May 18, 2025 • 42 mins
Have you ever felt completely surrounded by impossible circumstances with nowhere to turn? King Hezekiah faced exactly this when the unstoppable Assyrian war machine demolished 46 of Judah's fortified cities and stood poised to crush Jerusalem as well.
This powerful journey through Isaiah 36-37 reveals a timeless pattern for transforming our deepest fears into unshakable trust. When Hezekiah's alliances failed, when his tribute payments were rejected, and when psychological warfare threatened to break Jerusalem's spirit, he discovered the only reliable path through overwhelming circumstances.
We trace the three crucial steps Hezekiah took – identifying the source of intimidation, ignoring the insulting voices that diminish God's power, and finally invoking divine intervention through humble prayer. The turning point came not through military strategy but through broken pride. Only when Hezekiah abandoned all self-reliance did he experience God's dramatic deliverance.
The archaeological evidence confirms this biblical account – Sennacherib's own annals boast of conquering Judah's cities while conspicuously omitting any capture of Jerusalem itself. This wasn't just another ancient battle; it was a demonstration of how God responds when His people finally trust His promises rather than their own resources.
What worldly voices are drowning out God's whispers in your life? Where might your own pride be blocking divine intervention? This message challenges us to examine where we're placing our ultimate trust when facing life's fiercest storms.
The parallels to our spiritual journey are striking – just as Hezekiah found deliverance through faith, we too can find freedom from our greatest enemies through Jesus Christ. When we keep our eyes fixed on God's promises, the storm clouds of life eventually part to reveal His faithfulness.
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Ted Lee (00:00):
Okay, as you know, pastor Doug and pastor Micah are
preaching through the book ofIsaiah and church friends,
we've come to chapter 36 today.
So turn there with me Isaiah,chapter 36.
Actually, our text for today is36, verse 1, through 37, verse
(00:25):
7.
Isaiah chapters 36 to 39 serveas a turning point in the
prophecy of Isaiah.
These chapters consist ofnarratives that are also
contained in 2 Kings, chapters18 to 20.
They're nearly identical.
There are some differences, butthey're nearly identical and
(00:46):
they function both as aconclusion to chapters 1 to 39
and serves as a transition towhat follows.
These chapters chapters 36, 37,38, and 39, focus on three
events involving Hezekiah andIsaiah First of all and we'll
(01:12):
deal with that today and nextweek the Assyrian invasion of
Jerusalem's miraculousdeliverance.
Second, we'll be looking atHezekiah's fatal illness and his
miraculous healing.
And third, we'll look at avisit by a delegation from
(01:33):
Babylon.
These chapters bridge thepresent threat of Assyria and
the future conquest by Babylon,and they set the stage for the
themes of exile and the comfortand hope for restoration that
dominate the latter part of thebook, chapters 40 to 66.
(01:57):
So let's go to God in prayer.
Heavenly Father, I ask that youopen our eyes so that we see
wonderful things out of yourword.
Show us your ways, o Lord, andteach us your paths, amen.
In ancient times, sailors wouldlook to the stars in the heaven
(02:20):
for navigation, but when cloudsstart to come in, in the
cloudiness of storms, theyrelied on their knowledge, their
expert knowledge.
They called it dead reckoning,but that's a fancy term for best
guessing.
Who or what can you trust toguide you through situations
(02:46):
like that?
In the same way your own lives?
Storms often cloud our vision.
This is really tested when weface life's fiercest storms.
Storms in your life have a wayof producing anxiety and fear.
Sometimes the stormy waves buryyou under and you might doubt
(03:10):
God.
You might even forget God inyour situation and end up making
decisions in your life withoutGod.
This may prove to be disastrous.
Today we'll take a look at thelife of Hezekiah.
The Bible tells us that he didwhat was right in the Lord's
sight, just as his ancestorDavid did.
(03:32):
That's 2 Chronicles 29, verse 2.
But there was a season in hislife when he faced one of his
fiercest storms and waschallenged by this question who
can I really trust?
Some of us may be going throughour own storms right now or
(03:56):
about to enter a storm that wedon't even know about.
So the practical question foryou and me is how can fear, even
the most intense form, turninto trusting God's promises?
We'll tackle this question byexamining three aspects of
Hezekiah's life as he weatheredthrough this storm.
(04:18):
The first identify intimidationand fear.
Second, ignore the insultinginfluences.
And third, invoke God'sintervention.
So our first point identify theintimidation and fear.
(04:40):
There are two sources ofintimidation and fear that
Hezekiah, king of Judah,identified.
The first is the intimidatingpower of the massive Assyrian
army and the second one is theintimidating power of the
Assyrian royal spokesman.
So let's look at intimidatingpower first of the Assyrian army
(05:03):
.
Let's look at intimidatingpower first of the Assyrian army
.
During the course of our studiesin Isaiah, we've had various
encounters with the Assyrianempire.
In Isaiah's prophecies,assyria's rise as a consolidated
(05:28):
, expanding empire was reachingits height during the reigns of
King Ahaz and now here in KingHezekiah.
Assyria built up its reputationas an intimidating force to be
reckoned with.
This was due to three successfactors First, its military
innovations.
Second, they had an empire-widecommunication system that was
second to none.
And third, there was aresettlement policy.
First, the military innovations.
(05:50):
They had the use of a cavalrythat was a shock force, that was
well-equipped, well-trained andthey effectively neutralized
enemy defenses.
They were also effective inreconnaissance, effectively
neutralized enemy defenses.
They were also effective inreconnaissance.
(06:11):
But one of the highlights oftheir military innovations was
the development of siege warfare.
They built battering rams,siege towers.
They were incredibly effectiveand they had their mark now in
military history.
The empire's communicationsystem allowed the Assyrian king
and his officials tocommunicate empire-wide.
(06:33):
This was through a relay systemand this depended on
well-constructed andwell-maintained roads throughout
the empire.
And thirdly, assyria'sresettlement policy.
We see this in how they treatedthe conquered peoples.
(06:55):
This resettlement policy hadtwo purposes.
The first one, a negative one,is to break their identity and
their spirit so that they willno longer rebel against Assyria,
and Assyria did this byrelocating the populations into
areas across the empire.
The second one was a positiveone for the empire.
(07:17):
The second purpose was thatthey used these peoples and
relocated them so they couldbring new agricultural
techniques to develop new landsfor the empire.
Well, using these advancements,assyria conquered Samaria in
720 BC, taking the northerntribes of Israel into exile and
(07:37):
settling them across Mesopotamia.
Almost 20 years later, theAssyrian king Sennacherib, in
our text today, continued toexpand the empire and launched a
military campaign into Judah in701 BC.
These mighty Assyrians thoughtthey were invincible.
(07:58):
So this brings us to verse 1,chapter 36.
Turn with me there.
In the 14th year of KingHezekiah, king Sennacherib of
Assyria attacked all thefortified cities of Judah and
captured them.
Then the king of Assyria senthis royal spokesman, along with
(08:22):
a massive army, from Lachish toKing Hezekiah at Jerusalem.
The Assyrian stood near theconduit of the upper pool by the
road to Launderer's Field.
Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, whowas in charge of the palace,
shebna, the court secretary, andJoah, son of Asaph.
The court historian came out tohim.
(08:46):
Housed in the British Museum inLondon is Sennacherib's annals.
This was a collection of hismilitary campaigns written on a
stone prism.
These also include the accountof his invasion of the kingdom
of Judah.
These annals state thatSennacherib laid siege to 46 of
Hezekiah's fortified cities fromnorth to south of Judah and
(09:12):
conquered them using siege,siege rams and battering rams
and his foot soldiers.
And in the wake of thisdestruction, sennacherib
destroyed Tyre and Philistia.
Sennacherib also defeated Egypt,and you remember who Egypt was
and how Egypt played into thiswhole story around here.
(09:32):
But he defeated the Egyptianarmy which came up to help
Hezekiah, but they were no help.
Hezekiah's alliance in Egyptfor assistance failed.
Isaiah had previously warnedHezekiah multiple times against
seeking alliances with Egypt,but Hezekiah took matters in his
(09:54):
own hands.
Judah's neighbors also, edomMoab, were just as weak as Judah
and were preoccupied with theirown survival.
To help, to help offer any help, hezekiah was left alone.
He was isolated, no longer withany nation to turn to for
(10:17):
assistance.
So why did Sennacherib seek todestroy Judah?
Well, isaiah here does not tellus.
But 2 Kings 18, verse 7,indicates that King Hezekiah
rebelled against the king ofAssyria.
Remember, judah became a vassalstate of Assyria under
(10:40):
Hezekiah's father, king Ahaz.
He made an alliance withAssyria in 2 Kings, chapter 16.
When Sennacherib conducted hismilitary campaign into Judah and
conquered those 46 fortifiedcities and numerous villages
along the way, he came toLachish and sieged it.
(11:02):
Lachish was one of the mostimportant cities in Judah, it
was second in importance toJerusalem and Lachish was only
35 miles southwest of thecapital city, jerusalem.
Sennacherib had his crosshairsreally targeting Jerusalem,
(11:25):
though Hezekiah acknowledged theslaughter that had already
occurred throughout the land.
It was a result of his poordecisions and he left only a
small portion of Judah'spopulation living only in
(11:48):
Jerusalem.
The threat of the Assyrians sointimidated Hezekiah that he
thought he could use gold to buypeace.
And we see this in 2 Kings 18.
You don't have to turn there.
I'll read from verses 14 to 15.
Kings 18.
You don't have to turn there.
I'll read from 14, verses 14 to15.
So Hezekiah, king of Judah, sentword to the king of Assyria at
(12:12):
Lachish.
I've done wrong.
Withdraw from me.
Whatever you demand from me, Iwill pay.
The king of Assyria demanded 11tons of silver and one ton of
gold from King Hezekiah of Judah.
So Hezekiah gave him all thesilver found in the Lord's
temple and in the treasuries ofthe king's palace.
(12:33):
Sennacherib accepted thistribute, but he then abandoned
his agreement.
He proceeded to send a massivearmy from Lachish to Jerusalem.
He demanded total submissionfrom Hezekiah.
Sennacherib planned topermanently eliminate any
further trouble from Judah.
(12:56):
Hezekiah's plan of self-reliance, his self-reliance to remove
Assyrian domination, failedagain.
First time it was the failureof the Egyptian alliance.
The second time now it's thefailure of the tribute payment
to bring peace, althoughHezekiah genuinely trusted in
(13:18):
God, and we see that in 2 Kings18 and in 2 Chronicles 29.
His desire to be entirely freefrom Assyrian domination led him
, in his own thinking, toformulate his form and policy
without regard for God andwithout considering the message
(13:39):
from God that Isaiah presented.
So the first source ofintimidation was the mighty
Assyrian army.
Let's take a look at now how theAssyrian royal spokesman
created the intimidation.
The Assyrian royal spokesman,also known as Rabshakeh in other
Bible translations, was joinedby two other leading Assyrian
(14:02):
officials With the massiveAssyrian army behind them.
They stood at the wall ofJerusalem, a short distance from
King Hezekiah's palace, and, asa representative of the
Assyrian empire, that spokesmanspoke on behalf of the king,
king of Assyria, kingSennacherib, to Hezekiah's three
officials, and this is recordedin verses 4 to 10.
(14:24):
That spokesman used verbalbullying and he used persuasive
logic to undermine Judah'sconfidence in Egypt, in King
Hezekiah himself and God.
If the Assyrian envoy was ableto achieve success in causing
(14:47):
Hezekiah's surrender, theAssyrians would have
accomplished their goal withoutany losses, without military
effort.
So let's see how the Assyrianspokesman tried to achieve this.
First is verbal bullying.
Let's look at verses 4 and 5.
We see this there.
First is verbal bullying.
Let's look at verses 4 and 5.
We see this there.
(15:10):
The royal spokesman said tothem Tell Hezekiah the great
king.
The king of Assyria says thiswhat are you relying on?
You think mere words arestrategy and strength for war.
Who are you now relying on that?
You have rebelled against me.
Observe the tone of these wordsspoken by the Assyrian
(15:33):
spokesman.
In verse 4, he referred to theAssyrian king as the great king,
the king of Assyria, but hecalled out Hezekiah by name only
, without addressing him as king, disrespecting him as the king
of Judah.
(15:53):
He also dismissed KingHezekiah's confidence by saying
that it was supported by merewords.
That was not supported by asound strategy nor by the force
of arms.
That was verse 5.
The Assyrian king's spokesmanmocked Hezekiah by challenging
(16:13):
him on whom and on what he wastrusting in.
The word translated in theChristian Standard Bible text as
rely on or relying on, ismentioned six times in seven
verses.
Here, for example, we read inverse five who are you now
(16:34):
relying on that?
You have rebelled against me.
The Assyrian royal spokesmanused also persuasive logic to
further intimidate King Hezekiah, and he said this and made four
points.
First, sennacherib thoughtthrough.
His spokesman mocked Judah'strust in Egypt.
(16:57):
Look at verse 6 with me.
Look, you are relying on Egypt,that splintered reed of a staff
that will pierce the hand ofanyone who grabs it and lean on
it.
This is how the pharaoh, kingof Egypt, is to all who rely on
him.
By the time that Sennacheribbesieged Lachish, he had already
(17:21):
defeated Egyptians' army.
He had already defeated Egypt'sarmy.
Second, the royal spokesmanquestioned Hezekiah's religious
reforms.
We see this in verse 7.
He mistakenly interpretedHezekiah's earlier removal of
the high places, the altars, asan insult to God, when in fact
(17:48):
these actions were really aimedat eliminating idol worship for
the Jews.
Yet the Assyrian spokesmanfigured that Hezekiah alienated
Judah's God by removing all theplaces of worship except for the
altar in the Temple ofJerusalem.
Third, we see in verses 8 and 9that the Assyrian spokesman
(18:10):
sarcastically challenged Judah'smilitary strength.
He offered to provide 2,000horses if Hezekiah could find
riders for them, and he knewthat Hezekiah could not.
Fourth, the Assyrian royalspokesman claimed that the
Assyrian invasion was divinelysanctioned, and we see this in
(18:33):
verse 10.
Turn there, verse 10.
Have I attacked this land todestroy it without the Lord's
approval?
The Lord said to me attack thisland and destroy it.
He asserted that the Lord hadinstructed him to attack and
destroy the land.
This rhetoric was deliveredloudly in front of Jerusalem's
(18:56):
walls, to all those who weresitting on it and could hear it.
This intimidation by both theAssyrian royal spokesman and the
Assyrian army show us how fearcan easily overwhelm us when we
focus only on the visiblecircumstances.
(19:16):
The visible circumstancesLosing 46 fortified cities,
along with the many, manyvillages in Judah severely shook
Hezekiah's composure.
The Assyrians' message focusedon the visible path of
Sennacherib's destruction, andnow the present siege of
(19:40):
Jerusalem pointed to anunavoidable destruction of
Jerusalem itself.
Can you feel the weight onHezekiah now self?
Can you feel the weight onHezekiah now?
The Assyrian threats symbolizethe external challenges that you
and I face.
Are you facing opposition?
While you encounter opposition,the world can tempt you to
(20:02):
compromise your values and cancause you to distance yourselves
from your Christian convictions.
The demands of the workplace,for example, can lead to
increased responsibility andpressure, potentially putting a
strain on your relationships athome and at church.
(20:24):
For Christian parents, they areheavily challenged every day
with the values promoted inpublic, schools, the media and
society and how they affect ourschool-aged children.
And if you find yourself facingconstant criticism or even harsh
behavior from family membersabout your faith in Jesus Christ
(20:48):
.
You might even find despairclosing in on you.
These barriers can seeminsurmountable and we often ask
does God really have this undercontrol for me?
But wait, identifying thesource of your intimidation and
(21:12):
fear is only the first steptowards turning your fears into
trusting God's promises.
The second step is to ignorethese insulting influences that
usually cause you to feel thefear, and this is our second
point.
Ignore the insulting influences.
Influences, the ridicule thatHezekiah received and the futile
(21:33):
negotiation attempts that wenton put a damper on Hezekiah
trusting God.
Worldly voices often dismissGod's power and dissuade us from
trusting in him.
How were these worldly voicesaffecting Hezekiah?
Well, let's look at verse 11.
(21:54):
Then Eliakim Shebna and Joahsaid to the royal spokesman
please speak to your servants inAramaic, since we understand it
, don't speak to us in Hebrew,with an earshot of the people
who are on the wall.
Hezekiah's royal officials werewell aware of the psychological
impact that the Assyrianspokesman's words were having on
(22:16):
those gathered on the citywalls while watching the events
in front of them unfold.
Hezekiah's three officialsprotested immediately that he
was not following diplomaticprotocol by delivering a message
to the king in a way thatothers could understand.
You see, aramaic was the commonlanguage of the Assyrian kings
(22:41):
and was spoken for internationaldiplomacy, but only later was
it expanded to be used in tradeand other communication.
The ordinary people of Judah atthat time didn't know how to
speak Aramaic.
They didn't understand it.
It was not until their returnfrom the Babylonian exile that
(23:01):
Aramaic became commonly used inJudah, and that was 200 years or
more after this incident withHezekiah.
So now let's look at the contentof these worldly voices that
Hezekiah heard.
We see this in verses 12 to 16.
(23:22):
Verse 12,.
But the royal spokesman repliedhas my master sent me to speak
these words to your master andto you, and not to the men who
are sitting on the wall, who aredestined with you to eat their
own excrement and drink theirown urine?
Then the royal spokesman stoodand called out loudly in Hebrew
(23:45):
Listen to the words of the greatking, the king of Assyria.
This is what the king saysDon't let Hezekiah deceive you,
for he cannot rescue you.
Don't let Hezekiah persuade youto rely on the Lord, saying the
Lord will certainly rescue us.
This city will not be handedover to the king of Assyria.
(24:09):
Don't listen to Hezekiah.
You see.
The Assyrian royal spokesmanhighlighted the dire
consequences of a prolongedsiege and mentioned the shortage
of food and water.
The Assyrian spokesman's wordswere meant to instill fear and
panic and to undermine theirtrust in King Hezekiah as well
(24:33):
as their trust in God.
The Assyrian spokesman remindedthe general people of the hard
facts of siege warfare, callingout to the people in Hebrew.
The Assyrian spokesmanridiculed Hezekiah.
He urged the Jerusalemresidents not to let Hezekiah
deceive them into thinking thatGod, their God, will deliver
(24:57):
them.
The Assyrian spokesman tried toconvince the people that
Sennacherib promised themprosperity in another land.
That's verses 16 and 17.
He says make peace with me andsurrender to me.
Then every one of you may eatfrom his own vine and his own
fig tree and drink water fromhis own cistern, until I come
(25:20):
and take you away to a land likeyour own, a land of grain and
new wine, a land of bread andvineyards.
Beware that Hezekiah does notmislead you.
The spokesman from Assyria alsoexhorted the people not to be
deceived by Hezekiah, sayingthat even the gods of the other
(25:43):
nations who were conquered byAssyria were not able even to
save them.
And you see that in verses 18to 20.
Beware that Hezekiah does notmislead you by saying the Lord
will rescue us.
Has anyone of the gods of thenations rescued his land from
(26:05):
the power of the king of Assyria?
Where are the gods of Hamathand Arpad?
Where are the gods of Sepharim?
Have they rescued Samaria frommy power?
Who, among all the gods ofthese lands, ever rescued his
land from my power?
So, will the Lord rescueJerusalem from my power?
(26:27):
Will the Lord rescue Jerusalemfrom my power?
So why should we ignore suchinsulting influences?
The Syrian spokesman's speechplanted seeds of doubt.
He set up Hezekiah to questionGod's capacity to save.
(26:54):
Worldly voices can cause us todoubt God's power.
They can be very persuasive andparticularly effective,
especially when we're alreadyfeeling dejected.
This point should encourage us,as believers, to discern and
silence these negative spiritualinfluences and to cling to the
trustworthiness of God's wordrather than the worldly voices
(27:17):
that we hear when we're notfirmly grounded in God's word.
Those worldly voices sound likemegaphones to our ears and can
successfully persuade us to turnaway from depending on God.
Have you ever tried to shoutover a megaphone?
It's impossible to hearanything else In our lives.
(27:41):
We often let the megaphones ofsocial media, gossip and even
busyness drown out God'swhispers.
It's like standing next to aloudspeaker at a concert,
completely missing the beautifulmelody God is trying to share
with us.
Let's turn down the volume ofdistractions and turn in to his
(28:03):
voice instead.
So, when facing the storms oflife, identify what is causing
fear and then ignore theinsulting influences from the
world.
And lastly, we need to invokeGod's intervention.
This is our third point InvokeGod's intervention.
(28:27):
Hezekiah's response was to go toGod in prayer.
Hezekiah approached God with apenitent heart.
How did Hezekiah demonstratehis penitence?
First, hezekiah owned up to hissin.
Hezekiah accepted fullresponsibility as king for the
disaster that the nation hadcome under.
(28:49):
We see this in chapter 37,verse 1.
It reads when Hezekiah heardtheir report, the report from
the three officials, he tore hisclothes, covered himself with
sackcloth and went to the Lord'stemple.
This act was more than just theformal expression of distress
(29:12):
and penitence.
Wearing sackcloth was a sign ofmourning for the dead or of
penitence, deep penitence forsin.
In dressing this way, hezekiahpublicly confessed that he had
misdirected the people of Judahas he walked, dressing like that
(29:34):
, to the temple.
And in addition, probablyrunning through Hezekiah's mind
as he walked to the temple, hemight have been ruminating over
the promises that the Lord hadalready spoken to him through
Isaiah, such as in chapter 31,verse 8,.
(29:54):
Hezekiah said a message fromthe Lord.
Then Assyria will fall, but notby human sword.
A sword will devour him, butnot one made by man will devour
him, but not one made by man.
He also may have been thinkingabout another promise that
(30:14):
Isaiah brought to him from theLord In chapter 38,.
Chapter 38 is coming up andwe'll be getting to that.
But I'll mention, though, thatchapters 38 and 39, the events
there in chronological timesequence occurred before chapter
36 and 37.
But in chapter 38, verses 4 to6, isaiah writes Then the word
(30:39):
of the Lord came to Isaiah.
Go and tell Hezekiah this iswhat the Lord, god of your
ancestors, david, says I haveheard your prayer, I have seen
your tears and I will rescue youin the city from the grasp of
the king of Assyria.
I will defend this city.
We're not told what Hezekiah didin the temple in this text, but
(31:03):
he undoubtedly would haveoffered sacrifice for his sins
and brought the nation'ssituation before God in prayer,
and he called upon God tointervene.
Hezekiah also acknowledgedGod's displeasure in him In
chapter 37, verse 3, 37, verse 3.
(31:31):
This is what Hezekiah says.
Today is a day of distress,rebuke and disgrace.
No-transcript distress.
Distress is a result ofexternal pressures and
(31:52):
constraints that produceinternal anxiety.
There is no doubt that judahwas in extremely bad
circumstances.
Rebuke the word used herepoints to the lord not being
pleased with the behavior ofJudah and her king.
Judah found herself on theverge of national collapse, so
(32:19):
it was not a simple verbalreproof or condemnation.
Judah received the just penaltyfor her sin, and the word
disgrace Disgrace is the resultof God rejecting those who
rejected him.
As Isaiah introduced hisprophecies.
(32:40):
He said in chapter 1, verse 4,o sinful nation, people weighed
down with iniquity, brood ofevildoers, depraved children.
They have abandoned the Lord.
They have despised the Holy Oneof Israel.
They have turned their backs onhim.
Judah used to enjoy God's favor, but now, having forgotten God
(33:05):
and failing to honor him, godleft Judah to experience his
rejection.
The tension inside Hezekiah nowcaused him to realize that the
predicament that he and Judahfound themselves in was more
than just a political andmilitary crisis.
(33:26):
At the very root of thissituation was a crisis of faith.
It's the result of the sin ofnot believing in God's promises,
the sin of not believing inGod's promises.
So when Hezekiah's heartreached brokenness, when his
pride was broken, he called onGod, through Isaiah, to rebuke
(33:50):
the king of Assyria.
Let's look at verse 3, thesecond part of verse 3 and verse
4.
It is as if children have cometo the point of birth and there
is no strength to deliver them.
(34:11):
Perhaps the Lord, your God,will hear all the words of the
royal spokesman, whom his master, the king of Assyria, said to
mock the living God, and willrebuke him for the words that
the Lord, your God, has heard.
Therefore, offer a prayer forthe surviving remnants.
Note that Hezekiah was consciousof the extent to which his own
(34:36):
conduct had distorted hisrelationship with God.
Hezekiah could only venture aperhaps.
In making his request to Isaiah, he said perhaps the Lord, your
God, will hear all the words,and then he also speaks of your
God.
He implies that Isaiah, by hisobedience, had maintained a
(35:00):
closer relationship with God ina way that Hezekiah and his
officials did not.
These are the words of Hezekiah.
Hezekiah's pride had beenbroken.
But let's look at Isaiah'smessage.
Now Back to Hezekiah.
(35:20):
In return, it affirms God'sintervention.
In contrast to Hezekiah's senseof despair.
Isaiah spoke with calmdeliberation and pointed the
king to God's promises.
Isaiah said to Hezekiah inverse 6, don't be afraid because
of the words you have heardwith which the king of Assyria's
(35:42):
attendants have blasphemed me.
What was called for was trust,complete trust on the part of
Hezekiah, and the promises ofGod.
These promises had already beenrevealed to him.
Isaiah assured Hezekiah thatGod, the covenant-keeping God,
the God who established Davidand the throne of his kingdom
(36:06):
forever, david and the throne ofhis kingdom forever would
remedy the threat that theAssyrian army presented.
Back in chapter 9, isaiah saidhe will reign on the throne of
(36:27):
David and over his kingdom toestablish and sustain it with
justice and righteousness fromnow on and forever.
Now this sentence is soimportant.
The zeal of the Lord of armieswill accomplish this.
God responded to Hezekiah's callto intervene.
God announced that he was goingto do three things in verse 7.
(36:51):
God will put a spirit inSennacherib.
This was a spirit of deception,such that the Assyrian king
would be mentally predisposed toresponding to events in the way
God wanted.
So, in addition to putting aspirit in Sennacherib, god will
cause him to return home afterhearing a rumor.
(37:11):
It's not clear what this rumorwas, but some have interpreted
it to be a rumor thatSennacherib would hear after
185,000 of his troops wereslaughtered by God's angel.
We'll see that later on in thischapter next week.
(37:32):
The third thing God said throughIsaiah is that God will cause
him to fall by the sword.
He will not die from naturalcauses.
He will not die while directinga military campaign in a
foreign land, like Ahaz's hisfather did.
But the Lord will sovereignlyorchestrate the events such that
(37:54):
Sennacherib will meet a violentdeath where he would least
expect it.
It would occur in the securityof his own homeland.
In fact, his death occurred 20years after this announcement
was made, and we'll talk aboutthat next week.
These three promises imply thatJerusalem will not be defeated,
(38:18):
and it wasn't.
But most importantly forHezekiah is that Hezekiah
learned from these words thatSennacherib's end would be
dictated entirely on God's termsand by God himself.
There is no room that he couldchange any of this.
(38:39):
God determined all of this inhis own design and plan.
So, friends, in times of crisis,hezekiah's decision to turn to
God rather than rely on humanstrength illustrates true faith,
while trusting in his ownschemes, whether they are
(39:00):
alliances with Egypt or payingtribute to the king of Assyria
to get him off his back, to theking of Assyria to get him off
his back.
His fears persisted.
In fact, all these things hedid didn't help King Hezekiah
one bit, but in fact it madethings worse for him.
Knowing and fully trustingGod's promises, as Hezekiah
(39:29):
eventually did, is the basis ofreassurance and deliverance for
believers.
While identifying his fearsbefore the Lord and ignoring the
insulting influences from hisenemies, hezekiah turned to
holding fast onto God's promisesand then invoked God's
intervention.
The loud threats of the enemywere replaced with a gentle and
quiet strength found in faith.
(39:52):
The season of Hezekiah's lifedemonstrates how God hears and
acts on behalf of his people,and emphasizes that faith in
God's promises will lead us awayfrom fear to trusting in God's
steadfast promises.
It may require that your pridebe broken, though this passage
(40:14):
ultimately foreshadows Jesus'victory over our greatest fears,
sin and the wages of sin death,reminding us that, just as
Hezekiah found deliverance, wetoo can find deliverance to an
internal hope and reassurancethrough Jesus Christ alone, who
(40:37):
is our fortress and refuge.
If you haven't trusted in Jesusas your Lord and Savior, I ask
you consider how you will facethe death penalty for your sin?
Will you be like Hezekiah as hefaced the Assyrian army?
Who can you trust to deliveryou Yourself, your own good work
(41:03):
?
Is that your pride or therighteousness of Jesus Christ,
who knew no sin but became sin?
For us to become therighteousness of God and
therefore we no longer feardeath or sin.
Romans 8 tells us for there isnow no condemnation for those in
(41:27):
Christ Jesus.
For there is now nocondemnation for those in Christ
Jesus.
By keeping our eyes on the Lordand holding fast to the
promises found in his word, likethe ancient sailors who looked
into the stars for navigationalguidance, we can trust that the
(41:48):
light will return as life'sstorm clouds pass, and through
faith, our fears will turn intotrusting in what God has
promised.
Let's pray, heavenly Father.
I pray that when we face life'sfiercest storms, we can say
Lord, I trust in you and youalone.
Remove our fears and anxieties.
(42:09):
Cause us to hold fast to yourpromises.
I pray this in Jesus' name,amen.
Okay, as you know, pastor Doug and pastor Micah are
preaching through the book ofIsaiah and church friends,
we've come to chapter 36 today.
So turn there with me Isaiah,chapter 36.
Actually, our text for today is36, verse 1, through 37, verse
(00:25):
7.
Isaiah chapters 36 to 39 serveas a turning point in the
prophecy of Isaiah.
These chapters consist ofnarratives that are also
contained in 2 Kings, chapters18 to 20.
They're nearly identical.
There are some differences, butthey're nearly identical and
(00:46):
they function both as aconclusion to chapters 1 to 39
and serves as a transition towhat follows.
These chapters chapters 36, 37,38, and 39, focus on three
events involving Hezekiah andIsaiah First of all and we'll
(01:12):
deal with that today and nextweek the Assyrian invasion of
Jerusalem's miraculousdeliverance.
Second, we'll be looking atHezekiah's fatal illness and his
miraculous healing.
And third, we'll look at avisit by a delegation from
(01:33):
Babylon.
These chapters bridge thepresent threat of Assyria and
the future conquest by Babylon,and they set the stage for the
themes of exile and the comfortand hope for restoration that
dominate the latter part of thebook, chapters 40 to 66.
(01:57):
So let's go to God in prayer.
Heavenly Father, I ask that youopen our eyes so that we see
wonderful things out of yourword.
Show us your ways, o Lord, andteach us your paths, amen.
In ancient times, sailors wouldlook to the stars in the heaven
(02:20):
for navigation, but when cloudsstart to come in, in the
cloudiness of storms, theyrelied on their knowledge, their
expert knowledge.
They called it dead reckoning,but that's a fancy term for best
guessing.
Who or what can you trust toguide you through situations
(02:46):
like that?
In the same way your own lives?
Storms often cloud our vision.
This is really tested when weface life's fiercest storms.
Storms in your life have a wayof producing anxiety and fear.
Sometimes the stormy waves buryyou under and you might doubt
(03:10):
God.
You might even forget God inyour situation and end up making
decisions in your life withoutGod.
This may prove to be disastrous.
Today we'll take a look at thelife of Hezekiah.
The Bible tells us that he didwhat was right in the Lord's
sight, just as his ancestorDavid did.
(03:32):
That's 2 Chronicles 29, verse 2.
But there was a season in hislife when he faced one of his
fiercest storms and waschallenged by this question who
can I really trust?
Some of us may be going throughour own storms right now or
(03:56):
about to enter a storm that wedon't even know about.
So the practical question foryou and me is how can fear, even
the most intense form, turninto trusting God's promises?
We'll tackle this question byexamining three aspects of
Hezekiah's life as he weatheredthrough this storm.
(04:18):
The first identify intimidationand fear.
Second, ignore the insultinginfluences.
And third, invoke God'sintervention.
So our first point identify theintimidation and fear.
(04:40):
There are two sources ofintimidation and fear that
Hezekiah, king of Judah,identified.
The first is the intimidatingpower of the massive Assyrian
army and the second one is theintimidating power of the
Assyrian royal spokesman.
So let's look at intimidatingpower first of the Assyrian army
(05:03):
.
Let's look at intimidatingpower first of the Assyrian army
.
During the course of our studiesin Isaiah, we've had various
encounters with the Assyrianempire.
In Isaiah's prophecies,assyria's rise as a consolidated
(05:28):
, expanding empire was reachingits height during the reigns of
King Ahaz and now here in KingHezekiah.
Assyria built up its reputationas an intimidating force to be
reckoned with.
This was due to three successfactors First, its military
innovations.
Second, they had an empire-widecommunication system that was
second to none.
And third, there was aresettlement policy.
First, the military innovations.
(05:50):
They had the use of a cavalrythat was a shock force, that was
well-equipped, well-trained andthey effectively neutralized
enemy defenses.
They were also effective inreconnaissance, effectively
neutralized enemy defenses.
They were also effective inreconnaissance.
(06:11):
But one of the highlights oftheir military innovations was
the development of siege warfare.
They built battering rams,siege towers.
They were incredibly effectiveand they had their mark now in
military history.
The empire's communicationsystem allowed the Assyrian king
and his officials tocommunicate empire-wide.
(06:33):
This was through a relay systemand this depended on
well-constructed andwell-maintained roads throughout
the empire.
And thirdly, assyria'sresettlement policy.
We see this in how they treatedthe conquered peoples.
(06:55):
This resettlement policy hadtwo purposes.
The first one, a negative one,is to break their identity and
their spirit so that they willno longer rebel against Assyria,
and Assyria did this byrelocating the populations into
areas across the empire.
The second one was a positiveone for the empire.
(07:17):
The second purpose was thatthey used these peoples and
relocated them so they couldbring new agricultural
techniques to develop new landsfor the empire.
Well, using these advancements,assyria conquered Samaria in
720 BC, taking the northerntribes of Israel into exile and
(07:37):
settling them across Mesopotamia.
Almost 20 years later, theAssyrian king Sennacherib, in
our text today, continued toexpand the empire and launched a
military campaign into Judah in701 BC.
These mighty Assyrians thoughtthey were invincible.
(07:58):
So this brings us to verse 1,chapter 36.
Turn with me there.
In the 14th year of KingHezekiah, king Sennacherib of
Assyria attacked all thefortified cities of Judah and
captured them.
Then the king of Assyria senthis royal spokesman, along with
(08:22):
a massive army, from Lachish toKing Hezekiah at Jerusalem.
The Assyrian stood near theconduit of the upper pool by the
road to Launderer's Field.
Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, whowas in charge of the palace,
shebna, the court secretary, andJoah, son of Asaph.
The court historian came out tohim.
(08:46):
Housed in the British Museum inLondon is Sennacherib's annals.
This was a collection of hismilitary campaigns written on a
stone prism.
These also include the accountof his invasion of the kingdom
of Judah.
These annals state thatSennacherib laid siege to 46 of
Hezekiah's fortified cities fromnorth to south of Judah and
(09:12):
conquered them using siege,siege rams and battering rams
and his foot soldiers.
And in the wake of thisdestruction, sennacherib
destroyed Tyre and Philistia.
Sennacherib also defeated Egypt,and you remember who Egypt was
and how Egypt played into thiswhole story around here.
(09:32):
But he defeated the Egyptianarmy which came up to help
Hezekiah, but they were no help.
Hezekiah's alliance in Egyptfor assistance failed.
Isaiah had previously warnedHezekiah multiple times against
seeking alliances with Egypt,but Hezekiah took matters in his
(09:54):
own hands.
Judah's neighbors also, edomMoab, were just as weak as Judah
and were preoccupied with theirown survival.
To help, to help offer any help, hezekiah was left alone.
He was isolated, no longer withany nation to turn to for
(10:17):
assistance.
So why did Sennacherib seek todestroy Judah?
Well, isaiah here does not tellus.
But 2 Kings 18, verse 7,indicates that King Hezekiah
rebelled against the king ofAssyria.
Remember, judah became a vassalstate of Assyria under
(10:40):
Hezekiah's father, king Ahaz.
He made an alliance withAssyria in 2 Kings, chapter 16.
When Sennacherib conducted hismilitary campaign into Judah and
conquered those 46 fortifiedcities and numerous villages
along the way, he came toLachish and sieged it.
(11:02):
Lachish was one of the mostimportant cities in Judah, it
was second in importance toJerusalem and Lachish was only
35 miles southwest of thecapital city, jerusalem.
Sennacherib had his crosshairsreally targeting Jerusalem,
(11:25):
though Hezekiah acknowledged theslaughter that had already
occurred throughout the land.
It was a result of his poordecisions and he left only a
small portion of Judah'spopulation living only in
(11:48):
Jerusalem.
The threat of the Assyrians sointimidated Hezekiah that he
thought he could use gold to buypeace.
And we see this in 2 Kings 18.
You don't have to turn there.
I'll read from verses 14 to 15.
Kings 18.
You don't have to turn there.
I'll read from 14, verses 14 to15.
So Hezekiah, king of Judah, sentword to the king of Assyria at
(12:12):
Lachish.
I've done wrong.
Withdraw from me.
Whatever you demand from me, Iwill pay.
The king of Assyria demanded 11tons of silver and one ton of
gold from King Hezekiah of Judah.
So Hezekiah gave him all thesilver found in the Lord's
temple and in the treasuries ofthe king's palace.
(12:33):
Sennacherib accepted thistribute, but he then abandoned
his agreement.
He proceeded to send a massivearmy from Lachish to Jerusalem.
He demanded total submissionfrom Hezekiah.
Sennacherib planned topermanently eliminate any
further trouble from Judah.
(12:56):
Hezekiah's plan of self-reliance, his self-reliance to remove
Assyrian domination, failedagain.
First time it was the failureof the Egyptian alliance.
The second time now it's thefailure of the tribute payment
to bring peace, althoughHezekiah genuinely trusted in
(13:18):
God, and we see that in 2 Kings18 and in 2 Chronicles 29.
His desire to be entirely freefrom Assyrian domination led him
, in his own thinking, toformulate his form and policy
without regard for God andwithout considering the message
(13:39):
from God that Isaiah presented.
So the first source ofintimidation was the mighty
Assyrian army.
Let's take a look at now how theAssyrian royal spokesman
created the intimidation.
The Assyrian royal spokesman,also known as Rabshakeh in other
Bible translations, was joinedby two other leading Assyrian
(14:02):
officials With the massiveAssyrian army behind them.
They stood at the wall ofJerusalem, a short distance from
King Hezekiah's palace, and, asa representative of the
Assyrian empire, that spokesmanspoke on behalf of the king,
king of Assyria, kingSennacherib, to Hezekiah's three
officials, and this is recordedin verses 4 to 10.
(14:24):
That spokesman used verbalbullying and he used persuasive
logic to undermine Judah'sconfidence in Egypt, in King
Hezekiah himself and God.
If the Assyrian envoy was ableto achieve success in causing
(14:47):
Hezekiah's surrender, theAssyrians would have
accomplished their goal withoutany losses, without military
effort.
So let's see how the Assyrianspokesman tried to achieve this.
First is verbal bullying.
Let's look at verses 4 and 5.
We see this there.
First is verbal bullying.
Let's look at verses 4 and 5.
We see this there.
(15:10):
The royal spokesman said tothem Tell Hezekiah the great
king.
The king of Assyria says thiswhat are you relying on?
You think mere words arestrategy and strength for war.
Who are you now relying on that?
You have rebelled against me.
Observe the tone of these wordsspoken by the Assyrian
(15:33):
spokesman.
In verse 4, he referred to theAssyrian king as the great king,
the king of Assyria, but hecalled out Hezekiah by name only
, without addressing him as king, disrespecting him as the king
of Judah.
(15:53):
He also dismissed KingHezekiah's confidence by saying
that it was supported by merewords.
That was not supported by asound strategy nor by the force
of arms.
That was verse 5.
The Assyrian king's spokesmanmocked Hezekiah by challenging
(16:13):
him on whom and on what he wastrusting in.
The word translated in theChristian Standard Bible text as
rely on or relying on, ismentioned six times in seven
verses.
Here, for example, we read inverse five who are you now
(16:34):
relying on that?
You have rebelled against me.
The Assyrian royal spokesmanused also persuasive logic to
further intimidate King Hezekiah, and he said this and made four
points.
First, sennacherib thoughtthrough.
His spokesman mocked Judah'strust in Egypt.
(16:57):
Look at verse 6 with me.
Look, you are relying on Egypt,that splintered reed of a staff
that will pierce the hand ofanyone who grabs it and lean on
it.
This is how the pharaoh, kingof Egypt, is to all who rely on
him.
By the time that Sennacheribbesieged Lachish, he had already
(17:21):
defeated Egyptians' army.
He had already defeated Egypt'sarmy.
Second, the royal spokesmanquestioned Hezekiah's religious
reforms.
We see this in verse 7.
He mistakenly interpretedHezekiah's earlier removal of
the high places, the altars, asan insult to God, when in fact
(17:48):
these actions were really aimedat eliminating idol worship for
the Jews.
Yet the Assyrian spokesmanfigured that Hezekiah alienated
Judah's God by removing all theplaces of worship except for the
altar in the Temple ofJerusalem.
Third, we see in verses 8 and 9that the Assyrian spokesman
(18:10):
sarcastically challenged Judah'smilitary strength.
He offered to provide 2,000horses if Hezekiah could find
riders for them, and he knewthat Hezekiah could not.
Fourth, the Assyrian royalspokesman claimed that the
Assyrian invasion was divinelysanctioned, and we see this in
(18:33):
verse 10.
Turn there, verse 10.
Have I attacked this land todestroy it without the Lord's
approval?
The Lord said to me attack thisland and destroy it.
He asserted that the Lord hadinstructed him to attack and
destroy the land.
This rhetoric was deliveredloudly in front of Jerusalem's
(18:56):
walls, to all those who weresitting on it and could hear it.
This intimidation by both theAssyrian royal spokesman and the
Assyrian army show us how fearcan easily overwhelm us when we
focus only on the visiblecircumstances.
(19:16):
The visible circumstancesLosing 46 fortified cities,
along with the many, manyvillages in Judah severely shook
Hezekiah's composure.
The Assyrians' message focusedon the visible path of
Sennacherib's destruction, andnow the present siege of
(19:40):
Jerusalem pointed to anunavoidable destruction of
Jerusalem itself.
Can you feel the weight onHezekiah now self?
Can you feel the weight onHezekiah now?
The Assyrian threats symbolizethe external challenges that you
and I face.
Are you facing opposition?
While you encounter opposition,the world can tempt you to
(20:02):
compromise your values and cancause you to distance yourselves
from your Christian convictions.
The demands of the workplace,for example, can lead to
increased responsibility andpressure, potentially putting a
strain on your relationships athome and at church.
(20:24):
For Christian parents, they areheavily challenged every day
with the values promoted inpublic, schools, the media and
society and how they affect ourschool-aged children.
And if you find yourself facingconstant criticism or even harsh
behavior from family membersabout your faith in Jesus Christ
(20:48):
.
You might even find despairclosing in on you.
These barriers can seeminsurmountable and we often ask
does God really have this undercontrol for me?
But wait, identifying thesource of your intimidation and
(21:12):
fear is only the first steptowards turning your fears into
trusting God's promises.
The second step is to ignorethese insulting influences that
usually cause you to feel thefear, and this is our second
point.
Ignore the insulting influences.
Influences, the ridicule thatHezekiah received and the futile
(21:33):
negotiation attempts that wenton put a damper on Hezekiah
trusting God.
Worldly voices often dismissGod's power and dissuade us from
trusting in him.
How were these worldly voicesaffecting Hezekiah?
Well, let's look at verse 11.
(21:54):
Then Eliakim Shebna and Joahsaid to the royal spokesman
please speak to your servants inAramaic, since we understand it
, don't speak to us in Hebrew,with an earshot of the people
who are on the wall.
Hezekiah's royal officials werewell aware of the psychological
impact that the Assyrianspokesman's words were having on
(22:16):
those gathered on the citywalls while watching the events
in front of them unfold.
Hezekiah's three officialsprotested immediately that he
was not following diplomaticprotocol by delivering a message
to the king in a way thatothers could understand.
You see, aramaic was the commonlanguage of the Assyrian kings
(22:41):
and was spoken for internationaldiplomacy, but only later was
it expanded to be used in tradeand other communication.
The ordinary people of Judah atthat time didn't know how to
speak Aramaic.
They didn't understand it.
It was not until their returnfrom the Babylonian exile that
(23:01):
Aramaic became commonly used inJudah, and that was 200 years or
more after this incident withHezekiah.
So now let's look at the contentof these worldly voices that
Hezekiah heard.
We see this in verses 12 to 16.
(23:22):
Verse 12,.
But the royal spokesman repliedhas my master sent me to speak
these words to your master andto you, and not to the men who
are sitting on the wall, who aredestined with you to eat their
own excrement and drink theirown urine?
Then the royal spokesman stoodand called out loudly in Hebrew
(23:45):
Listen to the words of the greatking, the king of Assyria.
This is what the king saysDon't let Hezekiah deceive you,
for he cannot rescue you.
Don't let Hezekiah persuade youto rely on the Lord, saying the
Lord will certainly rescue us.
This city will not be handedover to the king of Assyria.
(24:09):
Don't listen to Hezekiah.
You see.
The Assyrian royal spokesmanhighlighted the dire
consequences of a prolongedsiege and mentioned the shortage
of food and water.
The Assyrian spokesman's wordswere meant to instill fear and
panic and to undermine theirtrust in King Hezekiah as well
(24:33):
as their trust in God.
The Assyrian spokesman remindedthe general people of the hard
facts of siege warfare, callingout to the people in Hebrew.
The Assyrian spokesmanridiculed Hezekiah.
He urged the Jerusalemresidents not to let Hezekiah
deceive them into thinking thatGod, their God, will deliver
(24:57):
them.
The Assyrian spokesman tried toconvince the people that
Sennacherib promised themprosperity in another land.
That's verses 16 and 17.
He says make peace with me andsurrender to me.
Then every one of you may eatfrom his own vine and his own
fig tree and drink water fromhis own cistern, until I come
(25:20):
and take you away to a land likeyour own, a land of grain and
new wine, a land of bread andvineyards.
Beware that Hezekiah does notmislead you.
The spokesman from Assyria alsoexhorted the people not to be
deceived by Hezekiah, sayingthat even the gods of the other
(25:43):
nations who were conquered byAssyria were not able even to
save them.
And you see that in verses 18to 20.
Beware that Hezekiah does notmislead you by saying the Lord
will rescue us.
Has anyone of the gods of thenations rescued his land from
(26:05):
the power of the king of Assyria?
Where are the gods of Hamathand Arpad?
Where are the gods of Sepharim?
Have they rescued Samaria frommy power?
Who, among all the gods ofthese lands, ever rescued his
land from my power?
So, will the Lord rescueJerusalem from my power?
(26:27):
Will the Lord rescue Jerusalemfrom my power?
So why should we ignore suchinsulting influences?
The Syrian spokesman's speechplanted seeds of doubt.
He set up Hezekiah to questionGod's capacity to save.
(26:54):
Worldly voices can cause us todoubt God's power.
They can be very persuasive andparticularly effective,
especially when we're alreadyfeeling dejected.
This point should encourage us,as believers, to discern and
silence these negative spiritualinfluences and to cling to the
trustworthiness of God's wordrather than the worldly voices
(27:17):
that we hear when we're notfirmly grounded in God's word.
Those worldly voices sound likemegaphones to our ears and can
successfully persuade us to turnaway from depending on God.
Have you ever tried to shoutover a megaphone?
It's impossible to hearanything else In our lives.
(27:41):
We often let the megaphones ofsocial media, gossip and even
busyness drown out God'swhispers.
It's like standing next to aloudspeaker at a concert,
completely missing the beautifulmelody God is trying to share
with us.
Let's turn down the volume ofdistractions and turn in to his
(28:03):
voice instead.
So, when facing the storms oflife, identify what is causing
fear and then ignore theinsulting influences from the
world.
And lastly, we need to invokeGod's intervention.
This is our third point InvokeGod's intervention.
(28:27):
Hezekiah's response was to go toGod in prayer.
Hezekiah approached God with apenitent heart.
How did Hezekiah demonstratehis penitence?
First, hezekiah owned up to hissin.
Hezekiah accepted fullresponsibility as king for the
disaster that the nation hadcome under.
(28:49):
We see this in chapter 37,verse 1.
It reads when Hezekiah heardtheir report, the report from
the three officials, he tore hisclothes, covered himself with
sackcloth and went to the Lord'stemple.
This act was more than just theformal expression of distress
(29:12):
and penitence.
Wearing sackcloth was a sign ofmourning for the dead or of
penitence, deep penitence forsin.
In dressing this way, hezekiahpublicly confessed that he had
misdirected the people of Judahas he walked, dressing like that
(29:34):
, to the temple.
And in addition, probablyrunning through Hezekiah's mind
as he walked to the temple, hemight have been ruminating over
the promises that the Lord hadalready spoken to him through
Isaiah, such as in chapter 31,verse 8,.
(29:54):
Hezekiah said a message fromthe Lord.
Then Assyria will fall, but notby human sword.
A sword will devour him, butnot one made by man will devour
him, but not one made by man.
He also may have been thinkingabout another promise that
(30:14):
Isaiah brought to him from theLord In chapter 38,.
Chapter 38 is coming up andwe'll be getting to that.
But I'll mention, though, thatchapters 38 and 39, the events
there in chronological timesequence occurred before chapter
36 and 37.
But in chapter 38, verses 4 to6, isaiah writes Then the word
(30:39):
of the Lord came to Isaiah.
Go and tell Hezekiah this iswhat the Lord, god of your
ancestors, david, says I haveheard your prayer, I have seen
your tears and I will rescue youin the city from the grasp of
the king of Assyria.
I will defend this city.
We're not told what Hezekiah didin the temple in this text, but
(31:03):
he undoubtedly would haveoffered sacrifice for his sins
and brought the nation'ssituation before God in prayer,
and he called upon God tointervene.
Hezekiah also acknowledgedGod's displeasure in him In
chapter 37, verse 3, 37, verse 3.
(31:31):
This is what Hezekiah says.
Today is a day of distress,rebuke and disgrace.
No-transcript distress.
Distress is a result ofexternal pressures and
(31:52):
constraints that produceinternal anxiety.
There is no doubt that judahwas in extremely bad
circumstances.
Rebuke the word used herepoints to the lord not being
pleased with the behavior ofJudah and her king.
Judah found herself on theverge of national collapse, so
(32:19):
it was not a simple verbalreproof or condemnation.
Judah received the just penaltyfor her sin, and the word
disgrace Disgrace is the resultof God rejecting those who
rejected him.
As Isaiah introduced hisprophecies.
(32:40):
He said in chapter 1, verse 4,o sinful nation, people weighed
down with iniquity, brood ofevildoers, depraved children.
They have abandoned the Lord.
They have despised the Holy Oneof Israel.
They have turned their backs onhim.
Judah used to enjoy God's favor, but now, having forgotten God
(33:05):
and failing to honor him, godleft Judah to experience his
rejection.
The tension inside Hezekiah nowcaused him to realize that the
predicament that he and Judahfound themselves in was more
than just a political andmilitary crisis.
(33:26):
At the very root of thissituation was a crisis of faith.
It's the result of the sin ofnot believing in God's promises,
the sin of not believing inGod's promises.
So when Hezekiah's heartreached brokenness, when his
pride was broken, he called onGod, through Isaiah, to rebuke
(33:50):
the king of Assyria.
Let's look at verse 3, thesecond part of verse 3 and verse
4.
It is as if children have cometo the point of birth and there
is no strength to deliver them.
(34:11):
Perhaps the Lord, your God,will hear all the words of the
royal spokesman, whom his master, the king of Assyria, said to
mock the living God, and willrebuke him for the words that
the Lord, your God, has heard.
Therefore, offer a prayer forthe surviving remnants.
Note that Hezekiah was consciousof the extent to which his own
(34:36):
conduct had distorted hisrelationship with God.
Hezekiah could only venture aperhaps.
In making his request to Isaiah, he said perhaps the Lord, your
God, will hear all the words,and then he also speaks of your
God.
He implies that Isaiah, by hisobedience, had maintained a
(35:00):
closer relationship with God ina way that Hezekiah and his
officials did not.
These are the words of Hezekiah.
Hezekiah's pride had beenbroken.
But let's look at Isaiah'smessage.
Now Back to Hezekiah.
(35:20):
In return, it affirms God'sintervention.
In contrast to Hezekiah's senseof despair.
Isaiah spoke with calmdeliberation and pointed the
king to God's promises.
Isaiah said to Hezekiah inverse 6, don't be afraid because
of the words you have heardwith which the king of Assyria's
(35:42):
attendants have blasphemed me.
What was called for was trust,complete trust on the part of
Hezekiah, and the promises ofGod.
These promises had already beenrevealed to him.
Isaiah assured Hezekiah thatGod, the covenant-keeping God,
the God who established Davidand the throne of his kingdom
(36:06):
forever, david and the throne ofhis kingdom forever would
remedy the threat that theAssyrian army presented.
Back in chapter 9, isaiah saidhe will reign on the throne of
(36:27):
David and over his kingdom toestablish and sustain it with
justice and righteousness fromnow on and forever.
Now this sentence is soimportant.
The zeal of the Lord of armieswill accomplish this.
God responded to Hezekiah's callto intervene.
God announced that he was goingto do three things in verse 7.
(36:51):
God will put a spirit inSennacherib.
This was a spirit of deception,such that the Assyrian king
would be mentally predisposed toresponding to events in the way
God wanted.
So, in addition to putting aspirit in Sennacherib, god will
cause him to return home afterhearing a rumor.
(37:11):
It's not clear what this rumorwas, but some have interpreted
it to be a rumor thatSennacherib would hear after
185,000 of his troops wereslaughtered by God's angel.
We'll see that later on in thischapter next week.
(37:32):
The third thing God said throughIsaiah is that God will cause
him to fall by the sword.
He will not die from naturalcauses.
He will not die while directinga military campaign in a
foreign land, like Ahaz's hisfather did.
But the Lord will sovereignlyorchestrate the events such that
(37:54):
Sennacherib will meet a violentdeath where he would least
expect it.
It would occur in the securityof his own homeland.
In fact, his death occurred 20years after this announcement
was made, and we'll talk aboutthat next week.
These three promises imply thatJerusalem will not be defeated,
(38:18):
and it wasn't.
But most importantly forHezekiah is that Hezekiah
learned from these words thatSennacherib's end would be
dictated entirely on God's termsand by God himself.
There is no room that he couldchange any of this.
(38:39):
God determined all of this inhis own design and plan.
So, friends, in times of crisis,hezekiah's decision to turn to
God rather than rely on humanstrength illustrates true faith,
while trusting in his ownschemes, whether they are
(39:00):
alliances with Egypt or payingtribute to the king of Assyria
to get him off his back, to theking of Assyria to get him off
his back.
His fears persisted.
In fact, all these things hedid didn't help King Hezekiah
one bit, but in fact it madethings worse for him.
Knowing and fully trustingGod's promises, as Hezekiah
(39:29):
eventually did, is the basis ofreassurance and deliverance for
believers.
While identifying his fearsbefore the Lord and ignoring the
insulting influences from hisenemies, hezekiah turned to
holding fast onto God's promisesand then invoked God's
intervention.
The loud threats of the enemywere replaced with a gentle and
quiet strength found in faith.
(39:52):
The season of Hezekiah's lifedemonstrates how God hears and
acts on behalf of his people,and emphasizes that faith in
God's promises will lead us awayfrom fear to trusting in God's
steadfast promises.
It may require that your pridebe broken, though this passage
(40:14):
ultimately foreshadows Jesus'victory over our greatest fears,
sin and the wages of sin death,reminding us that, just as
Hezekiah found deliverance, wetoo can find deliverance to an
internal hope and reassurancethrough Jesus Christ alone, who
(40:37):
is our fortress and refuge.
If you haven't trusted in Jesusas your Lord and Savior, I ask
you consider how you will facethe death penalty for your sin?
Will you be like Hezekiah as hefaced the Assyrian army?
Who can you trust to deliveryou Yourself, your own good work
(41:03):
?
Is that your pride or therighteousness of Jesus Christ,
who knew no sin but became sin?
For us to become therighteousness of God and
therefore we no longer feardeath or sin.
Romans 8 tells us for there isnow no condemnation for those in
(41:27):
Christ Jesus.
For there is now nocondemnation for those in Christ
Jesus.
By keeping our eyes on the Lordand holding fast to the
promises found in his word, likethe ancient sailors who looked
into the stars for navigationalguidance, we can trust that the
(41:48):
light will return as life'sstorm clouds pass, and through
faith, our fears will turn intotrusting in what God has
promised.
Let's pray, heavenly Father.
I pray that when we face life'sfiercest storms, we can say
Lord, I trust in you and youalone.
Remove our fears and anxieties.
(42:09):
Cause us to hold fast to yourpromises.
I pray this in Jesus' name,amen.
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