John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 36:16

"Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;" — Isaiah 36:16 (ASV)

Do not listen to Hezekiah. While he labors to turn the hearts of the people away from Hezekiah, he at the same time invites them to pleasures, so that they may forget God and expect nothing from Him. It is as if he had said, “Do not believe God, but rather believe my king.” Thus Satan deals with us; for, by darkening the goodness of God with his clouds and holding out to us the masks of false hope, he secretly and indirectly creeps into the place of God, or employs creatures to entangle us in his nets. He holds out pleasures and some kind of more agreeable life, with this boast: “God shows it to you at a distance; I present it to you.”

Although Hezekiah is mentioned, yet the comparison is actually made between God and the king of Assyria. For Hezekiah, as the servant of God, made no false pretensions and did not boast of any vain confidence but, relying on true and most certain promises, faithfully exhorted the people to seek God; but Rabshakeh adorned his king by robbing God and, as the servant of Satan, worked to withdraw the people from confidence in God into all impiety.

Make with me a blessing. To “make a blessing” means to conduct themselves in a friendly manner, as if he had said, “Do not show any hostile indication or risk a battle. Surrender; make your submission to my king.” Sennacherib does not merely demand that he be heard, but also that the people swear allegiance to him; and, to allure them to him more powerfully, he uses the word blessing as a cloak for that bondage which was in itself hateful.

He bids them purchase a quiet life and other conveniences they formerly enjoyed by that miserable revolt—that is, by forsaking Hezekiah and going out to him. For revolting from a pious king (whom God had appointed and who was a type of Christ) was more wretched and miserable than anything else that could befall them. Moreover, such a revolt could not take place without denying God Himself, who had established in Judea that token of heavenly favor.