Isaiah 37:1-13
Isa 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.
Then when the three representatives told Hezekiah all
that Rabshakeh had said to him, after they rent or tore their clothes Hezekiah
followed suit and rent his clothes also.
He then proceeded to cover himself with sackcloth which was a sign of
humility and defeat. What happened
here with Rabshakeh had caused Hezekiah to seek the LORD and the deliverance
which was promised to him from Assyria.
Isa 37:2
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.
Then in addition to this, Hezekiah sent Shebna and
Eliakim along with the elders of the priests to Isaiah the prophet.
They were clothed in sackcloth which was a sign of humility and
desperation. They had gone to
Isaiah in hopes they would give him the situation and to see what could be done
about it. Since he was God’s
prophet to Judah, they probably thought that in conjunction with Hezekiah’s
prayers, they would be able to get an answer from the LORD through Isaiah.
Isa 37:3
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.
They delivered the message to Isaiah from Hezekiah.
They relayed the words which Rabshakeh had said to them and they come to
Isaiah and told him that with Assyria at the gates of Jerusalem that it is a day
of trouble which can also be understood as distress or tribulation.
Then Rabshakeh rebuked Judah for thinking they could escape the fate the
other cities of Judah faced. Then
they told him the blasphemy whereby Rabshakeh had challenged the strength of God
to deal with them and that Sennacherib thought that he was stronger than any
god. They then compared their
situation to a woman who is delivering a baby but lacks the strength to complete
the birth. They would need strength
from an outside source to help them in the situation facing them.
Isa 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.
The accusatory words which were spoken by Rabshakeh was
really mocking the living God and Hezekiah had hoped that God would hear those
words and would rebuke or chasten Rabshakeh for saying such blasphemy.
There is no doubt that the LORD heard those words and would soon act.
Hezekiah wanted Isaiah to pray for the remnant which would have been the
people of Judah since the ten northern tribes were already in captivity.
He was hoping Isaiah would entreat the LORD on their behalf and that they
would receive and answer.
Isa 37:5
So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
So the servants of the king then went to Isaiah with the
message that the king wanted him to hear and told them of the situation facing
Judah.
Isa 37:6
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.
Then Isaiah responds to them with the answer from the
LORD. They were to relay the
message to Hezekiah that he was not to fear their words because there is a big
difference between making threats and actually carrying them out.
And the king of Israel answered
and said, Tell him, Let not him
that girdeth on his harness
boast himself as he that putteth it off. (1 Kings 20:11)
The principle in 1 Kings 20:11 is simple.
At the beginning of any campaign do not act as if the matter had already
been decided or completed because one never knows what one will encounter during
a process. Rabshakeh thought that
he had the upper hand because of past victories which Assyria experienced and
was acting like he already had the victory.
God had encouraged them that they were not to be intimidated by them
because he was well aware of their blasphemy.
Isa 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.
Then God revealed his plan to Hezekiah.
He will send a blast upon him.
The word “blast” in the Hebrew is the word for “spirit.”
The spirit would have been Sennacherib was hearing a rumor and would
return to Assyria. The rumor may
have been Merodach-Baladan had taken over Babylon again and that was important
to Sennacherib and would cause him to break camp and return to Assyria.
Then he would be killed in his own land.
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 37:38)
His own sons would kill him and fulfill the prophecy which God gave them.
Isa 37:8
So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria
warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
At this point Rabshakeh returned to the king to get
further instructions and when he returned, he found the king had engaged at
Libnah. Libnah was a city which was
closer to Jerusalem and was about 25 miles (40 KM) southwest of Jerusalem.
Lachish was about 5 miles (8 KM) south of Libnah.
Isa 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,
Hezekiah’s counselors had forged an alliance with Egypt.
This is the Ethiopia which was part of southern Egypt.
Tirhakah had started to reign in Egypt about 690-689 B.C. at the age of
20. After Sennacherib had defeated
Arabia and Herodotus the Greek historian called him “The King of Arabia” he had
planned to take Jerusalem and then march on to Egypt.
However, Tirhakah had already mobilized his army and was ready to go to
war with Assyria. So he proceeded
to engage the Ethiopians but at the same time he sent messengers to Hezekiah
because he did not want him to think that he was going to escape.
He thought that it would be a quick campaign against Egypt and then he
would resume his challenge to Hezekiah.
Isa 37:10
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.
Then once again the messengers of Sennacherib bring
another message of blasphemy against God.
At this time Sennacherib did not know that his fate was already sealed by
the hands of his two sons. Now his
words were a direct attack upon the true God of Judah in that he will be too
weak to stop the advance of the Assyrian army when they will attack and
Jerusalem will be taken into the hands of Assyria just as the ten northern
tribes were.
Isa 37:11
Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have
done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
He states that Hezekiah has truly heard about what
Assyria had done to all the countries and cities they conquered by literally
destroying them and then confiscating all their spoils.
Then he poses the question to Hezekiah that after all these things that
happened to these places, do you honestly think that you are going to be
delivered from the same fate? One
of the greatest weapons of psychological warfare is “fear” which is still used
by governments today to keep their populations under control.
Isa 37:12
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?
Then he raises a historical narrative that the other
kings who came before him had also conquered nations and cities and none of the
local gods could stop them. The
cities named were located in western Mesopotamia except for Gozan which was in
the northern part. Haran was one of
the cities where Abraham visited after he left Ur of the Chaldees.
Isa 37:13
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of
Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?