Trusting God when voices seek to weaken our confidence

One of the most instructive details in the account of Hezekiah and Rabshakeh is easily overlooked: the people did not answer.

Rabshakeh had come as the spokesman of the king of Assyria. Standing outside Jerusalem, he spoke loudly in the language of its people. His words were intended to reach those on the wall, to unsettle them, and to break their confidence in their king and their God.

Then we read:

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

Isaiah 36:21, KJV

Their silence was obedience. They had heard the challenge, but they were not obliged to enter an argument on the challenger’s terms.

That is a lesson worth remembering when confident voices make faith appear foolish, surrender seem sensible, and trust in God sound dangerously naïve.

The assault on confidence

Rabshakeh’s speech was aimed at the foundation of Judah’s resistance: their trust.

He questioned their strength. He represented Hezekiah as a deceiver. He used knowledge of their religious life to cast doubt on their relationship with God. He even claimed divine authority for the Assyrian invasion.

Then he offered the apparent comforts of surrender. There could be food, water, and a future—if only they would stop listening to Hezekiah and come out to him.

His argument reached its sharpest point when he compared the Lord with the gods of the nations Assyria had already defeated. Those gods had not saved their peoples. Why should Jerusalem expect anything different?

The military threat was real. The conclusion Rabshakeh demanded was false. Assyria’s victories did not establish that the living God was powerless.

Intimidation often works by joining a real difficulty to an unjustified conclusion: You are vulnerable; therefore God cannot be trusted. Others have surrendered; therefore faithfulness is foolish. Opposition is powerful; therefore compromise is inevitable.

Familiar language, a destructive purpose

Rabshakeh knew how to speak to his audience. He used their language and referred to their worship.

This has led some readers to wonder whether he was himself a Jewish apostate. Later Jewish tradition identifies him that way, but Scripture does not establish his ancestry. The lesson does not depend upon settling that question. What the passage clearly shows is a man using familiarity with the people’s faith to undermine their confidence in God.

There is a warning here for the church. Religious language, learning, and public standing do not make every voice trustworthy. We must attend to what a teacher is asking us to believe.

Does the teaching help us understand and submit to God’s Word? Does it direct us towards Christ? Or does it gradually make confidence in God seem embarrassing and accommodation to unbelief seem mature?

Honest questions deserve patient attention. Our interpretations need examination and sometimes correction. Yet intellectual humility does not require perpetual uncertainty about whether God has spoken or whether he is trustworthy.

They answered him not

We can feel obliged to produce an immediate answer whenever Christianity is challenged. If we cannot reply quickly and convincingly, we may feel that our faith has somehow failed.

Isaiah 36 gives us a different picture. In this instance, the people’s faithful response was to remain silent.

This is not a universal instruction never to answer objections. Christians are called to be ready to explain their hope with gentleness and respect. There are occasions for careful argument, public testimony, and patient conversation.

But this passage reminds us that answering is not always required. A threatening speech does not automatically create an obligation to debate. We do not have to let the loudest voice determine the terms of our faithfulness.

Sometimes we have no adequate answer ready. Sometimes the person speaking has no interest in hearing one. Sometimes the wisest response is to refuse the contest and bring the matter before God.

We do not need a ready answer to every challenge in order to keep trusting him.

The people on the wall could obey their king without defeating Rabshakeh in argument. His confidence did not make him right, and their silence did not make him right either.

Where Hezekiah took the threat

Hezekiah was deeply distressed. He tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. He sought the word of God through Isaiah.

Later, when a further threatening message arrived, he read the letter and spread it before the Lord.

That is a deeply human and deeply faithful act. He did not pretend the letter was harmless. He brought its contents into the presence of the One whose power exceeded the threat.

In prayer, Hezekiah acknowledged that the Assyrians had devastated other nations. Faith did not require him to deny the facts. But he also recognised what the enemy’s argument concealed: the gods destroyed by Assyria were the work of human hands. The Lord was the living God, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Hezekiah’s fear had somewhere to go.

So does ours.

We may come before God shaken, without eloquence and without knowing what will happen next. We can tell him what has been said, what we fear, and where our confidence feels weak. Prayer does not require us to become fearless before we approach him.

Building a faith that can withstand pressure

A congregation needs to be nourished in the character of God and the trustworthiness of his Word.

People need more than a supply of replies to the latest controversy. They need to know the One to whom they belong. They need to learn, through Scripture, that he is holy, faithful, wise, and good—and that his promises remain dependable when circumstances are frightening.

This calls for careful teaching. Confidence in God must not become confidence in every opinion of a preacher. Nor should promises given in a particular biblical setting be turned into guarantees that Christians will escape every earthly loss. Jerusalem’s deliverance in this account does not mean that every believer will be spared suffering.

Our confidence rests in God’s faithfulness to what he has actually promised.

Such confidence can coexist with tears, trembling, and unanswered questions. It grows as we return to Scripture, pray, worship with other believers, and remember the Lord’s faithfulness.

We should also exercise discernment about the voices we continually entertain. We can examine difficult questions honestly while recognising that sustained mockery and calculated intimidation are not spiritual nourishment. We are responsible for tending the faith entrusted to us.

Holding fast to the One we know

Rabshakeh wanted his words to govern the people’s understanding of their future. He wanted them to look at Assyria’s strength until trust in God seemed absurd.

The people did not answer him. Hezekiah sought the Lord.

There will be times when we should speak clearly and courageously. There will also be times when we have said enough, or when we have no answer ready, and our calling is simply to remain faithful.

We can hold fast to the One we love and know by faith. We can bring the threatening words before him. We can ask him to preserve our trust and help us obey.

Sometimes faith’s first response is a quiet refusal to let go of God.

---

Scripture: Isaiah 36–37; Romans 12:18; 1 Peter 3:15. Quotations are from the King James Version. The later tradition concerning Rabshakeh’s identity is discussed in [Chabad’s account](https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/5576451/jewish/Who-Was-Ravshakeh-Who-Insulted-King-Hezekiah.htm); it is distinguished here from the biblical narrative.