2 Kings 18:18

2 Kings 18:18 says, And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.  When Rabshakeh wanted to speak with Hezekiah personally, Hezekiah sent three emissaries to speak with him instead.  This was all after Sennacherib's agreement to leave Jerusalem after Hezekiah paid him to.  We can never expect people of the world to always live up to their promises to us as Christians, even if we have paid them some kind of tribute, which we should never do really.  Instead of trying to bribe Sennacherib, Hezekiah should have turned to God in repentance and faith to find deliverance, and so must we today if we have strayed away from God.  Verse nineteen adds, And Rabshakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?  Rabshakeh told these three to go to Hezekiah and ask him what kind of confidence he was showing in the king of Assyria if he didn't trust him enough to come out and meet with him.  We may be asked what kind of faith we are showing in the leaders of the world today if we don't obey what they command us to do, and the answer is that we should never rely on anyone but God to guide our lives.  We are called on to obey the government, unless it calls for us to do something that opposes God's word, but we should never put our faith in seeking peace in any man-made institution.  Verse twenty continues, Thou sayest, (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?  Rabshakeh said that Hezekiah had said he would put his trust in Sennacherib, but if he now refused to even come out and talk, the words must have been in vain, or for nothing but show.  I do know that if we profess faith in anyone other than God, whether we follow through in obedience to them or not, to God our words will be vain, or worth nothing.  We cannot find deliverance from sin and death in anyone other than Jesus Christ.  Verse twenty-one states, Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.  Rabshakeh then asked if they were going to put their faith in Egypt, whom he referred to as a bruised reed, or a country without much power.  Anyone we make an alliance with today to keep us safe is going to be without much power when compared to God, and since God had shown His power over Egypt, His people certainly shouldn't have been putting their faith in them instead of Him.  Verse twenty-two adds, But if ye say unto me, We trust in the Lord our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?  Rabshakeh then asked them to question God.  He said that they professed to put their faith in God, but that Hezekiah had taken away all the places to worship Him except at the altar in Jerusalem.  People of the world today still want people to question God and the fact that He tells them that there is only one way to salvation, and that is through faith in Jesus Christ.  They would like us to believe that God is just limiting us in who or what we can worship because He wants to be seen as better than other gods.  Though that is correct, God does this for our benefit and not because He is afraid of any other god.  Verse twenty-three continues, Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.  Rabshakeh then promised them two thousand horses to be used in battle if they could find the men to ride them.  No matter what armament we may have in the battle against sin and evil in the world today, if it is not the armor of God, it is going to fail us.  Verse twenty-four says, How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?  Rabshakeh then asked them how they could turn away from Sennacherib and put their faith in Egypt.  Again, the were not going to be victorious by putting their faith in anyone other than God, and neither will we.  Verse twenty-five adds, Am I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.  Rabshakeh then claimed to be acting under God's direction, and there are still people today who will be doing everything that God's word opposes and still claim to be representing God.  I don't believe that we should ever put our faith in them by thinking that they alone are God's representative.