The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 326

II. Rm MAKES LIGHT OJI' TRUST IN GoD. But soon the cloven foot appearH. The tempter soon begins to wean the soul from that religion of whose interests he pro- fesses to be. so jealous. See here the in~o~sietency of Ra.hshakeh's speech. He firn of all made 1t appear that he was comm1ss1oned by God, and tlmt therefore all their efforts to resist him would be futile. But now he proceeds to ridicule the idea. of trust- ing to God's power. "Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lor,l saying 'lbe Lord will surely deliver us" (ver. 30). "Bath any of the gods of the nati~ns deli~ered at all hie land out of the hand of the Kinl? of Assyria?" (vers. 33-35). So it is in the progress of sin. He who is led away by the allurements of the world and pleasure first begins with pleasures which lie on the border-land between the bad and the good. These are the pleasures or pursuits about which men say, "Oh I there is no hrJrm in that." "No harm" is a very dangerous phrase. When we hear it, we may generally doubt its truth. It usually refers to pursuits or pleasures which are the stepping-stones to worse sins. Many a man crosses the bridge of "no harm," and enters for ever the land of "no good." Let us never be induced to waver in our trust in God and obedi- ence to him. His way is the way of safety and peace. There are many whose work seems to be like that of Rabshakeh-to weaken the trust of others in God, to diminish the respect of others for the Law of God. "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, be shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven." Where God and conscience say to us, "Yon ought not,'' let not the tempter ever persuade us by saying," Yon may." III. HE MAKES FALSE PROMISES. How fair-spoken is Rabshakeh ! How very alluring bis promises I If the people of Jerusalem would only make an agreement with the King of Assyria by a present, then they would eat every man of his own vine and fig tree, until he would afterwards take them away to a land like their own land, "a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live and not die." In this specious way he held before them an attractive prospect. But it was as empty as the bubble in the summer breeze. It was the pleasant euphemism by which he sought to gloss over the prospect of conquest and captivity. So with the pleasures of sin. How bright and how attractive, to outward appearance, are the haunts of wickedness and vice I The bright lights of the gin- pe.lace-how they allure its unhappy victims, often by the contrast with the dreariness and misery of their homes I What a pleasant prospect sin in various forms presents! But how terrible is the reality I How grim is the skeleton at the feast I "My ~on, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.'' Such are the tempter's methods still. The thirty-sixth verse contains a very good suggestion as to the way of meeting temptation. "But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word; for the king's com- mandment was, saying, Answer him not." It is a wise rule not to parley with the tempter. lf we pray, "Lead us not into temptation," then we ought to be careful not to put ourselves in temptation's way.-O. H. L Vers. 1-37.-A striking reformation, a ruthless despotism, and an unprincipled diplomacy. "Now it came to pass," etc. Amongst the incidents recorded and the che.racters mentioned in this chapter, there stand out in great prominence three subjects for practical contemplation: (1) a striking reformation; (2) a ruthless despotism; nnd (3) an unprincipled diplomacy. The many strange and some'" hat revolting historic events that make up the bulk of this chapter will come out in the discuseion of these three subjects. I. A. STRIKING REFORMATION. Hezekiah, who was now King of Judah, and con- tinued such for about twenty-nine years, was a man of great excellence. 'l'he unknown historian here says that "he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, accord- ing to all that David his father did," etc. (vers. 3-8). This is high testimony, and his history shows that on the whole it was well deserved. Compared with most of his predecessors and contemporaries, he appears to have beeu an extraordina1ily good man. He lived in a period of great national trial and moral corruption. Israel, J udah's sister- kingdom, wns in its death-throes, and his own people bad fallen into idolatry of the grossest kind. lu tho very dawn of his reign he sets himself to the war!. of reforma- tion. We find in 2 Chron. xxix. 2-36 a description of the desire for a thorough reformation which displayed itself. But the point of his rt:formative work, on which  THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. [OB. xvm.1-87.