October
10th Isaiah 36 B Historic interlude[1]
(Prose) Sennacherib invades Israel
1: Now it came to pass in the
fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up
against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them. 2: And the king of Assyria sent
Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great
army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the
fuller's field. 3: Then came
forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the
scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder. 4: And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus
saith the great king, the king of Assyria,
What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? 5: I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have
counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest
against me? 6: Lo, thou
trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it
will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that
trust in him. 7: But if thou
say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and
whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah
and to Jerusalem,
Ye shall worship before this altar? 8:
Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if
thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. 9: How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the
least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for
horsemen? 10: And am I now come
up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go
up against this land, and destroy it. 11:
Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto
thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us
in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall. 12: But Rabshakeh said, Hath my
master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent
me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and
drink their own piss with you? 13:
Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and
said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.
14: Thus saith the king, Let
not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you. 15: Neither let Hezekiah make you
trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not
be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
16: Hearken not to Hezekiah:
for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and
come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig
tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; 17: Until I come and take you away to
a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and
vineyards. 18: Beware lest
Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods
of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 19:
Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and
have they delivered Samaria
out of my hand? 20: Who are
they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of
my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem
out of my hand? 21: But they
held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was,
saying, Answer him not. 22:
Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna
the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their
clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
Isaiah, 37 Israel troubled
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. 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. 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.
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? 14: And Hezekiah received the letter
from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house
of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. 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.
The
Angel defeats Assyria
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: 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. 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 Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.
Isaiah, 38 King Hezekiah is sick
1: In those days was Hezekiah sick
unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto
him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not
live. 2: Then Hezekiah turned
his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, 3: And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have
walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which
is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. 4: Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying, 5: Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus
saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have
seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. 6: And I will deliver thee and this
city out of the hand of the king of Assyria:
and I will defend this city. 7:
And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this
thing that he hath spoken; 8:
Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the
sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by
which degrees it was gone down. 9:
The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah,
when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness: 10: I said in the cutting off of my
days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my
years. 11: I said, I shall not
see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no
more with the inhabitants of the world. 12:
Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut
off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day
even to night wilt thou make an end of me. 13: I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break
all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. 14: Like a crane or a swallow, so did
I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I
am oppressed; undertake for me. 15:
What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I
shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul. 16: O Lord, by these things men live,
and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and
make me to live. 17: Behold, for
peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it
from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. 18: For the grave cannot praise thee,
death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for
thy truth. 19: The living, the
living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children
shall make known thy truth. 20:
The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed
instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD. 21: For Isaiah had said, Let them
take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall
recover. 22: Hezekiah also had
said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?
Today we are beginning a historical section of the Book of
Isaiah. This section begins here and extends as far as ch 39v8. This records a
number of Historical events in Isaiah’s life in relation to Hezekiah. Ch 36v1 –
37v13 is the summons of the king of Assyria to
Hezekiah to surrender. In the 14th year of Hezekiah Sennacherib the
Assyrian king came to Judah
and took them. Then he sent Rabshakeh from Lachish
to Jerusalem
with a great army. He stood by the water passage in the road near the fullers
field and he addressed Hezekiah the king. The first thing he did was to try to
shake the confidence of the king. He said what are you trusting in? I have a
great army and you cannot trust in Egypt
for help – Egypt
is untrustworthy. Then he pre-empts Hezekiah saying you might say We trust in
the LORD our God, but has he not taken away your high places saying you must
worship only at Jerusalem.
So give us a token of good faith that you will surrender to us. And if you do I
will send you 2000 horses, that is if you can find 2000 riders. I have been
sent by your LORD to destroy the land. Rabshekah’s men said speak to us in our
language because we do not understand you. But he spoke to the Jews in their
own language. He addressed the people over the head of the king. He said don’t
let your king deceive you, because he is unable to deliver you. And may
Hezekiah not trust in the LORD because we will destroy this city. If you
surrender then I will take you to a land full of food and wine. Don’t listen to
your king, has any god ever delivered anyone that we have attacked? No-one
answered him. Because the king had commanded silence. When Hezekiah heard all
that was said he humbled himself before the LORD and rent his clothes, covered
himself in sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD. They sent a message
to Isaiah the prophets saying this is the day of trouble, rebuke and blaspheme
and the king has no heir. When the message came to Isaiah he replied, tell him
not be afraid, because I will send a destroying wind on him and he will return
to his own land and be killed by the sword there. The exchanges go back and
forth but Hezekiah went up to the temple and spread it out before the LORD. And
then we have his prayer recorded.
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.
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.
Of
a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid
waste all the nations, and their countries,
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.
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.
Then the LORD answered him through his prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah says ‘This is what the LORD says’. The virgins have despised you and
laughed and shaken their heads at you, but they have spoken against the LORD
and even against Christ himself. You have come here to conquer but I will send
you back where you have come from because you have trusted in yourselves. Then
the LORD gave a sign to know this will be true. You will eat this year what
grows by itself. And the second year but in the third year you will sow and eat
and reap and plant vineyards. Those that are left will put roots downward and
bear fruit upward. The enemy will not come and shoot one arrow. The LORD will
do this. The Lord said I will defend this city for David my servants sake. Then
the angel of the LORD went forth and smote the camp of the Assyrians 185,000
died that night. And when the rest rose the next day they found all the dead.
So Sennacherib left and went to live in Nineveh.
And one day when he was worshipping his god his sons killed him and fled and
Esar-haddon became king in his place. In Isaiah ch 38 Hezekiah became sick and
he was near to death Isaiah came to him and told him he was going to die.
Hezekiah turned to face the wall and wept, not because he was sorry for himself
but because he had no heir. Having an heir meant that Gods promises to David
could be fulfilled. Hezekiah prays again but this time its for his life and
heir. He pleads his righteous life. (This could never be what Christians do.
Our mortal life is not the main thing nor our heirs and never can we plead
righteousness of our own) Hezekiah wept sore because he felt God was going to
let him down. He had been faithful under the law and yet God had given him no
son and now he will loose his life to sickness. Then the LORD answered his
prayer again and the LORD spoke again through Isaiah. The Lords answer was… I
have hear your prayer and seen your tears and look I will add 15 years to your
life. And I will deliver you from Assyria and
save the city. (Salvation in the OT was not about the salvation of the soul
from sin but the salvation of their mortal lives from death) Then the Lord gave
him a sign. The LORD will bring again the shadow of the degrees. In other words
the shadow on the clock of Hezekiah will go back by 10 degrees. (It’s
interesting that the Songs of Degrees in the Psalms describe this who story of
Hezekiah. So the sun rose by ten degrees on the sundial of Ahaz. Hezekiah
became well again. And he said I had said I will not see the LORD in the land
of the living, but I will go to my grave and loose the rest of my years. And he
goes on to describe his pinning away in sorrow and sickness. Undertake for me!
(The first mention of an undertaker) he praises the LORD who delivered him from
the grave. He says the dead cannot praise you. (He is speaking about the dead
body not the spirit) It is the living that praise the LORD. He says the LORD
was ready to save me (from death) and therefore I will sing on my stringed
instruments all the rest of my days in the house of the LORD. This is because
Isaiah had proscribed a cure for Hezekiah. A lump of figs plastered on the boil
and he recovered.
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