Isaiah Part 4: The Historical Pivot 4.1

Prayer Requests:

Jamison, doing well

Cheryl, longtime friend, Patty in a car accident,

Laura, Laura Jean in Reno, heart issues, in hospital

Susan, Tom very serious heart issues, anyeurism awaiting surgery

Christy, heart surgery, came home Sunday

Bing, niece kathy, successful surgery, breast cancer

Nan, grieving those

Joann, brother diagnosed with a brain tumor

Suzanne, Faye, continued healing

Arlene, Christy, new port tomorrow —starting chemo

Dan Osborne, congestive heart failure

Today marks a huge shift in the book of Isaiah—the whole book has been dominated by the Assyrian crisis, Judah’s enemy coming and their impending siege on Jerusalem. The Assyrian crisis will be resolved here in these next few chapters. It’s also a shift because it moves away from the poetic and prophetic that we’ve become used to and now shifts to historical narrative for a bit. But as usual, there are a lot of names, places, etc. that it can be difficult to get our bearings. Let’s work through this together today.

Isaiah 36:1–10 ESV

1 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 2 And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field. 3 And there came out to him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder. 4 And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 5 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 6 Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 7 But if you say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God,” is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar”? 8 Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 9 How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master’s servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 10 Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.” ’ ”

Let’s set the stage—Hezekiah is King of Judah and Sennacherib is King of Assyria. Assyria has taken the fortified cities of Judah, advancing toward the capitol, Jerusalem. The great city of David is next, Sennacherib has set his sights on the great city of the Lord.

Hezekiah is at the conduit of the upper pool—an aqueduct—this is the same place that Isaiah spoke to a previous King, Ahaz. The aqueduct serves as an important logistical center for Jerusalem, vital and strategic infrastructure. But what’s important to note is this: this is place where Ahaz had refused the way of faith and now it is the very place where Hezekiah will reap the harvest of that unbelief. Sennacherib, the King of Assyria, sends Rabshakeh—his field commander—to deliver a message to Judah’s King.

And the message is this: where is your trust? Where is your hope? another way of putting it: what hope do you have? You have words? You’ve rebelled against me, what hope then is there for you?

Now, if Isaiah were asked: where should their hope be? In the Lord!

But Sennacherib is needling him a little bit: He’s trying to make Hezekiah doubt his faith and where his hope lies.

Now this is what Satan does to us: he tries to get us to doubt our own faith. He asks us things like this: what are you hoping in? Look at the world, it’s falling a part and what good are your words and prayers? You have no hope!

Then look at what the message is in v. 6: Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. So first he’s pointed out the weakness of their faith, now he’s picking on something that they might even feel guilty about: yes, we’ve trusted in Egypt, this has been a mistake.

This is what Satan does to us do: he reminds us of our sins, points out of flaws and heaps on guilt and shame, feeding us the lie: see you’re no good, look at your sin, God won’t take you anyway.

Then he goes with strategy 3. Isaiah 36:7 “7 But if you say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God,” is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar”?” Ok. What’s going on here. This is really interesting.

Hezekiah had been a faithful King, faithful to YHWH, we see this in 2 Kings 18:5 “5 He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him.”

Part of Hezekiah’s program was to remove all the places of idol worship within Judah. He removed the altars and high places, destroyed symbols of false worship and idolatry. This is a GOOD thing. Hezekiah led a purifying reform of worship in the land of Judah. But he would not have been without his detractors, surely there were many in Judah who had criticized him for this reform. And now this pagan king is picking on an insecurity of Hezekiah’s, probably without even knowing it.

His approval rating probably took a hit when he removed the altars and high places, people complaining and attacking him. Sennacherib probably is saying something like this: you say you trust in YHWH? Yet you removed all the altars to him, he won’t help you. The Assyrian king is appealing to the people’s sense of loss and distrust in their king.

This is so the strategy of Satan also: even the good things we do that move us toward God, Satan tries to tell us that we were wrong, that we can’t get close to him, that there is no hope.

Let’s look at the next section. Isaiah 36:11-12

Isaiah 36:11–12 ESV

11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 12 But the Rabshakeh said, “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?”

The Judean officials are trying to get the Assyrians to speak in Aramaic—the diplomatic language of the day. But Rabshakeh goes straight to the people, speaking in Hebrew, the language of the people—this is a diplomacy of a different type, propaganda to the people. He’s trying to scare the people and alienate them from their leaders, even faithful leaders like Hezekiah.

Again, a tactic of the enemy—divide and conquer, separate believers from one another, get us out of community, apart from one another. Sowing seeds of distrust and contempt.

Isaiah 36:13–20 ESV

13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. 15 Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us. This city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 16 Do not listen to Hezekiah. For thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 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? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 20 Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’ ”

Now he goes for a direct offensive—do not listen to Hezekiah who will tell you to trust in YHWH. Hezekiah’s message is this: trust YHWH, he will deliver us from Assyria (that, of course, has been Isaiah’s message). The general’s message is this: don’t listen to him, it won’t work. YHWH won’t save you. His strategy is to ruin their faith in God and he’s trying to get them to do what? Trust in him, NOT in God. Do not listen to God. Will he really save you?

Trust in me, “make your peace with me and come out to me.” He doesn’t want a war, he wants them to surrender. And what is he promising? Surrender and you will will have your own vine to eat from, your own cisterns to drink from. You’ll have a land like your own, but better, with bread and vineyards. He’s making exile and deportation sound like the promised land! A land flowing with bread and wine sounds a lot like a land flowing with milk and honey.

This is of course, and empty promise. What does this remind you all of?

It brings me straight to Genesis 3 and the serpent. Did God really say you’d die? No! He’s keeping you from something great. Eat of this fruit and you will be like God!

Will YHWH really save you? NO. He can’t save you, but I can!

V. 18 it continues on—Hezekiah has misled you by saying “YHWH will deliver us.” It’s not that Hezekiah is wrong, it’s now that their leader has intentional misled them! Hezekiah has purposely led you down this road!

And what’s his comparison, in v. 18-19? Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? He’s saying this: no one’s gods have saved them from our conquest and our empire. Yours will be no different. Where were the gods of the Samarians? Of Hamath and Arpad? It hasn’t worked for anyone else. You’ll be no different.

Of course, this is the general’s fatal mistake—he equates YHWH with the pagan gods of the nations. Of course, those gods can’t do anything, they are nothing. But not this God. This is a lesson Pharaoh of Egypt had to learn the hard way.

But here’s the lesson for us—there will be voices and message in our world and culture that say these things: will your God really save you? And those voices will try to equate our God with the idols and false gods of this world. We need to remain rooted in the truth of God and who He is, and we need to remain rooted in our faith. We must remain connected with one another to encourage each other in our faith.

Now let’s see how Hezekiah responds to these words from the Assyrian forces:

Isaiah 37:1–7 ESV

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. 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. 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. 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.’ ” 5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 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. 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.’ ”

How does He respond? With sorrow over the threats, but ultimately with what? Faith. He tore his clothes and says this: “lift up your prayer…God might hear this and rebuke this Assyrian.”

He goes to Isaiah for wisdom and help. Isaiah reassures him: “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard…Behold, sas the Lord, I will do a work!”

And as we continue next week we’ll see how the rest of this drama plays out. Where will Hezekiah’s faith get him and the people?