The Problem of Underestimating God's Power
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Preliminary
Preliminary
Have you ever underestimated God? No seriously - I’m afraid we so often underestimate God’s power and authority which directly ties into our faith in Him.
We claim to serve a God who:
Took nothing and created everything
Took a rib out of Adam’s side and created Eve
He took Noah the only man who was living in obedience taught him how to build an ark - sent a global catastrophic flood and kept all the animals and people on the ark alive
He called a man named Abraham our of Ur of Chaldees and through him brought about the salvation of the whole world to all who will believe in Jesus.
And we face a backward situation and worry whether or not He’s going to come through -
YES I WOULD SAY WE UNDERESTIMATE GOD’S POWER.
I want to look tonight about a king in the Bible who did this and the problems that came about. Now the story is found in three places and I may quote scriptures from all three passages but our reading will be from Isaiah 36.
1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them. 2 And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field. 3 Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah’s son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph’s son, the recorder. 4 And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? 5 I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? 6 Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him. 7 But if thou say to me, We trust in the Lord our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar? 8 Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. 9 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 10 And am I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? the Lord said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
Some Background:
Some Background:
As I mentioned this story is found in 2 Chronicles 32, 2 Kings 18, and Isaiah 36
2 Kings 18 tells us that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz began to reign in Judah when he was twenty five years old and he reigned twenty nine years - meaning he died at the age of fifty four.
He was a good king who “did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.”
One thing that really made him a good king is that he removed the high places and broke down the images and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made - they were burning incense to it.
He loved the LORD and followed his commandments and God was with him and prospered him - this is probably what gave him confidence to rebel against the king of Assyria. (Judah was indentured to the King of Assyria because Ahaz - Hezekiah’s father had made a pact with them to help him fight against the Syrians and Israelites 2 Kings 16:7
This is interesting because of this look at Isaiah 36:2
2 And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field.
Now look at Isaiah 7:3
3 Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shear-jashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field;
What is so interesting is the location - It’s the same place Isaiah challenged Ahaz (Hezekiah’s Father) to trust God in 735 BC now 35 years later in 701 BC the Assyrian officer Rabshakeh stands on the very same spot. Isaiah had warned Ahaz that whatever he trusted in place of God would one day turn on him and flood the land right up to the nose - He trusted in Assyria and now we find Assyria coming to flood the land.
Assyria has come down the coast Judah is is in the path to their goal Egypt. They can’t bypass Judah and go on to Egypt because that leaves the rear open to attack.
The Bible mentions that they had taken 46 fortresses in Judah there are only two left one is on the road to Jerusalem and Lachish. The king of Assyria wants to save himself some time and money so he sends Rabshakeh to try to convince them to just surrender.
Underestimating God reveals lack of trust
Underestimating God reveals lack of trust
Rabshakeh which isn’t a name but an Assyrian military title. It refers to the third highest office in the Army. Gives taunts, arguments, and persuasive speeches to attempt to garner their surrender.
There are at least nine times that he refers to trust in one form or another in his speech.
Some are implied some are explicit.
He says don’t trust in Egypt - this is also talking about trusting in your own strategies. If you rely on your own strategies its like using a reed for a walking stick it will splinter and won’t do you any good - in fact it will puncture you.
He says don’t trust in Yahweh - Now Rabshakeh has done his homework - he speaks in Hebrew, he knows some of the laws and customs and claims that their God won’t help them.
He accuses Hezekiah of destroying God’s altars. Remember earlier one of the first things Hezekiah did -
The gods were worshiped in the “high places” Judah had replaced the “gods” with “God”and you begin to divide God up by location. From Solomon on there they had attempted to worship God in one place. for many years this was Shiloh. This must have been burned down by Philistines when the Ark was taken. Jeremiah talks about burning down the temple in Jerusalem like I did the tabernacle in Shiloh (Jeremiah 26:4-6). So for about 75 years the people build tabernacles all over the place. From then on the “high places” came into play. Hezekiah has gotten rid of all of these Yahwistic high places. Rabshakeh thinks God is going to be upset over this. While Rabshakeh has done his homework he hasn’t comprehended God’s power.
There’s really no logical progression to Rabshakeh’s arguments he’s just saying things. Really he’s utilizing psychological warfare
Refuses to speak in Aramaic Isa 36:11
Threatens them with eating their own dung and drinking their own urine Isa 36:12 - this is a reference to a severe and harsh siege
Notice he never refers to Hezekiah as King
Then he offers them all kinds of goodies Isa 36:16
In Isaiah 36:18-21 we get to the bottom line of why Rabshakeh claims GOD will be unable to deliver them - he underestimates God’s power
He assumes that Yahweh is just like all the other gods. The gods of
Hamath
Arphad
Sepharvaim
Samaria
Also look at who will destroy Yahweh in the text - Isaiah 36:18-20 twice he uses the statement “out of my hand”
This is not a duel between the Assyrian gods and the Israelite God, this is a duel between the Assyrian Emperor and Yahweh. The gods of Assyria never enter the discussion. This is about the great king, who has destroyed all the other gods, and he’s going to destroy your God too.
He has a little credibility, he destroyed Samaria and their golden bulls, but they didn’t do any good. But he hasn’t figured out the God of Jerusalem is not a golden bull but the God of Jerusalem is the creator of the universe.
The the King of Assyria and Rabshakeh underestimate God’s power Hezekiah has a proper estimation of God.
Look at Isaiah 37
Look at what Hezekiah does
He rends his clothes and covers himself with sackcloth -
Goes into the house of the Lord
Sends for Isaiah the prophet
Why? He’s a little afraid - but Hezekiah knows who to trust in listen to this
4 It may be the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.
I like how Hezekiah words this he calls the “Lord thy GOD” now that’s going to change later
But he refers to him as “THE LIVING GOD”
That shows a proper grasp of the power of God.
The “Living God” is The great oxymoron of the Bible
The gods of man made by human hands are lifeless
They have ears but they can’t hear
They have eyes but they can’t see
They have hands and feet but they can’t act
The Living God - The I AM - Yahweh
Doesn’t have ears but can hear
Doesn’t have eyes but can see
Doesn’t have hands and feet but can act.
Hezekiah knows this, Isaiah sees this and gives this word back:
6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
God said through Isaiah I’m going to do two things
He’s going to hear a rumor and return to his own land - which happens pretty quickly
He will fall by the sword in his own land - this happens 19 years later not only in his own land but in his own temple.
37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. 38 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.
If Sennacherib is sending his Rabshakeh to your door - don’t listen to him - don’t speak back - take it to THE LIVING GOD
He’ll take care of it - Keep a proper estimation of God’s power.