Isa 37:1-20 | KingComments | STEP | On hearing the report, great dejection takes hold of Hezekiah. Just as the delegates did, Hezekiah tears his clothes ( ). He expresses his sorrow and humiliation by covering himself with sackcloth. Thus he enters the house of the LORD to seek in his distress the presence of the LORD. However, at the same time he feels a need for the support of Isaiah ( ). Therefore, he sends an envoy to Isaiah made up of some high officials and elders of the priests. Just like Hezekiah, they are covered with sackcloth. Their appearance matches what they have to say to Isaiah. They tell him of the great need in which Jerusalem finds itself. We can connect the “distress” with the feelings of persons, the “rebuke” with what happens to the city and the “rejection” with what is done to the LORD. Distress weighs so hard that there is no strength to deliver ( ). It means that at that critical moment they are helpless and powerless, so that their downfall is certain. But with a cautious “perhaps” they indicate that there may still be a glimmer of hope ( ). There is nothing in their request that indicates a demand or that they believe they have a right to salvation. With this request they acknowledge that they only hope for grace. This is reminiscent of the efficacy of “the Spirit of grace and of supplication” ( ). Their hope lies in the faithfulness of the LORD to Himself and to a remnant chosen by Him (cf. Zechariah 13-14). The enemy has ventured “to reproach the living God” (cf. ). Would Isaiah not want to pray that the LORD, for the honor of His Name, will deliver the remnant from the grip of this enemy? With this message the delegation comes to Isaiah ( ).

‏ Isaiah 37:1-20

Isaiah Is Asked to Intercede

On hearing the report, great dejection takes hold of Hezekiah. Just as the delegates did, Hezekiah tears his clothes (Isa 37:1). He expresses his sorrow and humiliation by covering himself with sackcloth. Thus he enters the house of the LORD to seek in his distress the presence of the LORD.

However, at the same time he feels a need for the support of Isaiah (Isa 37:2). Therefore, he sends an envoy to Isaiah made up of some high officials and elders of the priests. Just like Hezekiah, they are covered with sackcloth. Their appearance matches what they have to say to Isaiah. They tell him of the great need in which Jerusalem finds itself.

We can connect the “distress” with the feelings of persons, the “rebuke” with what happens to the city and the “rejection” with what is done to the LORD. Distress weighs so hard that there is no strength to deliver (Isa 37:3). It means that at that critical moment they are helpless and powerless, so that their downfall is certain.

But with a cautious “perhaps” they indicate that there may still be a glimmer of hope (Isa 37:4). There is nothing in their request that indicates a demand or that they believe they have a right to salvation. With this request they acknowledge that they only hope for grace. This is reminiscent of the efficacy of “the Spirit of grace and of supplication” (Zec 12:10).

Their hope lies in the faithfulness of the LORD to Himself and to a remnant chosen by Him (cf. Zechariah 13-14). The enemy has ventured “to reproach the living God” (cf. 1Sam 17:26). Would Isaiah not want to pray that the LORD, for the honor of His Name, will deliver the remnant from the grip of this enemy? With this message the delegation comes to Isaiah (Isa 37:5).

The Answer of Isaiah

The faith of Hezekiah does not remain unanswered. God never fails to answer anyone who entrusts everything to Him. He promised: “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me” (Psa 50:15). The answer Isaiah has is encouraging. He does not have to pray first, because the LORD has already given him a word that he may give to this envoy (Isa 37:6).

They are allowed to go to Hezekiah with the encouraging message: “Do not be afraid.” Isaiah said the same to Ahaz earlier (Isa 7:4), but unfortunately he did nothing with this encouragement. The word of the prophet only has a powerful effect for those who want to believe.

Hezekiah need not be afraid of all that the messengers of the king of Assyria have said and with which they have blasphemed the LORD. “Because he has stretched out his hand against God and conducts himself arrogantly against the Almighty” (Job 15:25), he will soon learn how foolish it is to fight against the Almighty. The LORD will simply put an end to the siege. He will simply ensure that this hostile king will hear a rumor that will bring him back to his land (Isa 37:7; cf. Pro 21:1). There he will come to his end. So powerful is the LORD and so powerless is this king.

Once More Rabshakeh

After the, apparently negative, reaction of Hezekiah to the threatening boast of Rabshakeh, Rabshakeh returns to his lord to report to him (Isa 37:8). The king of Assyria then finds himself with an army in Libnah. After the report of Rabshakeh, the king would certainly have gone against Jerusalem if he had not heard a rumor, so he doesn’t go up (Isa 37:9) together with the army that is already around Jerusalem to take the city. This is a fulfillment of the first part of the promise of the LORD in Isa 37:7.

What the king still does is to make it clear once more to Hezekiah that he should not cherish the illusion that Jerusalem will be spared (Isa 37:10). In the previous chapter he accuses Hezekiah of deceiving his people; now he goes even further and accuses God of deceiving Hezekiah. Now he tries again to undermine the faith of Hezekiah by writing to him that his trust in his God will prove to be useless. Surely, Hezekiah has heard that no one has been able to withstand the kings of Assyria, hasn’t he (Isa 37:11)? So he must not think that he will be saved.

The word “behold” means that what the king now says are facts that everyone knows. The king’s persuasive argument consists of concrete facts which can all be traced. All the gods of those peoples have not benefited those peoples (Isa 37:12). To Sennacherib, the God of Israel is no different than all the other gods. Let Hezekiah tell him where all the kings of those conquered nations are (Isa 37:13). Hezekiah will share in their fate.

With the exception of the living God, Sennacherib’s argumentation is strong and irrefutable. But the exception is no small thing. That the God of Israel, the living God Who created heaven and earth, is no more than the idols of other peoples, is the biggest mistake Sennacherib and with him the rest of the world can make. The king of Assyria will soon learn the difference between the dead idols of the nations and the living God whom Hezekiah trusts.

The Prayer of Hezekiah

The king of Assyria sent the message of the previous verses in writing to Hezekiah. When Hezekiah has taken in the contents, he goes to the temple again (Isa 37:14; Isa 37:1). At the beginning of the threat Hezekiah also went to the temple, but then to take the gold from it and give it to Sennacherib to buy off the threat (2Kgs 18:15-16). Now it says that he ‘goes up to the house of the LORD’ to present his need to the LORD.

First he spreads out the letter before the LORD, as it were, to let Him read them. Then he prays and presents his need to the LORD (Isa 37:15). He makes his problem a problem of the LORD. The prayer that Hezekiah pronounces is one of the most beautiful expressions of a burdened heart that we find recorded in Scripture. The prayer is short and purposeful. It is pure in its words.

He begins to pronounce the greatness of the LORD (Isa 37:16). With that greatness every earthly opposition will be diminished to nothing. Not that Hezekiah sees no longer difficulties now. He asks this great God not to remain blind and deaf to his supplication. He asks the LORD not to let all the pruning words that Sennacherib has spoken about Him pass Him by. After all, are they words with which “the living God” is reproached (Isa 37:17). Hezekiah is not concerned with what has been said to him personally, but with what has been said to the LORD. Hezekiah knows the LORD as the living God (cf. Isa 37:4). That makes an enormous difference with the gods of the nations, because they are all dead idols.

Hezekiah does not belittle the victories of the kings of Assyria (Isa 37:18). He does not close his eyes to the facts and acknowledges what is true in the words of the enemy. However, the fact that their gods were unable to save them is no wonder to him. They are gods you can throw into the fire because they are gods made by human hands (Isa 37:19). Let God now show His majesty by delivering His helpless people from the power of the king of Assyria (Isa 37:20). That will be a testimony to all kingdoms of the earth that the LORD alone is God! Hezekiah seeks the salvation of the nations.