Isaiah 37:15 - Printer Friendly

Hezekiah has received a letter from Sennacherib (Isaiah 37:10) that skillfully promises to destroy the king, Jerusalem, and Judah if they trust the Lord. The Assyrians want Hezekiah to surrender before an attack begins. At this point, It's possible Hezekiah had begun to think his alliance with the Egyptians had paid off (2 Kings 18:19–21). The news was that Sennacherib's attack on Jerusalem had been delayed by the arrival of a second wave of Egyptians to attack him (Isaiah 37:8–9). The letter from Sennacherib made it clear that this was far from over. The threat of utter destruction remained real and imminent. The possibility of surrender remained on the table. The weight of Hezekiah's burden as king must have been enormous.

Unlike so many of the kings of Judah and Israel before him, Hezekiah takes the only immediate action that makes any sense: He prays. He turns immediately to the Lord God of Israel and lays the devastating letter out before his God (Isaiah 37:14).

This is what Hezekiah's father, Ahaz, refused to do. Like Hezekiah, he had a plan to solve an overwhelming problem. In that time, Syria and the northern ten tribes of Israel had joined forces and were coming to destroy Judah. To resolve the situation, Ahaz had made a terrible and foolish alliance with the Assyrians, the greatest threat in the world. The Lord sent Isaiah to tell Ahaz that the Lord, not human effort, would solve the threat from the Israel/Syria alliance. God even offered to show Ahaz a miraculous sign to prove that He would protect Judah. Ahaz refused. He would trust his own plans and not the Lord (Isaiah 7).

Perhaps Hezekiah learned from his father's failure. Instead of refusing the Lord, he asked for God's help when he needed it most.

Isaiah 37:14–20 records Hezekiah's perfect response to recent Assyrian threats (Isaiah 37:10). With no other options, Judah's King Hezekiah falls entirely on God's mercy in prayer and humility. He asks the Lord to respond to King Sennacherib's blasphemy. Hezekiah begs the Lord to save Judah from the Assyrians so that the entire world will see that Israel's God is the only true Lord.

Hezekiah is overcome with grief at news that Sennacherib has mocked the Lord and is coming to destroy Jerusalem. God reassures Hezekiah that the Asyrian king will return home to be killed there. Hezekiah prays in the temple, asking the Lord to defend His name and save Judah. Through Isaiah, the Lord reveals to Hezekiah that Jerusalem will not be touched. Assyria's army won't even have the chance to attack. Responding to their aggression and blasphemy, the "angel of the Lord" virtually wipes out the gigantic Assyrian army overnight. Sennacherib returns home and is later killed by his sons.

Isaiah 37 continues the narrative started in Isaiah 36. Assyrian messengers threaten to bring their enormous, nearby army to take Jerusalem. Hezekiah seeks God in response and is reassured that Jerusalem will not see so much as a single Assyrian arrow. The Lord promises to save the city and make the survivors prosper. The angel of the Lord kills an overwhelming number of Assyrian soldiers overnight. Sennacherib returns home and is eventually killed by his own sons. Hezekiah will then face a serious illness and be granted a brief reprieve by God (Isaiah 38).

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).