Also in yesterday's study we looked at the first sentence of the message. We are going to back up to repeat that sentence so we can study the message in its entirety. Sennacherib's field commander relays the message that Hezekiah's men are to take back to him at the palace. "On what are you basing this confidence of yours? You say you have the counsel and the might for war---but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? Look, I know you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him." (2 Kings 18:19b-21)
When we arrive at the book of Isaiah we will find some evidence that Hezekiah did, at one time, hope for effective aid from Egypt. We know that the final leader of the northern kingdom of Israel, Hoshea, worked diligently to make a military alliance with the king of Egypt. Hoshea wanted to combine forces with Pharaoh to repel the army of Assyria. But the king of Egypt let Hoshea down and apparently has let down every other leader who placed any confidence in him, according to the message of King Sennacherib whose scornful words in regard to Pharaoh are quite poetic. He states that anyone who attempts to lean on Pharaoh for help, thinking Pharaoh will be a strong ally, will find himself pierced by this "splintered reed of a staff" instead.
Just in case Hezekiah is depending on the Lord more than on an alliance with Egypt, Sennacherib has scornful words to say about God as well. "But if you say to me, 'We are depending on the Lord our God'---isn't He the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, 'You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem?'" (2 Kings 18:22) You may have heard the expression, "Know thy enemy." Sennacherib has made it his business to learn quite a bit about King Hezekiah and about events that have been taking place in Judah. But he hasn't been diligent enough in studying the religion of the people of Judah. His words in verse 22 display his ignorance regarding the Lord and His ordinances. Sennacherib doesn't understand that Hezekiah's removal of the high places and pagan altars was done in obedience to the Lord. The king of Assyria makes the erroneous assumption that the Lord is offended by the reforms made by Hezekiah; he does not understand that the presence of those high places and altars was an offense to God---not the removal of them.
Sennacherib may suppose that it was for the purpose of maintaining control over the people that Hezekiah ordered all offerings and sacrifices to be made at the temple in Jerusalem, which was near his palace. The king of Assyria may think that Hezekiah was keeping a tight reign on the people by controlling both the government and the religion of Judah. It would have behooved him to have spent more time learning about the God of Hezekiah. If he had a clearer understanding of who God is and about what God requires, he would have thought twice about threatening the king of Judah, for the king of Judah was carrying out the will of God when he removed the high places and the pagan altars.
The king of Assyria intends to thoroughly demoralize Hezekiah and the people of Judah if he can. He's already scoffed at the idea of Egypt being any help to them. He's made the statement that the Lord won't help them because they have offended Him. Now he ridicules the army of Judah, just in case Hezekiah thinks his men are more mighty in number or more valiant in battle than the soldiers of Assyria. "Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses---if you can put riders on them! How can you repulse one officer of the least of my master's officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?" (2 Kings 18:23-24)
Sennacherib is saying something like, "I'll even help you! I'll provide two thousand war horses for your army so that we will be more equally matched---that is, if you have enough men to put on them! I know you can't! You are depending on Pharaoh to send you horses and men to ride on them."
As if Sennacherib's message hasn't already been disheartening enough, he claims that he is coming against the nation of Judah upon the orders of God Himself. "Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this place without word from the Lord? The Lord Himself told me to march against this country and destroy it." (2 Kings 18:25)
Considering that the Lord did not prevent the northern kingdom of Israel from falling to the Assyrian army, Sennacherib knows his words are capable of planting seeds of doubt. He wants King Hezekiah and the people of Judah to lose heart. He attacks their faith in God. But, again, there is something he does not know. The Lord allowed Israel to fall because the majority of the people had turned from Him to idols. But at this point in time, under the leadership of King Hezekiah, a large number of the people of Judah have turned away from idols and back to the living God. Sennacherib is accusing Hezekiah of offending God by removing the high places and the pagan altars from the land, but the only person in our text today who is offending God is Sennacherib. He is lying about the Lord by claiming the Lord told him to destroy the nation of Judah. He is insulting the Lord by stating that He will not help the people of Judah. Sennacherib is wrong.
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