Year 2, Week 6, Day 5 Bible Reading Observations

Year 2, Week 6, Day 5

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Isaiah 36-37.

Today’s reading continues Isaiah’s prophecy to Judah. Today’s reading is a part of a small segment of Isaiah (chapters 36-39), that focuses on a few key historical events that happened during the reign of Hezekiah. Today’s reading records the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem (2 Kings 18 and 2 Chronicles 32 parallels the same events). Isaiah 36 introduces what Hezekiah was up against: “In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army” (Isaiah 36:1-2). Sennacherib, the Assyrian King, sent his commander, Rabshakeh, to issue a verdict of doom: “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?” (Isaiah 36:12). Rabshakeh declares a humiliating defeat for the people of Jerusalem. Rabshakeh mocks the notion of trusting in the LORD: “Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?” (Isaiah 36:18). Isaiah 37 records the resolution to the Assyrian threat as the LORD intervened on behalf of His people: “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. Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh” (Isaiah 37:36-37). Sometime as his return home, Sennacherib is murdered by one of his own sons. The Assyrian threat ceased.

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was Hezekiah’s response to the threats of the Assyrians: “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 37:1). Symbolizing his grief and repentance before the LORD, Hezekiah heads to the House of the LORD. Hezekiah’s actions are reminiscent of the words of Solomon: “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place” (1 Kings 8:27-29). And while Hezekiah headed to the Temple, he sent for 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 37:2). Hezekiah’s messengers explore Isaiah to pray as well.

Isaiah has a sure Word for Hezekiah: “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. 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 37:6-7). Acknowledging the fear that had filled Hezekiah’s heart, Isaiah states that the threat will go away. However, while Isaiah is reassuring Hezekiah, Sennacherib is not done issuing threats: “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 37:10).

Hezekiah, from the Temple, prays: “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…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 37:16, 20). Hezekiah acknowledged the greatness of God and appealed to the glory of God. Hezekiah pleads by pointing out the mocking words of Sennacherib: “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 37:17). Hezekiah differentiated between the true living God and the incapable gods of all the other nations: "Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, 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” (Hezekiah 37:18).

In response to Hezekiah’s prayer, Isaiah issues a Word from the LORD concerning Sennacherib: “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 37:23). Sennacherib’s comings and goings had not been missed by the LORD. The LORD had seen and heard, and moreover, the LORD would soon act against Sennacherib according to His plans: “I know your sitting down and your going out and coming in, and your raging against me. 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 37:28-29). The LORD declared: "For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David” (Isaiah 37:35). And He did. Without the aid from any army of Israelites as well as the support from any military alliance, the LORD handled the Assyrian army Himself.

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe