Unfolding Drama
Isaiah 36:13-14
Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you.”
Take a few moments today to read through Isaiah 36 and notice how the structure completely shifts from prophetic directives to a narrative discourse. It reads like a Shakespearian play, as Rabshakeh, the villainous servant of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, enters stage left, approaches Jerusalem’s gate on stage right, and begins to taunt God’s people. Filled with terror, Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah beg Rabshakeh not to speak ‘in the tongue of the people,’ for fear of sending the city into an uproar, but Rabshakeh doesn’t listen. Think of it, friend: don’t the devils in your own life do the same? Don’t they stand outside the walls of your faith and speak in your own dialect, luring you with deeply personal temptations and terrifying you with equally personal threats?
Remember, Christian: your King speaks in your native tongue as well! He stands ever before you, between you and hell’s armies, sheltering you in His unconquerable love. So don’t heed the voice of Rabshakeh. Jesus speaks a better word.