The ancient country called Assyria was in the north of modern Iraq. The powerful *Assyrian *empire lasted for 300 years. It finally ended when the *Babylonians (from the south of modern Iraq) *seized Nineveh, the *Assyrian capital, in 612 *BC. • King Sennacherib ruled the *Assyrian *empire from 704... [ Continue Reading ]
ISAIAH: GOD CONTROLS THE NATIONS GOD DEFENDS *JERUSALEM ISAIAH CHAPTER S 31 TO 39 _NORMAN HILLYER_ CHAPTER 36 THE *ASSYRIANS ATTACK JUDAH V1 Hezekiah had been king of Judah for nearly 14 years. Then Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked Judah. He *seized all the cities in northern Judah, altho... [ Continue Reading ]
Sennacherib was still with his army that was attacking the strong city called Lachish (see 2 Chronicles 11:9). • Lachish was in the hills, south-west of *Jerusalem. To *seize Lachish would free Sennacherib’s forces to attack other cities in the mountains. Those cities included Hezekiah’s capital ca... [ Continue Reading ]
Sennacherib acts as if Hezekiah is unimportant. So Sennacherib does not even come himself to speak to Hezekiah. Instead, Sennacherib just sends some of his officials to speak to Hezekiah. So king Hezekiah only sends some of his officials to listen to the *Assyrian’s message. EGYPT WILL NOT HELP V4... [ Continue Reading ]
The *Rabshakeh never calls Hezekiah a king. He does this on purpose. He wants to make Hezekiah feel weak. The *Rabshakeh does not want Hezekiah to feel like a real king.... [ Continue Reading ]
The *Rabshakeh hurries from one subject to another subject on purpose. Hezekiah does not have time to think how to answer. WRONG IDEAS ABOUT THE *LORD V7 Then the *Rabshakeh added: ‘It is hopeless to say that the *Lord your God will help you. You cannot put your trust in him. Hezekiah has destroy... [ Continue Reading ]
The *Rabshakeh argues that the *Lord is not willing to help the people in Judah. And the *Rabshakeh claims that Hezekiah has not been loyal to the *Lord. The *Rabshakeh even suggests evidence to prove this point. Hezekiah has destroyed many local places for *worship. And Hezekiah told the people the... [ Continue Reading ]
But the *Rabshakeh does not understand the God whom Hezekiah trusts. People from other nations would make an *idol out of wood, silver or gold. They would consider that *idol to be their god. But the *Lord is not like some *idol that people have made.... [ Continue Reading ]
The *Rabshakeh continues to try to make the people’s trust in God weaker. Now he pretends that the *Lord himself has ordered the *Assyrian attack. THE *RABSHAKEH CONTINUES TO *THREATEN V11 Then Eleakim and Shebna and Joah said to the *Rabshakeh, ‘Please speak to us in the Aramaic language. We unde... [ Continue Reading ]
Aramaic was the international language that governments used. The ordinary people would not understand that language. But the *Rabshakeh wanted all the people to hear his message. He was trying to frighten the inhabitants of *Jerusalem.... [ Continue Reading ]
The *Rabshakeh now *threatens to cause terrible hunger. This is another effort to make people’s trust in God even weaker. ‘DO NOT TRUST HEZEKIAH!’ V13 Then the *Rabshakeh stood up. He shouted loudly in the Hebrew language to the people on the wall. ‘Listen to what the Great King of Assyria is tell... [ Continue Reading ]
The *Assyrians pretend to offer plenty of good food and a comfortable life. But of course it would be far away in a foreign country.... [ Continue Reading ]
It was true that none of the national gods could protect their countries from the *Assyrians. But those gods were merely dumb *idols. But the *Assyrians were completely wrong to think the same about the *Lord. He was not a ‘dumb *idol’! HEZEKIAH HEARS THE NEWS V21 But Hezekiah’s three officials m... [ Continue Reading ]
To tear one’s clothes was a sign of great despair. JERUSALEM ~ at the time of David and Solomon, capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah. ASSYRIAN ~ a person from the country called Assyria; or anything that has a relati... [ Continue Reading ]