Isaiah 36 registers the invasion of Judah by king Sennacherib of Assyria in 701 BC. Sennacherib "attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them", and his field commander challenges King Hezekiah of Judah questioning his and Jerusalem's "strategy and military strength" as well as questioning Jerusalem's dependance on Egyptian support which he ridicules as being like a "splintered reed of a staff" which you certainly can't lean on! Then the field commander jests that Sennacherib's army is on a divine mission to defeat Judah and that Judah's god doesn't stand a chance! Then in a clear scare mongering tactic the commander speaks loudly in the language of the people banding about the Assyrian threats and humiliation. "Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you!... don't listen to Hezekiah... make peace with me... how can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?" And Hezekiah's leaders despaired!
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