Hezekiah prayed for the Lord’s help.
A brutal, merciless Assyrian army surrounded Jerusalem. King Hezekiah sought out the Lord’s prophet for help and guidance. Recent history had taught Hezekiah to fear. The Assyrians were too good. Their cruel army had defeated every foe that stood in their way. The Assyrians tortured their enemies. Heads displayed on spikes greeted anyone who entered the burned-out cities left in ruin after an Assyrian assault. Hezekiah’s Jewish brothers and sisters to the north were conquered, captured, and tortured in a similar fashion. He knew there was only one hope left. But he wondered if it was too late.
This is a long chapter. For that reason, I’ve limited my own commentary.
The scenario we see unfolding in this chapter is similar to that of many lords and kings during this era in history. The mightiest and most vicious army usually won the day. The Assyrians tore through villages, towns, and nations in their quest for dominance. The Lord, through his chosen prophets, predicted the rise of this Assyrian power. And of course their eventual fall. We see an interesting exchange between the boastful Assyrians and the Lord. The Assyrians mocked every false god they defeated in their march through the Middle East. So here we see them doing the same. God answers their mocking with a verbal smackdown, to use our modern vernacular. Then he follows it with a literal “night of terror.” They didn’t mock the true God after that. They dragged themselves home with their tails between their legs.
King Hezekiah learned an important lesson in faith.
The whole book of Isaiah
This continues the long series in the book of Isaiah in which we consider every chapter and word in the prophet’s message to Israel. Reading and studying every chapter and word is important in order to understand the full context of his message. The book is a collective whole. There are numerous messages and key points throughout the book that are worthy of deeper focus and study. But we do ourselves a disservice if we miss the greater context. Bible readers too often approach the Word as if they are eating at a smorgasbord. They take little bits and portions of the Bible and rarely understand the overall message of the book. So they miss the forest for the trees. We know that familiar phrase. But it applies to most people who read the Bible. We snack on the word, we don’t devour the whole context.
We’re susceptible to false teaching
If we fail to take in the whole counsel of God’s Word we are easy prey for those who come to us claiming they know what the Bible really teaches. If we haven’t studied the whole Bible, comparing scripture with scripture, we will find it difficult to support our own beliefs.
Some related studies in the book of Isaiah.
The prophet warned about a future war…then it arrived
He saw the day of God’s vengeance
Did Isaiah predict the 9/11 terror attack?
The prophet saw the day the world ended
The titles that introduce each verse, serve as my only commentary for the remainder of this post. Let God’s Word speak to your heart and your situation. Like Hezekiah, you may soon face a terrifying foe. What will you do? Will you trust God or give in to fear?
Isaiah 37:1 Hezekiah worried about the Assyrian boast
“As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD.”
Isaiah 37:2 He sent a message to the prophet Isaiah
“And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz.”
Isaiah 37:3 The prophet listens to the concerns of Hezekiah
“They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth.”
Isaiah 37:4 Pray and see what the Lord will do
“It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’”
Isaiah 37:5 King Hezekiah trusted Isaiah
“When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah,”
Isaiah 37:6 Don’t be afraid of the enemy’s words
“Who replied, “Tell your master that this is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid of the words you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.
Isaiah 37:7 Let the Lord deal with your enemies
“Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’”
Isaiah 37:8 The Assyrian forces were distracted
“The Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish.”
Isaiah 37:9 The Egyptian army appears to be on the move
“Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, “He has set out to fight against you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,”
Isaiah 37:10 A warning to Hezekiah. Don’t trust God.
“Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”
Isaiah 37:11 Assyria boasts of their undefeated record
“Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered?”
Isaiah 37:12 The gods of other nations lost to Assyria
“Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar?”
Isaiah 37:13 Great kings and cities fell to Ninevah
“Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”
Isaiah 37:14 Hezekiah received a written warning
“Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it, and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD.”
Isaiah 37:15 Hezekiah prayed
“And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD.”
Isaiah 37:16 The God of Israel created heaven and earth
“O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.”
Isaiah 37:17 Hezekiah presented his troubles to the Lord
“Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God.”
Isaiah 37:18 He admits that Assyria is a mighty foe
“Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands.”
Isaiah 37:19 False gods can’t save
“And have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood, and stone. Therefore they were destroyed.”
Isaiah 37:20 Save us Lord so that all the world will know
“So now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the LORD.”
Isaiah 37:21 The prophet encouraged Hezekiah
“Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria.”
Isaiah 37:22 Israel despised her Assyrian attackers
“This is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him: “‘She despises you, she scorns you— the virgin daughter of Zion; she wags her head behind you— the daughter of Jerusalem.”
Isaiah 37:23 Warning: Beware of who you mock
“‘Whom have you mocked and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes to the heights? Against the Holy One of Israel!”
Isaiah 37:24 The Assyrians unwisely mocked the Lord
“By your servants, you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, With my many chariots I have gone up the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon, to cut down its tallest cedars, its choicest cypresses, to come to its remotest height, its most fruitful forest.”
Isaiah 37:25 Egypt suffered when they mocked the Lord
“I dug wells and drank waters, to dry up with the sole of my foot all the streams of Egypt.”
Isaiah 37:26 The Lord predicted the brutal reign of evil Ninevah
“‘Have you not heard that I determined it long ago? I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass, that you should make fortified cities crash into heaps of ruins.”
Isaiah 37:27 The Lord saw all the destruction and predicted it beforehand
“while their inhabitants, shorn of strength, are dismayed and confounded, and have become like plants of the field and like tender grass, like grass on the housetops, blighted before it is grown.”
Isaiah 37:28 God knows what his enemies are doing…what they’re saying
“‘I know your sitting down and your going out and coming in, and your raging against me.”
Isaiah 37:29 The Lord controls his enemy’s movements
“Because you have raged against me and your complacency has come to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came.”
Isaiah 37:30 A prophecy of hope for Hezekiah
“And this shall be the sign for you: this year you shall eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from that. Then in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.”
Isaiah 37:31 God’s people will survive this attack
“And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.”
Isaiah 37:32 The Lord will preserve His remnant
“For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”
Isaiah 37:33 Thus says the Lord: The enemy will fail
“Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it.”
Isaiah 37:34 The word of the Lord. The enemy will turn back
“By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the LORD.”
Isaiah 37:35 God will defend the city of Jerusalem
“For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
Isaiah 37:36 The night of terror. 185,000 dead soldiers
“And the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.”
Isaiah 37:37 The Assyrian king went home defeated
“Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh.”
Isaiah 37:38 He worshipped a false god. his sons killed him
“And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech, and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword. And after they escaped into the land of Ararat, Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.”
Let me know what you think.