Onchan Baptist Church                                          Isaiah 37:1-13                              28th August 2024
The Assyrians had been applying intense pressure on King Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem. 36:14 "let not Hezekiah deceive you," had been the warning given in the Jews' language for all to hear and understand 36:12. The words of Rabshakeh were, 36:22 reported to Hezekiah. The testing of King Hezekiah continued. How would he react?
1. There was an immediate response. "When Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth." He had an intense sense of morning and sorrow, which was evident to all. Note that the King went further even than his emissaries had done. 36:22 They came to Hezekiah, with their clothes rent. He covered himself with sackcloth as well as rending his clothes. This was an act of great sorrow and repentance. He not only identified with the desperate situation the nation was in, think of Nehemiah identifying with the sins of the nation, Neh 1:4, he “wept and mourned” and prayed Neh 1:6 “we have sinned against thee.” He recognised that he was at the head of it and bore responsibility. Hezekiah was not only in deep mourning, he went on to take action. And went into the house of the Lord. This was the dwelling place of the glory of God at the centre of the nation. It was the place of sacrifice where man met with God through the blood offered by the priest. It was the place of prayer.
2. Not only did Hezekiah go to the house of God, he then sent to the prophet of God his emissaries and the elders of the priests. The word elders here points to the senior, experienced priests. They attended upon Isaiah in his official capacity. He wanted to hear from as E. J Young, “the mouth piece of God.” We note in passing that Isaiah is again presented to us as a historical figure. He was a real man who brought God's word to God's people in difficult days.
3. We are not given details of how Hezekiah instructed them, there is often a brevity in Scripture. We are to infer the details from what was said to Isaiah. This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke and of blasphemy. Hezekiah began with the situation the nation was in, and acknowledged that their trouble was a rebuke to them. The nation from Hezekiah down had got themselves into this problem. Hezekiah was a man of faith who had done much good, but at the same time he had followed the path of submission to Assyria. He tried to placate them by paying tribute, and then had at least gone along with plans to seek help from Egypt. It is finally at this point when all human hope has become impossible, that he clothed himself with sackcloth, came to the temple and sought the word of God from Isaiah. He ended up in the right place, but it should have been his first action not as last. Hezekiah has a very striking picture to highlight their situation, the children are come to birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. I have never given birth, but many times I have helped with lambing. I know the desperate situation when the mother is unable to deliver. The life of baby and mother are both at risk. There is no strength. Our biggest trouble is that we often think we do have strength. We forget, Zac 4:6 "not by might, nor by strength, but by my spirit saith the Lord of Hosts," and the great word given to Paul, 2 Cor 12:9 "my strength is made perfect in weakness." We need to be those who come early and come frequently to the throne of grace, and Heb 4:16 “come with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain grace and mercy to help in time of need." Hezekiah highlights the fact that the Assyrians are not merely attacking Jerusalem. They have blasphemed, they have spoken against Yahweh.
4. Hezekiah goes on to say, it may be the Lord thy God will hear the words. Hezekiah may not have felt himself worthy to claim that Yahweh was his God in light of his weakness before Assyria, in any event, he is very clear that Yahweh is the God of Isaiah. He is hoping that God has heard, not merely been aware of, but has taken note of the words of Sennacherib, words of reproach against the living God, and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard. We can think of how the blood of Abel cried out, how in the days of Noah, when the earth was full of eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage, God took notice of the thoughts and intents of man, that they were Gen 6:5 “evil only continually.” Then in the days of Abraham, the evils of the cities of the plain came to God's attention, and Abraham interceded for them. In each case, God acted in judgement. The biggest problem in Jerusalem had been that people and King saw the Assyrians and in so doing they took the eyes of the Lord. We in our day are faced with a godless society, with rampant secularism. Many in the churches are saying that we must, to some extent, change to remain relevant. Love has been redefined. Isa 5:20 “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.” In so doing we have taken our eyes of the Lord. We have forgotten the fear of the Lord, we have lost our trust in his word. Wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left. Hezekiah has a confidence that Isaiah's prayer will be heard. Jm 5:16 “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." 1 Pet 5:7 cast all your cares upon the Lord for he careth for you. We are to, Prov 3:5, “trust in the Lord with all our hearts and not to lean on our own understanding.
6. And Isaiah said unto them, he has already received the word of Yahweh to meet the situation, he tells Hezekiah's representatives to say, thus saith Yahweh. The prophet declared the word of God very clearly, and with boldness and with great authority. This should always be the case, if you are ever called upon to tell someone what God has said it is to be set out with authority. This is the case especially for preachers and teachers in church. We do not speak with uncertainty or with hesitancy. In preparation it is my duty to study the Scripture, to seek to rightly understand it and then I come here to set out what God has said. It is not in my authority, but the authority of God's word is being declared. The trumpet is not to give an uncertain sound. Not only do we set out the whole counsel of God, but we are to speak as 1 Pet 4:11 “the oracles of God.” Be not afraid of the words. It is important to remember that words do hurt. Words can bring false witness, words can lead to violence, words can lead to discouragement and despair. Jm 3:6  "the tongue is a fire." If you pay close attention and concentrate on what the enemy of God says you will be discouraged and become fearful. However, if you put on the whole armour of God, Eph 6 you will have a full defence against the fiery darts of the wicked one, you will not need to fear him and what he says. The servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed against me. Never for a moment forget that the God of glory, the judge of the whole earth, is aware of the words and actions of evil men. An account will be called for, sometimes we can with the Psalmist Ps 73 be envious of the foolish, when we see the prosperity of the wicked. Ps 73:16 it was too painful for him, until, vs 17 he went in to the sanctuary of God. Our problem is that we forget their latter end.
7. Behold, I will send a blast upon him. Yahweh will so work against Sennacherib that Sennacherib will turn to go home leaving Jerusalem alone. A rumour, a report, we are not told if what he hears is actually true and if what was rumoured then happened. That doesn't matter, it was enough that Sennacherib heard it and acted upon it. Man purposes in his heart, we make plans which seem unstoppable, but again and again in Scripture we see that the unexpected actions of God bring confusion on the enemy. Think of the men of Sodom who were blinded, think of Jericho whose walls so thick and strong fell without a fight, of Gideon whose army was largely sent home and then the remnants used torches heeding jars to defeat the huge army. Christ is building his church, we cannot tackle the gates of hell in our own strength and wisdom, but Christ has promised they shall not prevail against the building of his church. To fall by the sword in his own land, Isaiah did not say when this would happen, but it did. The wicked forget that they face the judgement.
8. The account switches from Hezekiah and Isaiah back to Rabshakeh and Sennacherib. The king had moved to do battle with Libnah which we see in Jos 21:13 was a priestly city.
9. And he heard say Sennacherib now received a report about the Egyptian king coming to make war. This report is not related to what Isaiah had just foretold. We do not know how far the Egyptian king came, but the report of his coming caused a change of plan for Sennacherib.
Vs 10-13 relate a new message for Hezekiah. Note this message is sent in a more respectful way, Hezekiah, king of Judah; however, his basic message and aim is the same. He asserts that the God Hezekiah depends on is deceiving him. As proof, he looked back with confidence and pride. 
11. Thou hast heard Eve heard the serpent, be careful who you listen to. The Assyrians had had many years of victory after victory in many lands, destroying them utterly. What makes you different?
12 he asks the rhetorical question, "Have the gods of the nations delivered them?" The answer is clearly no. Hezekiah would know this; it was undeniable. He is saying your local God is as nothing before the God of Assyria. We have a proven track record. Admit it now, you stand no chance. This man has no real knowledge of Yahweh. What he says seems logical, based upon the facts as he sees them. However, his facts are wrong so his logical conclusion is also wrong. We must never allow worldly wisdom to confuse us or to deceive us. We must go back to the foundations and see where the truth lies.
13. He lists Kings whose kingdoms have vanished before Assyria. He is saying Don't trust Yahweh, surrender now! This is the test, will we despair or pray?