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Isaiah 36:11 - Did you hear what he said would happen to us? - Day 155

Even in these difficult times, this story shows us how bad things can really appear.  How do we respond?  This is not an easy, uplifting passage.  May God give us His peace and may we seek Him at all times.

Jeff

I think this qualifies as verbal terrorism.  Imagine what the residents of Jerusalem were going through.  Other cities had been captured and the Assyrian army comes to Jerusalem.  Three members of the king's staff go out to talk to the representative of the Assyrian king.  We would watch on TV or the internet.  They were watching from the walls.  The closest thing I can come up with is siege of Vicksburg in the Civil War.  It was one of the few times where the city or town was itself of strategic importance.  Vicksburg controlled the Mississippi River.  An outright attack would be difficult and deadly, so trying to get the city to surrender given the size of the Union Army was a reasonable option.  Here, the Rabshakeh seeks to intimidate the citizens to get them to force the  king to surrender.  He is pretty vivid in his description of the fate of the people if they don't surrender.

The language of lament from Psalm 89 comes to mind..  Hezekiah has been one  of the good kings of Judah.  Like this psalm, there were all the promises, but the current situation was very bleak.  Most of their troubles are due to backsliding over the years.  They really had no way of knowing if this was going to end in destruction or if God would rescue them.  We read this knowing the outcome.  It was a time of despair for the people of Jerusalem.  

Will we believe that the foundation (faith in Christ) will see us through even if the circumstances are destructive? 

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