36:4-6 Chapter 19 describes Isaiah’s prophecy of judgment upon Egypt, while chapters 30 and 31 pronounce woe on those from Judah who would ally themselves with Egypt in the face of Assyria’s impending attack. Sennacherib of Assyria was taunting Judah for trusting in Egypt. Even the Assyrians knew that Egypt could not help Judah.
36:5 Hezekiah put great trust in Pharaoh’s promise to help Israel against the Assyrians, but promises are only as good as the credibility of the person making them. It was Pharaoh’s word against God’s. How quickly we seek human advice while we neglect God’s eternal promises. When choosing between God’s Word and someone else’s, whose will you believe?
36:7 The representative from Assyria claimed that Hezekiah had insulted God by tearing down his altars and making the people worship only in Jerusalem. But Hezekiah’s reform sought to eliminate idol worship (which occurred mainly on high hills) so that the people worshiped only the true God. Either the Assyrians didn’t know about the religion of the true God, or they wanted to deceive the people into thinking they had angered a powerful god.
In the same way, Satan tries to confuse or deceive us. People don’t necessarily need to be sinful to be ineffective for God; they need only be confused about what God wants. To avoid Satan’s deceit, study God’s Word carefully and regularly. When you know what God says, you will not fall for Satan’s lies.
36:10 Sennacherib continued his demoralization campaign by sending Rabshakeh to try to convince the people of Judah that God had turned against them. The Assyrians hoped to convince the people of Judah to surrender without fighting. But Isaiah had already said that the Assyrians would not destroy Jerusalem, so the people did not need to be afraid of them (10:24-27; 29:5-8).
36:17 Sennacherib’s representative tried yet another ploy to demoralize the people. He appealed to the starving city under siege by offering to take them to a land with plenty of food if they surrendered. The Assyrian policy for dealing with conquered nations was to resettle the inhabitants and then to move other conquered peoples into the recently conquered area. This provided manpower for their armies and prevented revolts in conquered territories.
36:19, 20 Rabshakeh said that the gods of the other cities he had conquered had not been able to save their people, so how could the God of Jerusalem save them? The Lord was supposedly the God of Samaria (the northern kingdom), and it fell. But the Lord was the God of Samaria in name only because the people were not worshiping him. That is why prophets foretold the fall of Samaria. But for the Lord’s own sake and for the sake of David, the Lord would rescue Jerusalem from the Assyrian army (37:35).