Sennacherib’s Threat And Hezekiah’s Prayer
November 26, 2020
Commentary
When Hezekiah heard the report from his messengers he tore his clothing, put on sackcloth and went to the temple to pray. He also sent two of his priestly leaders to Isaiah for advice (vv. 1-2). The people were completely demoralized. It seemed as if the whole nation would die. Hezekiah’s only hope was God would act on behalf of his people. Isaiah’s response was a message of hope. He said that Sennacherib would return to his land and die there (v. 7). Evidently Rabshakeh had pitched his tents near Jerusalem and was waiting on Hezekiah to send him a message of surrender. He received word that his king was in battle at Libnah, about six miles north of Lachish so he left Jerusalem to join the battle. The king of Egypt, an ally of Hezekiah was marching up to fight Sennacherib.
Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord (v. 14). However Rabshakeh warned Hezekiah not to get his hopes up thinking that Egypt would help him. He told him that it would be foolish for Hezekiah to trust in his Israelite God to save them. His prayer included four points:
1. He recognized God’s sovereignty (v. 15).
2. He pointed out how Sennacherib had defied the living and sovereign God (v. 16).
3. Sennacherib’s claims (18:33-35) only proved that pagan gods were not gods at all.
4. He requested that God show the world that Jehovah was the only God (v. 19).
Application
After rejecting God’s plan for them, the people of Judah blame God for their trials. Instead of blaming Him I need to look for ways to grow spiritually through my failures.
Isaiah 8:1– 22 (NET)
1 The Lord told me, “Take a large tablet and inscribe these words on it with an ordinary stylus: ‘Maher Shalal Hash Baz.’ 2 Then I will summon as my reliable witnesses Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.” 3 I then approached the prophetess for marital relations; she conceived and gave birth to a son. The Lord told me, “Name him Maher Shalal Hash Baz, 4 for before the child knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”
5 The Lord spoke to me again: 6 “These people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and melt in fear over Rezin and the son of Remaliah. 7 So look, the Lord is bringing up against them the turbulent and mighty waters of the Euphrates River —the king of Assyria and all his majestic power. It will reach flood stage and overflow its banks. 8 It will spill into Judah, flooding and engulfing, as it reaches to the necks of its victims. He will spread his wings out over your entire land, O Immanuel.”
9 You will be broken, O nations; you will be shattered! Pay attention, all you distant lands of the earth. Get ready for battle, and you will be shattered! Get ready for battle, and you will be shattered!
10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted. Issue your orders, but they will not be executed! For God is with us!
11 Indeed this is what the Lord told me quite forcefully. He warned me not to act like these people:
12 “Do not say, ‘Conspiracy,’ every time these people say the word. Don’t be afraid of what scares them; don’t be terrified.
13 You must recognize the authority of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. He is the one you must respect; he is the one you must fear.
14 He will become a sanctuary, but a stone that makes a person trip, and a rock that makes one stumble— to the two houses of Israel. He will become a trap and a snare to the residents of Jerusalem.
15 Many will stumble over the stone and the rock, and will fall and be seriously injured, and will be ensnared and captured.”
16 Tie up the scroll as legal evidence, seal the official record of God’s instructions and give it to my followers.
17 I will wait patiently for the Lord, who has rejected the family of Jacob; I will wait for him.
18 Look, I and the sons whom the Lord has given me are reminders and object lessons in Israel, sent from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, who lives on Mount Zion.
19 They will say to you, “Seek oracles at the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, from the magicians who chirp and mutter incantations. Should people not seek oracles from their gods, by asking the dead about the destiny of the living?” 20 Then you must recall the Lord’s instructions and the prophetic testimony of what would happen. Certainly they say such things because their minds are spiritually darkened. 21 They will pass through the land destitute and starving. Their hunger will make them angry, and they will curse their king and their God as they look upward. 22 When one looks out over the land, he sees distress and darkness, gloom and anxiety, darkness and people forced from the land.