der Hauptwasserversorgung stehen – die für Jerusalem überlebenswichtig war in einer Zeit der Belagerung. Als er dort stand, kamen drei Beamte aus Hiskias Regierung, um ihn dort zu treffen.

Er hörte sie sich an und sagte: Was ist das für eine Stütze, auf die du vertraust? Hoffentlich vertraute Hiskia auf den HERRN, und der Rabschake verspottete dieses Vertrauen in Gott. Doch stattdessen legte Hiskia seine Hoffnung auf eine Allianz mit Ägypten, und der Rabschake wollte, dass er sein Vertrauen in diese Allianz verlor.

Es war eine große Versuchung für Hiskia, in dieser Zeit eine Allianz mit Ägypten einzugehen, denn Ägypten schien die einzige Nation zu sein, die stark genug war, um Juda vor den mächtigen Assyrern zu beschützen. Der Prophet Jesaja tat alles, um Hiskia davon abzubringen, dass Juda die Hoffnung auf Ägypten setzte (Jesaja 10,11-17; 20,1-6; 30,1-7). Der HERR wollte, dass Juda Ihm vertraute und nicht Ägypten.

In diesem Sinne sagte der Rabschake die Wahrheit. Gott wollte nicht, dass Juda auf Ägypten vertraute. Doch der Rabschake sagte das nicht, um Juda zu einem festen Vertrauen auf den HERRN zu bringen, der sie vor den Assyrern retten konnte und auch würde. Er sagte dies, um Juda komplett zu demoralisieren und in Verzweiflung zu stürzen.

Satan greift uns oft auf diese Art an. Der Teufel mag die Wahrheit sagen – so etwas wie: „du bist ein elender Sünder!“ Doch Satan sagt das nie um uns zu einem festen Vertrauen auf den HERRN zu bringen. Wenn wir hören, dass wir elende Sünder sind, sollten wir entgegnen: „Jesus starb für Sünder, also wenn ich ein elender Sünder bin, starb Jesus für mich und machte mich frei!“ Satans Strategie ist immer – auch wenn er die Wahrheit sagt – uns zu demoralisieren und in Verzweiflung zu stürzen.

Aus der Perspektive eines Ungläubigen, stellte Sanherib eine berechtigte Frage: Auf wen vertraust du denn, dass du dich gegen mich aufgelehnt hast? Menschen, die nicht glauben, können nicht verstehen, dass wir auf Gott vertrauen – dieses Vertrauen lässt uns anders leben als die Welt. Wir können von ihnen nicht erwarten, dass sie verstehen, dass Gott uns die Kraft gibt, uns gegen die Welt, das Fleisch und den Teufel aufzulehnen. Mit Gottes Hilfe werden wir das!

When the Enemy Makes Sense

When the Enemy Makes Sense

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Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: “What confidence is this in which you trust? You speak of having plans and power for war; but they are mere words. And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me?”’” (2 Kings 18:19-20)

The field commander of the Assyrian army (who had the title Rabshakeh) represented the Assyrian King Sennacherib. When the Assyrian army surrounded Jerusalem, he did his best to get King Hezekiah to surrender. He stood in a public place and spoke to all who would listen.

When the Enemy Makes Sense

The Rabshakeh seemed to be in complete command of the situation. He could walk right into the city of Jerusalem, and stand at the crucial water supply – which was Jerusalem’s life-line in a siege attack. As he stood there, three officials from Hezekiah’s government came to meet him.

With all listening, he said this: What confidence is this in which you trust? We might wish that Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, and the Rabshakeh mocked his trust in God. Instead, Hezekiah put his hope in an alliance with Egypt, and the Rabshakeh wanted him to lose confidence in that alliance.

It was a great temptation for Hezekiah during this time to make a defensive alliance with Egypt, which seemed to be the only nation strong enough to protect Judah against the mighty Assyrians. As a prophet, Isaiah did everything he could to discourage Hezekiah and the leaders of Judah from putting their trust in Egypt (Isaiah 19:11-17, 20:1-6, 30:1-7). The LORD wanted Judah to trust Him instead of Egypt.

In this sense, the Rabshakeh spoke the truth. God wanted Judah to have no confidence in Egypt at all. But the Rabshakeh did not do this to bring Judah to a firm trust in the LORD, who could and would deliver them from the Assyrians. He did it to completely demoralize Judah and drive them to despair.

Satan often attacks us the same way. The devil may tell us the truth – something like, “You are such a rotten sinner!” But Satan never does it to lead us to a firm trust in the LORD our God. When we hear that we are rotten sinners, we should reply like this: “Jesus died for sinners, so if I am a rotten sinner, Jesus died to forgive and free me!” Instead, Satan’s strategy – even if he tells us the truth – is always to demoralize us and drive us to despair.

From the perspective of the unbeliever, Sennacherib asked a valid question: And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? Those who don’t yet believe can’t understand the trust we have in God – the trust that makes us live different than the world. We can’t expect them to understand the strength God can give us to rebel against the world, the flesh, and the devil. God helping us – we will!

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Kings 18

Hear and Do

Hören und Tun

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Weil sie der Stimme des Herrn, ihres Gottes, nicht gehorcht und seinen Bund gebrochen hatten, alles, was Mose, der Knecht des Herrn, gebot; sie hatten nicht darauf gehört und es nicht getan. (2. Könige 18,12) Wie wissen nicht genau, wer der Autor vom 1. und 2. Buch der Könige ist. Doch in diesem Vers sehen […]

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