Silent Before The Boaster. 2 Kings 18:26-37
The Decline and Fall of Israel and Judah
INTRODUCTION
The Second Book of Kings is a continuation of the First. It records the reigns of fifteen kings in Judah and of eleven kings in Israel. In Judah the dynasty of David continued to the end, while in Israel there were nine changes of dynasty.
The northern kingdom maintained an unbroken course of idolatry, until the nation was ripe for destruction. The end came in 722 B.C., when Samaria was taken by the Assyrians. Judah continued her course for nearly 150 years longer. But in spite of the efforts of prophets and good kings, the tide of idolatry could not be stayed, and Jerusalem fell before the Babylonians, 586 B.C. Nothing but the Exile could avail to purify the nation and restore the spirit of true worship.
II. FROM THE FALL OF SAMARIA TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM, II Kings 18-25
1. The Reign of Hezekiah, II Kings 18:1-8, 13-37; 19-20
43. Why were the Jews silent before the taunts of Rabshakeh?
SILENT BEFORE THE BOASTER.
SENNACHERIB ATTACKS JUDAH
Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in the Aramaic (Syrian) language, because we understand it; and do not speak with us in the Judean (Hebrew) language in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”
But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to say these things? Has he not sent me to the men who sit on the wall, [who are doomed by the siege] to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you?”
Then the Rabshakeh stood and shouted out with a loud voice in Judean (Hebrew), “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.
Thus says the king, ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to rescue you from my hand;
nor let Hezekiah make you trust in and rely on the LORD, saying, “The LORD will certainly rescue us, and this city [of Jerusalem] will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”
Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: “Surrender to me and come out to [meet] me, and every man may eat from his own vine and fig tree, and every man may drink the waters of his own well,
until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, so that you may live and not die.” Do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads and incites you, saying, “The LORD will rescue us!”
Has any one of the gods of the nations ever rescued his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?
Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad [in Aram]? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah [in the valley of the Euphrates]? Have they rescued Samaria (Israel’s capital) from my hand?
Who among all the gods of the lands have rescued their lands from my hand, that the LORD would rescue Jerusalem from my hand?'”
But the people kept silent and did not answer him, for the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”
Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the [royal] household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the secretary, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn [in grief and despair] and told him what the Rabshakeh had said.
SILENT BEFORE THE BOASTER.
SENNACHERIB ATTACKS JUDAH
The Jews met the taunts of Rabshakeh with silence. It was wise policy. It is infinitely better to hand over our cause to God, and leave Him to answer for us and avenge our wrongs. He will undertake our case, if we will but leave it unreservedly in His hands. The only exception is when some simple explanation will relieve the cause we love from any evil imputation. Rabshakeh could not have been made to understand the attitude of king and people. See Isa_37:22. Men of the world cannot read the secrets of the heart that is stayed upon Jehovah. God’s hidden ones are as great a mystery as was our Lord. Their life is hid with Christ in God, but some day He will be manifested, and they shall be manifested with Him in glory.
When our Lord was threatened, He remained calm and quiet. “As a sheep that before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth,” Isa_53:7, R.V. We are bidden to follow His steps and to do as He did, silently committing our cause to Him who never fails to vindicate those who put their trust in Him.
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