Prediction of Isaiah
April 6, 2022
Commentary
Responding to Hezekiah’s prayer, the Lord sent a message to the King through Isaiah. This message is given in three parts as we see recorded in the last half of this chapter.
1. The Assyrians would be driven back (vv 21-29). The tables would be turned, and Zion would mock Assyria (v. 22). The Assyrians had exalted themselves above men and gods, but they could not exalt themselves above Jehovah God, the bold one of Israel. Sennacherib boasted about his military strength and his great conquests. However, he forgot that he was only God’s tool for accomplishing His purposes in the earth. The successes had only come because the Lord allowed them to happen.
2. God assured Hezekiah that a remnant would remain (vv 30-32). He told them that they would not starve ( v. 30) even though they would need to renovate the land after all the damage the Assyrians had done. However, before the people could get the land back into productivity, they would have to eat the things which grew of itself from previous crops; and that would take faith. “But in the third year” (v. 30), which is the normal time it takes for a vineyard to begin producing grapes, there would be a bountiful harvest.
3. God assured Hezekiah that Sennacherib would not set foot inside Jerusalem (vv 33-38). In the last three verses, the overnight slaughter of the Assyrian army is recorded. It took only one of God’s angels to destroy 185,000 Assyrian soldiers overnight. Of course, Isaiah had prophesied this destruction.
Application
What Jerusalem could not possibly do for itself, God did for them. God is prepared to do the impossible for me but I must trust Him enough to ask.
Isaiah 37:21– 38 (NET)
21 Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord God of Israel has said: ‘As to what you have prayed to me concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria, 22 this is what the Lord says about him: “‘The virgin daughter Zion despises you—she makes fun of you; daughter Jerusalem shakes her head after you.
23 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at? At whom have you shouted and looked so arrogantly? At the Holy One of Israel!
24 Through your messengers you taunted the Lord, “With my many chariots I climbed up the high mountains, the slopes of Lebanon. I cut down its tall cedars and its best evergreens. I invaded its remotest regions, its thickest woods.
25 I dug wells and drank water. With the soles of my feet I dried up all the rivers of Egypt.”’
26 Certainly you must have heard! Long ago I worked it out, in ancient times I planned it, and now I am bringing it to pass. The plan is this: Fortified cities will crash into heaps of ruins.
27 Their residents are powerless; they are terrified and ashamed. They are as short-lived as plants in the field or green vegetation. They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops when it is scorched by the east wind.
28 I know where you live and everything you do and how you rage against me.
29 Because you rage against me and the uproar you create has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose, and my bit between your lips, and I will lead you back the way you came.’
30 “This will be your reminder that I have spoken the truth: This year you will eat what grows wild, and next year what grows on its own. But the year after that you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. 31 Those who remain in Judah will take root in the ground and bear fruit.
32 “For a remnant will leave Jerusalem; survivors will come out of Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will accomplish this.
33 So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: “‘He will not enter this city, nor will he shoot an arrow here. He will not attack it with his shielded warriors, nor will he build siege works against it.
34 He will go back the way he came— he will not enter this city,’ says the Lord.
35 I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.”
36 The angel of the Lord went out and killed 185,000 troops in the Assyrian camp. When they got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses! 37 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and went on his way. He went home and stayed in Nineveh. 38 One day, as he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. They ran away to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.
Illustration: The Average American Work Week
Back in 1967, experts predicted that by the turn of the century technology would have taken over so much of the work we do that the average American work week would be only 22 hours long, & that we would work only 27 weeks a year. As a result, one of our biggest problems would be in deciding what to do with all our leisure time. Well, I don’t know about you, but that prediction certainly missed the mark as far as my life was concerned! (Melvin Newland, Ridge Chapel – Sermon Central)