The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 325

JI. THE EVIL RESULTS OF WA.NT OF FAITH. Hezekia.b's faith in God failed him. Vi'"hen that went, he was helpless. Sennacherib, seeing his craven spirit, appointed him a tribute of" three hnndred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold" (ver. 14). Heze- kiah was .in a difficulty. He had no money to meet this demand. So he followed the very dangerous example set him by his father, and stripped the gold from the doors and pillars of the house of God, and sent it to the King of .Assyria. Want offaith often leads men to use q=tionable methods. Men are in need of money, and they cannot trust God to provide for them in the way of honest industry, so they have recourse to speculation and fraud. If we are doing God's will, we may trust him to take care of us. "It may not be my way; It may not be thy way; But yet in his own way the Lord will provide." 0. H. I. Vere. 17--37.-The tempter and his methods: Rabshakeh's address to the leaders ancl people oj Jerusalem. Hezekiah's gift to the King of .Assyria had not saved him. 'l'he weakness he showed was rather an encouragement to Sennacherib to continue hia attacks upon Judrea. .And now a. detachment of Sennacherib's army, headed by three officers of rank, comes up to Jerusalem. Their first effort is to induce the people of Jerusalem to surrender. Rabsha.keh is the spokesman. His speech is like the speech of a Mephistopheles. It may fairly be taken as an illustration of how the wily tempter himself proceeds in his desire to allure to sin and destruction the souls of men. L HE PRETENDS TO BE DOING Gou's WORK. 1. He ridicules their confidence in Egypt. Isaiah himselr could hardly have warned them more strongly against the vanity of alliance with other nations. "'l'hou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt" (ver. 21). 2. He censures Hezekiah/or disrespect toward God. "If ye say unto me, We trust in the Lor,! God: is not this he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah bath taken away?" (ver. 22). So Satan sometimes appears as an angel of light. Men of sin and worldliness sometimes show a remarkable interest in the Church of God. 3. He represents himsdf as having a commission from God. ".Am I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? 'l'he Lord said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it" (ver. 25). It is thus that sin constantly preseols itself to men and women. It masks its real features. It presents itself in a religious garb. .A debased theatre professes to be the teacher of morality. But for one whose life it has changed for the better, there are thousands whom it has changed for ~he worse. Perhaps we should be justified in going the length of Pulluk, in hie '_Course ) f 'l'ime,' and in Raying," It might do good, but never did." How many questionable 1iractices defend tl 1cmselvee on the ground that they are sanctioned and encouraged by " religiol:18 n people I on. xvm, 1-37.J THE SECOND BoOK OF THE KINGS. 878