As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. 2 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. 3 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. 4 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.’”
5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7 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.’”
8 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. 9 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, 10 “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. 11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12 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? 13 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?’”
Hezekiah's Prayer for Deliverance
14 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. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: 16 “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. 17 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. 18 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, 19 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. 20 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.”
Sennacherib's Fall
21 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, 22 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.
23 “‘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!
24 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.
25 I dug wells
and drank waters,
to dry up with the sole of my foot
all the streams of Egypt.
26 “‘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,
27 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.
28 “‘I know your sitting down
and your going out and coming in,
and your raging against me.
29 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.’
30 “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. 31 And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 32 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.
33 “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. 34 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. 35 For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
36 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. 37 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh. 38 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. Isaiah 37 ESV
Isaiah 37 Seeking Isaiah for wisdom
1-4. As soon as Hezekiah heard it - Such an upside down kingdom, we would think the one always ready with words, confident in their own strength and wisdom, "he said it with conviction, he said it loudly, we think he must know the answer." Hezekiah hears the proud speech of the Rabshakeh, reads the Assyrian letter, and an honest assessment of the situation, without the much surer word of God, would cause most men to surrender. A proud ruler might persist to his doom, and lead his people toward destruction, but Hezekiah runs to the place of prayer. He goes to the place designed to draw near, in the clothes of mourning.
12Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves. 13And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’ 14The blind and the lame came to Him at the temple, and He healed them.… Matthew 21: 12-14
Rabshakeh intended to frighten Hezekiah from the Lord, but it proves that he frightens him to the Lord. The wind, instead of forcing the traveller's coat from him, makes him wrap it the closer about him. The more Rabshakeh reproaches God the more Hezekiah studies to honour him, by rending his clothes for the dishonour done to him and attending in his sanctuary to know his mind. - Matthew Henry
Of distress, of rebuke, of disgrace - He had chosen to resist the Assyrians, but now they were coming to his door, so many desire to be king, and it is a simple thing will all is well and you don't care about your people, but he is distressed. I remember the birth of my first child, and for some 18 hours my wife was unable to progress, they induced, but she didn't dilate, and Meegan could not make this happen of her own. I could only stand by and watch as she writhed in pain. There was my Lily inside, but there was no strength to deliver, the doctors would have to intervene. She would need help outside of herself to get through this. Hezekiah cannot deliver his people, but he knows Who can, and he knows that Isaiah has made his every business about God, that he can count on him to pray. He knows the prophecies that have been spoken to this very day, but it is not our strength that holds up God's word, faith does not originate in the mind of the believer, but is a gift from God that points to the integrity of His word. The more we hear it, the more we pray in accordance to it, live our lives in light of it, our faith grows, and we mature in it. The answer is outside of Hezekiah.
The remnant that is left - Judah had been ravished, but for this one city. It held the remnant from all of Israel, those that left the northern kingdom during the apostasy of Jeroboam, representation from every tribe. Hezekiah hopes that the "living God", will hear the mocking of those that worship idols, and that He will intervene. This is a hard part in prayer, for the people here have also mocked God's prophet and His judgement. This is a good place to find humility.
…21Do not turn aside after worthless things that cannot profit you or deliver you, for they are empty. 22Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own.23As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way.…1 Samuel 12: 21-23
5-7. Say to your master - Hezekiah is praying in the temple and God is answering him in his distress.
8-13. He has set out to fight against you - Hearing that the future king of Cush was coming against him, the Assyrian king wanted even more to frighten Judah in to surrender. The threat from the south in Cush was probably more than he wanted added to his plate. Submission would also be seen as a greater glory, and cause more fear in his other enemies.
14-29. You are the God, You alone - They have idols, and I cannot come to You with clean hands, nor with a people of clean hands, but I know that You alone are God above all the kingdoms. He reads the letter to God, and prays that the Lord will respond to the ones who speak against His great name. For Your honor Lord. This king has laid waste the gods of other nations, but God, they were made of wood, the work of men's hands, let all the earth know that You are God.
…45But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand. This day I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the carcasses of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the creatures of the earth. Then the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.47And all those assembled here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.”… 1 Samuel 17: 45-47
…16O Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, I pray that Your anger and wrath may turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all around us. 17So now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, O Lord, cause Your face to shine upon Your desolate sanctuary.18Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You because of our righteous acts, but because of Your great compassion.…
O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your name.”… Daniel 9: 16-19
Have you not heard - God reminds Sennacherib that he is but a tool of judgment, that what he purposed for evil, God has used for good. The Assyrians have mocked God and praised themselves, but God has already determined the outcome.
And my bit in your mouth - Very large animals have been led this way, and captives of old have had a ring or sometimes two connecting the upper lip and nose, very tender places.
30-37. Nisroch, his god - Sennacherib is killed by his own sons while worshipping a manmade god.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.