Isaiah 36:1

The Bible says in Isaiah 36:1-7, “Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them. And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field. Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder. And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him. But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?”

The situation that Israel was in is the same situation that any of us can get in when we are surrounded by enemies. It did not look good. The enemies were very strong. Notice what the enemy said in Isaiah 36:7. He said, “But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?” That is the same thing as saying, “There is no use in trusting in the Lord. He cannot help you. Things have just gotten too bad this time.” Don’t ever allow yourself to think anything like that. The Lord Jesus can always help. And He will always help those who trust in Him. Therefore, always reject any doubting thoughts concerning the Lord, and go to the promises of God for truth and needs of reinsurance. For example, it says in Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” And it says in Jeremiah 33:3, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” The enemy only wins if you stop trusting in the Lord.

The Assyrians continued to speak against the children of Israel, and the Bible says in Isaiah 36:8-22, “Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it. Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall. But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you? Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you. Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not. Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.”

Up until the Assyrians besieged Jerusalem, the Assyrians had conquered all nations that they came against. None of the other nations found any defense no matter what deity they trusted in. The Assyrians said in Isaiah 36:20, “Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?” Of course, we know that those deities were false and were only idols made by the hands of man. This kind of reasoning is a common mistake made by the people of the world: to compare the worship of Jesus Christ to other religions, thinking they are all the same: thinking that Christianity is just another religion. It will be a very sad time for all the people in those religions when they discover at their judgment the truth about Jesus, for then it will be too late for them. Second Corinthians 2:6 tells us that “… now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” At Judgment Day, those non-Christians will finally see there is no comparison between true Christianity and other religions. True Christianity is not a religion. It’s a personal relationship with Jesus Christ who rose from the dead and who is alive. Jesus speaks to men and women in a spiritual way. He visits them. And those who respond to Him in the right way through faith gain a personal relationship with Him. We do not serve a dead Savior, but an ever living Savior.

The Bible says in Isaiah 37:1-4, “And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.” Hezekiah was king, and now the land was in a terrible situation. An enemy had surrounded the city of Jerusalem, and there seemed to be no hope. But Hezekiah did the best thing that anyone could do in such a circumstance: he went to the Lord for help. Instead of trying to figure out what he himself could do, Hezekiah turned to the Lord to depend upon what only the Lord could do. Hezekiah realized two important things that every believer should always keep close to their heart: 1. Always remember to turn to the Lord for help in every situation. The Bible says in Jeremiah 33:3, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” 2. Always remember that God can do anything. When a problem gets more and more difficult and time goes by without a solution, many Christians because of human limitations are tempted to stop believing that the Lord Jesus Christ can do anything or will do anything to help them. Nothing is too hard for God. With God all things are possible. That which is impossible for man, is possible for God. Concerning a man whose only hope was to turn to Jesus for the life of his daughter, the Bible says in Luke 8:50, “But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.”

The Bible says in Isaiah 37:5-7, “So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.” This is an important example of the power of prayer. One man turned to the Lord and prayed one prayer. The result is that a vast army was turned back, an entire nation was saved from disaster, the leadership of one nation changed, many people met an untimely end, and the course of several nations was altered significantly. Don’t ever doubt the power of prayer. God answers prayers that are offered to Jesus Christ. Jesus (God) enjoys hearing from people. Since Jesus has “all power,” those who talk to Jesus have access to “all power.”

God made a promise, but He had not yet fulfilled His promise to take away the Assyrians and end the danger. In the meantime the Assyrians made even more threats against Hezekiah and the people of God. But by this time Hezekiah had gotten into a very good habit: he turned to the Lord and prayed once again. The Bible says in Isaiah 37:8-20, “So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth. Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God. Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries, And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only.”

King Hezekiah had good reason to believe that the Lord would be interested in getting involved in what happens between nations. The Lord is involved. He is involved for two reasons. For one reason Jesus is the King of kings. He always decides what happens between nations because Jesus is the final authority. They may not know it, but the rulers of the earth report to Him. Jesus lifts up, and Jesus brings down whom He will when He will. That is why it says in Romans 13:1-7, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.”

The second reason that Hezekiah had to be confident that the Lord would be interested in getting involved with the affairs of the nations of the world is because of what Hezekiah said in Isaiah 37:16 that the Lord “made heaven and earth.” Everything and everyone on the earth belongs to the Lord. What He has created, He maintains and He controls at all levels: at the level of the average person like you and me, and at the level of the kings and rulers and presidents of the nations of the world. It says in Revelation 4:11, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

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