Isaiah 36 - Bible Study in 5 Minutes

Isaiah 36 Short Summary:

The king of Assyria had already conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, and now he turned his attention towards Judah. Isaiah 36 records the visit of the Rabshakeh to Jerusalem. He was the messenger of the king of Assyria, and he mocked Judah’s king, their strength, and their God in attempt to get Jerusalem to surrender without a fight.  

Isaiah 36 Bible Study

TIMELINE:

• The prophetic ministry of Isaiah spanned the reigns of King Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.

• These events took place around 701 BC, which was the 14th year of King Hezekiah (36:1).

KEY CHARACTERS:

• Isaiah – The son of Amoz (1:1). God commissioned Isaiah as His prophet to Judah.

• Hezekiah – King of Judah

• Sennacherib – King of Assyria

• Rabshakeh – Probably not a proper name but a title for a ranking officer of Assyria. The Rabshakeh carried Sennacherib’s messages to Jerusalem.

• Eliakim and Shebna – Hezekiah’s servants who spoke with the Rabshakeh.

DEFINITIONS:

• Conduit – A trough, channel, or pipe through which water flows.

OUTLINE:

• THE RABSHAKEH MOCKS HEZEKIAH AND JERUSALEM (36:1-22):

  • After destroying the northern Kingdom of Israel and sending its inhabitants away into captivity (721 BC), the Assyrian army conquered many of Judah’s towns as they made their way to Jerusalem, just as Isaiah had prophesied.

  • Sennacherib sent the Rabshakeh to King Hezekiah to mock Judah’s resistance.

  • He told Hezekiah’s servants, Eliakim and Shebna, that Judah’s alliance with Egypt wouldn’t save them.

  • Further, He told them their faith in God wouldn’t save them. The Rabshakeh actually said God sent Assyria to Jerusalem to destroy it.

  • He continued his mocking, suggesting that even if the king of Assyria gave Judah 2,000 horses, Judah wouldn’t have enough skilled men to ride them.

  • Hezekiah’s men tried to get the Rabshakeh to speak in Aramaic so the men on the wall of Jerusalem wouldn’t be disheartened by his words.

  • The Rabshakeh refused. He wanted all the people of Jerusalem to know they were doomed.

  • He started speaking even louder, telling the people in the city not to trust Hezekiah to save them.

  • The Rabshakeh told them their God wouldn’t save them. Assyria had conquered many nations who worshipped many gods and none of those gods had resisted the Assyrian military. The Rabshakeh suggested Judah would be no different.

  • He attempted to get Jerusalem to surrender without fighting. He promised the king of Assyria would be good to them.

  • Eliakim and Shebna gave no immediate response.

  • They took the words of the Rabshakeh to Hezekiah and waited for his orders.  

APPLICATION:

• The Rabshakeh offered comfortable lives to those who surrendered to Assyria.

• He said, “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 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” (36:16-17).

• Instead of resisting Assyria, and potentially enduring a lot of hardship, the people of Jerusalem could surrender and avoid discomfort.

• In your life, the Devil will come to you with this same offer. He offers you the easy route through life.

• No more worry about sin. No more guilt. No more responsibility to the Church. No more effort needs to be wasted to improve your character. No more spiritual responsibilities. No more accountability. No more time spent fighting to understand the Bible. No more self-sacrifice. No more struggle to find out God’s will for your life. No more service to others. Just a self-focused, comfortable, life without all those concerns.

• It's important that you reject that offer every time it’s presented to you.

• Faith in God is hard, but surrendering to the enemy is not the answer.