2 Kings 18 (Part 2) Bible Study (Sennacherib Attacks Judah) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

I'm eager to come to this chapter with you in second Kings. So if you have a copy of God's word in your hands, please meet me in second Kings chapter 18. Apart from David and Solomon, Hezekiah receives more attention, more recognition than any other king in Judah's history. Really, all the kings in Israel's history. And students of the Old Testament will recall that there is more than just three extensive chapters dedicated to Hezekiah's administration.

We also have things about him in second Chronicles and even in the prophetic book of Isaiah, which means at least one thing. It is so obvious that the Holy Spirit of God longs for us to learn much from this one man's story. That is why we should be excited because three weeks ago, we only began to uncover the wisdom and the inspiration attached to Hezekiah's leadership and his walk with the living God. And thankfully, the Lord has given us another opportunity tonight to continue with this account. And I must say, I am excited.

I don't know how many times I'm gonna say it, but I'm so excited, not just because we're united, but because we're gonna learn a lot about spiritual warfare. If you endure this study until near the end, you will see what I mean. We're actually going to discover several insights of how Satan conquers people's minds. There's much to learn even before that. And in case we forgot, we only touched on the first 12 verses of Hezekiah's achievements.

And this evening, if the Lord wills, we're gonna complete this chapter together. So we're gonna read now beginning at verse 13. Actually, before we read, I think it would be good for us to refresh our memories. At least to recall the main takeaway from our last study in this book. The one thing that we were impressed with concerning Hezekiah is that he was exceptional in his obedience to the Lord, especially when you compare him with his predecessors.

We learn earlier in second Kings 18 that he spearheaded a wonderful revival, a reformation to Judah in confronting issues, compromising issues that were widely neglected by former kings, even good kings. And so, we were refreshed by this man's wholehearted devotion to the Lord. That is what we left with in our last study. Now, we pick up where we left off, and this is important to keep in mind as we crack open this study beginning in verse 13. Now we're gonna read.

Let's read verse 13 down to verse 16. In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish saying, I have done wrong. Withdraw from me whatever you impose on me, I will bear. And the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah, king of Judah, 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold.

And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king's house. At that time, Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord and from the doorpost that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and he gave it to the king of Assyria. We have seen in our study of the Old Testament many invasions, many threats from foreign enemies, have we not? Concerning the people of God. Absolutely.

But the common trend in scripture is that these raids and these sieges followed prolonged disobedience on the part of God's covenant people. That's the trend. That's what makes this particular passage so striking to us. Because as we just heard, Hezekiah stood out for his bright and strong allegiance to the true God. He was one of the few that held fast to the Lord.

And so the question that should come to our minds is how can it be that Assyria encroaches upon Judah and actually gains partial victory? How is this possible? And in case there might be any suspect that there is some hidden rebellion or compromise in Hezekiah, there is a neighboring account that affirms his fidelity to the Lord. This is gonna be worth it. You need to turn to the the parallel account in second Chronicles 32.

Just one verse. I'll wait for you. Second Chronicles 32 verse one, notice how the chronicler depicts the same event. By the spirit, he says in verse one, after these things and these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and encamped against the fortified cities thinking to win them for himself. Read slowly.

Notice that Sennacherib did not a camp against the cities of Judah after acts of faithlessness, But after Hezekiah's faithfulness, I thought faithfulness led to prosperity, not problems. To blessings, not burdens. To a smooth path forward, not surprise attacks. That's what many Christians believe. It's not that simple.

Understand this. The blessings of God are often packaged in ways that we would not expect. And that is true here. And you might be wondering, well, what kind of advantage is there to a vicious superpower of a nation harassing the people of God? This is the best answer I can give you.

Pay attention to this. That as much as Hezekiah did for the glory of God, there was still so much that God wanted to do and needed to do in Hezekiah. And it would require this big test in order to achieve it. I'm reminded of the words of Jesus in John fifteen two when he speaks about every branch in him that does not bear fruit is taken away, whereas every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it can bear more fruit. Pruning is painful.

There is a cutting process. There is a removing. There is a stripping. It is uncomfortable. And I believe that is what's happening here with Hezekiah.

Faithful, righteous Hezekiah is being pruned. And this is something that you and I have to understand, especially when it comes to interpreting the trials in our lives. If you're not careful, you can be quick to see things that are uncomfortable or painful as expressions of divine displeasure or punishments. Always keep in mind that as you are walking obediently, as you are faithfully serving the Lord, Jesus Christ, your Lord, your savior, is always ready to prune you. Always.

As you're bearing fruit. So pain isn't always our portion because we veer off, or because we're being disciplined for unrepentant sin. Now even while you are flourishing in your faith, God might allow some pain always with a redemptive goal in mind. And that is precisely what is before us today. Because as much again as Hezekiah obeyed the Lord in remarkable fashion, there were still things that needed to be done in him.

What? What can be done in Hezekiah? We heard in our last study a few weeks ago that he's he trusted in the Lord. He clung to the Lord. He he feared the Lord.

And if you look back at verse five, again, I I just mentioned that, yes, he did trust the Lord. But based on what we just read, it wasn't a complete trust. That's what I think the Lord is after here. I believe what the Lord is doing in Hezekiah is trying to strengthen his faith in a particular area. What area?

Facing his enemies. Facing his enemies. And so he allows an enemy to come to his front doorstep, and based on what we just read, Hezekiah initially failed the test. Didn't we see that? He failed the test since his immediate reaction was driven by fear and human wisdom.

Instead of crying out to the Lord, instead of coming before the presence of God, he attempts to appease Assyria. And he takes the glory, some of the glories of the temple and he places it at the feet of this pagan king. That is not what David did when he was threatened by his enemies. And this man who supposedly mirrored David's faith in many ways, had a lapse of faith right here. So I believe God exposed something in Hezekiah, a particular weakness.

And so he tries to make a deal with the enemy. We read it. That he says, okay. Look, I'm sorry that I withdrew from you, because we read that earlier in in second Kings 18 that he sees, I'm I'm no longer gonna be a vassal nation. I'm gonna separate myself from Assyria.

We're called to independence. We're called to be governed by God. And then once a threat comes, he goes, oh, I changed my mind. I'm sorry I stepped on your toes here. What's the price tag?

What do you want from me? And a demand is made, he coughs it up, and what we're gonna see right here is that the enemy is never satisfied with just some of who you are. He doesn't just want some of what you have. He wants everything. In the same way God wants everything, Satan wants everything, even if he has to accomplish it step by step.

And that's what we're going to see here. Can I mention something to you? This is just another testimony of the validation of the accuracy and the historicity of our Bibles. If you were to go to the British Museum today, you would discover a large carving, a narration of Sennacherib and his achievements in this very chapter. It's huge and it's remarkably detailed.

It's fascinating. Because what you'll find there, again, is exactly what the Bible testifies in this place. The campaign that we discover here is echoed in history. It's confirmed. And this piece is massive.

It's about 12 meters wide, five meters long and it was discovered around or over two thousand years from its original compilation. This was a wall relief that Sennacherib ordered to be made in order to display his success. And so it was in his palace and then obviously, his kingdom fell, he passed on, and history has preserved this record to our encouragement, I believe. And the reason why historians know that what's on those, wall reliefs, and it's known as the Lachish wall reliefs, is because there's this small Akkadian inscription above the chiseled Sennacherib. And here's what it reads.

This is fascinating again. Sennacherib, king of the world, king of Assyria, sits on a throne and the spoils of Lachish are before him. Lachish, as we just read, is the second most important and prominent city in the Kingdom Of Judah, not many miles far from Jerusalem. And if you were to look this up, you will find something of the Bible preserved for all the world to see to testify that this book is indeed true. We're studying history here.

We're not starting just we're not starting just moral lessons. This is true and it's before us. So let's read on. What happens? Verse 17.

Are you with me? Verse 17. And the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rhaphsides, and the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they arrived, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the washer's field.

And when they called for the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder. So Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, smelled weakness. Hezekiah was willing to surrender his treasure and he goes, I'm after the whole thing. And so he sends three delegates. Now listen, these are not names, what we just read in verse 17.

They're more likely titles. These are different roles. These are different, individuals who fulfilled different parts of the kingdom and they approach. Right? And we know that the Rabshakeh, as we're gonna read the rest of the the chapter, is the main spokesman.

And in response to this, Hezekiah sends his own representative, three of them, to deal with this confrontation. Now, when you read these names, you think, okay, okay, let me just move on. Let me find something more exciting. But you have to understand that these names are not insignificant. Especially the names of the ones that we read of in verse 18, because they reappear in our Bibles.

In fact, two of the three names in verse 18 show up in one of Isaiah's prophecies. Before we turn there, let's read it again. You need to highlight in your mind a couple of details that will enrich your understanding of this passage. Look back at verse 18 of second Kings 18. And when they called for the king, there came out to them Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household.

Highlight that. And Shebna the secretary, highlight that. And Joah the son of Asaph the recorder. Did you highlight it in your mind? Good.

Now go to Isaiah, chapter 22 verse 15 and see this wonderful connection. In Isaiah 22, the Lord rebukes the complacency and the misplaced trust of his people in their military strength. But just over halfway through the prophecy, the spirit of God shifts his focus and addresses one of the leaders in Jerusalem. Tell me if this sounds familiar. Are you in Isaiah 22 verse 15 with me?

Let's read it. We're gonna read a few verses. Pay attention. Give yourself to this. Thus says the Lord God of hosts, come, go to this steward to Shebna who is over the household.

Pause. Based on second Kings 18, was Shebna over the household? No. He was the secretary. Here we learn that he was over the household.

And say to him, verse 16. What have you to do here and whom have you here that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself? You who cut out a tomb on the height and a carve a dwelling, and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock. Behold, the Lord will hurl you away violently, oh you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you and whirl you around and around and throw you like a ball into a wide land.

There you shall die, and there shall be your glorious chariots, you shame of your master's house. I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station. Pause. Apparently, the Lord is not very happy with Shebna. There's something here about the way this man dealt with his position, utilized his authority that made God angry.

But But it doesn't end there. Let's continue in verse 20. In that day, I will call my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah. Did we read of him in second Kings 18? Now what's gonna happen with him?

Verse 21. And I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open and none shall shut.

He shall shut and none shall open. So let's put some of this together. Based on this prophecy, we learn that Shebna was once over the household. That's a very powerful position in the kingdom. But evidently, this man, Shebna abused his position.

He was so self absorbed. And that's indicated by some of the things that he did. Notice the language here. He says, you who cut out a tomb on the height and carved a dwelling for yourself on the rock. So this man Shebna created monuments for himself.

And more than that, he also purchased and acquired chariots. Notice what the Lord says. He says, I'm gonna cast you away and and you're gonna take your glorious chariots with you. It could very well be that this man even dipped his hand in the treasury in order to purchase these things and acquire these things. One thing is for certain, one thing is clear, that what we learn from this prophecy, please pay attention to this, is that the way someone operates in their position of authority really matters to God.

And when somebody abuses their authority, especially in God's kingdom, it brings great displeasure to him. This is a good place to pause as we serve the Lord in different ways and ask ourselves this. Why do I do what I do for the Lord? Am I motivated for and by self? If so, take note of this prophecy.

God observes our motives. And he sees what we do with the opportunities that have been given to us. And especially for leaders, they have a greater accountability to God because he will see if your service will be for his glory and to the good of the people or if you will manipulate it in order to achieve more for yourself. Now in contrast to him, we read that the Lord exalts Eliakim. And that should serve, stir us.

You know why? Because Eliakim and God promoting him shows us that the Lord raises up someone who serves God for God. Serving God for God and serving in the name of God for the sake of the good of other people. In fact, did you catch how the Lord speaks about Shebna in comparison to Eliakim? Scroll back to verse 15.

How does he start this prophecy? He says, thus says the Lord, God of hosts, come to this steward. Come to this steward. Now scroll down to verse 20. And when he speaks about Lycan, notice how there's a different approach.

In that day, I will call my servant. So when it comes to Shebna, he goes, let's deal with this steward. But with Eliakim, he goes, let me talk to you now about my servant. More than that, look what he says at the end of verse 21, the second part. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

A father, a true father, a good father is selfless. He is motivated for the good of his children. He wants to prosper them, protect them, provide for them. And And what he says about Lyakim is this, he will be a true leader for my people. And so again, let's ask ourselves this, am I motivated in my service to God, for God?

Am I simply privileged to be able to be an extension of his love to others? Or are there mixed desires? God takes note of it. And if you want to be promoted in God's economy, he looks for those who serve him for him. Now there's more.

Would you be shocked if I told you that Eliakim points to Jesus Christ? Not because I said so. You know why? Jesus said it. Oh, I love when faces look up.

What are you talking about? Do you remember where Jesus quotes a part of this prophecy in the New Testament? Think. I'll wait. Very, very good.

The book of Revelation. Turn there in chapter three. Who would have thought that our study in second Kings would connect with our Sunday series in Revelation? Such is the beauty and the harmony of the Bible. Revelation three seven, when Jesus addresses the church in Philadelphia.

Notice his introduction. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write the words of the holy one, the true one who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens. That's a direct quotation from Isaiah 22. Now here's what my question was. How does this man, Eliakim, and his brief appearance in the Bible foreshadow Jesus?

And I believe there are many answers, many directions we can take this, but let me leave you with just one thought. Eliakim means God rises or God raises. I think that's significant. Because the love and the care that Eliakim showed to God's people pointed to a greater servant, the greatest servant of all, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And God raised up Jesus Christ of Nazareth, not just with the authority of one kingdom, but with all authority in heaven and on earth.

Not just to serve and to save a particular nation, but the world. Christ with his maximum unparalleled authority demonstrates servitude and humility. I like him as just a flash in the pan of a greater servant, a greater leader, a greater savior who possesses greater authority. When We come to Revelation three seven, we're gonna learn more about this. But for now, let's come back to our study in second Kings.

For the rest of the study, it's gonna look different. I hope that's okay with you. Because the rest of second Kings 18 is a monologue. More specifically, it's a demoralizing speech. The rapsheke, the spokesperson, is going to give a lecture.

He is going to say many, many things to Hezekiah, his leaders, and the citizens of Jerusalem in order to break down their morale, Ultimately, break down their faith. In essence, what we're gonna discover with the rest of this chapter is an exhibition of psychological warfare. When I was looking at this the other day, I thought to myself, why is there so much dedicated to this man's speech? Why couldn't there have been a, you know, summary? Instead, there's around 16 verses of this one man speaking to intimidate and threaten this people.

And before he shoots an arrow, before he climbs a wall, before he does anything physical, he goes for the mind. And here I believe is the wisdom of God concerning our walk with Christ and how this relates. Because if you really dissect what the Rabshakeh says, you will discover that it mirrors what Satan often says to God's children. In fact, I wanna look at seven things. Seven things that the enemy does in order to build a stronghold in your mind and mine.

For what purpose? To discourage you? To disorient you? And to eventually conquer you so that you would give up, surrender, and step outside of the will of God. I suggest that you take notes, because this will equip us and make us aware of the schemes of the evil one.

Seven things, and they're not limited to these things, but let's not be overwhelmed tonight. Seven main observations with the rest of this chapter that relates to how Satan whispers notions into our minds, which is the main arena of spiritual warfare by the way. Where's the main battle between the forces of evil and the forces of righteousness take place? Here. Here.

Here. Here. This is where it happens. And we have a wonderful look into how it takes place for many of us. Number one.

The enemy will make you question God's trustworthiness. Let's look at verse 19. And the Rabshakeh said to him, say to Hezekiah, thus says the great king, the king of Assyria. Pause there. Notice that he doesn't call Hezekiah King Hezekiah, and he boasts in arrogance of the greatness of the king of Assyria.

Did you see that? Say to Hezekiah, thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, on what do you rest distrust of yours? Do you think that mere words are strategy and powerful war? In whom do you now trust that you have rebelled against me? Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of his staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it, such as Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

But if you say to me, we trust in the Lord our God, is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, you shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? The essence of this tactic is to undermine the foundation of Hezekiah's confidence. And this is a primary ambition of Satan's. He he wants you to doubt your trust in God. And at first, the Rabshakeh begins by highlighting the futility of forming an alliance with Egypt, but his main point is attacking Hezekiah's trust in God.

And he's gonna come back to this thing with Egypt in a moment. We're gonna look at that, but notice how the power of this persuasion hinges completely on Hezekiah's supposed limited understanding. Here's what I mean. Look back at verse 22. Consider the argumentation.

But if you say to me, we trust in the Lord our God, is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, you shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? What is he trying to say here? In essence, what he wants to show is that Hezekiah was in the wrong by removing the high places. That in his reform, in his desire to clean the kingdom of Judah, he actually displeased God. So who's misinformed here?

The Rabshakeh. He he thought that Hezekiah was actually in the wrong by doing this. And if Hezekiah was ignorant of what God actually desired, he might have believed it. Was it wrong for Hezekiah to remove the high places? No, it was good.

It's actually it was actually in accordance with God's will. But notice that if Hezekiah was in the dark about this particular facet of his faith, he could have gotten himself in a lot of trouble. And so I want you to see right away how the enemy capitalizes on our ignorance of the truth. Please, I say this in love. The less you know the Bible, the more vulnerable you are to Satan's lies.

The less you know, the more susceptible you are of not just being confronted with deception, but digesting it and poisoning you. And so Hezekiah was able to dismiss this because he understood wholeheartedly that God asked this of me. God put this in his word. But what the enemy is doing here is essentially misrepresenting the character of God. You did something that God did not like.

And in fact, it was something that the Lord totally wanted. There's something else here though, that we also find that the enemy loves to discourage us about our own obedience. Right? Hezekiah gave his heart totally to the lord. He did what most kings would not do.

They would not even entertain removing the high places. And yet this man did just that. And the enemy loves to loves to point out how our obedience is sometimes misplaced or maybe not enough, or ineffective. And so he loves to make us second guess what we did for the Lord. Oh, you pray but Come on.

Did you read about this revivalist, how much he prays? Look at you. What are you doing? Oh, you serve in the church. Nobody cares.

Nobody would even notice if you left. Oh, you preach, you preach week after week after week after week. Nothing's happening though. And people fall asleep. People are distracted.

People are familiar. You've lost your edge. Satan loves to whisper and to discourage us about what we do for God. And we see more. As much as he wants us to question the value and whether or not what we do brings delight to God's heart, number two, he will intimidate you by highlighting your weaknesses.

He will intimidate you by highlighting your weaknesses. Look at verse 23 now. Come now, make a wager with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you 2,000 horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master's servants when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

So as you and I wait for the Lord for anything, Satan loves to highlight how impossible it seems. And the one way he does this is by reminding us of what we're not and what we lack. Look at these taunts once again. Hey, hey, you wanna go to war? You think you actually have a chance?

I'll do you a favor. I'll give you 2,000 horses. Oh, but I don't even think you have enough trained men to ride them. Actually, now that I think about it, I don't think you can even put up a challenge against one of my weakest captains of the lowest of ranks in my army. So what is he doing here?

He is trying to underscore and trying to point out where Hezekiah is deficient, where he is weak. And the enemy does does this with many of God's servants. You're not smart enough. You're not attractive enough. You don't have the personality.

Or he might highlight your lack of resources. You're not able to do anything. A great effectiveness, a great reach. You don't have enough. Where's your spiritual support?

Who who are the people with you that are backing your vision, your ministry, who appreciate you, who partner with you? Where are they? You're insignificant. You always come short. You do nothing of worth for God's kingdom.

You're no threat to the kingdom of darkness. Speaking of weakness, notice how he brings up Egypt again. Now we can't pinpoint the extent of Hezekiah's willingness to partner with Egypt. Was it just a thought? Was there actually talks of it?

Either way, it was wrong for Hezekiah to even consider partnering with Egypt. We've seen this throughout our study of the Old Testament. God always wanted to be the primary and exclusive help to his people. And it was a constant temptation for the Israelites to reach down to Egypt and ask for some aid. It could be that Hezekiah actually opened up the possibility.

And how humiliating wouldn't have been for him to hear from another enemy that he placed his trust in something or someone apart from God. If we go with that Hezekiah actually did this, then this was another mistake on his part. This is where he fell short in his faith. But here's what we have to understand. In the context of the enemy approaching Hezekiah with this, it teaches us that Satan loves to bring to your attention your past failures.

He enjoys it. To rub it in your face as a constant reminder, not just for you to remember it, but but to bring it to your attention and showing how it affects how God will relate to you. You failed. You're stained. This is a blemish on your reputation forever.

God doesn't wanna deal with you. God will never forget what you've done, what you said. And so don't expect him to come. Don't expect him to intervene. Don't expect him to show you the same strength of love.

You blew it. It's over. So he keeps bringing up Egypt, Egypt, Egypt. And the way I see it is, he always, the enemy, loves to rub in your face something that you've done wrong. And that weakens us.

That paralyzes us. That discourages us from trusting God and having the boldness to serve God. So many people are tormented by their past. And we see it being played here. Let me say one more thing.

The enemy enjoys coming to us and not just highlighting our weaknesses, but when we are weak. We're gonna do some very basic math now. Is that okay? Go back to second Kings 18 verse two. We read about Hezekiah.

He was 25 years old when he began to reign and he reigned twenty nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah. So how long did he reign for? A total of twenty nine years. Right?

When did Assyria invade Judah? Scroll down to verse 13 again. This is what we open up our study with. In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacher king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. Now, I believe most of us in here are familiar enough with Hezekiah's story to remember that at some point in his account, we learned that he became deathly ill.

Remember this. Right? And in great desperation, he turns, he faces the wall while he's laying in bed, he cries out to God, God graciously responds to his plea and grants him what? Fifteen years more of life. Fifteen years more of life.

So are we making the connection here? So we know now that if the total years of his reign was twenty nine years, and the fourteenth year is when Syria invaded, and when he was sick, God promised him fifteen more years, then what year was Hezekiah deathly sick? What year? The fourteenth year that Hezekiah was terminally ill the same time Assyria came to invade him. And in case you doubt that conclusion, go to chapter 20 of second Kings.

This is the chapter that we will look at together in a few weeks that unveils this testimony of his healing. But look at what he is told in second Kings 20 verse six. And I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. And I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.

So while this man is in bed, not knowing if he's gonna live another day, God also promises that he's going to see victory over the Assyrians who are surrounding Jerusalem. Was Hezekiah in the early stages of his sickness here in second Kings 18? Perhaps we don't know what phase. But I wouldn't be surprised that if this man was dealing with his sickness when Assyria came to threaten him because the enemy is vicious. He is merciless.

He will bring his greatest force when you are at your lowest. Even if your weakness is physical, he will take advantage of that to assault your mind, to discourage your spirit, to beat you up. So this man is dealing with a lot. And it makes us aware of how the enemy works. We only dealt with two.

We still have five more. I hope you're okay with that. Let's come back to second Kings 18 verse 25. Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, go up against this land and destroy it.

Here's point number three. The enemy will make it seem that God is the one turning against you. And this tactic is much more common in the Christian experience than most realize. Notice that he's not just persuading Hezekiah that his success in overtaking these fortified cities was permitted by the Lord. He goes further and says, I've been commissioned by the Lord.

God told me to do this. Are you gonna fight against God? Are you gonna resist the Lord? Will you not just surrender and realize that this is accord in accordance to his sovereign will? And in like manner, the lesson here is that Satan loves to confuse us by making it seem that his ways are God's ways.

More specifically, this is how it's gonna resonate now, that his voice is God's voice. I can't tell you the amount of people that I've talked with who have allowed Satan's condemnation to be understood as God's conviction. What's the difference between the two by the way? Because both remind you of your sin. Both touch on some area in your life that is not in accordance with God's will.

But one offers hope and the other doesn't. One offers reconciliation, the other doesn't. One offers relief and the other doesn't. So if there's any guilt that I feel, let me just use a certain example. If there's any guilt I feel of a particular sin in my life, and though I have confessed and though I've repented of it, I am still feeling that guilt, You can be sure that that's not God pressing that on your chest.

That's not the holy one keeping you awake at night. And what we love what satan loves to do here by way of demonstration and example and illustration, is that he loves to make his voice seem like it's God's. For you to be more ready to accept it and to deal with it and to live with it. Burdened and bothered for the rest of your pilgrimage on earth. Suffocating you, stealing your song, disorienting you and how you understand his pleasure and his delight.

Now you're serving God to try to win his approval instead of from the place of approval. Number four, he will instill fear in you with a range of threats. Look at verse 26. Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah and Shebna and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, please speak to your servants in Aramaic for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.

So now they interrupt this man's monologue. The leaders there who were sent out by Hezekiah stop him. They've had enough. They realize that what he is saying is detrimental to the faith of the people. And so they say, listen, can you do us a favor?

We're we're those who deal with international, conversations and trade and politics. We know how to speak Aramaic. Can you speak to us in Aramaic instead of Hebrew so that these people don't have to endure this? Can you have some grace? Oh, how wrong they were to think that they can get some mercy from the enemy.

And so they make that request and it's quickly shut down by what we read in verse 27. But the Rabshake has said to them, has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you and not to the men sitting on the wall who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and to drink their own urine? Is he being vulgar here? I think it's more than that. He's actually telling them what's gonna take place if they don't surrender because if you are under a siege, you tend to do desperate things in order to survive.

And in many cases, when a city is surrounded for such a long time, people will even eat their own filth. We've even seen how the people of God even come down to the point of eating their own children. So this is not so extreme. And so he says, this is what is going to happen. I'm actually here to speak to all of them.

In fact, he raises his voice. He speaks in their presence in verse 28. Then the rapture gets stood and called out in a loud voice. Oh, you don't want me to talk to them? Let me let me let me do you a favor.

Okay? Hey. I'm here for you all. Merciless, vicious, cruel. Let me remind you what this point is.

Number four. The enemy loves to instill fear in us with a range of threats. In an effort to keep us from honoring God and staying in the path of faithfulness, Satan will often direct his intimidation toward what we care about the most. I remember how, hearing the testimony of a minister who planted a church in a very difficult area and it was thriving, it was growing. So many testimonies of people being delivered from the most incredible things.

And at some point, as this ministry was climbing in success, this man's child, one of their children, went off into the world and lived in deep gross sin. And there were so many fears and frustrations that developed because of that. To the point where this minister's wife began to try to persuade the husband, let's just quit the ministry. Why continue in this? And she was primarily afraid of her other children following in the same direction that Satan would grab a hold of them.

And so, in her rationale, she thought the best way to do this is just to remove ourselves from the front lines and just move on and protect our family. And this is what this man was dealing with. And even his own spouse was already captivated by a lie. You keep serving God and watch what I'm gonna do to your family. Watch what I'm gonna do to your spouse.

Watch what I'm gonna do to your kids. I'll destroy them. I'll destroy you. And Satan loves to threaten us by bringing to mind what we what we love, what we cherish, the people that we feel so strongly about. You wanna trust God?

You'll never have enough money to support your family. Oh oh, you wanna you wanna serve the Lord. Watch how your spouse will be deprived of a meaningful marriage. Watch. Oh, you really want to honor God, You you you you don't just wanna make money.

You actually wanna be in the church and do things for the kingdom of God. You you know, your health is gonna decline. Right? And so on and so on and so on. He is so clever.

He is so insightful that he will bring to your mind things that you care about the most and threaten you in that area. That's what he does here. The the leaders, these are good leaders. They were worried about the people and they said just just deal with us. Said, no.

No. No. I'm after them. Oh, you you care about them? Watch.

Number five. Let's read verse 28 down to verse 30. Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah, 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 deliver you out of my hand. Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying the Lord will surely deliver us and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria, make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat his own vine and each one his own fig tree and each one you of you will drink the water of his own cistern. Number five. Number five. Number five.

The enemy will try to divide God's people with false assumptions and accusations. Now this is warfare. We've been dealing with personal warfare, but we are now looking at an insight of warfare on a corporate level. And this is still just as important to understand because God has called us to live this faith with the body of Christ. We're not called to do this in isolation.

In fact, to be in isolation is a tactic of Satan himself. We're called to do this as a unit, as a family, as an army. So what is he doing here? Notice three times in a row, he says what? Do not let Hezekiah.

In rapid fire succession, do not let Hezekiah. Do not let Hezekiah, do not let Hezekiah convince you, lead you, promise you, comfort you. What is he doing here? He's trying to divide the people from their leadership. Division.

Division is one of Satan's favorite weapons. But it doesn't just happen like that. I argue that this teaches us at least one way it comes about. Before division even begins, Satan fosters tension. Tension.

And the way tension emerges is sowing doubt about one another without any substantial evidence. The same thing happened with the Corinthians and the apostle Paul when these false teachers were trying to pull the Corinthian church away from the leadership of Paul. And by doing so, they did so rather by mocking his credentials, belittling him, but more viciously putting into question his motives for ministry. And one of the things that they tried to tell the Corinthians was, you know Paul, he's actually doing all this for money. He actually just wants to make a buck off of you.

Paul had to defend himself in the first letter to the Corinthians in that specific regard. And so the enemy loves to pin us against one another. And one of the ways he does that is, especially when there's a lack of communication and loving confrontation. So and so. See the way they looked at you?

Oh, so and so. They didn't answer your message. They don't really care about you. Oh, oh, pastor so and so? Oh, yeah.

Yeah. That he's really all about this. Oh oh, the people that you serve? They don't really want true faith. They don't really want the word of God.

They're they're they're actually in your church for these reasons and so he wants to do exactly what we see here, make enemies from within. Divide and conquer. And in this way, he could weaken them. If he can get the people to not listen to Hezekiah, then they would try to persuade him to surrender. Come on.

Let's just give up. Do you know what the Assyrians do to their victims? He is so clever. And unfortunately, he has succeeded in many churches just with this lie. Just by using slander and gossip and backbiting and trying to assess people's motives.

And here's a person who might be going through hell at home and the way you're interpreting is, that person's rude. Be discerning church. Be careful church. Be loving church. Love hopes all things.

Love believes all things. Love is not quick to make conclusions about people's characters. Love investigates and is patient. This is why knowing God's word is important. We're we're looking at Satan's playbook.

We're not done yet. Number six. Let's read verse 31 again down to verse 32. Do not listen to Hezekiah for thus says the king of Assyria, make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine and each one of you will eat of his own fig tree and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey that you may live and not die.

And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying the Lord will deliver us. Number six, if the enemy can't get you to surrender with fear, he will persuade you with exaggerated and deceptive promises. There's two phases to this appeal and it's an attractive one. Did you hear the catalog? Did you hear the of the way of life that was made possible for these citizens of Jerusalem?

Notice in verse 31, he says, come out to me. That's the first step. Come out to me. Make your peace. And then in verse 32, until I come and take you away to a land like your own land.

So just just start with one step. Just one compromise. Entertain this one thing that you know is wrong. And I'm gonna give you something if you do that. And more than that, I'm gonna give you so much, so much more.

It only gets better and better the more you believe me. The more you step away from God's will, God's word, you indulge the flesh, you believe the things that God says don't believe, I'm gonna make this better and better for you. And cloaked in this, he he says, I'm gonna take you away from your land. But it's sandwiched between all these promises and all these rewards and all these blessings. Here's what I discovered.

When I looked at especially verse 31, the first step, he brings up two specific things that are echoed in other places in the Bible. Here's the difference, that God promised them. Here's an example. In Micah, there's a prophecy of what's going to take place when Messiah comes to take over the throne of David successfully and eternally. And here's how he describes this reign.

It's what we know to be the millennial reign in Micah four, three to four. He, being the Messiah, shall judge between many peoples and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. Verse four, look at this. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree and no one shall make them afraid for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.

So this picture really describes a time of unusual peace and prosperity. You actually find a similar description when Solomon was ruling and reigning in Israel. And this prophecy says, the one greater than David, the one greater than any other king is going to bring an unusual peace and prosperity again that will outshine any other era. What were the two things? They will each have their own vine and sit under their own fig tree.

Look again at verse 31 of second Kings 18. What did the enemy promise? He said, okay. Come to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine and each one of his own fig tree.

But he doesn't stop there. And each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern. What is he saying here? Oh, God will give you this? I'll give you more.

Oh, your God is all about joy and peace. Yeah. I'll give you real ecstasy. I'll give you real purpose. I'll give you a real sense of desire and delight.

And that's what people are believing about temptation, this very hour. They believe that if they step away from the Lord, that they're gonna gain. That whatever they are looking for is gonna be far greater than what God offers. This is how the enemy lies. Don't wait for marriage.

Just let yourself loose. You're you're an animal. You have instincts. Just have as many partners as you want. Fulfill your fantasies.

And we're all familiar about the different temptations that he brings to us. Lastly, you've been so patient. Verse 33 down to verse 35. The rapture says, has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad?

Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Iva? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand? That the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand. Number seven, finally, the enemy will frequently return to his favorite lie, make you doubt and question the trustworthiness of God again and again.

This time it looks a little different. First, he dares to put the God, the true God, the Lord on the same level as other deities. This is where he really crossed the line. He's gonna get himself in a lot of trouble for doing this. That's what Satan is telling many people today.

But there's something more strategic than that. Because these Israelites could have easily just said, those are fake gods. They're false deities. They have no power. They can't compare to the true God.

But this spokesman brings it closer to home. What does he say? Look again at verse 34. The last question, have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Now, Samaria is the neighbor up north.

Samaria at one point was attached to the kingdom of Judah. They were once one nation with the same God. And though, yes, they did give themselves over to idolatry and false gods, If this people were so overwhelmed by these lies, if they were not informed, if they were not aware, they could have began to rationalize in the following way. Well, yeah. Samaria, essentially, their history is in the truth.

Their history is in the covenant keeping God. Why why didn't the Lord deliver them from Assyria? How did God allow them to be taken captive and removed from the land? If it happened with the Northern Kingdom of Israel, what makes us think that it can't happen to us? I'm gonna tell you how slimy Satan is.

That he will even at times look at you, look at me, and turn your attention to others who supposedly bear the name of Christ, who might even genuinely bear the name of Christ, and say, if God couldn't do it for them, what makes you think he'll do it for you? Look at so and so in the church. Look what happened to their children. What makes you think it won't happen to yours? Look at Soso struggling with this disease and this sickness.

Here you are believing God to do something in your body. Did he do it for them? What makes you think that God's gonna answer your prayer? If God wasn't successful for that church, what makes you think he'll make your church prosperous spiritually? He loves to compare.

He he loves to do these things. So by bringing up Samaria, I think he wanted to really make it seem as though we're hopeless and, again, to doubt the trustworthiness of God. How does this story end? Let's look at the last two verses. Verse 36, but the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's command was do not answer him.

Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh. If you have the King James and the New King James, you know how verse 36 would read, but the people held their peace. Either way, this is what it means, that not one soul inside those walls made any decision based on what they were being told by the enemy. They stood firm. They were careful.

They were slow. Did it impact them? Clearly, they ripped their clothes. But this is just the beginning of how Hezekiah and his people will respond to these threats and how they will overcome. You have to come next week to see it though.

Let's pray. Lord, if there is even one of these lies that resonate with any of us in this place, We pray that today it would lose its clutch. It would lose its power. We pray today for freedom that we would be totally liberated from any lie, any deception, any trick of the evil one. And Lord, help us be reminded.

Help us be able to call to our own attention these truths when we are engaged with warfare, when we are confronted with with things that we know are not from you. So Lord, we give you glory and thanks for how you have equipped us tonight and we pray that we would never forget it. We pray that these things would be etched on our hearts for the rest of our warfare with the evil one. And Lord, tonight as your church, we stand in victory and we choose to rejoice in thanksgiving for how you've spoken to our hearts. Lord, you are good and we do trust in you.

We've sang so much of it before this study and Lord, we wanna say it in prayer. We trust in you. We trust in your forgiveness. We trust in your provision. We trust in your promises.

We trust in everything that your word has to say and we pray that we would never lapse in our faith. We want to be always pleasing to you in every season, trusting you in every sphere of our lives. And we believe Lord that you've spoken to us for this goal, for this end in mind, that we would be complete in our reliance on you. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen and amen and amen.

Let's stand and worship the Lord and give him glory.