The Devil’s Tactics to Discourage Believers - Isaiah 36
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©Copyright April 24, 2022 Rev. Bruce Goettsche
How many times did you have to tell your children to brush their teeth before they finally started to do it on their own? How many times did you have to tell certain family members to put their clothes into the laundry basket instead of leaving them on the floor? Some things need to be repeated before they are received.
This is the reason Isaiah has beat the same drumbeat for so many chapters from Isaiah 8-35. Let me remind you one more time of the context of the passage. The Assyrian army was coming south and Israel and Syria wanted Judah to join them in fighting the Assyrians. Judah (under Ahaz) refused. Isaiah told Ahaz near the upper pool (which we will see again in this chapter) to trust God and they would not have to worry about the Assyrian army because God would fight for them.
Unfortunately, Judah, like most of us, thought they could “handle it”. They tried to pay Assyria off. That just left them with less riches. Assyria kept coming. Then, Judah decided to make an alliance with Egypt (to their south). Egypt agreed to the alliance but for self-servings purposes.
Now we turn to the conclusion of the account in Isaiah 36. This same story (almost verbatim) is in 2 Kings 18 and 2 Chronicles 32. King Sennacherib attacked Judah and captured the key cities. In the 6th year of Hezekiah Samaria fell and the people were deported to Assyria. This was common practice at the time. The Assyrians deported some of the citizens and imported some of their own. This was to water down the identity of Israel and make the people easier to control. This is where the Samaritans came from. They were despised by the Jews who were part of Judah because they did not see these people as true Jews.
The Assyrians were fighting a battle on two different fronts, so it served in their best interest to try to negotiate a settlement with Judah. This takes us to Isaiah 36, our text for today. Sennacherib, the Assyrian leader tried to persuade King Hezekiah and the people of Judah to surrender. And he is going to do via several different tactics. I believe Satan is using these same tactics today in our lives.
Let’s look at the first part of this dialogue. In this first section (36:4-6) Sennacherib (through his chief of staff) made 4 attempts to undermine the resolve of the people of Judah.
4 Then the Assyrian king’s chief of staff told them to give this message to Hezekiah:
“This is what the great king of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you so confident? 5 Do you think that mere words can substitute for military skill and strength? Who are you counting on, that you have rebelled against me? 6 On Egypt? If you lean on Egypt, it will be like a reed that splinters beneath your weight and pierces your hand. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is completely unreliable!
1. Cast Doubt on God’s Word.
The first thing Sennacherib does is challenge the promise that God made. He asks “do you think MERE words can substitute for military skill and strength?”
This is always the first tactic of the enemy: try to cast doubt on the trustworthiness of God’s promise. In the Garden of Eden this is what Satan does with Adam and Eve. In the temptation of Jesus, Satan tried to twist God’s promises to get Jesus to do something foolish. And this is what Satan and all those who are with Him do today as well.
You will likely face people who will tell you the Bible is antiquated, irrelevant, words that are made up by men. You will be told the Bible we have today isn’t even the same Bible that was written by the writers . . . it has been changed many times with each new translation and is therefore not reliable.
Back in High School when some friends discovered I was reading a Bible. They asked, ”Do you really believe that stuff about a flood and a guy being eaten by a whale?” The attempt was to make the Bible sound ridiculous. I said I did. Today I would point out that I believe in Noah, Jonah, Daniel and all the other supernatural things in the Bible because Jesus believed these things. I would then go on to show that the reason I believe in Jesus is because He came back from the dead.
Yes the Bible is old. That doesn’t mean it isn’t truth! The Bible has a different view of the world than our society, but that doesn’t mean it is wrong. As to the Bible being changed over the years, archaeological discoveries (like the Dead Sea Scrolls) show how carefully they have been translated. There is an entire scroll of Isaiah 1000 years earlier than anything we had before. In studying this scroll it showed it was virtually unchanged! The idea of “changes” over the years is really a plot designed to derail believers.
Of course, what Sennacherib doesn’t understand is the people of Judah were not putting their faith in “mere words,” they were putting their trust in the God who had been faithful continually in their history. Satan hopes we don’t see that distinction.
Here’s the second attack.
7 “But perhaps you will say to me, ‘We are trusting in the Lord our God!’ But isn’t he the one who was insulted by Hezekiah? Didn’t Hezekiah tear down his shrines and altars and make everyone in Judah and Jerusalem worship only at the altar here in Jerusalem?
Make us Feel Unworthy
Sennacherib is trying to make the people feel unworthy. He thought because Hezekiah had destroyed the temples of other gods who would be in disfavor with all Gods (including Israel’s). People are always quick to point out the inconsistencies of our lives as a way of deflecting attention from the message of the gospel in their own life. And since we are all sensitive to inconsistencies in our lives, we can easily take the bait.
But here is what we affirm. First, God was pleased Hezekiah destroyed those idols and false places of worship! Second, we can remind Satan we are not right with God because we are good . . . but because God is merciful and gracious. When this kind of attack comes at us, we must point out that the reality of our sin is the very reason Jesus had to die! In other words, we deal with this attempt to discourage us with a simple, “You are right, I don’t deserve salvation . . . and neither do you. But the good news of the gospel is that God has reached out to save us in spite of that fact!”
Try to Intimidate Us
Sennacherib kept the arrows coming. This was not about making a reasoned argument, this was about trying a number of things in the hope something will stick.
8 “I’ll tell you what! Strike a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you 2,000 horses if you can find that many men to ride on them! 9 With your tiny army, how can you think of challenging even the weakest contingent of my master’s troops, even with the help of Egypt’s chariots and charioteers?
Sennacherib mocked the people of Judah. He offered them 2000 of their “spare” horses because he knew they did not have enough people to ride them. The argument is clear: “You are too weak to win a war against me.” His implication is that they are too ignorant to make the smart choice.
Today we will be called ignorant, bigoted, and severely disturbed because of our beliefs. Professors will mock you and tell you no educated person believes like you do. (Of course, that is not an argument . . . just an arrogant insult). You may be informed that “everyone else” disagrees with you. Though LAWS may be determined by popular vote, truth is not! Truth is objective, it is either true or not true. What others think about it is irrelevant to its validity.
Calling us names should not discourage us from our trust in the Lord. It is not an argument! It is an attempt to silence those who disagree with them.
Confuse the Facts
10 What’s more, do you think we have invaded your land without the Lord’s direction? The Lord himself told us, ‘Attack this land and destroy it!’ ”
This is somewhat humorous. For a King who ridicules the Word of God, to now suggest He is actually the one working for that God, is rich. The goal is to get you to doubt what you know. Just as you should ask to see the badge of someone who says they are in law enforcement, so you need to ask people for the evidence that they are sent by God.
There is a story in 1 Kings 13 about a prophet who was told to confront and rebuke Israel’s King Jeroboam. The instructions to the prophet were clear: “You must not eat or drink anything while you are there, and do not return to Judah by the same way you came.” When he had spoken to the King the King asked for prayer and then invited the prophet to stay for a meal. He declined, as God told him to do.
But there was an old prophet in town, who for some reason, went and caught up to the prophet and invited him to come and eat with him. The Prophet who had been sent from God declined but the old prophet said, “I am a prophet too and an angel told me to come to you.” The old prophet was lying. The first prophet went back to the home and had dinner. When the prophet sent by God left the home of the deceptive prophet he was killed by a lion.
It is the same tactic. Every false religion seduces people in this way. They claim to be a “messenger from God” and draw people away from the truth. They quote religious sources and speak in “spiritual language.” They know how to sell the product! Our best defense is this: when the Bible clearly tells you something or you seem to have an unmistakable message from the Lord, do not follow someone who leads you away from that truth. Trust the Holy Spirit inside of you rather than the words of someone else.
The leaders of Judah asked Sennacherib’s chief of staff to speak to them privately (so the people wouldn’t hear) . This only emboldened these enemies of Israel and they used some additional tactics Satan uses to get to us.
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Assyrian chief of staff, “Please speak to us in Aramaic, for we understand it well. Don’t speak in Hebrew, for the people on the wall will hear.”
12 But Sennacherib’s chief of staff replied, “Do you think my master sent this message only to you and your master? He wants all the people to hear it, for when we put this city under siege, they will suffer along with you. They will be so hungry and thirsty that they will eat their own dung and drink their own urine.”
13 Then the chief of staff stood and shouted in Hebrew to the people on the wall, “Listen to this message from the great king of Assyria! 14 This is what the king says: Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you. He will never be able to rescue you. 15 Don’t let him fool you into trusting in the Lord by saying, ‘The Lord will surely rescue us. This city will never fall into the hands of the Assyrian king!’
He will use Peer Pressure
We all know how powerful peer pressure can be. No one wants to be an outcast from their friends and neighbors. We want to fit in. This isn’t just for teenagers. Satan and his helpers will use public opinion to move us.
Think about this: how many of us are in the same political party your family or friends embrace even though you never have thought about what your party (or the other party) actually affirms? Or how many people root for a team their family or friends have always rooted for? How many of us even read a version of the Bible that our parents or influential teachers told us was the “only good version” of the Bible, without ever checking to see if those statements were true? How many people go to a church because their friends are going there without ever examining what the church believed? We are moved by the opinions of the people around us.
Our antagonists will appeal to polls, quote favorite authors, and show statistics that say the majority of people disagree with our Biblical stand. The challenge for us is to be “thinking Christians.” In other words, we need to fight off peer pressure and make Biblical decisions. When competing ideas appeal to others rather than to actual rational arguments we need to run back to the shelter of the Word of God for a false teacher is in our midst.
Promise us Immediate Relief
16 “Don’t listen to Hezekiah! These are the terms the king of Assyria is offering: Make peace with me—open the gates and come out. Then each of you can continue eating from your own grapevine and fig tree and drinking from your own well. 17 Then I will arrange to take you to another land like this one—a land of grain and new wine, bread and vineyards.
Do you remember when Jesus was tempted by the Devil? The third temptation recorded by Matthew is this:
8 Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.” (Matthew 4:8-9)
Satan told Jesus He could deliver the Kingdoms of the world to Him. Satan was saying, “Look, instead of having to give your life as a payment for sin . . . I can give you the same thing right here and now! All you have to do is worship me.” Fortunately, Jesus realized the price tag was too much.
Sennacherib is saying, “I know you would love to just to live your life. It’s no fun to be under siege and know you may soon be killed. I can give you the life you are looking for.” Louie Giglio wrote,
When that temptation or harmful thought comes our way, it’s probably not going to look bad—not at first. Initially it promises something good. Sin offers a solution. Sin guarantees relief. If you’re down, sin brings you up. If you’re stuck, sin shows the way out. If you’re miserable, sin promises comfort. If you’re outraged, sin offers the perfect justice. If you’re lonely, sin becomes your best friend. All lies.[1]
The enemy offers us the promise of immediate relief. He will offer pleasure, money, power, and show us shortcuts to what we want. But it is temporary until we are dragged away. God offers us ultimate relief. The Lord alone can set us free from bondage, fear, and eternal destruction. Satan has one more tool at his disposal.
He will try to get us to focus on the possibility of failure to paralyze us
18 “Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you by saying, ‘The Lord will rescue us!’ Have the gods of any other nations ever saved their people from the king of Assyria? 19 What happened to the gods of Hamath and Arpad? And what about the gods of Sepharvaim? Did any god rescue Samaria from my power? 20 What god of any nation has ever been able to save its people from my power? So, what makes you think that the Lord can rescue Jerusalem from me?”
21 But the people were silent and did not utter a word because Hezekiah had commanded them, “Do not answer him.”
The truth is, Assyria HAD wiped out a bunch of other people! It is always tempting to focus on the “worst case scenario.” We can compare ourselves unfavorably to the strength of those who oppose us. Satan always wants us to focus on the potential for failure. He will threaten us with arrest, the loss of benefits, losing our job, being the focus of public backlash. These are real threats, but God wants us to focus on Him Just as He wanted Judah to focus on Him.
We can turn this threat around. Empires have come and gone but God’s people, the church, have remained. None of the other nations that fell to Assyria put their trust in the Lord. They fell because they trusted in a God who did not have any power or life. Same with Assyria. We don’t need to fear failure when we trust in a God who is so sufficient and powerful.
The tactics of Assyria are being recycled. You will face these voices in your head and from those around you. Louie Giglio has made popular nine words we need to remember: “Don’t give the Enemy a Seat at Your table!” Hear his words for what they are: a desperate attempt to turn us away from the truth. He wants to steal our confidence, our joy, and water down our faith.
I wish we could see the response of the people and of the Lord . . . but that will have to wait until next week. For now, Jesus calls you to be wise rather than gullible, to stand on the Word of God and not be swayed by the lies and distortions from the devil and his agents. Do not let him take what God has given you!
Next week we will look at the response of Hezekiah and the people of Judah. And we will finally see what happens when people trust the Lord.
[1] Louis Giglio Don’t Give the Enemyl A Seat At your Table p. 78