Monday: Propaganda
Isa: 36:2-20
The rulers of Assyria were not only brutal, they were intelligent. Their goal was wealth and power, not simply destruction (compare Isaiah 10.13-14). Why use resources to take a city by force if you can persuade its inhabitants to surrender? So, while he was engaged in the siege of Lachish, Sennacherib sent his rabshakeh, a kind of high officer, to take Jerusalem by propaganda.
What arguments did the rabshakeh use to intimidate Judah? Isa: 36:2-20, see also 2 Kings 18:17-35, 2 Chron: 32:9-19.
Image © Krieg Barrie at Goodsalt.com
The rabshakeh made some rather powerful arguments. You cannot trust Egypt to help you because she is weak and unreliable. You cannot depend on the Lord to help you because Hezekiah has offended Him by removing His high places and altars throughout Judah, telling the people to worship at one altar in Jerusalem. In fact, the Lord is on Assyria’s side and told Sennacherib to destroy Judah. You don’t even have enough trained men to handle 2,000 horses.
To avoid a siege in which you have nothing to eat and drink, give up now and you will be treated well. Hezekiah cannot save you, and because the gods of all the other countries conquered by Assyria have not saved them, you can be sure that your God will not save you, either.
Was the rabshakeh telling the truth?
Because there was much truth in what he was saying, his arguments were persuasive. Backing him up were two unspoken arguments. First, he had just come from Lachish, only 30 miles away, where the Assyrians were showing what happened to a strongly fortified city that dared resist them. Second, he had a powerful contingent of the Assyrian army with him (Isa: 36:2). Knowing the fate of armies and cities elsewhere (including Samaria, the capital of northern Israel: 2 Kings 18.9-10) that had succumbed to Assyria, no Judahite would have reason to doubt that from a human point of view Jerusalem was doomed (compare Isa: 10:8-11). The rabshakeh was also right in saying that Hezekiah had destroyed various places of sacrifice in order to centralize worship at the temple in Jerusalem (2 Kings 18:4, 2 Chron: 31:1). But had this reform offended the Lord, who was the only hope His people had left? Would He, and could He, save them? It was up to God to answer this question!
| Have you ever been in a similar situation, where, from a human standpoint, all seemed lost? What was your only recourse? If willing, be prepared to share with your class that experience, how you coped, and the ultimate outcome. |
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There is an interesting little episode in the propaganda war the Assyrians were raging against the Hebrews.
The same story is repeated again in Isaiah 36.
The request to speak in Aramaic rather than Hebrew probably reflect the linguistic situation at the time. the Hebrews spoke Hebrew (of course) but those who had to deal with the nations around them also spoke Aramaic. The suggestion was that the negotiations which were being carried out in a public place on the wall of Jerusalem should be carried out privately so that the general populace did not hear it. The intention of theAssyrian negotiators was clear. They did not want to negotiate - they wanted the people to hear and understand every word of their propaganda in their own language, and proceeded to broadcast their ideas with some rather colourful Hebrew language. It was essentially an ancient political battle and I reckon that modern politics has taken lessons from the Assyrians.
The propaganda was a mixture of truth and fake news. It was a bit like some of the medicine that my mother would make me take when I was a kid. She would mix the bad tasting medicine with something like honey to disguise the taste and make me swallow the medicine.
In our modern world and even in our spiritual lives there are many who mix the good news with garbage news, hoping that we will believe the garbage news carefully hidden in the good news. We need to have a good garbage detection system nd that only comes from having a relationship with the real source of good news.
Profound
So far in our study of the book of Isaiah I have noticed several themes that are repeated.
1) rebellion
2) power and authority
3) remnant
1) The book opens with the tribe of Judah rebelling against the LORD to whom they owed allegiance for their existence.
Now we find Hezekiah rebelling against paying "protection" money to Assyria who had protected them from Syria & the ten tribes of Israel.
2) the first part of the books emphasizes the power and the authority of the LORD as the Creator and the punishment of those who rejected Him.
Now we find the King of Assyria who claimed to be the 'king of the universe' proclaiming how he had destroyed so many and forced them to pay him tribute.
3) one of the first prophecies through Isaiah was "a remnant will return".
Now we find that the city of Jerusalem is the 'remnant', the only part of the whole promised land that has not been overcome by the enemy.
Once again now at the end of time we find in Rev 12-14 the same situation - war between the devil and the LORD, proclaiming of power by the Image of the Beast and the 3 Angels message calling the remnant to worship the Creator.
Will we be like Hezekiah and his people and not listen to the sirens song of the enemy and trust in the LORD's protection?
I would preferred you said, remnant calling all to heed the 3-Angels message.
We find out who and what we are leaning on if what we are leaning on gets knocked out from under us. We call that a crisis. But God uses it for an opportunity. He shows us that the reason that thing was knocked out was because it wasn't a stable thing to depend upon. He shows us that we are falling over because we weren't leaning on Him. God disciplines us so that we'll trust in Him alone (Heb. 12:5-13). It doesn't even have to be a crisis, it can be something as normal as aging and losing the pride and strength of a youthful body.
The Israelites had leaned on Egypt for help but that fell through. They had tried to bribe Assyria but now Assyria was standing at the gate of Jerusalem, treaty broken. Standing by the pool where Israel got its water, on the highway leading to one of the fields where they grew food. Things were clearly about to get worse for the long haul. When it came to the treaty, the Assyrians were all about keeping their received wealth, but not their given word. Just as our Enemy is all about taking our gifts from us and not keeping his promises.
And then the Assyrians started up with psychological warfare. Rhetoric along the lines of "If your God is so strong why hasn't he stopped us yet?" This, of course, also still happens today. Satan is always prompting the "why does God let bad things happen to good people" question. There's a temptation to believe that because trouble is at the door, God is judging or has deserted us, or we're just plain wrong. The fear grows into thoughts of "God isn't for me and everyone is leaving me" or "there isn't even a God, I just made that up to feel better". Hezekiah's advisors tried to protect the people from hearing all of this false fear talk. One proverb says "without wood a fire goes out" (Prov 26:20) We have a responsibility to not feed the inner fear talk and instead to focus on what God is doing (Prov. 8:32-36; Romans 8:31).
The propaganda of Satan says "make a treaty with me and you won't go hungry or thirsty". Sounds familiar, doesn't it? (Matt 4:3-4) We get caught up in the immediate gratification part of his offer (Is. 36:16) and ignore the cost, being taken away out of our rightful territory of God's "promises land", being made a slave (Is. 36:17). God's offer to work on our behalf if we wait for Him, however, has no catch. In fact, He promises that "they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint" (Is. 40:31). It's hard to wait for Him. We can pray for more faith (Mark 9:24).
Esther, thank-you so much for this comment...it is exactly what I needed to hear; to be able to detect satan's propaganda, but more so that we should wait on the Lord for He will renew our strength.
Esther, Satan is a deceiver, we knew that, but isn't he still deceiving Christians, SDA.
1. What do we know about valentine day? does that change our thinking and actions?
2. Many times we hear people say, even in the church. When you try everything and everything fails, try Jesus. What does that mean?
3. Psychological warfare- how many conservatives/SDA Christians
are being caught up in Satan lies? Bible says to love the Lord with all and our neighbors as ourselves. We read about the story of the 'Good Samaritan'. Does the bible only works in certain situation for us?
I'd like to respond to #2 and #3. I don't know enough about the history of Valentine's day to answer that first question.
I believe if someone says "When you try everything and everything fails, try Jesus", they are doing it backwards. Jesus should always be first, or you will almost certainly fail.
And I believe the Bible is able to work in every situation to guide us. Through God's holy word, His Spirit will speak to us, but only if we allow it to by spending time in His word and preparing our hearts to hear His voice.
The rabshakeh had his arguments but Hezekiah had the best argument.
2 Chronicles 32:7,8 “Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him: with him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.”
Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord: he is their help and their shield. The Lord hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron. Ps 115:11-12.
Propaganda
Was Rabshakeh telling the truth? According to the bible, I saw he was telling 90% truth. What he told them happened but they didn't go into explanation for the reason why things happened. e.g yes, Hezekiah destroyed all the gods that his father/s erected but those gods weren't the gods who rescued and saved them, it was the Lord of Lords and King of Kings who did so. Psalms 115:4-8. Hezekiah was turning back the hearts of the people to a Holy and Righteous Father. One who hears and answers prayers. Psm 116:12-14. When Hezekiah heard the message he knew he was on the right road to recovery. He first turned to the words of God. He followed the path Moses led him into. In Deuteronomy, it states what he should do when the enemy comes to destroy them, and he did it well. He also went into the temple and called upon the name of the Lord. Deuteronomy 28:7.
Question- 'Have you ever been in a similar situation, where, from a human standpoint, all seemed lost? What was your only recourse? If willing, be prepared to share with your class that experience, how you coped, and the ultimate outcome.'
Yes, several times I have been in those situation, too many to pen. Many times wicked and evil people tried to have me dismissed from my job but I went home and cried out on my knees to God for help. Because I am an immigrant some think I have too much power because I speak out about wrong things being done and changes that have to be made.
Also, I had a situation that arise in the church that got nasty/dirty. We were told the guilty individual/family involved went to inquire if we were illegal, so as to have us deported.
Yep, my church family. I remembered the prayers of David many times when persecution comes from the inside. The God of the Psalms became my God and Comforter. Psalms 61:1-8