Isaiah 36:10
ESV
Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me, "Go up against this land and destroy it."’"
NIV
Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this land without the Lord? The Lord himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.’ "
NASB
And have I now come up without the Lord’S approval against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’?'?’?'
CSB
Have I attacked this land to destroy it without the Lord’s approval? The Lord said to me, ‘Attack this land and destroy it.’"
NLT
What’s more, do you think we have invaded your land without the Lord’s direction? The Lord himself told us, ‘Attack this land and destroy it!’'
KJV
And am I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? the Lord said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
NKJV
Have I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’ ”
What does Isaiah 36:10 mean?
Sennacherib, King of Assyria, has sent an advisor, called Rabshaqeh, to meet with officials of Judah to taunt them before demanding surrender. The spokesman mocked Hezekiah's choice to trust unreliable Egypt for protection (Isaiah 30:1–3). He sneered at any thought that the Lord God of Israel could be trusted to defeat the Assyrian army. He has even offered to give 2,000 war horses to Judah if they can produce enough men to ride them, knowing they cannot.Now the Assyrain claims that Israel's Lord—the God of Judah—sent him to destroy Judah and Jerusalem. In other words, he claims that their deity is on his side. Sennacherib wants Jerusalem to lose all hope in the Lord to save them from the Assyrians.
Sennacherib's claim is not true, at least in the sense that he does not really believe what he says. It's doubtful that Sennacherib, the Rabshakeh, or any other Assyrian believed in Israel's Lord, at all. However, there was some truth in the claim. Isaiah himself wrote this about an earlier Assyrian king's attack against the ten tribes of Israel:
"Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. But he does not so intend, and his heart does not so think" (Isaiah 10:6–7).
Also, through Isaiah, God had warned that the foolish alliance with Egypt would result in destruction. Yet Isaiah also prophesied that God would spare Jerusalem (Isaiah 30:19). Sennacherib and his minions go too far in claiming to be the Lord's tool to destroy the remnant of the Lord's people sheltered in the city.
