Isaiah 37:21-35

Isaiah 37:21-35 NIV

Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, this is the word the Lord has spoken against him: 

“Virgin Daughter Zion despises and mocks you. Daughter Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee. Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! By your messengers you have ridiculed the Lord. And you have said, ‘With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its junipers. I have reached its remotest heights, the finest of its forests. I have dug wells in foreign lands and drunk the water there. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.’

“Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone. Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched before it grows up. “But I know where you are and when you come and go and how you rage against me. Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.

“This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah: “This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

“Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: “He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city,” declares the Lord . “I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!”

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After receiving a letter from Sennacherib, the king of Assyria who has invaded Judah and taken down many of its cities and villages, Hezekiah, king of Judah, appealed to the Lord in prayer. He laid the letter before the altar and prayed to God to defend His name.

In Isaiah 37:21-35 we see God's answer to Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah. God first acknowledges that He heard Hezekiah's prayer. He then shares how the Lord will taunt Assyria in the same way the king's field commander taunted Jerusalem. Jerusalem will laugh at the Assyrians as they flee from the wrath of God. The king of Assyria thinks he's managed to conquer every kingdom he's attacked because he is so great, but it is God who is behind his success.

Isaiah 37:26 NIV

“Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone.

And just as God can raise up Assyria for His own purposes, God can do away with Assyria. Their insolence displayed at the gates of Jerusalem is now being answered. God will put Assyria back in its place just like a farmer leads a bull back into its pen with a hook in its nose.

God offers Hezekiah a sign that His words will come true. They will eat of the free produce of the land, what comes naturally, for two years. Because of the rape of the land by Assyrian invasion cultivated crops will be scarce, but there will be plenty to eat for the survivors. In the third year the survivors will cultivate crops again. Assyria will not attack Jerusalem. God will act to save the city for His own name sake and for the sake of the line of David, to whom Hezekiah belongs.

Why David? Because David was a man after God's own heart. God promised David that He would always have a son to rule the throne in Jerusalem, as long as that king was obedient to the Lord and led Israel to keep the law of Moses.

God acted to save Jerusalem so that His name might be revered among the nations, that they might ultimately trust in Him. God acted to save Hezekiah, son of David, that the Jews might also trust in the Lord's promises to them through the covenants with Abraham, Moses and David. God is bound in promise to Israel and to her kings through the line of David. His mercy shown to Jerusalem is a mercy based on God's integrity, His faithfulness.

Hezekiah's prayer moved God to show mercy. Centuries later another son of David will move God with compassion. Hanging from a cross, bleeding and dying, Jesus prayed, "Father, forgive them for they don't know what they are doing." God forgave the world of its sin and showed mercy forever through the cross of Jesus Christ. His great mercy reveals His great love, a love that is celebrated the world over. It is a love that saves.

The next time you're in trouble pray to God, humbly acknowledging who He is, the creator of the universe and ruler of the nations. Look to the cross and know God hears your prayer and will show mercy. May your fears turn to joy in the Lord.