WHEN FACING EVIL
Isaiah 36:1
1 In the 14th year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem.
(Hezekiah sent out his palace administrator, his secretary, and a recorder who would relay the commander's message to king Hezekiah.
Notice what the commander has to say.
Starting in verse 4)
4 The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:
“‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? 5 You say you have counsel and might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? 6 Look, I know you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. 7 But if you say to me, “We are depending on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar”?
(First, the commander challenges their confidence and who they depend on. He begins by mocking their allies and then criticizes God as he misunderstands the worship of Yahweh doesn’t include the pagan practices of the neighboring nations. He tries to persuade Hezekiah's men to question their allegiance. The forces of evil will try and sow the seeds of doubt in the hopes to pull your allegiance away from God. He will try and sow division to divide the Kingdom of God. )
8 “‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! 9 How then can you repulse one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 10 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this land without the Lord? The Lord himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.’”
(The commander then tried to convince Hezekiah's men that he also was from the Lord and the Lord told him to conquer the kingdom of Hezekiah. The forces of evil will try to plant ideologies like humanism, materialism, new age beliefs, or any other ism that puts the concept of God as equal, lesser, or absent in different beliefs and practices of the world. With the hope of turning God’s people away from the truth and entrapped in false teachings.)
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.” 12 But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”
(Here, you see the commander indirectly trying to scare and persuade the people on the wall in hopes of turning against Hezekiah. The evil forces will also try to use fear shut you down or separate you.)
13 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, “Hear the words of the great king, the ideologies to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
(The commander once again promises a false gospel and prosperity within the world. Doctrines like the prosperity gospel, word-faith (name it, claim it), or even churches who back away from traditional marriage can all steer us away from the truth of God. Like Satan, who deceived Eve, he can make what will kill the soul look enticing to the heart. )
14 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you! 15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’
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.
( The commander with false promises tries to persuade Hezekiah's people to not trust in the Lord. The forces of evil not only wish to disrupt the message but also to attack the messenger. In hopes of discrediting the messenger, he wants to smear the message.)
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?”
(The commander now tries to point at Hezekiah's neighboring nations who trusted the same God of Abraham but had fallen into exile and slavery. Hoping to cause weakness in faith, both in God and Hezekiah, the forces of evil will try to sow doubts that lead to a weakness of faith. This weakness will cause some to question the redeeming power of Jesus Christ. To kill the confidence of salvation is to put us back under the law that causes death. It brings us back to the absence of hope and kills the assurance of salvation. The very definition of faith in the book of Hebrews.)
21 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.” 22 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn, and told him what the field commander had said.
(Hezekiah's people remained silent and obeyed their king. This is a lesson in itself; we should not even feed into the conversation or give Satan a potential foothold to further attack us with his lies, fear, and doubts. At some point, we should be like Jesus and tell Satan to get behind us or move out of our way. We serve the one true King, and it is in that King we report to daily and obey. )
To sum up this section, we see the tactics of evil:
1. Attack your confidence
2. Sow division
3. Sow doubt
4. Deceive
5. False teachings
6. Fear
7. Discredit the messenger
8. Smear or mock the message
9. Attacks our faith (Salvation in Christ)
Achieving Victory
Isaiah 37 New International Version
37 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth, and went into the temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.
(The road to victory came from three simple truths—repentance, awareness, and seeking out the Word of God. Repentance not only for the individual but the nation as a whole. By going into the temple, Hezekiah wanted to gain a higher awareness. The Old Testament temple was the dwelling place of God, at least in the sense of sin offerings, burnt offerings, and worship. Today we have God in us as the indwelling of His Holy Spirit guides us. It is not a matter of growing closer as God is as close as the heart within you; it is a matter of growing more aware of God’s presence. In seeking out God’s Word, the people of the Old Testament went to the current prophets or written scrolls of the past prophets. Today, we have the 66 books of the Bible being Holy inspired by God. To hear God’s Word, we must go to the written Word of God.)
5 When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’”
(As Hezekiah sought out guidance from God, he was given a message by the prophet Isaiah. The message of victory was a great comfort to his troubled soul. We can see this same victory over the forces of evil in our own lives if we follow Hezekiah's example. Repent, be aware of God’s presence and seek out His Word. )
Isaiah 36:1
1 In the 14th year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem.
(Hezekiah sent out his palace administrator, his secretary, and a recorder who would relay the commander's message to king Hezekiah.
Notice what the commander has to say.
Starting in verse 4)
4 The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:
“‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? 5 You say you have counsel and might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? 6 Look, I know you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. 7 But if you say to me, “We are depending on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar”?
(First, the commander challenges their confidence and who they depend on. He begins by mocking their allies and then criticizes God as he misunderstands the worship of Yahweh doesn’t include the pagan practices of the neighboring nations. He tries to persuade Hezekiah's men to question their allegiance. The forces of evil will try and sow the seeds of doubt in the hopes to pull your allegiance away from God. He will try and sow division to divide the Kingdom of God. )
8 “‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! 9 How then can you repulse one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 10 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this land without the Lord? The Lord himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.’”
(The commander then tried to convince Hezekiah's men that he also was from the Lord and the Lord told him to conquer the kingdom of Hezekiah. The forces of evil will try to plant ideologies like humanism, materialism, new age beliefs, or any other ism that puts the concept of God as equal, lesser, or absent in different beliefs and practices of the world. With the hope of turning God’s people away from the truth and entrapped in false teachings.)
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.” 12 But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”
(Here, you see the commander indirectly trying to scare and persuade the people on the wall in hopes of turning against Hezekiah. The evil forces will also try to use fear shut you down or separate you.)
13 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, “Hear the words of the great king, the ideologies to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
(The commander once again promises a false gospel and prosperity within the world. Doctrines like the prosperity gospel, word-faith (name it, claim it), or even churches who back away from traditional marriage can all steer us away from the truth of God. Like Satan, who deceived Eve, he can make what will kill the soul look enticing to the heart. )
14 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you! 15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’
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.
( The commander with false promises tries to persuade Hezekiah's people to not trust in the Lord. The forces of evil not only wish to disrupt the message but also to attack the messenger. In hopes of discrediting the messenger, he wants to smear the message.)
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?”
(The commander now tries to point at Hezekiah's neighboring nations who trusted the same God of Abraham but had fallen into exile and slavery. Hoping to cause weakness in faith, both in God and Hezekiah, the forces of evil will try to sow doubts that lead to a weakness of faith. This weakness will cause some to question the redeeming power of Jesus Christ. To kill the confidence of salvation is to put us back under the law that causes death. It brings us back to the absence of hope and kills the assurance of salvation. The very definition of faith in the book of Hebrews.)
21 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.” 22 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn, and told him what the field commander had said.
(Hezekiah's people remained silent and obeyed their king. This is a lesson in itself; we should not even feed into the conversation or give Satan a potential foothold to further attack us with his lies, fear, and doubts. At some point, we should be like Jesus and tell Satan to get behind us or move out of our way. We serve the one true King, and it is in that King we report to daily and obey. )
To sum up this section, we see the tactics of evil:
1. Attack your confidence
2. Sow division
3. Sow doubt
4. Deceive
5. False teachings
6. Fear
7. Discredit the messenger
8. Smear or mock the message
9. Attacks our faith (Salvation in Christ)
Achieving Victory
Isaiah 37 New International Version
37 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth, and went into the temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.
(The road to victory came from three simple truths—repentance, awareness, and seeking out the Word of God. Repentance not only for the individual but the nation as a whole. By going into the temple, Hezekiah wanted to gain a higher awareness. The Old Testament temple was the dwelling place of God, at least in the sense of sin offerings, burnt offerings, and worship. Today we have God in us as the indwelling of His Holy Spirit guides us. It is not a matter of growing closer as God is as close as the heart within you; it is a matter of growing more aware of God’s presence. In seeking out God’s Word, the people of the Old Testament went to the current prophets or written scrolls of the past prophets. Today, we have the 66 books of the Bible being Holy inspired by God. To hear God’s Word, we must go to the written Word of God.)
5 When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’”
(As Hezekiah sought out guidance from God, he was given a message by the prophet Isaiah. The message of victory was a great comfort to his troubled soul. We can see this same victory over the forces of evil in our own lives if we follow Hezekiah's example. Repent, be aware of God’s presence and seek out His Word. )
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