Isaiah 36:1

Now it came to pass in the third year of Hosea, son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. He was 25 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abiah, the daughter of Zechariah, and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord according to all that David, his father, did.

He removed the high places, broke the images, and cut down the groves. He also broke in pieces the brazen serpent, or the bronze serpent, that Moses had made. For unto those days, the children of Israel did burn incense unto it, and he called it Nehushtan, which is translated "thing of brass." He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.

For he clave unto the Lord and departed not from following Him, but kept His commandments which the Lord commanded Moses. The Lord was with him, and he prospered whithersoever he went forth. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and served him not. He smote the Philistines even unto Gaza and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchman to the fenced city.

It came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which is the seventh year of Hosea, the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, came up against Samaria and besieged it. At the end of three years, they took it. Even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hosea, king of Israel, Samaria was taken.

The king of Assyria carried away Israel unto Assyria and put them in Hela and in harbor by the river of Gozan and the cities of the Medes, because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed in His covenant. They did not hear nor do all that Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded.

Let's pray. Father, as we look at the passage before us tonight and as we consider Your working...

Among your people, we ask that you would remind us that you are the God who works and that you are the God who is on the throne. You desire that we would be those who draw near to you, know you, and follow hard after you. So, Lord, speak to us by your word and by your Spirit. Teach us, we pray, in Jesus' name. And all God's people agreed, saying, Amen. You can be seated.

Amen.

2 Kings 18 corresponds with the book of Isaiah. As we've been studying through the book of Isaiah, we know that we're at that point in Isaiah's prophetic writing where he is writing during the reign of King Hezekiah. Hezekiah, we're told in 2 Kings 18, came to the throne when he was 25 years old and reigned for nearly 30 years over Jerusalem. He was a good king.

Now, that's significant because when you study through Kings and Chronicles, you see that there were not very many good kings. He was on the short list, I guess you might say, of those who sought the Lord and served the Lord. We're told in this passage that he removed the high places, broke down the images, and cut down the groves in pieces. These were the places where the children of Judah, in the southern part of the nation of Israel, were worshiping their false gods. Hezekiah put a stop to that. He cut down the groves, which were the places where they worshiped the false god Asherah. He tore down the high places, where they worshiped the false god Baal.

We also read that he took the bronze serpent that Moses had made and destroyed it, breaking it into pieces. Remember all the way back to the book of Numbers, there is that story about how the children of Israel, when they were traveling through the wilderness, complained against the Lord. The Lord allowed terrible snakes, fiery serpents, to come into the camp, and every individual bitten by one of these serpents would die. The people came crying to Moses, saying, "You've got to do something about this."

Moses sought the Lord, and the Lord said, "All right, I want you to make a serpent out of bronze and put it on a pole in the middle of the camp. Whoever looks at the serpent after being bitten by the snake will be healed." Moses did that, and the children of Israel were healed—those who, by faith, looked at that serpent. Well, hundreds and hundreds of years later, they still had that serpent, having brought it all the way through the wilderness and into the promised land.

Into the promised land, they put it in a prominent position in the land of Israel. They worshiped it, burning incense to it all the way to the time that Hezekiah became King. He was the first of all the kings who decided that maybe they should do away with this idol. During the reign of Hezekiah, especially early in his reign, we see that he was a reformer. He came in and reformed the nation, rebuilding the temple, which had fallen into disrepair. He recognized the need to refocus the people back upon the Lord, and the Lord prospered him because of that.

In verse seven of Second Kings 18, it says, "The Lord was with him and prospered him whithersoever he went." He was so prosperous that he achieved military victories against their enemies, the Philistines. In verse eight, it states that he smote the Philistines even unto Gaza. He was a reformer, and the people loved King Hezekiah. However, we are told something interesting at the end of verse seven that would end up being a problem for him: he rebelled against the King of Assyria and did not serve him.

To understand this, we need to remember back to Isaiah chapter seven when Ahaz was the king of the nation. The Northern ten tribes of Israel and the nation of Syria were gathering together to wage war against the people in Judah and Jerusalem. Ahaz was understandably frightened and was trying to prepare the city for a siege. At that time, Isaiah went out to meet with King Ahaz and told him, "Listen, the Lord is going to protect the city of Jerusalem. If you'll trust in Him, you'll be established." God even wanted to prove His promise by offering a sign, saying, "Ask Him for a sign, anything, and He'll give it to you."

However, King Ahaz refused to ask for any sign. In response, Isaiah declared, "Well, here's the sign God is going to give to you: a virgin shall conceive and bear a child," as noted in Isaiah chapter seven, verse fourteen. It was during this time, when the nation of Judah was about to be besieged by the Northern ten tribes and the Syrians, that King Ahaz contacted the King of Assyria, whose name was Tiglath-Pileser. He pleaded for help, saying, "You have to come and help me against my enemies." Consequently, King Ahaz paid the Assyrians and they were placed under a yearly tax, a tribute that they paid to the Assyrians.

During the time of Ahaz, there was a need to protect the people. Many years after the death of Ahaz and Jotham, Hezekiah became the King. When he ascended to the throne, he declared that they would no longer pay the tax imposed by the King of Assyria. He rebelled against the King of Assyria, as stated in verse seven, and he served him not. Hezekiah made it clear that they would not continue to pay that tax any longer.

It was during the early part of Hezekiah's reign, particularly the first half, that the Northern ten tribes were completely annihilated by the Assyrians. The Assyrians came through and destroyed Samaria, as noted in verses nine through twelve of Second Kings 18. However, in verse thirteen of the same passage, we learn that in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign, Sennacherib, the King of Assyria, came up against all the walled or defense cities of Judah and took them.

The King of Assyria was not pleased that Hezekiah had stopped paying the tax. It seems he appreciated the revenue coming from Judah. When Hezekiah became King and announced that they would no longer pay, Sennacherib decided to respond in the way he typically dealt with those who rebelled against him: he would come in and crush them. Thus, Sennacherib invaded Judah, a nation he had previously protected and considered an ally, and it became the focus of his judgment.

Sennacherib's own records indicate that he destroyed forty-six cities in Judah before finally laying siege to Jerusalem. Hezekiah, the King of Judah, sent a message to the King of Assyria while he was besieging Lachish, one of the cities in Judah. He said, "Oh King, I have offended you. Return to me that which you have imposed on me, and I will bear it." After Hezekiah had stopped paying the tax for a number of years—likely the entire fourteen years of his reign up to that point—he found himself in a precarious situation as the Assyrians began their siege on Judah.

King Sennacherib, we're sorry we stopped paying that tax. We're ready to pay it again. What do we have to do to stop this angry raid of yours through our country?

Well, the King of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah, King of Judah, 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. So the King of Assyria said, "Okay, here's what you have to pay me: 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold." Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the King's house. At that time, Hezekiah cut off the golden doors from the temple of the Lord and from the pillars which Hezekiah, King of Judah, had overlaid, and he gave them to the King of Assyria.

Hezekiah, wanting to stop the Assyrians from coming and destroying the whole nation of Judah, said, "Listen, we'll pay you whatever you want us to pay you." The King of Assyria wanted silver and gold, so Hezekiah instructed his men to gather all the gold and silver they could find from the temple and their treasuries to send it down to Lachish, to the King of Assyria.

However, after receiving this payment and realizing that Jerusalem had a pretty good treasury of gold and silver, the King of Assyria decided that if they were going to pay him, he might as well just come there and take everything they had. So the King of Assyria sent Tartan, Rabsaras, and Rabshaka from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. They went up and came to Jerusalem, and when they arrived, they stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field.

The stage is set. King Hezekiah is ruling over the nation of Judah from his palace in Jerusalem. The King of Assyria, angry with King Hezekiah, moves his armies down into Judah. He had once protected Judah, but now he was coming to judge and destroy them. Hezekiah, trying to stop the attack, thought he could pay him off, doing the same thing that his grandfather Ahaz had done. He hoped that sending silver and gold would stop the Assyrian threat, but that would not be the case.

Now, King Sennacherib of Assyria sends his lead commander, the one mentioned here called Rabshaka. We don't know if that's a name or a title; it seems very likely to be a title.

Something of a field commander, the King of Assyria sends his field commander with a great army up to Jerusalem. This takes us right into Isaiah chapter 36. Turn in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 36. The year when this happens is 701 to 700 BC; we know exactly in history when this took place. The King of Assyria is laying siege to the cities of Judah and sends a contingent of his army, which was a very strong contingent, 185,000 soldiers strong or more, up to Jerusalem.

Isaiah 36, verse one states, "Now it came to pass in the 14th year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib, the King of Assyria, came up against all the defense cities of Judah and took them." The King of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto Hezekiah with a great army. He stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway of the Fuller's Field. This is the exact same thing that we just read in 2 Kings chapter 18.

Isaiah 36 through 39 serves as a historical interlude in the book of Isaiah. It mirrors perfectly the accounts in Kings and Chronicles, but it doesn't have the same flavor and tone as the rest of the book of Isaiah. It acts like a parenthesis in the middle of the book, showing us the condition of what was happening in the nation at the time that Isaiah was writing these things down and speaking to the people.

God had promised or prophesied through the prophet Isaiah that the Assyrians would come up to Jerusalem, as stated in Isaiah chapter 10. God was going to use the Assyrians as His tool or His rod of judgment in His hand to correct the people of Judah. They had turned from the Lord; they had turned their backs to Him. They no longer worshiped Him wholeheartedly. They worshiped Him with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him.

God says, "I'm going to judge you. Now, if you'll turn to Me, if you'll confess and repent, then I will relent. But if you do not repent, then I'm going to judge you." He tells them exactly how He is going to judge them in Isaiah chapter 10: "I'm going to use the armies of Assyria." Now, here, the armies of Assyria are in the land of Judah, destroying city after city after city. The King of Assyria, Sennacherib, was one of the greatest conquerors of the Assyrians, and now he is surrounding the city.

In verse two, we are told about Lachish, which was only 30 miles southwest of Jerusalem. It is very close to the capital of Judah. Now, imagine for a moment the tone, attitude, and mindset of King Hezekiah when all this was taking place. He was the head honcho, the one who had to figure out what to do. One after another, the cities of his nation were falling to the enemy. People fleeing from those cities were coming to Jerusalem, bringing news that this city had fallen and that city had fallen. Now Lachish was being besieged by the king of Assyria, and it was only a matter of time before it fell.

Hezekiah was fearful, and the people in the city of Jerusalem were afraid. Hezekiah looked outside his city walls and saw an army of 185,000 strong from the Assyrians camped out on his front lawn, basically. It says in verse two that Rabshakeh brought this great army and stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the fuller's field. This is very interesting because it is the exact same reference we saw back in Isaiah chapter seven.

Turn in your Bibles to Isaiah seven for a moment. Isaiah seven is the passage where Ahaz was confronted by the Syrians, not the Assyrians, but the Syrians and the northern ten tribes. Isaiah seven says in verse one, "And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham and the son of Uzziah, the king of Judah, that Rezan, king of Syria, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but they could not prevail against it."

It was told to the house of David, saying, "Syria is confederate with Ephraim." The heart of Ahaz and the hearts of his people were moved like the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. Then the Lord said unto Isaiah, "Go now and meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub, your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool and the highway to the fuller's field." The exact same location is referenced there in Isaiah chapter seven.

The interesting thing in Isaiah chapter seven is that the king of Judah, King Ahaz, was standing at that position, surveying the city and preparing for a siege. This was a strategic water supply for the city of Jerusalem, just outside the city walls.

The city wall is right next to the pool mentioned in Isaiah chapter seven. In this chapter, the king of Judah is standing there, trying to figure out how they will be ready for a siege that is about to come against them. Ultimately, that siege would never happen because God would protect the city. Ahaz would utilize the Assyrian army to distract the Northern ten tribes, but they were trying to secure their water supply.

When we get to Isaiah chapter 36, we see that it is not the king of Judah who is standing at their key water supply; now it is the army of the enemy that is positioned right outside the city walls. This is a very strategic location for Rabshakeh, the field commander of the army of Assyria, to stand.

In verse three of Isaiah 36, we read that Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, who was over the house, along with Shibna the scribe and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder, came forth to Rabshakeh. As the army of Assyria is outside the wall of Jerusalem, King Hezekiah sends his ambassadors, his war department, if you will, out to meet with the commander of the Assyrian army. This was a typical way battles were fought in ancient times when a city was besieged. An army would surround the city or stand at a strategic point, and then the city would send ambassadors out to negotiate a peace, trying to avoid a large battle and unnecessary loss of life.

Typically, this negotiation would mean that the city would either become the servants of that king or pay a mighty tribute, which essentially meant they were under his authority. Now, the commander of the army of Assyria is standing outside the gate of Jerusalem, and the three ambassadors of Hezekiah go out to meet with him.

Rabshakeh then said in verse four to them, "Say ye now unto Hezekiah, thus saith the great king,"—underline that in your Bibles—"the king of Assyria. What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?" The field commander of Assyria is essentially belittling the people of Judah. His question to the king of Assyria was, "What confidence is this wherein you trust?"

Trust? What trust do you think you have? The Rabshakeh continues in verse five, saying, "But they are mere vain words. I have counsel and strength for war. Now on whom dost thou trust that thou rebellest against me?" The king of Assyria's message begins in this way: he says, "You think you have a plan for war? Your plan is vanity. Your plan is empty. There's no way that your plan is going to work against me. King Hezekiah, you're in big trouble. You've rebelled against the king of Assyria, and he's not too happy with you. This is just a small contingent of his army, 185,000 standing outside your door. I've already taken over 40 cities in your land. You better figure out a better plan than trying to stand in opposition to me."

The king of Assyria declares that your plans are nothing. In verse six, he says, "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." Not only does the commander of the army of Assyria belittle the plans of King Hezekiah, but he also turns his attention to the allies of King Hezekiah. He says, "You're going to trust in Egypt to help you? Trusting in Egypt will be your undoing. You have no plans. You have no allies. There's no possible way you're going to stand."

In verse seven, he continues, "But if you say to me, we trust in the Lord our God, well, is it not he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, you shall worship before this altar?" He says to him, "Listen, if you tell me that you have a plan, your plan is mere vanity. If you tell me you have allies, your allies will not be able to help you. Maybe you'll tell me, 'Well, we trust in our God.' Do you think your God is going to help you? Your God's not going to help you. Your God's angry with you."

Notice the logic of the Assyrian commander. He says, "Your king, King Hezekiah, has torn down all the high places and all the altars of worship to your God. He has told you that you can only worship in one place, in Jerusalem. Surely your God's not happy with you. Of course, it would be far better for a God to be worshiped at a thousand altars than just one altar, wouldn't it?

You might think that this seems logical to the King of Assyria and his commander, but that's not what God desired. The King of Assyria misunderstood the reform that King Hezekiah had brought to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. King Hezekiah was right to do away with the altars and the high places that were in the land of Judah. He instructed the children of Israel to worship only in Jerusalem at the temple. However, the King of Assyria looked at that and concluded that clearly, their God must be angry with them because they had torn down all His places of worship.

The commander of the Assyrian army then said, "You have no plan, you have no ally, and your God is not happy with you." He continued in verse eight, "Now, therefore, give pledges or pay a tribute, I pray thee, to my master, the King of Assyria, and I will give you 2,000 horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. How then will you turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants? You put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horses."

Not only does the field commander belittle their plans and speak ill of their allies, but he also tells them that their God is against them and angry with them. He claims that their army is worthless. Even if they paid him and he provided 2,000 horses, they wouldn't even be able to find a single rider who could ride one of those horses. Even if they were able to put riders on all 2,000 of those horses, one of his captains would destroy them.

Imagine if you were one of the three—Eliakim, Shibna, or Joah—standing there on that day as this field commander said, "You have no plan, you have no ally, your God is angry with you, and your army is worthless." He continued in verse ten, "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.'"

Not only does he belittle their plan, their allies, their God, and their army, but now he claims that their God is not only angry with them but has turned against them. He asserts that their God has sent him there to destroy them. Eliakim, Shibna, and Joah, in verse eleven, spoke unto the Rabshaka. I imagine that if we were there, we would have seen something like...

They kind of leaned in and said, "Listen, Rabshaka, speak, I pray you, unto your servants in the Syrian language. We understand Aramaic. Please don't speak in the Jews' language. Don't speak in Hebrew. We don't want all of these people that are sitting on the wall to hear what you have to say. They don't understand Aramaic. We understand Aramaic, so just talk to us in Aramaic."

Prior to this, the Rabshaka, the field commander, was speaking to them in the Hebrew language, and all the army of Jerusalem was seated on the walls right behind them. He was probably talking in a very loud tone. These three ambassadors of Hezekiah leaned in and said, "Do you think maybe you could not talk in Hebrew? Cause they can hear you, and this is really demoralizing to them. Speak to us in Aramaic. We understand."

Many Bible scholars believe that the Rabshaka, this field commander, was actually a turncoat from the land of Israel. They think that he was an apostate Jew from the Northern ten tribes who, when the Northern ten tribes were sacked and destroyed by the Assyrians, stood up and said, "Listen, I'll help you. Don't make me a slave. I'll help you as a commander. I'll show you how to get into that land down there in Judah." If that's the case, imagine that one of the very brothers of the children of Israel is standing before them, speaking in their own language and saying, "The great King of Assyria has come, and he's going to destroy you."

What do you think Rabshaka's response was when Eliakim, Shibna, and Joah leaned in and said, "Can you speak to us a little quieter? We don't want them to hear this." Do you think he obeyed?

Verse 12 states, "But Rabshaka said, 'Has my servant sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? Has he not sent me so that I might speak to the men that sit upon the wall, that they who will eat their own dung and drink their own waste with you would hear?'"

Then the Rabshaka stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, in Hebrew. He said, "Hear ye the words of the great King, the King of Assyria. I'm not here to talk with Hezekiah, Eliakim. I'm not here to speak with you, Shibna. I'm here to speak with the whole people that are seated upon the wall, Joah."

In the Hebrew language, he spoke up all the more. He stood and cried out, saying, "Thus saith the King: Let not Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you. 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.'"

"Listen not unto Hezekiah, for thus saith the King of Assyria: Make an agreement with me by a present, by a tax today, and come out to me. Every one of you can eat from his own vine, drink from his own waters, and enjoy his own cistern tonight." He addressed all the people seated on the wall, saying, "Listen up, guys. If you come out here today, sign a peace treaty with me, and give up, you can all go home tonight. You can return to your farms and vineyards, eat the fruit of your land, and drink from your own cisterns. This is an easy way out. All you have to do is come out here and sign peace with me tonight."

In verse 17, circle the first word "until." There's always a catch, isn't there? "Come out, sign this here 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." But beware lest Hezekiah persuade you. The field commander of Assyria says, "Listen, come out right now, sign this treaty, pay me the tax, and you can all go home to your own lands. You can eat the fruit of your own vines tonight and enjoy your families. Everything will be fine."

Now, there is a catch. We have a little thing in Assyria called ARP, the Assyrian relocation program. We'll be back after we deal with the Ethiopians and the Egyptians. We have some other cleanup to do, but you can go home tonight. However, we do have this Assyrian relocation program, and when we come back through, we're going to take you to another land and relocate you. It will be a nice land, like your own land, where you can have vineyards, and it will be fine. It's easy. But don't dare let Hezekiah encourage you. Beware lest he persuade you, saying, "The Lord will deliver us." Isn't our enemy, the adversary, the devil, using exactly the same tactic?

There are those times when we feel cornered, walled in. The enemy comes in like a flood, standing against us, and he seems to offer us such a tempting way out. All you have to do is take a drink of this; everything will be okay. It's just a moment. It will be away in just a second. You can look at this; it's okay. But ultimately, if you sign that, if you go that road, you always end in bondage, don't you?

Yes, he will take you to a land like your own land, but it won't be the promised land. Beware lest your king persuade you, saying, "The Lord will deliver us." I'm sure you're learning, as I have been for many years, that our God does deliver us, doesn't He?

Notice what He says to them here in verse 18: "Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvim? And have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 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?"

Now, if you were seated on the wall in Jerusalem at that moment, hearing Rabshakeh say these words, this would have been the time to start preparing and planning your victory party. Why? What is it in those three verses that Rabshakeh just did against the Lord? He blasphemed the Lord.

How so? Notice what he said: "Don't let your king persuade you, saying the Lord will deliver us. Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their lands?" You see, he claimed that your God is no different than the gods of all the other cities we've gone to. Your God is not able to stand against the great king of Assyria. He spoke blasphemy against God.

So, seated on the wall that day, they should have begun to think, "Man, we're going to need a lot of animals for this."

They held their peace. In verse 21, it states that they answered him not a word, for the king's commandment was to answer him nothing. As they sat upon the wall, hearing the demoralizing words of Rabshakeh, they were presented with an alternative: just come out here, sign this peace treaty, pay us the tribute, and then you can go back to your lands. Despite this, they did not answer him a word when he blasphemed the Lord God. Why? The king's commandment was to keep your mouth shut.

I think that this is instructive for you and me. There are many times when we are tempted in our flesh to try and reason with the enemy, or even with our own flesh, attempting to justify the temptations that come to us. The king's commandment was to keep your mouth shut. It reminds me of what we see in Matthew chapter 26, verse 63, when our King, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, stood before His accusers. He stood before the enemy and opened not His mouth.

This concept is echoed in the book of Jude. In Jude 1, verse 9, we read a very interesting story. It says that Michael the archangel, when he contended with the devil and disputed about the body of Moses, did not bring against him a reviling accusation. He only said, "The Lord rebuke you." Apparently, when Moses died on Mount Nebo, the enemy, the devil, tried to get the body of Moses. We can conjecture why he might have wanted it, but Michael the archangel was dispatched by God to retrieve the body. When he arrived, he found that the enemy was there too and wanted the body of Moses.

Michael contended with him, but he did not bring any reviling accusation against him. He didn't say anything except, "The Lord rebuke you." Again, I think this is instructive. The king's commandment was to not say a word, to open not your mouth. Although this wicked king blasphemed God and belittled the people, God said, "Open not your mouth."

Then came Eliakim, verse 22, the son of Hilkiah.

That was over the house, and Shibna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn. They told him the words of Rabshakeh. After Rabshakeh had given them a verbal beating, they returned to the city of Jerusalem and tore their clothes before the people, which is a sign of disgust and disgrace. It was the very same thing that the Pharisees did when they accused Jesus of blasphemy. It is also a sign of grief, great sorrow, and mourning.

They came in before King Hezekiah, their clothes torn, and told him what Rabshakeh had said. It came to pass, in verse 1 of chapter 37, that when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth, again a sign of mourning, sorrow, and even repentance. He went into the house of the Lord, which was the proper response. He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shibna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, all covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.

They said to Isaiah, "Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, rebuke, and blasphemy. For the children have come to birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth." This was a proverb of the day that expressed great distress. The idea behind it is that a pregnant mother goes into labor, has a very hard labor, and just when it seems she is ready to give birth, she has no more strength to bring the child forth. Both the mother and the child are at risk of dying, which is a terrible situation.

They came before Isaiah and said, "This is a dark day. This is a bad day. We don't know what to do." Now it may be, in verse 4, that the Lord your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his master, sent to reproach the living God. He will reprove the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left. They came before King Hezekiah, Eliakim, Shibna, and a group of the priests, all covered in sackcloth, and said, "Listen, this is what the Assyrian king has said."

Through his commander today, perhaps God heard the words of Rabshakeh. Perhaps God heard the blasphemy that he has spoken and how he has spoken ill against the one true God. Isaiah, lift up a prayer to God. Perhaps the Lord will answer on behalf of the remnant of His people.

The servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, and Isaiah said unto them, "Thus shall you 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." How awesome is that? The word of the Lord says, "I have heard that they have blasphemed Me."

Notice that God does not say, "Oh, take heart. They've come up here against Jerusalem, and how dare they tread this great land and come up to this wonderful city. Oh no, we're not going to have this. How dare they speak against your king Hezekiah? He's a good guy. I like him. I can't believe that they'd say such things against all of you people gathered in this city. You are My chosen people." God didn't say that. God said, "I have heard the words that they have spoken in blasphemy against Me."

Therefore, in verse 7, He says, "Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumor, and return to his own land, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land."

So the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libna, for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish. Verse 8 tells us that the Rabshakeh leaves Jerusalem and goes 30 miles south, back down to where Lachish was. Now it had already been destroyed. During the time that the commander of the army of Assyria was up in Jerusalem, probably just a very short period of time, the city of Lachish had fallen. Now Sennacherib had moved on to another city and was warring against Libna.

The Rabshakeh came and heard concerning Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, who had come forth to make war with him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah.

So here's the picture: the Rabshakeh, the commander of the army of Assyria, leaves Jerusalem, goes back, and meets up with Sennacherib and the rest of the Assyrian army. He tells Sennacherib, "Well, this is what's going on up there in Jerusalem. They're sealed up there; they're ready for the siege." While Sennacherib is receiving word about what's happening in Jerusalem, the situation is unfolding.

He receives another message that the Ethiopian king, Tirika, is coming up from Ethiopia, from Africa, and from Egypt to fight against the Assyrians. He realizes he must take care of this little rabble-rouser down there in Egypt, but he also needs to send a message to Hezekiah. The king of Assyria sent this message to Jerusalem in verse 10: "Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah, king of Judah, saying, 'Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive you, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly. And shalt thou be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them from my fathers, which my fathers destroyed, as Gozen, Haran, Rezif, and the children of Eden, which were in Telesar? Where is the king of Hamoth? Where is the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvim, and Hinnah, and Iva?'"

Hezekiah, listen up, buddy. None of the other cities have stood before me or my fathers. We have destroyed them all. Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. He then went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. I love that. Hezekiah receives this letter, which no doubt caused his blood pressure to rise and his heart to quake. I have no doubt that a cold sweat came over him when he read through the letter from Sennacherib, the king of Assyria. In his fear, he took the letter up to the house of the Lord and laid it out before Him.

Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying, "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, and thou hast made heaven and earth." I love the way that Hezekiah opens this prayer. Now, don't misunderstand. Hezekiah was not reminding God who He was, but he was most assuredly reminding himself who it is that he is addressing when he comes before Him and says, "You are the Lord of hosts."

That means you're the Lord of Armies. You're the master; you're the ruler of the armies. And not the armies of earth, but the armies of heaven. But not only that, you're the God of Israel. You are our God. You're the one that dwells between the cherubim. You're the one that dwells between these mighty creatures in heaven. You are the God. You're not a god.

The king of Assyria says, "Well, the gods of all these other nations haven't done anything," but you are not one of those gods. You are the God, even you alone. And all of the kingdoms of the earth, thou hast made heaven and the earth. God, incline your ear, O Lord, and hear. Open your eyes, O Lord, and see. And hear all the words of Sennacherib. Notice he doesn't say, "Lord, hear my words. Hear what I have to say." He says, "Lord, open your ears and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God." He is speaking against you, God.

Of the truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their countries. He says, "Lord, I know that this is true. He did destroy Sepharvim. He did destroy Hinnah and Eva, and even Samaria. He destroyed all of those cities and cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore, they have destroyed them." Those gods were nothing; that's why they were destroyed.

Now, therefore, O Lord God, save us from his hand. Why? That all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the Lord, even you only. You see, Hezekiah's desire in his prayer was the correct desire. His desire was not merely for the preservation of his life or his nation. His nation had almost been completely consumed at this point; there are only a few cities that remain. He doesn't come in and say, "Lord, save us because we're such a good people, and save us because look at the reform that we've done, and save us because, well, we got the temple here." He says, "Lord, save us so that you would be glorified."

Well, 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, the king of Assyria, this is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning him." Notice what God said. Because you have prayed, Hezekiah.

If anything, that should exalt in our understanding the importance of prayer. Because you prayed, Hezekiah, this is the word that I have spoken: The virgin daughters of Zion have despised you and laughed you to scorn. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you, whom you have reproached and blasphemed, against whom you have exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high, even against the Holy One of Israel.

God says to the king of Assyria here, "The virgin daughters of Jerusalem shake their heads at you." Why? God says, "Assyria, you're never going to get into this city, Jerusalem, and take the women of this city, the virgin daughters of this city, captive and ravish them as you would in every city that you go to." The virgin daughters of Jerusalem will despise you and laugh you to scorn. They will shake their heads at you as you walk away because you will not get the prize that you think you are going to come and get in this city. Why? Because you have spoken against the Holy One of Israel.

By your servants, you have reproached the Lord and have said, "By the multitude of my chariots, I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon. I will cut down the cedars thereof and the choice fir trees thereof. I will enter into the height of his border in the forest of his Carmel. I have dug and drank the water, and with the sole of my feet, I have dried up all the rivers of the besieged places."

He says, "Listen, you speak in your arrogance of all these great things you have done, Sennacherib, and how great your mighty army is. But have you not heard, long ago, how I have done it? And of ancient times, that I have formed it? Now I have brought it to pass that you should lay waste defense cities and ruin heaps."

He says, "Sennacherib, I spoke about this years ago, that I was going to use your nation to do this very thing. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't even be here. You speak in your arrogance about how great you are, but you are nothing. 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 is grown up."

He says, "Listen, the only reason that those cities fell before you like they were nothing and they burned up like cut grass is because I did it. Not you, Sennacherib. But I know your abode, and you're going out and you're coming in, and you rage against me."

I love verse 28, and in another translation, God basically says to King Sennacherib, "I know where you sleep." I like that because when I was a teenager, every guy in here understands this: as a teenager, you start to poke and prod at your dad to see what he'll do. When I was about 12, I was already taller than my dad. My dad's 5'7", and I'm almost 6'2" now. By the time I was 12, I was taller than him. You start to poke at him and see what he'll do. My dad is a very even-keeled individual, very slow to anger. But he would tell me, and I heard this all through the time that I was growing up, "I know where you sleep." That was always his threat—very simple: "I know where you sleep." Five little words.

This is exactly what God says to Sennacherib. Why is this important? Well, oftentimes in ancient times, even in our day, they would protect kings and dignitaries with lookalikes, and they would take different routes and hide the king. Oftentimes, you wouldn't know exactly where he was staying or where he would be at. Yet God says, "I know where you sleep. I know your rage against me."

Because your rage against me and your tumult has come up into my ears, therefore, I will put my hook in your nose and my bridle on your lips, and I will turn you back the way in which you came. The Assyrians, when they would take prisoners of war, would do exactly this. They would put big hooks in their jaws, or sometimes in their noses or cheeks, and they would connect those to the backs of the individuals in front of them, leading them in a chain all the way back to their land as prisoners of war.

So God says, "Listen, I know you're angry at me, so I'm going to put my hook in your nose and my bridle on your lips, and I'm going to send you back the way you came." I love the way the Lord works. And this shall be a sign to you.

Now God refocuses His attention away from the king of Assyria and turns to the king of Jerusalem, Hezekiah. He says, "You shall eat this year what grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs out of the same. In the third year, sow and reap, plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof."

God tells Hezekiah, "Listen, I know that this year, during this harvest time, you've not been able to go out and tend your land. You've not been able to grow your crops because you have been under siege by the Assyrians. Therefore, I am going to provide for you miraculously over the next two years. You won't even have to plant your crops; they will grow of themselves. I will provide for you miraculously."

He continues, "The remnant that has escaped from the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward, for out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they shall escape out of Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this."

Remember God's promise throughout the book of Isaiah: a remnant shall return. God had punished them because of their wickedness in Judah and Jerusalem. He had purified them through His punishment, but now He says, "I will not allow you to be completely consumed."

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. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come into this city," saith the Lord. God reassures Hezekiah, "He is not coming here. Do not be afraid."

It is interesting to note that Sennacherib was very arrogant in his histories and annals. Typically, the victor writes history, and there have been found in and around the ruins of Nineveh pillars and prisms that document his conquests. One is called the Taylor Prism, and another is known as the Annals of Sennacherib. You can actually see them today; one is in the British History Museum in London, and another is in the Great History Museum in Chicago.

In the Annals of Sennacherib, written in cuneiform, he boasts about his various conquests. He talks about how he destroyed this city and took this many captives in that city. He mentions Lachish and Libna, but about Jerusalem, he simply states, "And there at Jerusalem, we sealed up King Hezekiah like a bird in a cage." He says nothing more.

About destroying the city of Jerusalem, why? Because He never destroyed the city of Jerusalem. Why? Because God defended His city. How did the Lord defend His city? Well, the Lord says, "I'm going to defend this city," verse 35, "to save it, note this, for My own sake." Hezekiah, I'm not defending this city because you are so special. I'm defending this city for My own sake, for My namesake, for My glory. Not only that, but also for My servant David's sake.

Why is that important? Well, God had made a promise to King David centuries before this that through David would come the Messiah, Jesus. So, God says, "I make good on My covenant." Because of David, because of this city, and because of My name, I will defend the city.

Well, what happened? Verse 36 states, "Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and he smote the camp of the Assyrians, and 185,000 of them were killed." When they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. I love that. The children of Israel went to bed one night, scared to death, fearful that their city was going to be overrun by the 185,000-strong army outside their gates. When they woke up, all they found were corpses lying there. Because in the middle of the night, the angel of the Lord killed 185,000.

What was Sennacherib's response to this? Verse 37 says, "So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, departed, and he went and returned and dwelt at Nineveh." Now, Sennacherib had been one of the greatest of the conquering kings of Assyria. He was on a full-fledged rampage; there was nothing that was going to stop him. Yet, all of a sudden, after he had gone to Jerusalem, he turned around, went back to Nineveh, and stopped his conquests. For the next 20 years before his death, he didn't go anywhere to bring any more conquests. I think he went back to Nineveh with his tail between his legs.

Then we read in verse 38, "And it came to pass, while he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch, his god," if you're going to have a false god, you might as well have a cool name like Nisroch. While he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch, his god, Adramalek and Sherazer, his sons, smote him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Armenia. Esharhaddon, his son, reigned in his stead.

Verse 38 presents a 20-year time gap because we know that the assault of Sennacherib on Judah happened around 701 to 700 BC, and he didn't die until 681 BC. So, 20 years pass. He is living in Nineveh, and while he is worshipping in the house of Nisroch, his god, two of his sons come in, kill him, and flee to another land. His third son, Esharhaddon, reigns in his stead.

It is interesting because God had prophesied that Sennacherib would fall in his own land. Earlier, back in Isaiah chapter 10, it was prophesied that he would fall by his own sword. His two sons come and kill him.

There is a very interesting rabbinical legend among the Jews about what took place. The legend says that Sennacherib returned to Nineveh, deeply upset about what had happened in Jerusalem. He couldn't understand it; it just didn't make sense to him. He had destroyed all of these cities, and their gods were nothing, yet the God in Jerusalem killed 185,000 of his army.

The legend has it that he asked his advisors why the God of Jerusalem protected His people. His advisors responded, explaining that the father of the children of Israel, this Abraham, was willing to sacrifice his own son to this God, and that is why this God is so good to those people. Remember Genesis chapter 22, where Abraham takes his son Isaac, although he ultimately did not sacrifice him.

Legend has it that Sennacherib then said, "If that's the case, then I will sacrifice two of my sons to my god." His advisors did not like that idea, so they went in, killed him, and fled to another land.

Whether or not that legend is true, it is interesting. Thus, we see the power of God displayed against those who blaspheme. This is a powerful passage of Scripture and a reminder to you and me that our enemy, the adversary, the devil, will come against us. The enemy will come in like a flood, and when he does, we need to call out to our God because it is the Spirit of the Lord that sets up the standard.

Against him, the enemy will come and belittle you. He will tempt you to take the easy way out. Stand and trust in the name of the Lord, your God. Some trust in chariots, some trust in horses, and Hezekiah was even tempted to trust in the horses and the chariots of Egypt. But God spoke to him back there in Isaiah chapter 31, I believe it was, and said, "Listen, don't trust in the Egyptians; they will not help you." Even the wicked king said, "Don't trust in Egypt; they won't help you."

So, Hezekiah laid the letter out before the Lord and said, "God, you deal with this." And the Lord did. I am finding, and perhaps you are as well, that when we faithfully bring our concerns before the Lord, God is able to deal with every battle we face. It doesn't mean that there won't be difficulty or hard times, because remember, 46 cities there in Judah fell. But we do know our God reigns. Amen?

Let's stand and pray. Amen. Father, we thank you for the testimony of your Word. I pray that the applications we see in this passage spring out at us, and that we would take heart in them. Thank you, Lord, that for your namesake, you stand on our behalf because we are your people.

We pray that when we are confronted with the enemy, we would flee to you and not turn to the things of this world for strength, because they are nothing. But we thank you that you are stronger. We praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. I'll see you next time.