III. THAT DELIVERANCE IS ONLY IN THE LORD IS CONFIRMED BY THE HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF ASSYRIA'S INVASION AND HEZEKIAH'S RESPONSE (36:1-39:8) Note: Isaiah 36-37 is almost identical with 2 Kings 18-19. Evidence seems to point to Isaiah as the author of all of this material. The differences can generally be accounted for if it is taken in to consideration that the prophet's book was edited later in his life. The mention of Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia (Isa. 37:9; 2 Ki. 19:9) has caused some commentators to suggest two Assyrian invasions, one in 701 B.C. and another sometime around 688 B.C. While we may never know the exact chronology of these events the evidence is not sufficient to accept two invasions.
A. Sennacherib Leads Assyria Into Invasion Against Judah (36:1-22)
1. Judah's defended cities were taken (36:1)
(1) See (2 Ki. 18:7,14). Sennacherib imposed a tribute upon Hezekiah that depleted the treasury and stripped the temple doors and pillars of their gold. History bears out the fact that the Assyrians took as many as 200,000 prisoners as they sacked up to 46 towns and villages in Judah.
2. Rabshakeh makes a defiant challenge to the men of Jerusalem (36:2-22)
a. The Emissaries sent by Sennacherib (vv. 2,3)
(2) Rabshakeh is the man's title, not his name. Verse 24, along with 2 Kings indicates he was accompanied by other servants of Sennacherib. From our previous study, recall this very spot where the Rabshakeh is standing (Isa. 7:3,4). Ahaz made his decision, against God's wishes, to appeal to Assyria and now Judah would pay the consequences.
(3) Hezekiah sent three men to meet the three emissaries. Note the demotion of Shebna, who previously held Eliakim's job. The exact job description of each of these men is hard to distinguish. Commentators do not agree on the differences between the scribe and the recorder.
b. Rabshakeh's defiant speech (vv. 4-10)
(4) Rabshakeh casts aspersions upon the faith of the Jews and ridicules their God. He insults Hezekiah by not titling him king while referring to Sennacherib as the great king.
(5) Rabshakeh charges the Jews with deceiving themselves by thinking they could possibly successfully rebel against Assyria. He reminds them that their only two sources of help against Assyria (Egypt and Jehovah) are ineffective.
(6) To trust in Egypt is to trust in failure. The Rabshakeh is very accurate in his evaluation.
(7) Here the Rabshakeh errs in his thinking. He mistakenly thinks that Hezekiah's cleansing of the temple and destruction of the idols was against Jehovah. Actually, the opposite was true (2 Chron. 29-31).
(8) He now taunts Hezekiah as he asks for more tribute. If the Jews renew their tribute, the Rabshakeh will provide them with horses. Yet he questions their ability to provide riders.
(9) Rabshakeh continues his speech of contempt and ridicule in an attempt to break the spirit of Hezekiah and the people. He charges the Jews with not being able to withstand one of the least of Assyria's captains.
(10) Rabshakeh's boldest argument is that Jehovah will not help the Jews because He has sent the Assyrians! This claim was partly true (Isa. 10:5-6). His claim to have been on direct speaking terms with Jehovah is another matter. It is plain that the Assyrians intended to destroy Judah and believed they could do it with very little struggle. The Rabshakeh has used his speech to systematically undermine the people's faith in Jehovah, honor towards their king, and love of their country.
c. The Jew's request (vv. 11,12)
(11) Realizing that the words of Rabshakeh would have their desired effect, Hezekiah's emissaries request that the discussion be carried out in the Syrian (diplomatic) language.
(12) Rabshakeh retorts in his typical scornful manner. Of course he wants the people on the walls to hear his threats. The siege that he predicts they will endure will include eating and drinking human waste!
d. Rabshakeh's second speech (vv. 13-20)
(13) Rabshakeh now begins an even more arrogant and scornful demonstration of his contempt for the Jews, all the while appealing to the awesomeness of the great king of Assyria.
(14) He asserts that Hezekiah is deceiving them into thinking that they will be delivered.
(15) He further claims that no matter what Hezekiah says (2 Chron. 32:6-8), Jerusalem will fall. If the Rabshakeh is able to destroy the people's faith in their God, their king, and themselves the siege of Jerusalem will be short lived.
(16) Now Rabshakeh takes a more positive approach: if the people will surrender they can share the bounty of the Assyrians. The figure of eating from one's own vine and drinking from one's own water supply is meant to show the security, peace and tranquility that the people could enjoy under the Assyrians.
(17) He even softens the idea of the people being carried away into captivity by describing their new abiding place in glowing terms, while ignoring the suffering that always accompanies an uprooting and a forced march.
(18) Rabshakeh compares the ability of the various gods of the conquered nations to withstand Assyria's onslaught. His point ­ they have not be able to withstand it and neither will the Jew's Jehovah.
(19) Remember, when Rabshakeh says, "my hand," he is speaking for Sennacherib. Actually, it was Sennacherib's ancestors that conquered the lands mentioned.
(20) The Assyrian does not really know Jehovah. This can be seen here as he equates Him with the idols of the heathen. It is ironic that the Rabshakeh's claims that Assyria is doing the will of Jehovah is true, but the final consequences will involve Assyria's own destruction (Isa. 10:5,6, 25-27).
e. The report to Hezekiah (vv. 21,22)
(21,22) Hezekiah's envoys remained silent as he had commanded them. They returned to the king and reported what they had heard. Their clothes being rent indicates their disgrace, sorrow, and grief. [TOP OF THIS PAGE]
B. Jerusalem Is Delivered Because Of Righteous Hezekiah (37:1-38)
1. Isaiah gives an assuring prophecy (37:1-7)
(1) Hezekiah obviously begins to doubt his own words concerning deliverance and retreats to the temple, a place of prayer and reflection.
(2) The king sends his emissaries to Isaiah. He recognizes that in the midst of all the people, Isaiah has remained faithful to Jehovah and is His spokesman.
(3) By coming to Isaiah, the king is confessing that his approach to Judah's political problems has been wrong and has caused this day of trouble, rebuke, and blasphemy. The people are like a pregnant woman, who comes to the moment of delivery and is too tired to finish the job (Hos. 13:13).
(4) The envoys recognize that Isaiah is in close communion with Jehovah when they refer to Him as Jehovah thy God. They are hoping that Jehovah will take note of the blasphemy of the words of Rabshakeh and come to the rescue of the people. Hezekiah enjoins Isaiah to pray for those remaining in Jerusalem.
(5,6) By the time that the servants of the king arrive, Isaiah already has an answer from Jehovah. Isaiah says that Hezekiah is not to fear the words of the servants of the king of Assyria. The word for "servants" is a disparaging term meaning "young lads" or novices. The blasphemy is against God and He is able and ready to handle the situation.
(7) Sennacherib will hear a rumor that will cause him to return to his own land. It is not known what this rumor is, but it could refer to the impending destruction of his 185,00 men. In other words, once his army is destroyed he will read this as a omen and retreat. Upon his return to his own land, God will allow him to be killed by the sword.
2. Hezekiah responds to Sennacherib's letter by praying (37:8-20)
a. Sennacherib's renewed effort to persuade Hezekiah (vv. 8-13)
(8,9) Rabshakeh reports to his king in Libnah. The rumor was that Ethiopia was coming against Assyria, so Sennacherib renewed his efforts to have Jerusalem surrender. The only other mention of this king of Ethiopia (Tirhakah) is in (2 Ki. 19:9). This has caused some commentators to balk at this passage due to the young age of this king in 701 B.C.
(10-13) Sennacherib sends a letter that is a slightly expanded version of the speech already delivered by Rabshakeh. He says: their god is weak, his power on the other hand is strong, he has destroyed every nation in his path (including but not limited to the six mentioned in the letter), and Judah is bound to be taken.
b. Hezekiah's prayer before Jehovah (vv. 14-20)
(14) Upon receiving the letter and further messages from Sennacherib, Hezekiah again retreats to the temple to commune with the Lord.
(15,16) As the king prays, he shows that he trusts God and totally depends on Him. Hezekiah acknowledges Jehovah as not only the God of Israel, but the God of the universe. Jehovah is above even the angelic beings and is the creator of the heavens and the earth.
(17) The king makes five strong requests for help: 1, Incline thy ear, O Jehovah; and 2, hear ; 3, open thy eyes, O Jehovah, and 4, see; 5, hear all the words of Sennacherib... By humiliating Jehovah's people, Sennacherib has actually humiliated God Himself. The king is concerned that the honor of his God is being taunted by this heathen king.
(18,19) Hezekiah knows that Sennacherib's claims of destruction are true, but realizes that the other nations had only idol-gods to turn to, while Judah had Jehovah - the One True God.
(20) On behalf of the people Hezekiah makes his earnest plea for salvation from Sennacherib and that Jehovah will make it known that He is the God of the world.
3. The angel of the Lord slays 185,000 Assyrians (37:21-38)
a. Jehovah's response - an answer to Sennacherib (vv. 21-29)
(21-22) In simple terms, Jehovah's response to Hezekiah's prayer is: I have heard thee (2 Ki. 19:20). Jehovah portrays Jerusalem as a city that has not been cast down nor violated by a conqueror. The city shakes her head in contempt and laughs in scorn at her would-be seducer.
(23) Jehovah challenges the Assyrian with two questions: 1,Whom hast thou defiled and blasphemed and 2, against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high? Sennacherib had never come up against anyone like the Lord God of Israel and he should be ready to pay the price for his blasphemy.
(24) Using his messengers, Sennacherib had defied God through his arrogance. The Assyrian had never been stopped, so he thought himself unstoppable. He wanted Israel for his own, all of it, Jerusalem and Judah included.
(25) Continuing his boasting: Sennacherib has dug wells where there was no water, he has threatened Egypt, and he sees in his mind that the Nile will not even be a barrier to him - he will soak it up with the soles of his feet.
(26) Yet, Jehovah reminds him that all that had been done was under Jehovah's control, not Assyria's. Assyria was actually carrying out a prophecy made during the time of Moses (Deut. 28:41,49,50; Lev. 26:31). Only through Isaiah's work and the king's fervent intercession was the total destruction of Jerusalem averted until the time of the Babylonians.
(27) Jehovah had prepared (note the three figures used to illustrate this preparation) these nations to fall in the wake of the Assyrians (Prov. 21:1,31).
(28,29) God knows all there is to know about Sennacherib, including his intense feelings of anger against God and his arrogance. Because of his attitude, the Assyrian will himself be taken away in the torturous restraints of a slave.
b. A message of assurance to Hezekiah (vv. 30-35)
(30) Just as Jehovah had assured the victories of Sennacherib, He would now assure his defeat. Furthermore, he will assure King Hezekiah that Assyria will be defeated by giving him a sign. In spite of the war, Judah will continue to have food enough for her wants until the vineyards can be repaired (within 3 years).
(31,32) The population will also be replenished by the remnant that will escape destruction. It seems the bulk of these are the ones who had taken refuge in Jerusalem. Their ability to succeed hinges on the fact that the zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this.
(33) The final word of assurance is that the Assyrians will not come into the city.
(34,35) When Sennacherib realizes he is defeated he will "tuck his tail and run for the house." Jehovah will defend the city for His own sake and for the sake of the promise He had made to David (2 Sam. 7:11-16).
c. It is done (vv. 36-38)
(36) The execution of the Assyrians was fast and sure (2 Chron. 32:20; 2 Ki. 19:35). The death of the 185,000 parallels two other events in the history of Israel (Ex. 12:23; 2 Sam. 24:16). All of these deaths were inflicted supernaturally and as we see in the case of the Assyrians, those left alive did not realize the destruction until they awoke in the morning to find their comrades dead.
(37,38) Sennacherib leaves for Nineveh, 20 years pass by, and he is murdered by his own sons. Hezekiah prayed to God and God answered his prayers; Sennacherib's gods did not answer. Isaiah was probably around 80 years old when Sennacherib died. The prophecies of Isaiah revolve around two facts: Jehovah declared what He would do, and then He did it. The salvation from Assyria was only temporary as Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, would come to the throne as the most wicked king Judah ever had. Even righteous Josiah would be unable to undo all the evil that his predecessor had done. [TOP OF THIS CHAPTER][TOP OF THIS PAGE]