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Isaiah Chapter 37
- Isaiah 37:1 And it came
to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent 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 scribe, and the elders of
the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the
son of Amoz.
- 3 And they said unto him,
Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of
rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the
birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
Hezekiah, upon hearing the words of threats
from the king of Assyria immediately tears at his clothing, covers
himself with sackcloth and seeks the Lord. This is a sign of
humility and despair. He also sends for Isaiah. When people are
desparate, many times they turn to the prophets and people that
represent God for answers. Verse three compares his fear of
trouble with a woman ready to have a baby but has no strength to go
through it.
- Isaiah 37:4 It may be
the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king
of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and
will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard:
wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.
- 5 So the servants of king
Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
- 6 And Isaiah said unto
them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD,
Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the
servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
Isaiah immediately sends comfort to Hezekiah
not to fear the words of Rabshakeh. Rabshakeh blasphemed God and God
heard it. Not only did Rabshakeh threaten Judah with defeat and no
power to resist Assyria but he even mocked God's ability to save
them from the coming invasion. This and Hezekiah's humility may have
been one reason God delayed the judgment of Judah until years later.
- Isaiah 37:7 Behold, I
will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and
return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the
sword in his own land.
- 8 So Rabshakeh returned,
and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had
heard that he was departed from Lachish.
Sure enough when Rabshakeh returned to
Assyria and found that the king of Assyria was warring against Libnah after hearing a
rumor.
- Isaiah 37:9 And he
heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth
to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers
to Hezekiah, saying,
- 10 Thus shall ye speak to
Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou
trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given
into the hand of the king of Assyria.
- 11 Behold, thou hast heard
what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying
them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
- 12 Have the gods of the
nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan,
and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in
Telassar?
- 13 Where is the king of
Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of
Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?
This did not stop Rabshakeh from warning
Hezekiah not to rebel against Assyria. Rabshakeh did not get
discouraged when the king of Assyria was delayed. He still continued
to mock and had no fear of God. He was saying in other words that
their God could not deliver them just as the gods of other nations
could not deliver them from the great power of Assyria.
Our fear should not be in the greatness and
power of mighty nations but in the power of God. At the word of God
nations can rise or fall. The might of weapons, armies, navies, and
numbers are nothing compared to the power of almighty God. Rabshakeh
continues to mock at Judah and tries to destroy their confidence in
God.
Rabshakeh mocks on and on saying,
"Look at what happend to the king of Hamath
and the king of Arphad."
Hezekiah spread the letter before the Lord
and sought Him.
- Isaiah 37:15 And Hezekiah prayed
unto the LORD, saying,
- 16 O LORD of hosts, God of
Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God,
even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast
made heaven and earth.
- 17 Incline thine ear, O
LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all
the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living
God.
- 18 Of a truth, LORD, the
kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their
countries.
- 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 have destroyed them.
- 20 Now therefore, O LORD
our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the
earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only.
This is what all of us must do when faced
with difficulty, go to the Lord immediately and let not the enemy
defeat us with mocking and despair. God is greater than any mountain
and is a great mountain mover.
Hezekiah even cared about the name of God
being reproached. He wanted God to come out victorious and show the
kingdom of Assyria that He was not a false god like the gods of the
other nations but was the Creator, the one in control and still the
great almighty God. We could also add here: "Where is Assyria
today?" and "Israel still is in existence, Assyria is not."
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Isaiah 37:21 Then Isaiah the
son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God
of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib
king of Assyria:
Isaiah expresses surprise that Hezehiah was
even bothered by the threats of Assyria. "What are you worried
about?" "Why are you in despair?" "Why are you crying out to the
Lord?"
- Isaiah 37:22 This is the word which
the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of
Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the
daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
- 23 Whom hast thou
reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted
thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the
Holy One of Israel.
- 24 By thy servants hast
thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my
chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the
sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof,
and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the
height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.
- 25 I have digged, and
drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all
the rivers of the besieged places.
- 26 Hast thou not heard
long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have
formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be
to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.
- 27 Therefore their
inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and
confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the
green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted
before it be grown up.
- 28 But I know thy abode,
and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
- 29 Because thy rage
against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore
will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I
will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
- 30 And this shall be a
sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of
itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same:
and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and
eat the fruit thereof.
- 31 And the remnant that is
escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward,
and bear fruit upward:
- 32 For out of Jerusalem
shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount
Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.
- 33 Therefore thus saith
the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into
this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with
shields, nor cast a bank against it.
- 34 By the way that he
came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this
city, saith the LORD
- 35 For I will defend this
city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's
sake.
Wow, the Lord does not take blasphemy
lightly. He sends Isaiah to bring news of deliverance for Judah and
defeat for Assyria. He will defend the city for His servant, David’s
sake. He remembers David, He remembers Abraham and God remembers all
those who trust in Him. We should be rejoicing instead of being in
despair.
This tiny nation of Judah did not have the
United States around to help them.
- Isaiah 37:36 Then the
angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the
Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when
they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead
corpses.
- 37 So Sennacherib king of
Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
- 38 And it came to pass, as
he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that
Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and
they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son
reigned in his stead.
The angel of the Lord smote the camp of the
Assyrians and the king of the Assyrians, Sennacherib was worshipping
his own god and his own sons killed him.
It doesn't pay to mock God and those who are
trusting in God. He sees and hears every word. He doesn't need great
nations to help although He sometimes uses them. God alone has the
power to defeat the enemy.
Sometimes we are faced with impossible
situations. There is nothing God cannot do. He is still on the
throne and is still in control. To build our faith in Him and His
word we need to study the word continually and continually seek His
face. When we get weak and have not been praying; that is when we think we are
surrounded by the impossible. In everything gives thanks and pray
without ceasing. Instead of praying in despair maybe we should
praise God for His continual presence and help. For those who trust
in Him, we are never alone.
Isaiah 38
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