Which your own hands have made unto you for a sin.
Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword,

Not of a mighty man;

And the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him :
But he shall flee from the sword,

And his young men shall be discomfited.

And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear,

And his princes shall be afraid of the ensign,

Saith the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem. Perhaps no king ever had a greater trial of faith and obedience than Hezekiah, left shut up in his capital, and forbidden to make alliance or submission with either of the terrible powers of the North or South. And yet this is only one of a number of exhortations from Isaiah to abstain from either friendship. How often when we grieve for some help that is denied us would it be good to recollect these words—that the Egyptians were men, not God; their horses flesh, and not spirit! They and all whom they tried to help would be ruined. And when the Lord made Judah's cause His own, the attacks of the Assyrians would be no more effective than the shouts of a party of poor shepherds against a mighty lion in his den. Jerusalem should be defended with as much ease as a bird could fly over it, and the Assyrian should fall-but by the sword, neither of a mighty, nor of a mean man. How strange such a promise must have sounded even to the faithful king, to Eliakim and to Asaph. And how the faithless must have chafed against being forced to obey it, and cried out that they were wasting time in listening to the prophet, and that they would all be devoured by the terrible enemy.

LESSON LXXV.

THE CUP-BEARER'S DEFIANCE.

B.C. 714.-2 KINGS xviii. 17-27; ISAIAH Xxxvi. 13-22.

And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris † and Rabshakeh + from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field.

And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim The chief cup-bearer.

* 'The general.

VOL. III.

The chief of the eunuchs.

Q

the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.

And Rabshakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?

Thou sayest (but they are but vain words), I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.

But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?

Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

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 ? Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.

Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it and talk not with us in the Jews' language in the ears of the people that are on the wall.

But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall?

*

Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you.

Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;

Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?

Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

* Hostages.

But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.

Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

COMMENT.-Sennacherib seems to have viewed the intrigues of Egypt as the real cause of all the opposition he met with in the lesser states of the intermediate country, and when he went out for his next year's campaign, he continued the siege of Lachish, a city full in the way to Egypt, and held apparently by an Egyptian garrison. It was about thirty miles southwest of Jerusalem, but lest Hezekiah should suppose himself safe, he sent a large body of troops together with three great officers, the Tartan or general, the Rabsaris or chief eunuch, and the Rabshakeh or chief cup-bearer, to carry an insulting message to Hezekiah, and try to raise the people against them. They came to the valley of Gihon, pitched their tents, and the three chiefs came and stood by the aqueduct, the very place where Isaiah had bidden the unbelieving Ahaz ask for a sign. They insolently called on the king himself to come out to them, but Hezekiah upheld his dignity by refusing to come out himself, and sending his ministers, the good Eliakim, Shebna, who was strong against Assyria, and Joah, the son of Asaph, perhaps the second psalmist of that

name.

Observe the cup

Never was there a more insulting message. bearer begins by calling his master the Great King, a title that was for centuries given to the head of the Assyrian monarchy. He does not even address himself to Hezekiah, but only tells the people how mad they were to let themselves be persuaded to resist such power as Sennacherib's. Did they hope in Egypt? It was like leaning on a reed which not only breaks, but with so sharp an edge that the hand that leans on it is pierced. If they talked of trusting in JEHOVAH, the Rabshakeh ingeniously frightened the ignorant, by declaring that Hezekiah had given offence by sweeping away the high places of His worship. The only thing to be done was to make submission, and give hostages of peace to Sennacherib, when he would give them 2,000 horses, they had men enough to ride them. Nay, he even pretended that in anger at the over

throw of the high places, the Lord had bidden the Assyrians destroy Judah as He had destroyed Israel.

The people of Jerusalem had come out to the walls to listen to the conference, and seeing them dismayed, the three counsellors begged the Rabshakeh to speak the Syriac tongue, and not the Hebrew; but this only showed the cup-bearer his advantage, and he raised his voice to its utmost pitch, speaking Hebrew, and warning the people of Jerusalem not to trust Hezekiah for a moment, but advising them to come out and make terms with him for themselves, if they wished still to live under the shade of their own vines and fig-trees. He was utterly inconsistent, as lying boasters are apt to be, for having perhaps seen the better informed smile at the notion of Hezekiah's having offended the LORD by the overthrow of the high places, he changed that threat into assuring the people that they need not expect their God, their national God, to be able to defend them. Then he went through the list of the Assyrian conquests-Syrian Hamath and Arpad, Mesopotamian Sepharvaim -nay, Samaria itself. Had any of these been delivered from the hands of the Assyrians? Why then should the Jews expect their JEHOVAH to deliver them?

Hezekiah forbade all war of words. The cup-bearer trumpeted .forth his boast, defying not only the king, but God Himself. The people listened and trembled, and Eliakim and his two companions stood in silence, enduring it all, for the king's commandment was 66 Answer him not."

LESSON LXXVI.

SENNACHERIB'S LETTER.

B.C. 714.— ISAIAH Xxxvii. 1—18; 2 KINGS xix. 18, 19.

And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.

And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy.

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.

So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

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.

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.

So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.

And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers

to Hezekiah, saying,

Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?

Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden

which were in Telassar?

Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?

And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.

And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,

O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.

Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.

:

Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,

And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.

Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.

COMMENT.-Many as had been the promises to Hezekiah, he was terribly dismayed by the cup-bearer's defiance. Indeed, if the * A breath of terror.