Isaiah 37:21-29
Alternative devotions for Monday 11th January
Review
As soon as Hezekiah came to the Lord in prayer and laid out the perilous state of the people of Judah in the Temple (37:14f.), he received an answer from the prophet Isaiah; and what a powerful answer it was. God said He would send the king of Assyria packing, back whence he came (37:29)! Today, of course, we read this passage from the point of view of knowing that the King of Assyria did indeed fail to take Jerusalem, and as a consequence, Judah survived as a city state for another 120 years. So this prophecy of Isaiah is both an answer to Hezekiah’s prayer, and also a triumphant confirmation of God’s control of history and His ability to control even the great might of the Assyrian Empire! Hezekiah had laid the future of Jerusalem and the state of Judah before the Lord in prayer (37:14f.); he did not summon Isaiah for an answer, but Isaiah knew what was happening. Isaiah simply received this prophetic message from the Lord in response to the King’s prayer, and gave it to him.
This is a powerful prophecy asserting God’s absolute control over the affairs of nations and kings. The first part ridicules the grand assumptions of power paraded by the King of Assyria and his Commander in Chief. Their bragging was no more than bluster before Almighty God (37:22,23) , and despite their arrogance and blasphemy, their exaggerated claims (37:24), and tactical manoeuvring (37:25), they were ultimately unable to capture Jerusalem (as we are formally told in tomorrow’s passage, 37:30-38). In future years, Jerusalem was free to flaunt her independence and pour scorn on the one who sought to conquer her; the ‘virgin daughter of Zion’ tossed her head at Sennacherib, behind his back, and escaped his clutches! (37:22).
Remarkably, all this happens as an answer to prayer. Some have argued that it is unfair for God’s people in general or Hezekiah in particular to attempt to manipulate history by ‘pulling strings’ with God by means of prayer. However, this would be to misunderstand the purpose and meaning of prayer. Prayer is communication between ourselves and God that brings us into line with His will, prayer does not pull God into line with our will, and there is a big difference between the two! In verses 26 and 27, God mocks the King of Assyria by declaring that he, the Lord God, has always been responsible for the affairs of the world. He was in control, and what was happening was according to His own plan (37:26). Sennacherib was only a great military commander because God allowed it (37:26,27), and the imagery of grass indicates that whatever destruction Assyria brought, the land and peoples they conquered would survive, just like grass that grows again after being scorched!
The last part of the prophecy describes God’s control of Assyria; the Lord says ‘I know your dwelling place, and your going out and your coming in’ (37:28). The phrase ‘going out and coming in’ comes from an ancient description of a king in warfare, leading an army out from his capital and back again, protecting his nation by securing its boundaries and fighting enemies. The words were used to describe David doing just this, ‘marching out and coming in’ (1 Sam 18:13), and the words came to signify peace and security in Israel, as in this famous psalm; ‘The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore’ (Psalm 121:8). However, the King of Assyria had not marched out and in to bring peace, but to ‘rage against me (God)’ (37:28), so God said he would be punished, and Isaiah had already prophesied this (see 10:12f.).
The power of this prophecy lies not in what it says about Sennacherib, the King of Assyria, but in what it says about God’s power to control all history. All these events happened in centuries past, but through Christ there is even more evidence now that God is in control, and there is no need for us to despair as Hezekiah did. Salvation is and always has been God’s plan. Hezekiah caught a glimpse of it in ancient history, and we have it available to us through Christ.
21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah which said, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: Because you have prayed to me about Sennacherib King of Assyria, 22 this is the word that the Lord has spoken about him:
The virgin daughter of Zion,
she despises you, she mocks you,
the daughter of Jerusalem
tosses her head behind you!
23 Whom have you despised and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes up high?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
24 By your servants
you have insulted the Lord,
When you said,
‘With my many chariots
I climbed up the mountain height,
to the heights of Lebanon,
to cut down its highest cedars,
and its best firs,
to come to its farthest end,
its finest forest.
25 I dug wells
and drank waters,
I dried up with the sole of my foot
all the streams built for siege!’
26 Have you not heard?
I prepared it long ago?
I planned it from days of old
and now I have brought it to pass;
that you should crush fortified cities
into heaps of stones.
27 Their inhabitants have little strength,
dismayed and put to shame;
but they are like plants of the field
like shoots of grass,
like grass growing on housetops,
scorched before it grows.
28 I know your dwelling place,
your going out and your coming in,
as well as your raging against me.
29 Because you have raged against me
Your arrogance has come to my ears,
I will put my ring in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will turn you back to the way
by which you came.'
© All text and pictures on this page copyright Paul H Ashby 2010 - all rights reserved
Dear Lord Jesus; You came into this world as a baby, and You grew up as one of us and lived and died for us. We wonder what You think of our world today, full of sin and evil everywhere and a continuing testimony to human ignorance and selfishness. We confess our part in this and ask You to bring us to a place of repentance for our sins; guide us into Your truth and teach us how to live by Your light, we pray; AMEN
Jesus, child of Bethlehem
and Saviour of the World;
You are the hope of my soul
the King of my life;
You are the ruler my mind
the judge of my integrity;
You are the carer of my soul
the comforter of my heart;
You are the guide of my existence
the planner of my journey;
You are the director my morality
the tutor of my discipleship;
You are the advocate of my faith
the sponsor of my eternal life;
Glory be to You, child of Bethlehem
Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son.
Prayer ideas
Give thanks to God for the many blessings you have received from others in the past few days
On-going prayers
- Pray for Your home church Pray for the community of your church and ask the Lord to bless it with a true spirit of worship and love
- Pray that scandals will not de-stabilise Northern Ireland
- Pray for those who are struggling because of the weather
