Wednesday Bible Study: Drive-by Isaiah part 10

 

Okay, you have gotten the point by now:  God has painted for Israel a picture of what is to come, both of the Jews who refuse their God and the godless who attack them, and the New Earth to be shared by the faithful.  He has shown the picture's reliability by showing prophecies that, by our time, have been fulfilled, so that we know this can be trusted.

We have seen that disaster awaits those who deny God and do their own thing; we have seen wonderful help and healing to those who come through this judgment:

Isa 35:8  And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
Isa 35:9  No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there.
Isa 35:10  And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. 

 

So now I'm jumping ahead of the poetic revelations to the historical portion of our show.  If you recall, one of the last prophecies was that Jerusalem was going to be shaken from their complacency "within a year"- and right on time, the narrative starting in chapter 36 brings in Assyria and the generals of Sennacherib.  The first thing you note the city leaders are told by the invaders is just what Isaiah has been telling them all this time:

Isa 36:4  And the Rabshakeh said to them, "Say to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours?
Isa 36:5  Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me?
Isa 36:6  Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

Note that phrase about 'mere words', referring to Egypt, described last time as "the open mouth that doesn't move".  Once again, here's Satan putting in just enough truth to weaken the faith of the believer.  But Rabshakeh (which is a title that translates to 'chief butler' and probably means he is the "head commissar" of the Army) oversteps in his opinion of the God of Judah:

Isa 36:7  But if you say to me, "We trust in the LORD our God," is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, "You shall worship before this altar"?

Isa 36:18  Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, "The LORD will deliver us." Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
Isa 36:19  Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
Isa 36:20  Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'" 

He mistakes the heathen gods as 'equals' to the God of Israel.  So many unbelievers make this same mistake- atheists who, when challenged with God's logic, declare Him equal with the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus.  God has an answer for both:

Isa 37:33  "Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it.
Isa 37:34  By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the LORD.
Isa 37:35  For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David."
Isa 37:36  And the angel of the LORD went out and struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
Isa 37:37  Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh.
Isa 37:38  And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword. And after they escaped into the land of Ararat, Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place. 

 

Not surprisingly, while Sennacherib's historians recorded the siege, they never mentioned what happened next.  There were 20 years or so between the defeat of the invasion and the death of Sennacherib.

Now, you might think- or might not, depending how good an observer of mankind you are- that this would have taught the Israelites several lessons on faithfulness and listening to the local prophet.  But, right after the Assyrians were defeated....

Isa 38:1  In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, "Thus says the LORD: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover."

Hezekiah pleaded with God, and because of his prayer, he miraculously received another fifteen years of life.  Apparently of some note because he stood against Sennacherib, word of his healing came to the Babylonian rebel known in the Bible as Merodach-Baladin (to history as Marduk-apla-iddina II) sent a letter to him congratulating him on his recovery and sending some of his lackeys on a visit.  Again, here is a nation who Isaiah has ALREADY TOLD Israel that they would destroy them; but did Hezekiah pay attention?

Isa 39:2  And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. And he showed them his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. 

So imagine if you will, you have been warned of something- a danger to you and all you love.  And for the price of a little flattery, you allow this danger into your home.   You wouldn't do this if we were talking about a mass murderer or a escaped criminal.  So why would you do it, why do you do it, in matters of faith?

Isa 39:3  Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, "What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?" Hezekiah said, "They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon."
Isa 39:4  He said, "What have they seen in your house?" Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them."
Isa 39:5  Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD of hosts:
Isa 39:6  Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD.
Isa 39:7  And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon."

In fact, his son Manassah, who would have a fifty-year reign of terror as king, even having Isaiah murdered, would be taken in chains to Babylon until he repented; While his son Amon would then try to surpass his father's evil, Manasseh would apparently teach his grandson Josiah to be a better man and ruler.  But that's coming up; What strikes you next is Hezekiah's sudden change of attitude:

Isa 39:8  Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, "The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good." For he thought, "There will be peace and security in my days."

That's right, as long as I live in peace, who cares what happens to the next generation, they're on their own, right?