230716 Isaiah 36-38: The Name

NAC|CT3|K&D|WAL|BAR

Sake/Name for Title and Overlying Theme

Short Sermon

God cares how His name is treated, God cares how His people are treated

To blaspheme God is a very grave sin because it reduces God to less than what He is, placing ourselves over Him. Blasphemy can be forgiven by believing and acting on what God says.

INTRODUCTION

Possible good intro is Psalm 20 | For the choir director. A Psalm of David. 1 May Yahweh answer you in the day of distress! May the name of the God of Jacob set you securely on high! 2 May He send you help from the sanctuary And uphold you from Zion! 3 May He remember all your meal offerings And find your burnt offering acceptable! Selah. 4 May He grant you your heart’s desire And fulfill all your counsel! 5 We will sing for joy over your salvation, And in the name of our God we will set up our banners. May Yahweh fulfill all your petitions. 6 Now I know that Yahweh saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven With the saving might of His right hand. 7 Some boast in chariots and some in horses, But we will boast in the name of Yahweh, our God. 8 They have bowed down and fallen, But we have risen and stood upright. 9 Save, O Yahweh; May the King answer us in the day we call.

Need an example of Blasphemy in either the Old or New Testament

OT: David against Goliath 1 Sam 17.26 “Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, “What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should reproach the battle lines of the living God?”” 1 Sam 17.45 “Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of hosts, the God of the battle lines of Israel, whom you have reproached.”

NT: Pre-eminent example is the Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit found in Mark 3.29 “but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—”

Christ was sentenced to death because of Blasphemy Matt 26.65-66 “Then the high priest tore his garments and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy; what do you think?” They answered and said, “He deserves death!””

Blasphemy will mark the end of days

2 Tim 3.2 “For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,”

Rev 16.9 “And men were scorched with fierce heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has the authority over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory.”

Rev 16.11 “and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and they did not repent of their deeds.”

Rev 16.21 “And huge hailstones, about one talent each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.”

CONTEXT:

Assyrian Threat, Israel has fallen - Samaria repopulated from 1K Miles away, Judah is falling - Lachish has fallen Assyria is approaching from the north of Jerusalem

Sennacherib ruled during 704-682BC taking the throne at 35 years of age after his father died in battle in Anatolia. He is superstitious and wonders what caused the death of his father whose body was carried off.

He claimed the following titles: King of Assyria/Babylonia/of the four corners of the World/of the Universe

Hezekiah ruled from 715-687 took the throne at 25

Removed high places, did what was right like David his father (2 Kgs 18.3-5 “And he did what was right in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that David his father had done. He took away the high places and shattered the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel were burning incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan. He trusted in Yahweh, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him.” )

Assyria has been doomed from long before per Isaiah 10.5-19.

I. Response to Reproach (v1-4) Hezekiah’s Prayer Request | Perhaps Yahweh Will Hear | IS IT TOO LATE?

Isaiah 37 | 1 Now it happened that when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of Yahweh. 2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was over the household with Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 3 And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, reproof, and rejection; for children have come to the point of breaking forth, but there is no strength to give birth. 4 ‘Perhaps Yahweh your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore, lift up a prayer for the remnant that is left.’”

NAC - proposed that Hezekiah and Isaiah were not on good terms, due to the criticisms of Isaiah and unheeded warnings

Shebna, a foreigner (Is 22.16) who was arrogant and was building himself a great tomb - demoted after the prophesy to scribe/negotiator (LBD) - grace found in 1870

II. Do not fear (v5-7) Yahweh’s Command | Yahweh Will Make Him Fall

5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. 7 “Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a report and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

Numbers 15.30 “‘But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, that one is blaspheming Yahweh; and that person shall be cut off from among his people.”

III. (v8-13) Rabshakeh’s Blasphemy | Yahweh Blasphemed

8 Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had set out from Lachish. 9 Then he heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, “He has come out to fight against you.” So he heard it and sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of Judah, ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 11 ‘Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, devoting them to destruction. So will you be delivered? 12 ‘Did the gods of those nations, which my fathers have brought to ruin, deliver them, even Gozan and Haran and Rezeph and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 ‘Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

Assyria had previously outlawed the use of the name Sennacherib by commoners (WIKI) - seems he was worried about blasphemy too

Is Sennacherib denying previous prophecies - if so this too is blasphemy (NAC paraphrase)

Is 14.24-27 “Yahweh of hosts has sworn saying, “Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have counseled so it will stand, to break Assyria in My land, and I will trod him down on My mountains. Then his yoke will be removed from them and his burden removed from their shoulder. “This is the counsel that is counseled against the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations. “For Yahweh of hosts has counseled, and who can thwart it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?””

Is 29.5-8 “But it will be that the multitude of your enemies will become like fine dust, And the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which blows away; And it will happen instantly, suddenly. From Yahweh of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire. And it will be that the multitude of all the nations who wage war against Ariel, Even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, Will be like a dream, a vision of the night. And it will be as when a hungry man dreams— And behold, he is eating; But he awakens, and his soul is empty, Or as when a thirsty man dreams— And behold, he is drinking, But he awakens, and behold, he is faint, And his soul is not quenched. Thus the multitude of all the nations will be Who wage war against Mount Zion.”

Is 30.27-33 “Behold, the name of Yahweh comes from afar; Burning is His anger and heavy is His smoke; His lips are filled with indignation And His tongue is like a consuming fire; His breath is like an overflowing torrent, Which reaches to the neck, To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve of worthlessness, And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which staggers one to ruin. You will have songs as in the night when you set yourself apart as holy for the festival, And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute, To go to the mountain of Yahweh, to the Rock of Israel. And Yahweh will cause His splendid voice to be heard, And the descending of His arm to be seen in raging anger, And in the flame of a consuming fire In cloudburst, downpour, and hailstones. For at the voice of Yahweh Assyria will be dismayed, When He strikes with the rod. And every blow of the appointed staff, Which Yahweh will cause to rest upon him, Will be with the music of tambourines and lyres; And…”

Is 31.5-9 “Like flying birds so Yahweh of hosts will defend Jerusalem. He will defend and deliver it; He will pass over and provide a way of escape. Return to Him against whom you have deeply rebelled, O sons of Israel. For in that day every man will reject his silver idols and his gold idols, which your hands have made for you as a sin. And the Assyrian will fall by a sword not of man, And a sword not of man will devour him. So he will flee from the sword, And his choice men will become forced laborers. “His rock will pass away because of terror, And his princes will be dismayed at the standard,” Declares Yahweh, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.”

IV. (v14-20) Hezekiah’s Plea | Yahweh Saves

14 Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of Yahweh and spread it out before Yahweh. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to Yahweh saying, 16 “O Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 17 “Incline Your ear, O Yahweh, and hear; open Your eyes, O Yahweh, and see; and listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to reproach the living God. 18 “Truly, O Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have laid waste to all the countries and their lands 19 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. 20 “But now, O Yahweh our God, save us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are Yahweh, You alone.”

Invocation Is 37.16 ““O Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.”

Explanation Is 37.17-19 ““Incline Your ear, O Yahweh, and hear; open Your eyes, O Yahweh, and see; and listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to reproach the living God. “Truly, O Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have laid waste to all the countries and their lands and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them.”

Request for help Is 37.20 ““But now, O Yahweh our God, save us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are Yahweh, You alone.””

This is called a recognition formula (NAC cites W. Zimmerli) and the answer to this prayer is supposed to force others to acknowledge God’s divinity and power (Ex 7.17 “‘Thus says Yahweh, “By this you shall know that I am Yahweh: behold, I am about to strike the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned to blood.” )

Might be an appropriate segue to transition to the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit that Jesus said was related to the casting out of demons which the scribes claimed was in the power of beelzebul. They should have known by these miracles that Christ was the coming Messiah but they rejected the clear proof - extension: if we claim that we believe that the Bible is true and do not abide by it we are guilty of a similar sin. Having received the attestation that God is true, only God and do not obey Him we are blaspheming God’s Holy Spirit

V. (v21-29) Yahweh Will Act | Yahweh

21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word that Yahweh has spoken against him: “She has despised you and mocked you, The virgin daughter of Zion; She has shaken her head behind you, The daughter of Jerusalem! 23 “Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? And against whom have you heightened your voice And haughtily lifted up your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel! 24 “Through your servants you have reproached the Lord, And you have said, ‘With my many chariots I came up to the heights of the mountains, To the remotest parts of Lebanon; And I cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypresses. And I will go to its highest peak, its thickest forest. 25 ‘I dug wells and drank waters, And with the sole of my feet I dried up All the rivers of Egypt.’ 26 “Have you not heard? Long ago I did it; From days of old I formed it. Now I have brought it to pass, That you should devastate fortified cities into ruinous heaps. 27 “So their inhabitants were short of power; They were dismayed and put to shame; They were as the plant of the field and as the green herb, As grass on the rooftops is scorched before it rises. 28 “But I know your sitting down And your going out and your coming in And your raging against Me. 29 “Because of your raging against Me And because your presumptuousness has come up to My ears, Therefore I will put My hook in your nose And My bridle in your lips, And I will turn you back by the way which you came.

NAC

Saving God’s reputation is more critical that saving Jerusalem (Paraphrase)

v21 How important is prayer to God?

v23 frames this as an attack against God Himself

Proverbs 16.18 “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.” `

VI. (v30-32) Yahweh’s Sign | The Zeal of Yahweh | Yahweh’s Zeal

30 “Then this shall be the sign for you: you will eat this year what grows of its own accord, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31 “And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 32 “For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant and out of Mount Zion survivors. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.”’

NAC Although Assyria will abuse the land there will be enough to survive on (paraphrase)

VII. (v33-35) Yahweh's Defense

33 “Therefore, thus says Yahweh concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it. 34 ‘By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he will not come to this city,’ declares Yahweh. 35 ‘Indeed I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’”

NAC Assyria must not have been encamped around Jerusalem for very long if they could not shoot an arrow or attack Jerusalem

5 No’s

VIII. (v36-38) Yahweh’s Deliverance

36 Then the angel of Yahweh went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And the men arose early in the morning, and behold, all of them were dead bodies. 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria set out and returned home and lived at Nineveh. 38 Now it happened that as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.

This is about 10K less than the population of Eugene or Salem

APPLICATION: Blasphemy - What it is and what to do about it

Definition: Blasphemy, Biblically speaking, is the act of putting oneself over God. It involves impiety or irreverence or insult against God or the people of God. Blasphemy is slander against the sacred, disrespect toward the Divine, abuse against the assembly of God, it is a crime of casualness גדף, It is a pollution via profanity the praise due the name of God. It can involve mislabeling an idol or act as from Yahweh (Ex 32.1-4, 1 Kg 12.28)

Blasphemy is rooted in arrogance and it involves a flagrant faithlessness in the face of facts

Apart from God there are other things that can be slandered, (Scripture Titus 2.5, the Truth 2 Peter 2.2, Doctrine 1 Tim 6.1)

An example of blasphemy is taking the name of the Lord in vain (Exodus 20.7 ““You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.” )

It can involve using a “Minced oath” such as OMG or gosh darnit and ought never be used

For those whom we have been commanded to respect such as our leaders a phrase like “Let’s go Brandon” is entirely inappropriate for believers to use or promote (Romans 13.1-2 “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist have been appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists that authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.” )

The question to ask is if we don’t know what we are saying should we be saying it at all?

What to do about it in our own language:

Spiritually examine it 1 Cor 2.15 “But he who is spiritual examines all things, yet he himself is examined by no one.”

Repent of it because it can be forgiven Matt 12.31 ““Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.”

Ultimately, blasphemy can only be fixed by faith. If it is rooted in pride and unbelief about what God says about Himself in Scripture then the only solution is to believe what He has said