Isaiah 36:1-12
Alternative devotions for Tuesday 5th January
Review
This is an intriguing part of the prophecy of Isaiah. The chapters Isaiah 36 to 39 are quite different from the rest of Isaiah, even the story found in Isaiah 7 and 8, because although Isaiah figures relatively strongly in what happens, the story is primarily about King Hezekiah and the Assyrian invasion of Judea around 701 BC. This is a harrowing tale of what happened when a city was besieged in ancient times, and some of the details are extremely unpleasant (for example, the last verse of this passage). The big question we face is this; why is this story placed right at the heart of the book of Isaiah?
In the coming days we will follow the story of the siege of Jerusalem, and we will find that it is clearly intended to bring us a spiritual message. It tells us that when God’s people trust in their Lord, then He will bring them through the trials of this life. This is a valuable message of itself, but there is much more to Isaiah 36-39 than this. Isaiah prophesied in the eight century BC at a time of great change, and many years later (after the Exile of Judah in Babylon during the sixth century BC), people began to look back and see that what Isaiah had said many years previously was indeed fulfilled in the centuries that followed. One of Isaiah’s key themes was that whatever happened to Israel in the upheavals of the day, God would save a small number of His people (a ‘remnant’ – see Is 10:19f.) and would return His own people to Zion (see 10:12,24,32, 12:6, 14:32 etc.). Isaiah also prophesied that God would eventually remake the world and create a new place of His dwelling, a new ‘Zion’ of peace and security (see Isaiah 25,26, 35). People had confidence in Isaiah’s prophecies because much of what he said had come true.
Clearly, our passage today tells us about the siege of Jerusalem, when the armies of Assyria came and took their stance against the city. How should the king of Jerusalem and Judea together with his people deal with this dire circumstance? It was obvious that the commander of the Assyrian army was in complete control of the situation and he belittled the efforts of king Hezekiah to hold Jerusalem (36:4-6). The Assyrian commander had the cheek to say that Israel’s own God had sent him against Jerusalem, and he even ridiculed Hezekiah’s attempts to centralise the worship of God in Jerusalem (36:7)! Hezekiah had in fact done a great deal to reinforce Jerusalem and withstand the Assyrian threats (see 2 Chronicles 32), but even with help from Egypt (36:4), it seemed that little could be done to save Jerusalem. Assyria mocked Jerusalem’s citizens; they were unafraid to frighten the people of the city by shouting out their threats of violence in Hebrew, so that everyone would understand them (36:11,12)!
Earlier in his prophecies, Isaiah had prophesied that Judah and Jerusalem should not fear Assyria; they should instead fear Babylon (see Isaiah 10:1-19, and also 13&14). So although the Assyrian’s approach to Jerusalem was dramatic and frightening, we will find out on that Isaiah remained calm. He advised Hezekiah, the king, to hold firm to his faith in God’s salvation despite the obvious dangers and apparent imminent collapse of the state of Judah and its capital city Jerusalem. This whole story is an important part of Isaiah because it eventually proves his prophecies to be right; when we realise this, we will understand why this strange and rather insulting story is included in the book of Isaiah.
Ultimately, the truth of Isaiah’s prophecies has always been of great importance. His later prophecies speak about the coming of God’s Servant, the Messiah, sent to bring about God’s redemption, and all of us must decide whether we believe Isaiah was a true or a false prophet. If we follow this story begun here in this passage, we must conclude that Isaiah was indeed a prophet of God because his historic predictions came true. We must therefore go one stage further and believe his prophecies about God’s Messiah.
1 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 2 The king of Assyria sent his Commander in Chief from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a powerful force, and took his stance at the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the ‘Washing Field’. 3 Eliakim son of Hilkiah (the master of the palace), Shebna (the secretary), and Joah son of Asaph (the recorder), went out to him.
4 The Commander in Chief said to them, ‘Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria says: “What is this hope in which you have placed your trust? 5 I ask you this; are mere words sufficient as plans and resources for battle? On whom are you depending that you rebel against me? 6 Look, you are trusting in the staff of a broken reed, Egypt, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is like this to all who trust in him! 7 Now if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You must only worship before this altar’? 8 Come now, gamble with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you on your part, you can set riders on them! 9 How can you possibly turn back a single captain among the least of my master's servants, whilst relying on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 10 Moreover, have I come up to destroy this land without the Lord? The Lord told to me to march against this land and destroy it!”’
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Commander in Chief, ‘Please speak Aramaic to your servants, for we understand it; do not speak to us in Judean within the hearing of the people on the wall.’ 12 But the Commander in Chief said, ‘Has my master sent me to speak these words to you and your master, and not to the people sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?’
© All text and pictures on this page copyright Paul H Ashby 2010 - all rights reserved
Praise You, Lord God for all the wonderful things You have done through Jesus Christ our Lord! You have become one of us as flesh, body, mind and spirit, and You are a life-filled soul full of love, potential, energy and hope. We worship You, Lord God; we worship You, Lord Jesus Christ; we worship You, powerful Holy Spirit. Bless us as we enter this New Year You have given us: AMEN
Hope has been placed within our hearts
To look ahead and think what could be
To delight in what can be accomplished
When Jesus comes to help us see the truth.
Hope is sight beyond all knowledge
Insight into deeper spiritual realms
Faith that God will conquer everything
As Jesus comes with God’s own help to save.
Hope is certainty found in faith,
A daring leap of candid integrity
To question the world’s ideals of doubt
for Jesus has given us liberty to believe.
Hope is found in Christ alone,
In living the faith we freely profess
A better hope than the world can give,
For Jesus has come, the One in whom we live.
Prayer ideas
Give thanks to God for the many good things you have enjoyed about the Christmas and new year season
On-going prayers
- Pray for Christian families. Pray for Christian families who find it hard to decide whether or not to have their children baptised
- Pray for those affected by severe cold on the Indian sub-continent
- Pray for US and western nationals under threat in Yemen
