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The Voice of Propaganda

 Isaiah 36:13-20 – “Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you; nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”’ Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern;  until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’”

Propaganda is defined as “information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.”[i] It is disinformation. The Russian media disseminates propaganda in Russia and Europe every day concerning the war in Ukraine. They are very skilled at distributing lies. Hamas is using propaganda against Israel in the current Simchat Torah War. 


We cannot trust our own news media to accurately report the news. Propaganda is designed to produce fear. II Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 


In Isaiah 36:1 we learn, “Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.” This powerful king sent the Rabshakeh, which means chief of the princes to Jerusalem. He stands at the aqueduct from the upper pool and speaks to King Hezekiah’s men in Hebrew.


He uses propaganda to persuade the people to surrender to Sennacherib and his armies. Listen to his lies in Isaiah 36:14-15, “‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you; nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”


The Rabshakeh used lies to create fear and undermine King Hezekiah. Notice how Hezekiah deals with the voice of propaganda. Isaiah 37:1 says, “And so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.” How do we overcome the lies and propaganda of the enemy? We humble ourselves and we go into the house of the Lord. James 4:10 says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”


Hezekiah understood the power of prayer. How do we deal with the voice of propaganda? James 4:7 says, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” The world is filled with propaganda. We must discern who is speaking and the spirit behind what they are saying.

 


[i] https://www.dictionary.com/browse/propaganda#google_vignette


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