Isaiah

Isaiah 36: The LORD is worthy of trust

Begin in prayer

Before we read the loud threats outside Jerusalem, let us ask God for steady hearts. Ask Him to help our family hear His Word above the voices that tell us to stop trusting Him.

Israel, trust in Yahweh! He is their help and their shield.

Psalm 115:9

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Help us recognize words that draw us away from You. Help us trust Jesus when fear makes false promises sound safe. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Sennacherib captures Judah’s fortified cities and sends Rabshakeh with a large army to confront Jerusalem. He mocks their military weakness, calls Egypt a piercing reed and challenges their trust in the LORD. He claims that God sent him to destroy the land. When Judah’s officials request Aramaic, he speaks loudly in the people’s own language and threatens the horrors of siege. He offers food and peace if they surrender, followed by removal to another land. He compares the LORD with the powerless gods of conquered nations and tells them that Hezekiah’s promise of rescue will deceive them. The people obey the king’s command to remain silent, and the officials return with torn clothes to report his words.

As you read Isaiah 36, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

The LORD is worthy of trust when powerful enemies mock Him and offer false peace.

In Hezekiah’s fourteenth year, Sennacherib king of Assyria had taken all the fortified cities of Judah (verse 1). He sent Rabshakeh with a large army from Lachish, a city of Judah he was attacking. Rabshakeh stood at the upper pool, where Isaiah had once called King Ahaz to trust the LORD (Isaiah 7 verse 3). Eliakim and Shebna, the officials of chapter 22, come out to hear him. He is right that Egypt is a bruised reed that pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it. But he lies about the LORD, saying Hezekiah offended Him by removing the high places, and claiming God sent Assyria (verses 7 and 10). His worst insult puts the living God beside the gods of the lands Assyria had beaten (verses 18 to 20). The chapter ends with the people silent, but chapter 37 will show that the LORD alone is worthy of their trust.

How does Isaiah 36 show us that the LORD is worthy of trust when powerful enemies mock Him and offer false peace?

Threatening words can mix truth with deceit.

Egypt is a weak support, as God has already warned in chapter 31. Rabshakeh uses that weakness to attack trust in the LORD. He claims divine authority while speaking against the hope God has given Jerusalem.

False peace calls people away from God.

The messenger offers food from their own vines and trees if they surrender. His offer ends with being taken to another land. The promise of comfort carries a demand to abandon the king’s call to trust the LORD.

The living God is unlike defeated idols.

Rabshakeh lists conquered places and asks why Jerusalem’s God should fare better. His question treats the LORD like the gods Assyria has destroyed. Rabshakeh mocks the king’s words, “Yahweh will surely deliver us”, but the next chapter shows they were true. The people give no answer, and the officials carry his words to Hezekiah in grief.

Memorise

Yahweh will surely deliver us. This city won’t be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

Isaiah 36:15

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what fearful promise tempts me to stop trusting Jesus and follow another voice?

Rabshakeh urges Jerusalem to reject the king’s assurance, “Yahweh will surely deliver us.” His offer of peace asks the people to stop trusting the LORD. The threat presses them to judge God’s faithfulness by the enemy’s strength.

We also need rescue from the sin that makes us listen to false promises. Jesus was condemned for His people and put to death to bring them peace with God. The Father raised Him, and His finished work is enough to keep every believer safe before God.

Turn from the voices that lead you into sin and put your faith in Jesus. Forgiveness belongs to everyone who believes in Him. Threatening voices may grow loud, but the risen Jesus has never failed one person who trusts Him.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God always keeps His word, and every promise of God is kept in Jesus. Please explain the siege threat in verse 12 in your own words, without graphic detail. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that His Word deserves our trust when fear and false promises press upon us, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

Therefore don’t be afraid of them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed; and hidden that will not be known.

Matthew 10:26

Lord, thank You that threatening words cannot make You unfaithful. Please turn us to Jesus for forgiveness and peace. Help us hear Your Word when other voices make disobedience sound safe. Give our family courage to depend on You during the fears of this week. Amen.