Welcome to The MHB Podcast. This is Michael Baun. And welcome to my 102nd episode. In this episode I want to study Isaiah chapter 37. Chapter 37 is a continuation of the scene that played out in chapter 36. The Rabshakeh and his army had come against the walls of Jerusalem. Hezekiah sent three of his officials out to the wall to hear the Rabshakeh’s terms. Rabshakeh – who was top brass in the Assyrian army and like a mouthpiece for the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib – told Hezekiah’s officials that they could either surrender or face the terrors of conquest. He even shouted this offer past the officials directly to the people of Jerusalem – hoping to cause enough civil unrest that Hezekiah would be delivered out to him in defeat.
At first Rabshakeh tried to placate the Hebrews by suggesting that he was there at the request of God Himself. When this didn’t work, he erupted in angry hubris and revealed his true colors. Sennacherib and the Rabshakeh had become intoxicated with power at this point, so when they saw that they couldn’t persuade Jerusalem to give themselves up by invoking God – they decided to challenge God instead. Rabshakeh called to mind all of the cities Assyria had put to the sword and asked Hezekiah’s officials why the gods of these cities didn’t save them. This speech of brazen arrogance hit its crescendo when the Rabshakeh asked who God really is that He should stand against the might of Assyria. When Hezekiah’s officials heard this bold outcry, they tore their clothes in grief and went back into the city to inform Hezekiah about the Rabshakeh’s words. And that is where we will pick up with chapter 37:1-4:
Isa 37:1 As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD.
Isa 37:2 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.
Isa 37:3 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.
Isa 37:4 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.’”
When the news was brought to Hezekiah about the Rabshakeh’s threats, his immediate reaction was to fall into despair and enter the house of God. Hezekiah was not nearly as faithless as his father Ahaz. Ahaz never chose to trust God during the Syro-Ephraimite war. Unlike Ahaz, Hezekiah was known for his religious reformations and his mission to purge Judah of Baalism – which was cult worship of the pagan god Baal. Hezekiah was far from perfect though. When we look back on his life it appears that he compartmentalized his faith and obeyed a separate operating system for military and political strategy. It took this desperate situation where he had nowhere else to turn before he would admit that he needed God if Jerusalem was going to survive the night.
So upon hearing from his officials Hezekiah tore his clothes and went to the temple to pray. He sent a delegation to the prophet Isaiah. This would be his officials Eliakim and Shebna as well as some senior priests. It’s interesting to note that this point in the text is the first time Hezekiah was willing to address Isaiah as a prophet. It’s likely that Isaiah’s preaching often conflicted with Hezekiah’s political aspirations and so the two may have had a strained relationship. Isaiah had warned Hezekiah about the Assyrians and told him that the revelry, partying, and merrymaking in Jerusalem would be replaced by sackcloth and grief. Hezekiah could finally see that Isaiah’s words were true all along. He reasoned that since Isaiah really was a prophet, perhaps he could communicate with God and receive another message about their current situation.
There’s a parallel here for modern believers. It’s true that up to this point Hezekiah never bothered to bring Isaiah into the king’s court to ask him about God’s will. Hezekiah didn’t care whether his own plans conflicted with the will of God. As a result, he got himself into this situation where things had become so desperate that by the time he could see the truth it was almost too late. It’s true that God will back us into a corner of desperation if that’s what it takes to open our eyes. But it’s also true that it doesn’t need to come to that. There are many examples in Scripture of individuals making the right decisions and avoiding potential pits of misery. Life has to be difficult – there’s no getting out of that – but life does not have to be hell unless you make it that way.
Hitting rock bottom is a strangely effective way to find God. Sometimes you can be so blind that you fail to see the light until you are surrounded by darkness. But this process is painful and you would save yourself a lot of hurt through having the humility to search for God and obeying His commands to the best of your ability. Hezekiah had access to Isaiah as a way of knowing God’s will. We have access to the Scriptures as a way of knowing God’s will. Hezekiah would have saved himself a lot of anxiety and distress if he had had the humility to hear Isaiah’s words. We can save ourselves a lot of anxiety and distress if we have the humility to search the Scripture and hear God’s word.
Hezekiah sent his delegation to Isaiah with this message: 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. Hezekiah finally understood that Assyria was being used by God to bring punishment down on the nation of Judah. His allusion to pregnancy could be a commentary on the weakened, starved status of the people inside Jerusalem. It could also be a metaphor for his plans of independence. Before Assyria showed up at his walls, Hezekiah thought that he was on the brink of establishing independence from the empire. The baby of his political aspirations was ready to be born – but there was no strength to turn back Assyria and make it happen.
Hezekiah was rather tentative in his prayer request to Isaiah. This could stem from the fact that he had to admit he was wrong or it could be that he’s not sure God will listen and save them. It’s also possible that Hezekiah didn’t know what exactly God’s plans were for Assyria. One thing he did know was that God had a track record of saving His people from enemies who blasphemed. There are a few things that we can learn from Hezekiah’s prayer request. First is that Hezekiah did not blame God for the mess that he was in. He didn’t mention his own piety, his past religious reforms, or anything about himself as reasons why God should act. So he wasn’t saying: Well, God, I did this and that for you in the past and I’m a good person so therefore you should help me now. He knew that he couldn’t earn it. He never suggested that he deserved God’s help or that God owed it to His people to rescue them. He also knew that no one could force God to act and no one truly merited any special consideration. All of these elements were at work in Hezekiah’s mind and led him to believe that his best shot was an appeal regarding Sennacherib’s ridicule of God. At this point, the only thing that could save the city was God’s justice rebuking the Assyrian.
Sennacherib had challenged God directly and raised himself up to be like the Most High. Hezekiah knew that this could only result in God cutting him down – but it’s important to notice that he didn’t claim to know when or how this would happen. So his prayer isn’t one such like: please save me now God, or, if you save then I will give you total dedication. He didn’t approach God from the perspective of being able to command God how or when to act. The desperation of the situation had driven Hezekiah away from himself to the point where he was no longer thinking in selfish terms. This helpless, selfless moment is often what is needed for God to act in our lives. But sometimes, even then, God does not act according to what we desire. The best example of this was Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane when He appealed to the Father that if there was any possible way – He should let this cup of suffering pass from Him. But Christ finished that prayer by saying: Not my will be done, but yours.
This was the frame of mind that Hezekiah had arrived at. God, if it is Your will, bring down the Assyrian who is blaspheming You. But notice also how Hezekiah asked Isaiah to lift up this prayer for the remnant of the people who were left in the city. Not for himself. The king was thinking about all of the Judeans who still had hope of surviving the Assyrian onslaught. He truly had reached a moment of repentance and humility before God. Let’s read how God responded through Isaiah in verses 5-7:
Isa 37:5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah,
Isa 37:6 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.
Isa 37:7 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.’”
There was no ambiguity in Isaiah’s response to Hezekiah. God would handle the Assyrian king and so there was no reason for Jerusalem to fear. Isaiah didn’t need to seek God or pray for this answer – he already knew it from past revelation. Isaiah tried to assure them of this before, but back then Hezekiah wasn’t desperate enough to listen. God called the Assyrian captains young men which in an another translation means boys. It’s an intentionally derogatory term. As powerful as Sennacherib had become, the moment he chose to challenge God he entered into a whole new arena.
Isaiah said that God would put a spirit into Sennacherib and that the Assyrian would return home on the basis of a rumor. This is interesting because throughout the Rabshakeh’s speech the Assyrians mocked the power of “mere words” but now their king himself would run home because of “mere words.” Certainly, the people in Jerusalem as well as Hezekiah were terrified by Sennacherib’s threats of starvation and his seemingly unlimited power over other nations. But even these threats were not what sparked the wrath of God. Sennacherib’s defiance and his blasphemous claims against God’s divinity are what sealed his fate.
So how did God handle Sennacherib in the wake of this defiance? God’s sovereignty over Sennacherib’s life was illustrated in three ways. First was the spirit that God put into Sennacherib. It’s likely that this spirit was an attitude, disposition, or feeling in the psyche of the Assyrian king. The attitude God put on his heart made him feel worried and afraid. Second was the rumor God caused Sennacherib to hear. It’s likely that this rumor was news of a Cushite force setting out from Egypt to attack him. Third was that God caused Sennacherib to fall by the sword. When the Assyrian king was back home in the capital city Nineveh, he was slain by his own sons while he worshiped in the temple of his god, Nisroch. So Isaiah was able to give Hezekiah these three promises from God regarding Sennacherib and the Assyrians who sat outside the city. All three promises implied that Jerusalem would not be defeated and so there was no reason to fear. It’s also worth noting that these three promises are directives against the king of Assyria rather than in support of Jerusalem. God saved His people, but He did it for the establishment of His own honor and glory, not theirs. Let’s read verses 8-13:
Isa 37:8 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish.
Isa 37:9 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,
Isa 37:10 “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.
Isa 37:11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered?
Isa 37:12 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?
Isa 37:13 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?’”
Once he saw that Hezekiah would not surrender, the Rabshakeh returned to Libnah to bring his report. He may have also brought what Isaiah referred to as the rumor God would send to Sennacherib. It’s likely that the rumor Sennacherib heard was news that the Cushite king Tirhakah had mustered an army to advance out of Egypt against him. This news would cause the Assyrian king to rush his projects because he wanted to be through with Jerusalem in time to meet Tirhakah in battle. Sennacherib destroyed Lachish and then moved into Libnah. From Libnah he sent his messengers back to Jerusalem with a letter addressed directly to Hezekiah. This time he didn’t send the Rabshakeh – he sent low-level heralds.
Knowing that Hezekiah refused to submit to the threats of the Rabshakeh, it’s possible that Sennacherib wanted to send his own personal correspondence to Judah’s king. This would be like official written notice from Sennacherib himself. It was probably meant to press the issue by seeking to undermine Hezekiah’s own faith in God – rather than the faith of his officials on the wall. The Rabshakeh tried persuading Jerusalem to lose faith in Hezekiah. Since that didn’t work, Sennacherib sought to persuade Hezekiah to lose faith in God. Sennacherib wanted Hezekiah to feel personally terrified of what was coming. His message continued to attack the trustworthiness of God. Military intelligence had brought information to Sennacherib that Hezekiah lost hope in Egypt and now rested everything on God. In his letter, Sennacherib told Hezekiah that God’s promise to deliver them from Assyria was a lie. He leveled intense blasphemies against God by comparing Him to the wood and stone idols of previously conquered cities. Divine promise meant nothing to Sennacherib because he had invested all of his faith in human strength and human intimidation.
I want to take a minute to outline the gravity of the decision Hezekiah faced when he read this letter. If he was wrong about God in this moment, then he and everyone in Jerusalem would be slowly tortured to death by Assyrian soldiers. And I’m talking treatment so horrific that historians find regular occurrence of post traumatic stress disorder among battle-hardened, life-long Assyrian warriors. These guys were so cruel to their victims that they gave themselves PTSD. Knowing what was waiting for him outside those walls, Hezekiah had to decide whether to listen to Isaiah or surrender the city over to Sennacherib. And the evidence was not at all in favor of God’s promises through Isaiah. In his letter, Sennacherib reminded Hezekiah of previous Assyrian warlords Tiglath-Pileser III, Shalmaneser V, and Sargon II. Along with Sennacherib, these kings had terrorized and laid waste to cities and countries throughout the known the world for nearly fifty years. This was not just a few victories of rare happenstance – this was a longstanding tradition of Assyrian dominance. In the face of this unbroken path of destruction through history, Hezekiah somehow had to believe that Jerusalem would be the anomaly. That God would deliver on His promises.
Sennacherib pointed to all of the other cities who claimed to be protected by their gods and reminded Hezekiah that these cities were destroyed and their kings were exiled or dead. So Hezekiah had to decide whether God was different than all these other gods. On top of that, he had to make the determination that Isaiah’s promises were meant for him and Jerusalem at this moment in history. How could he really be certain that God’s promises were meant for them right now? Is rescuing us God’s will? Is He even able to do it?
When I read about Hezekiah and this decision it makes me feel like my decisions and my fears are pretty silly in comparison. In the 21st century we have a lot of problems we need to navigate and life is anything but simple. But hey, at least we don’t have a horde of brutal Assyrian soldiers eager to rip our tongues out so that we can’t scream while they skin us alive. That’s probably what was on Hezekiah’s mind when he took Sennacherib’s letter into the temple in this next passage. Let’s read verses 14-20:
Isa 37:14 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.
Isa 37:15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD:
Isa 37:16 “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.
Isa 37:17 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.
Isa 37:18 Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands,
Isa 37:19 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.
Isa 37:20 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.”
At the beginning of this chapter Hezekiah tore his clothes in despair when his officials told him what the Rabshakeh said. But not this time. This time Hezekiah said nothing to his messengers and walked boldly into the temple of God to lay out Sennacherib’s letter. This time Hezekiah was determined to let God answer the challenge. Where before Hezekiah had asked Isaiah to pray, this time Hezekiah prayed himself. There’s a few things we can learn from Hezekiah’s prayer so let’s examine it in detail.
He opened his prayer by making five statements about the character of God. First was Lord Almighty, or Yahweh of Hosts, which means God is the military commander of the hosts of heaven. Second was God of Israel, which provided the distinction that God was connected to the people of Israel – not the Assyrians. Third was enthroned above the cherubim, which was a reference to God’s royal position on the temple throne above the ark of the covenant. It’s also true that the cherubim symbolized creation – so describing God as enthroned above the cherubim gives us the imagery of God being the King who is above all creation. Fourth was you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. This was a claim to God’s sole, monotheistic, worldwide dominion. Fifth was you have made heaven and earth. Hezekiah understood that God created heaven and earth and therefore creation is His possession and He has the power to make or undo what He has made.
Hezekiah opened his prayer by making these statements as affirmations of his trust, assurance, and praise. It wasn’t so much about identifying God or justifying his beliefs to others – rather it was a desperate moment where king Hezekiah called out to the only Almighty God who controls history because he needed Him to act in response to Sennacherib’s blasphemy. Hezekiah’s religious reformations throughout Judah are evidence to the fact that he always believed these things about God. He just struggled in applying them to his military and political life. This is true of many believers today. Sometimes we believe all the right things about God but we act as if we don’t. We can spare ourselves a lot of needless misery when we have the faith to act on what we believe.
After the opening statements, Hezekiah begged God who is over all not to regard Sennacherib’s slight upon His character as beneath His notice. Hezekiah addressed God as the living God, which was meant to contrast what he believed about God against what Sennacherib claimed. Hezekiah believed that God is alive and is sovereign over history. Sennacherib claimed that God is dead and was no better than the idols of the cities that had already been conquered. Hezekiah acknowledged the truth in Sennacherib’s claims about Assyria destroying cities whose idols could not protect them. This shows us that Hezekiah’s faith was not misinformed about the reality of the situation – he knew how deadly Assyria was. The difference was that Hezekiah knew his God was nothing like these idols made of wood and stone.
Hezekiah ended his prayer with another petition followed by a rationale. In the beginning he tried to be strong enough to keep his prayer about God establishing His own glory by rebuking Sennacherib. But this time the prayer was made personal. He departed from use of the objective names for God and simply called out to Him as: O LORD our God. And he begged Him: please save us. It’s comforting to know that deep in his heart Hezekiah was really afraid for himself and his loved ones. His primary purpose was that God should glorify Himself, but another huge part of his motivation was fear for his life and the lives of others. I think as believers we often feel like we need to be brave enough to unquestioningly cheer on God’s will and God’s plans. But the reality is that many times we are simply afraid for ourselves and for our loved ones. Hezekiah’s prayer is evidence that God embraces us even as we are pleading like he was.
The rationale at the end of Hezekiah’s prayer was the underlying purpose behind why God saved Jerusalem from the might of Assyria. Assyrian dominance was so widely recognized that many people assumed Assyria’s gods were also dominant and some of them likely viewed Sennacherib as a deity himself. If God broke Assyria’s stranglehold on Jerusalem then all the world would see that He alone is Lord. This is the theme throughout Scripture that rests underneath many of God’s supernatural acts – His aim is to glorify Himself and to make it known that He alone is God. I think there are many reasons for Him doing this – but chief among them is to prevent us from being dragged down into the pit by idolization of false gods or bad ideas. Hezekiah prayed to God for deliverance, let’s read God’s response beginning in verses 21-22:
Isa 37:21 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,
Isa 37:22 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.
It’s very interesting that God told Hezekiah his prayer has affected the flow of history. This was not the only example of a person petitioning God and appearing to change His plans. This is the principle behind intercessory prayer. You pray for someone who is heading for one outcome and because of your prayer their outcome changes. I think we have to be very careful about this. It’s clear that God is saying our prayers can change the outcome of things. But it’s also clear that God sees all things past, present, and future. He already knows and has already planned the outcome. With prayer, we have to be careful not to form the perspective that we are puppet masters and if we pull God’s strings in just the right way He will give us what we want. I don’t think we can understand how prayer works with the predestination nature of God. Hezekiah’s prayer altered the course of history – but God knew Hezekiah was going to pray to him all along. Since we are bound by the present moment and we cannot see the entirety of the space-time continuum the way God does, it’s best if we work and act as if our choices matter and do alter the outcome of our story. We don’t have the capacity to understand predestination and so when we attempt to we inevitably arrive at error.
God’s response to Hezekiah was the final and decisive word in what had been a war of human words. He began by promising Hezekiah that Jerusalem’s relationship to Sennacherib would change. At the moment, they were huddled inside the walls of the city and terrified of the Assyrian army outside. But God said the tables would turn and Jerusalem would mock and despise the Assyrian king. Jerusalem was pictured as the virgin daughter of Zion which was meant to show that she had remained untouched by Sennacherib. Jerusalem would triumph in defiant joy over the Assyrians – the weak over the strong. This was pictured as the virgin girl mocking her would-be but defeated attacker. We find out why Assyria would face this treatment in verses 23-25:
Isa 37:23 “‘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!
Isa 37:24 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.
Isa 37:25 I dug wells and drank waters, to dry up with the sole of my foot all the streams of Egypt.
Sennacherib’s mistake was not his attack on Jerusalem. In fact, he was fulfilling God’s purpose for him because God had always planned to use Assyria to bring judgment against Judah. Things went off the rails for Sennacherib the moment he aimed his war machine at God Himself. Sennacherib’s conquests and Assyrian dominance got to his head and made him think that he himself was God. God’s rhetorical questions to Sennacherib were meant to show him the error of his ways – to show him that what had started as a simple invasion of Judah had turned into holy war against God. Sennacherib’s chosen arena was no longer military conflict with Judah – it was theological conflict with God. The Assyrian disregarded his earthly conquests and went straight for the heavenly throne.
This fatal arrogance had infected every area of Sennacherib’s life. There were signs of it everywhere. From the Rabshakeh and Sennacherib shouting openly in defiance of God to Sennacherib lifting up his eyes on high to express his feelings of dominance over God. God quoted Sennacherib’s claims of superhuman accomplishment. The Assyrian king had deluded himself into believing that he personally deserved credit for all that his army had done. Sennacherib’s blasphemous boasts picture him as having reached the highest of highs and gained control over all creation. That’s why his war was no longer against earthly powers – but against the Holy One of Israel. Sennacherib’s pride had warped his sense of reality until he believed he controlled everything, but God would show him what control really looked like. Verses 26-29:
Isa 37:26 “‘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,
Isa 37:27 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.
Isa 37:28 “‘I know your sitting down and your going out and coming in, and your raging against me.
Isa 37:29 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.’
These were the words that reminded Sennacherib of his proper place in relation to God. It was conquest that made Sennacherib insane with pride – but all of these conquests were planned by God long before Sennacherib was born and it was only by God’s permission and God’s power that the Assyrians were able to conquer anyone. God went on to tell Sennacherib that He knows every detail about his life. Every time the Assyrian king went to sleep, every time he went off by himself, every moment of his existence, and every time he raged against God, God was there watching him. So often Sennacherib had used threats of punishment that people could understand so that he could terrify them into submission. He learned about their culture and their personal lives so that he could tap into their worst fears. It was a favorite practice for the Assyrians to set hooks into the jaws and noses of conquered people so they could be dragged around and humiliated. You can imagine that Sennacherib’s blood ran cold when God told him that the hook and the bit was coming for him. Let’s read verses 30-32:
Isa 37:30 “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.
Isa 37:31 And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.
Isa 37:32 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.
God offered Hezekiah this promise for two reasons. First was so that he and the people would understand that Judah’s deliverance did not happen by chance – it was always God’s purposeful design. So God was predicting the way that things would move forward for Judah in the years following the Assyrian invasion in order that they might look back and see God’s fingerprints on all of it. This is like when you look back at things in your own life and understand that they happened for a reason despite the fact that you couldn’t see that reason at the time they were happening. Second was to encourage the king and his people. The land was pretty much stripped bare. The massive Assyrian force consumed Judah’s food stores and chopped down their fruit trees for fire wood. God promised Hezekiah and the people that they would have enough to eat simply by eating what grows in the wild. After some time they could return to growing their crops as they did before. The remnant of Judeans who survived the invasion would go back out from Jerusalem to their homelands and re-establish themselves.
There’s a spiritual parallel here because those who are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ are also God’s remnant people. In Hezekiah’s case, as well as in our own case, it is God’s desire that will accomplish this. Neither Hezekiah nor Sennacherib were in control of how God would direct the course of history. In the same way, it’s not up to us to save ourselves. We couldn’t do so even if we tried. It’s God’s will that all people come to Him for salvation. That’s why access to heaven is granted to anyone who accepts the saving grace of Jesus. He’s already done the work and He did it to glorify Himself. God’s will never depends on us, but everything we are and everything we could be depends on God’s will. Let’s read verses 33-35:
Isa 37:33 “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.
Isa 37:34 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the LORD.
Isa 37:35 For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
It’s important for us to remember that God saved the city to defend and glorify His own name. He didn’t choose to act on the basis of the righteousness of the people in Jerusalem. It’s a mistake for Christians to think that God is obligated to defend the righteous from suffering. This is in part because none of us are truly righteous. But God the Father didn’t even spare Jesus from the suffering of the cross. Christ’s crucifixion was a work that had to take place so that God could save us from our sins. Despite the fact that God is not obligated to protect us in this life, He sometimes does intervene so that He can prove to the nations that He is the Divine King. This was the case for Hezekiah. God’s reasoning for saving Jerusalem was a combination of rebuking Sennacherib’s blasphemy and protecting Hezekiah and the people for David’s sake. When God says for David’s sake, it’s possible that He’s referring to how Hezekiah is a good king who trusts in God. After all, God called king David a man after His own heart. It could also be pointing to the fact that saving Jerusalem at this moment in history was part of the grand kingdom design that will be consummated in Jesus Christ.
Throughout the previous chapter and this one, we watched Sennacherib be driven mad by his arrogance and his lust for power. He left a trail of death and destruction as he laid waste to 46 of Judah’s cities. This king and his army tortured and killed more people than our modern minds can comprehend. Sennacherib accepted all the credit for himself. Lost to the pathological belief that he himself is a god, Sennacherib directly challenged the Holy One of Israel. Let’s watch what God does about this as we finish with verses 36-38:
Isa 37:36 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.
Isa 37:37 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh.
Isa 37:38 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.
After sending his letter of final warning to Hezekiah, it’s likely that Sennacherib and the Assyrian army moved quickly to the walls of Jerusalem. The Angel of the Lord was waiting for them when they arrived. The Angel of the Lord is the same figure who destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt during the Passover. Hundreds of thousands of the most powerful army to walk the earth at this point in history – against One. For the Assyrian king, this was like marching directly into a furnace. It’s likely that the massacre took place on the very first night they were encamped there. They didn’t have time to do so much as shoot an arrow or lay a siege ramp. In the same way that Sennacherib had sent his messenger – the Rabshakeh – to proclaim dominance over God, now God is sending his messenger to show the Assyrian what dominance really looks like. It happened at night, in the darkness. 185,000 dead in an instant. The Bible says they were devoured by a sword that is not of mortals. That the voice of the Lord shattered Assyria. It was the night that effectively ended the Assyrian Empire. They would survive on the world stage for a while longer but they would never again reach the height of power that they had under Sennacherib.
When the sun rose, what was left of the Assyrian army gazed in fright at the dead masses. Sennacherib and his soldiers realized they were up against an enemy they could not defeat. God spared Sennacherib so that he could experience the fear and powerlessness that the Assyrians so often inflicted on others. Sennacherib fled home to Nineveh where he lived 20 more years. Then one day as he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, Sennacherib was murdered by his own two sons. There’s special irony here because Sennacherib had tried so hard to convince Hezekiah that God could not save him. In the end, Sennacherib had the truth reversed. Hezekiah’s prayer in the temple of the living God resulted in Jerusalem’s salvation. Sennacherib’s prayer in the temple of his idol ended in his own demise.
Sennacherib’s sons killed him because they wanted the throne. His youngest son, Esarhaddon, had been named crown prince and this caused his two older brothers to drive him into exile. With Esarhaddon gone, the brothers killed Sennacherib and then fought each other over who would be king. Esarhaddon came back and drove both of them off, becoming the next Assyrian king.
The major lesson to be learned from the story of Jerusalem being saved from the Assyrians is that we should stand firm in our faith even when the odds are against us. There have been many great men and women of faith throughout history who were not delivered from suffering and death. This wasn’t because they lacked faith. Faith in the Hezekiah sense is coming to the conclusion that you trust God enough to accept His will no matter what it is. In the Garden of Gethsemane on His way to abandonment, suffering, and death Jesus said to the Father: not as I will, but as you will. Jesus accepted the will of the Father so that you and I could be reconciled to Him. In the same way, we must do our best to go with God’s flow. Paul tells us in Romans that if we do this then ultimately all things will work out for good. Even if you have to wait until the day you pass on into eternity to gain perspective and understand why it all happened to you – it will be worth it.
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