Day 26: When God is Your Trust

Scripture: Isaiah 36:1-10:
"In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.  2  And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field.  3  And there came out to him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder. 4  And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours?  5  Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me?  6  Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in
him.  7  But if you say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God,” is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar”?  8  Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.  9  How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?  10  Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”’

Has there ever been a time in your life when you faced a situation in which you didn’t know what to do? A time where the pressure was so immense that you felt like a potato in a pressure cooker? The walls were closing in, and you had no way of escape? This is the kind of pressure that God’s people face in our passage today. And now, the commander of the most powerful army on earth at the time asks them the same question that doubt loves to ask us, “What are you resting your trust in?”

This is the same question that doubt challenges us with in our hardest moments. The same question it whispers when we don’t have the answers. But it’s the very question the resurrection answers with a shout. You see, Isaiah 36–39 isn’t a random historical appendix tacked onto the end of Isaiah’s prophecies. It’s the climax of everything Isaiah has been saying from chapters 7–35. For nearly 30 chapters, Isaiah has been pressing one question into the hearts of God’s people: Will you trust God, or will you trust the nations?

Judah is faced with the decision to either look at their weaknesses, their situation, and their past and conclude that God is not enough so that they need to look elsewhere, or make the decision to trust God even when they don’t know how things are going to work out. What we see here in chapters 36 and 37 is ultimately the same battle you face today in where you will place your trust.

These chapters show that question of trust being asked again — this time not to Ahaz, but to his son Hezekiah. And the stakes are higher than ever. Isaiah’s message up to this chapter has been one long argument to show that God can be trusted. He’s done this in 3 parts. In the first part, chapters 7-12, Isaiah shows how king Ahaz has failed the test of trusting the Lord in his time of crisis. Ahaz chose instead to trust self-reliance and fear over the Lord.

In chapters 13-35, Isaiah shows that trusting the nations is foolish. He reminds Judah that every nation, whether Assyria, Babylon, or Egypt, is under God’s judgment and is not a savior. All of these nations are not stable and cannot carry the weight of Judah’s hope. Like a good teacher, Isaiah has been preparing the people for the final exam. This test will come in chapters 36-39.

In chapters 36-39, Hezekiah faces the same question his father faced, “Will you trust God or self?” but under far worse circumstances. Assyria is knocking at the door and he is out of options. The question is, “Will he respond like his father Ahaz did, or will he trust the Lord?” These chapters matter because we face the same kind of choice. Will we trust God when crisis comes? Will we turn to the Lord like Hezekiah, or will we trust in the things we can control like Ahaz?

In chapter 36, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, has sent his army to take Judah. He has already destroyed every fortified city in Judah except one — Jerusalem. Jerusalem is up next unless a miracle happens. Keep in mind that Assyria is the superpower of the world. Their cruelty is legendary and their armies are unstoppable. No one in that world had the kind of terrifying reputation that they did. And now they send their third highest commander to Jerusalem’s walls, ironically to the same exact spot where Isaiah confronted Ahaz 35 years earlier. These are not random messengers. These are the top brass of the most powerful empire on earth. And their presence communicates one thing: “We own you.”

The Assyrians bring with them a message that is designed to crush their trust in God. You will see how he mocks their weaknesses, their faith, and even their God. But if you listen more closely, you will begin to understand how our enemy does the same thing with us. The same voice speaks to us in our moments of crisis the kind of questions that are designed to crush our faith in God.

Hezekiah is in the same spot his father was years ago. Déjà vu. This is not accidental. This is a divine replay. It’s as if God is saying, “We’ve been here before. Will this king trust Me where his daddy didn’t?” Isn’t it interesting how God often brings us back to the same kinds of tests — not to shame us, but to grow us? He lets us face familiar fears and challenges so we can choose a different response, a response of faith.

Just think of the difference between Hezekiah and Ahaz. Where Ahaz panicked, Hezekiah is going to trust. Where Ahaz grabbed control, Hezekiah is going to trust. Where Ahaz ran to human help, Hezekiah is going to run to God. Why? It’s not because Hezekiah has life together better. It’s because he leans deeply into the grace of God.

And the same is true for you. Think about the places where doubt keeps circling back, the fears that feel familiar, the anxieties that return, the weaknesses that keep resurfacing. These aren’t signs that God is tired of you. They’re invitations to trust Him more deeply than before and lean into His grace.

Hezekiah sends three civilian officials, not military leaders, to meet the Assyrians. One of them is Eliakim, now promoted to prime minister, just as Isaiah prophesied (Isaiah 22:20–23). Shebna, once proud and selfexalting, has been demoted. They listen to the argument of the Assyrian commander. His goal is simple, to break their confidence, crush their hopes, and make trust in God seem ridiculous. He attacks every possible place Judah might put their trust. However he can feed doubt, he will do it.

The Rabshakeh mocks their alliance with Egypt, calling them a “splintered reed” that will pierce their hand. And he’s right, for Egypt can’t save them. He then attempts to persuade Judah not to trust the Lord. In doing this, he misunderstands Hezekiah’s reforms and assumes God is angry or weak. He thinks God is like the pagan gods he knows who are territorial and easily offended.

Think of how doubt does the same with us. Doubt loves to twist your view of God. It whispers lies like, “God is disappointed in you. God won’t help you. God is done with you.” But that’s not the God of Scripture.

Then the Rabshakeh mocks God. This is the heart of his attack. He lists all the nations Assyria has conquered and all the gods who failed to save them. He implies Yahweh is no different. He never says, “Your God can’t save you.” He just lets the “evidence” speak. Even if Assyria gave them 2,000 horses he says, Judah couldn’t find enough trained riders to use them. That isn’t a lot of warriors. Judah is so weak that they can’t even muster up a tiny army to fight. So how are they going to fight against such a large army that Assyria has, if they can’t even come up with the minimum?

Doubt loves to highlight your weakness in the same way. Not to drive you to God, but to drive you to despair. “Look,” it says. You can’t even come up with the least amount of resources to pull through. God’s not going to be enough for you. So you better look elsewhere. The enemy will do all he can to use past disappointments as “proof” that God won’t come through. He wants you to interpret your life through your pain, not through God’s promises.

But the Rabshakeh’s argument collapses on one point: Yahweh is not one of the gods.
He is the only God. And it’s this point that Isaiah is trying to drive across in his message.
Now, we all face moments where trust feels impossible. When the pressure is overwhelming, when the odds are impossible. We all stand where Hezekiah stood. Will we trust God when everything in us wants to run to something else? And we all need the same reminder: God is not intimidated by the things that intimidate us. Assyria was terrifying, but not to God. Your crisis may be overwhelming, but not to Him.

Hezekiah had to trust God for a deliverance he couldn’t yet see. But you have something Hezekiah didn’t. What is it? You have the resurrection. Remember, the empty tomb is God’s final answer to every Rabshakeh-shaped doubt that says lies like, “God won’t help you.” The resurrection says, “He already has.” Doubt tells us that, “Your situation is hopeless.” But the resurrection says, “Nothing is beyond His power.” Doubt wants to write all over us, “You’re too weak.” Thankfully the resurrection says, “His strength is made perfect in weakness.”

The risen Christ is the proof that God does not abandon His people when the enemy surrounds them. He steps into the battle Himself. He defeats the enemy Himself. He carries the victory Himself. He is not afraid of doubt because He has conquered it. And therefore you do not need to be afraid, because He lives.

And because He lives, your hope lives.

Pastor Josh

1. Where do you hear the “Rabshakeh voice” in your own life — the voice that questions your trust in God and uses your weakness or past disappointments as evidence against Him?
2. When God brings you back to familiar fears or repeated tests, how do you typically respond — and how might the resurrection invite you to respond differently this time?
3. What situation in your life feels as overwhelming as Assyria at the gate — and how does the empty tomb reshape the way you see that situation?