The broken reed is one of the Old Testament’s more striking and memorable metaphors. I remember coming across it for the first time in the account of Assyria’s siege of Jerusalem during the reign of Hezekiah, which appears several times in the Old Testament, probably the lengthiest being in 2 Kings.
The backstory is this: The king of Assyria, the great world power of that day, had besieged and conquered Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom. He carried away tens of thousands of Israelites captive, dispersing them throughout the cities of the Medes and the rest of his vast empire. Eight years later, when Sennacherib had received the Assyrian throne, he determined to finish the job begun by his predecessor.
Assyria set its sights on the southern kingdom of Judah.
Sennacherib took all the fortified cities of Judah and besieged Lachish before storming the capital. Humiliated by the ease with which his people were routed, afraid for his life and kingdom, King Hezekiah broke down and offered the Assyrian king a bribe of 2,250 lbs of gold and a little over 22,000 lbs of silver to leave Judah alone. The offer obliged him to gut the glories of Solomon’s temple, even stripping the gold from the temple doors. Unappeased, Sennacherib sent his representatives to Jerusalem to negotiate Hezekiah’s surrender. Their spokesman was a weaselly character with the title of Rabshakeh.
That Broken Reed of a Staff
Here is where the broken reed image comes up. The Rabshakeh asked:
“In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.”
Sennacherib believed Hezekiah had formed a secret alliance with Egypt, depending on Pharaoh for chariots and horsemen to wage war against Assyria. 2 Kings says nothing about the truth or falsehood of this accusation, but there appears to have been some substance to it.
Isaiah, who prophesied during Hezekiah’s reign, took Judah to task for seeking help from Egypt, though he did not single out Hezekiah by name. The prophet even implied the Rabshakeh was right: “Egypt’s help is worthless and empty.” In that prophecy, the Lord called Judah “stubborn children who carry out a plan, but not mine; and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit”. Moreover, Hezekiah, in stripping the temple bare to placate the Assyrians, as much as confessed to plotting a rebellion. “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear.”
This could have been politics, of course. Hezekiah may not have meant a word of it. But between the Kings account and Isaiah’s prophecy, it seems highly likely the Assyrians had a legitimate complaint against Judah.
A History of Faithlessness
That’s all historical background. The main point here is that Pharaoh and Egypt had earned a questionable reputation for dependability. The Rabshakeh compared Egypt to a staff made of reed, which splinters and injures anyone foolish enough to attempt to support himself with it.
In fact, this was a good comparison. The Egyptians were reliably unreliable allies to the Hebrew nations in Canaan. It wasn’t just the current Pharaoh who couldn’t be trusted. In Solomon’s day, the kings of Egypt repeatedly gave protection to enemies of Israel. Then, after the division of the kingdom, Shishak king of Egypt invaded Judah and carried off the treasures of Rehoboam’s house and the gold of the temple. Later, Hoshea king of Israel attempted to make a treaty with So king of Egypt against Assyria. Word leaked out to the Assyrians, and Hoshea ended up in prison. Toward the end of Judah as a nation, Pharaoh Neco killed one king of Judah in battle and later took his son prisoner to Egypt, installing his brother in his place and taking tribute from Judah in the process.
What Goes Around …
These were dark days, and from time to time, the Egyptian kings acted more nobly than their Israelite and Judean counterparts. Nevertheless, every time the name of Egypt comes up during the era of the Kings, the Hebrews ended up with the short end of the stick. No dealings with Egyptians ever ended well for Israel. The Rabshakeh was a liar and blasphemer who taunted one of Judah’s nobler kings, but he spoke the truth about trusting Egypt. They were truly a “broken reed of a staff”. Nobody who paid any attention to history would ever trust them to deliver on their promises. They actually remind me a little of the way the United States has dealt with its allies through much of the last century.
Now we come to the prophecy of Ezekiel, chapter 29, where once again the broken reed analogy appears. Check out what God has to say to Pharaoh and Egypt through Ezekiel:
“Because you have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel, when they grasped you with the hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke and made all their loins to shake. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will bring a sword upon you.”
Ezekiel then rehearses a lengthy scenario of doom and gloom for Egypt at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.
A Sad Harvest
Isn’t that interesting? If we weren’t paying attention, we might think God missed all that. After all, the Lord critiqued Judah for making agreements with Egypt, and for putting their trust in men, chariots and horses rather than God their Savior. The kings of Judah and Israel were wrong to make these agreements, and the pacts between the nations were signs of lack of faith on the part of Israel’s rulers. Both Judah and Israel repeatedly reaped a sad harvest from their relationship with their neighbor to the south. These episodes should never have happened.
But in using Egypt’s traitorous impulses to teach his people a badly-needed lesson, God never for a moment overlooks Egypt’s double-dealing and predictable self-interest. These come back to them in spades: four chapters of them.
The Righteous Judge
Aren’t you glad we have a righteous judge? I am. God is never unfair, never unreasonable, never misses anything, keeps it all in proportion, and doles out the consequences in the right measure to the right people at exactly the right time.
Most of us have had the experience of trusting somebody we shouldn’t who let us down hard, and if we haven’t, we probably will. Egyptian allies. Broken staves of reed. That co-worker who deliberately sabotages your project for no reason other than sheer spite. The popular evangelical Bible teacher who taught you Christ, then was caught in some disgraceful scandal. The disloyal employer who rewards years of competence with the big heave-ho the moment you hit fifty. A husband who promised to love and cherish for life, and ended up loving and cherishing someone ten years younger. The sister or brother who is always about to step up and help with Mom, but never does. The government you voted for whose reckless, self-serving policies are now pushing your family into poverty. All splinter in the hand like broken reeds, causing injuries both emotional and sometimes even physical.
If we adopt the humble attitude of Hezekiah, who spread out the Rabshakeh’s challenge before the Lord and asked him to glorify his name, we can be sure the people that afflict, trouble and challenge us will all be used by Heaven to make over our character in the likeness of Christ, to the glory and honor of God. Meanwhile, Egyptian allies, liars and faithless friends will find out in due course that the Righteous Judge has not forgotten the misery their betrayals have created.
When that day comes, whose shoes would you rather be standing in?
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