Isaiah 36 · Grade 5

What Confidence Is This?

Name Date

Read and Think

Isaiah 36-39 is a historical bridge, closely parallel to 2 Kings 18:13-20:19. It shifts from Assyria (chapters 36-37) to Babylon (chapters 38-39), preparing for the second half of the book. The date is 701 BC: "in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all of the fortified cities of Judah and captured them." Assyrian records boast that Hezekiah was shut up in Jerusalem like a caged bird.

Rabshakeh, a high Assyrian official, gives a clever speech at "the conduit of the upper pool," the very spot where Ahaz had refused to trust God (Isaiah 7:3). His central question is "What confidence is this in which you trust?" He attacks every source of hope: Egypt is "the staff of this bruised reed"; Hezekiah's removal of the high places supposedly offended Yahweh; and he even claims that Yahweh sent him to destroy the land. Each argument mixes truth and lies.

When asked to speak Aramaic, the diplomatic language, Rabshakeh speaks Hebrew to the people directly, urging them not to trust Hezekiah or Yahweh and promising a fruitful land in exile. He boasts that the gods of Hamath, Arpad, and Samaria failed, so "Yahweh" would fail too. His fatal mistake is ranking the living God among idols. The people obey Hezekiah: "they remained silent... for the king's commandment was, “Don't answer him.”" The story's answer comes in chapter 37.

Show What You Know

What does Isaiah 36-39 do in the structure of the book?
Why is the location by the conduit of the upper pool significant?
How did Rabshakeh mix truth and lies?
What was Rabshakeh's fatal mistake?

Crossword

Across

Now in the fourteenth year of King ____.
What confidence is this in which you ____.
And has said to Judah and to ____.

Down

Now in the fourteenth year of ____ Hezekiah.
For the king of ____ says.

Think About It

Rabshakeh mixed truth with lies to shake the people's faith. How can you recognize when an argument against faith uses half-truths?
Hezekiah stood where Ahaz had failed. How can you choose to trust God in a situation where someone before you did not?

Memory Verse

Rabshakeh said to them, “Now tell Hezekiah, ‘The great king, the king of Assyria, says, “What confidence is this in which you trust?

Isaiah 36:4 (WEB)

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Prayer

Dear God, thank You for keeping me trusting You. Help me . Amen.

Take It Home

For families: talk about these together.

Rabshakeh offered the people a good life if they gave up. When does giving up on God look attractive to you?
How can you check what you hear against God's Word?
What is one way you could live out this chapter this week?