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Scripture Reading: Isa. 36; Isa. 37; Isa. 38; Isa. 39
In the foregoing message we saw, from chapters thirty-six through thirty-nine, what kind of person Hezekiah was. We saw that although he was godly and could pray in a godly manner, he was not a man of God. Furthermore, he was not careful and considerate but hasty, and instead of being for God and God's kingdom, he was for himself and his own interests. Thus, he was not a person who could be trusted to carry out God's purpose. In this message we will consider many of the details in these four chapters.
Isaiah 36:1—37:38 tells us of Hezekiah's seeking after Jehovah for his situation.
In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria went up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. The king of Assyria sent Rab-shakeh to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a great force (36:1-2a). Rab-shakeh said to those who came out to him, "Say now to Hezekiah, Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, What is this confidence in which you trust? I say, It is but a vain word that you say, There is counsel and strength for war. Now on whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? Behold, you have put your trust in the staff of this broken reed, in Egypt; on which, if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it, for so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him" (vv. 4-6).
Rab-shakeh stood and cried out with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said, "Listen to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria: Thus says the king, Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, because he is not able to deliver you; neither let Hezekiah cause you to trust in Jehovah, saying, Jehovah will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria....Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their land out of my hand, that Jehovah should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?" (36:13-15, 20). Then Hezekiah's servants came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of Rab-shakeh (v. 22b).
When Hezekiah heard of the situation, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of Jehovah (37:1). This indicates that he was a godly person.
Hezekiah sent Eliakim, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, who had clothed themselves in sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet (37:2). They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of affliction, rebuke, and contempt, because children have come to the point of birth and there is not enough strength to bring them forth. It may be that Jehovah your God will hear the words of Rab-shakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to reproach the living God, and Jehovah your God will reprove the words which He has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant which is left" (vv. 3-4).
In 37:6 and 7 we have Isaiah's words to the servants of King Hezekiah who had come to him. Isaiah said, "Thus you shall say to your master, Thus says Jehovah, Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he will hear a report and return to his land. And I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land."
In 37:9-11 we read of the enemy's further attack. The king of Assyria heard the report about the king of Ethiopia which said, "He has come to make war with you" (v. 9). When he heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying to him, "Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Indeed, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them thoroughly. And will you be delivered?" (vv. 10-11).
In his further seeking after Jehovah, Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the house of Jehovah, spread the letter before Jehovah, and prayed to Him concerning the enemy's further attack (vv. 14-20). Hezekiah ended his prayer by saying, "O Jehovah our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone are Jehovah" (v. 20).
In 37:22-29 we have the word spoken by Jehovah concerning Sennacherib. Verses 22 and 23 say, "The virgin daughter of Zion/Has despised you and laughed at you;/The daughter of Jerusalem/Has shaken her head at you./Whom have you reproached and reviled;/Against whom have you lifted up your voice/And lifted up your eyes haughtily?/Against the Holy One of Israel." In verse 29 Jehovah says to Sennacherib, "Because your raging against Me/And your arrogance has come up into My ears,/I will put My hook in your nose/And My bridle in your lips,/And turn you back on the way by which you came."
Hezekiah trusted in Jehovah according to His answer to him and won the victory in Jehovah's fulfillment of His answer.
Jehovah said that He would save Jerusalem for His own sake and for the sake of David (37:33-35). This word unveils that Hezekiah was not a weighty, valuable, or precious person in the eyes of God. God would answer the prayer not for Hezekiah's sake but for His own sake and for the sake of David.
Then the angel of Jehovah went out and struck the Assyrians' camp, a hundred and eighty-five thousand. When they arose early in the morning, all of them were dead corpses (v. 36). Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went back to dwell in Nineveh. When he was worshipping in the house of his god, his sons slew him with the sword (vv. 37-38).
In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. Isaiah the prophet came to him and said to him, "Thus says Jehovah, Put your house in order, for you are about to die and will not live" (38:1).
Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to Jehovah. In his prayer he said, "Now, O Jehovah, please remember how I have walked before You in truth, with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in Your sight." And Hezekiah wept many tears (38:3).
The word of Jehovah came to Isaiah, saying, "Go and speak to Hezekiah, Thus says Jehovah, the God of your father David, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; I will add to your life fifteen years" (38:5). As a sign, Jehovah caused the sun's shadow to go back ten steps on the steps on which it had gone down (vv. 8-9).
It is significant that in answering Hezekiah's prayer, the Lord referred to Himself as the "God of your father David." This indicates that in God's consideration Hezekiah had very little credit before Him. All the credit was given either to God Himself or to Hezekiah's forefather David.
Isaiah 38:10-20 is the writing of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, when he was sick and had recovered from his sickness. In verse 21 Isaiah said, "Let them take a lump of figs and rub it upon the boil, and he will live."
As revealed in his writing, Hezekiah's prayer concerning his sickness was commendable. Nevertheless, to pray is one thing, but the way we are in our being may be quite a different thing. For example, in 38:15 Hezekiah said, "I will walk deliberately all my years." The word deliberately in Hebrew means slowly, softly, and humbly, with much consideration. Hezekiah's use of this word indicates that he had learned some lessons from the Assyrians' invasion and from his sufferings in his illness. He realized that he had been too hasty in the past and that his walk had not been so proper in the sight of God. Thus, in his prayer he said that he would walk deliberately all his years. But when the Babylonian visitors came (39:1-2), he did not walk in the way that he had prayed. Instead of walking in a deliberate way, he walked in a hasty way. From this we see that to pray is one thing, but to walk is another thing. Quite often we too pray a good, spiritual, and heavenly prayer. But after our prayer, when the test comes, we do not walk in the way that we prayed.
Hezekiah was for God, but in a selfish way. He prayed a good prayer, but his prayer had the taste of selfishness. In 38:18 and 19 he said, "For Sheol cannot thank You....The living, the living, he will praise You, as I do today." Here Hezekiah asked Jehovah in a selfish way to put him among the living so that he could praise Him. This indicates that he was for God in a selfish way, not in a proper way. This is what we taste in Hezekiah's prayer.
Isaiah 39 shows Hezekiah's failure in the enjoyment of the peaceful situation and sound health.
After he gained the victory in the Lord's healing, Hezekiah faced the test, the temptation, of people's gift. At that time the king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah because he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick and had recovered. Verse 2 says, "Hezekiah was glad for them and showed them his treasury, the silver and the gold, and the spices and the precious oil, and his whole armory and everything which was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them." Although Hezekiah had victoriously passed through the sufferings of the other tests, here he became a failure. He failed in the matters of gifts and self-glorification. It is not easy to overcome the temptation of a gift. It is also not easy to overcome self-glorification. We need to be careful concerning receiving gifts and also concerning self-glorification.
According to 39:3 and 4, Isaiah questioned Hezekiah about the visitors from Babylon. First, Isaiah asked him, "What did these men say? And from where have they come to you?" When Hezekiah answered that they had come from Babylon, Isaiah went on to ask, "What have they seen in your house?" To this Hezekiah replied, "They have seen everything that is in my house; and there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them."
Isaiah charged Hezekiah to hear the word of Jehovah of hosts. Jehovah said to Hezekiah, "Behold, the days are coming when everything which is in your house and which your fathers have laid up as a treasure unto this day will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will be left....And they will take away some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon" (39:6-7).
In verse 8 we have Hezekiah's response to Jehovah's word. Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of Jehovah which you have spoken is good." He also said, "For there will be peace and truth in my days." This indicates that Hezekiah was selfish, caring only for himself.
The factors of Hezekiah's failure include: 1) making a show of what he had, according to his flesh, 2) not being watchful, 3) not seeking after the Lord, 4) not praying, 5) not considering the issue, and 6) caring only for himself, not for God's kingdom on the earth. May we all learn from these factors of Hezekiah's failure.
