Today’s Devotion
Topic: When The Enemy Threatens (Part 2)
(Self Assessment 187)
Background:
Last week we saw how Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sent his commander to intimidate Judah and demand their absolute submission. This was after he had attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.
The commander employed several tactics to demoralize the people of Judah so that submission becomes inevitable. He questioned the basis of their confidence and adviced them not to allow their king to deceive them with some hope of deliverance. He further sought to break their will by discouraging any form of arrangement to access support from Egypt. Finally he intimated that it was the Lord God Himself who asked him to march against Judah.
After such demoralising statements and derogatory threats, what other strategies has this Assyrian commander under his sleeves till all of Judah submit absolutely to his king? Will Judah and their king submit to Sennacherib’s demands? For answers to these and more, let’s delve deeper into today’s discussion.
Text: Isaiah 36: 16- 21
16 “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern, 17 until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
18 “Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Have the gods of any nations ever delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? 20 Who of all the gods of these countries have been able to save their lands from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”
21 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.” Amen
Questions:
1. Kindly read verse 16 again. What kind of submission was the Assyrian commander proposing, and how serious is this kind of enslavement?
2. Verse 17 seems to promise something entirely different from verse 16, but in a subtle way. How do both verses reveal Sennacherib’s truest motives for capturing Judah?
3. Read verses 18. What did the commander imply by comparing Judah’s Great God to the gods of the other nations whose lands the king of Assyria desired to capture?
4. Verse 19 is quite interesting. The commander mentions the names of some strange gods, and rhetorically inquires if they could rescue Samaria from the hands of the Assyrian king. Now Samaria was the capital of Israel after the nation split into two (Judah/ Israel):
a) What does this tell about the people of Israel and their relationship with the Most High God?
b) Could their relationship with other gods, and not the God of their fathers, be a reason for their defeat?
5. How unreasonable, though factual, is the assertion of the Assyrian commander in verse 20? Why should everyone be wary of such absolute claims?
6. Kindly read verse 21 again:
a) How wonderful can silence often be in the face of adversity? What are the advantages we can achieve in such a situation with our silence?
b) The people were silent at the instruction of the king. What does this reveal about the people of Judah and their leader, and does such a relationship benefit in the face of opposition?
7. What have you learnt from today’s Bible study?
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