B24-devotions

Isaiah 36:13-22

Devotions for Tuesday 17th June

It is fascinating to follow the action of a genuine set of events in Old Testament times, but we must not be carried away and forget that the story has a purpose. Yesterday, in the first part of the Commander’s speech, ‘trust in the Lord’ was an important theme. Today, the same theme remains central, but it is a theme under pressure from a godless man who sought to play god with God, and dominate the people of Jerusalem; and the Lord eventually had an answer to that.

13 Then the Commander in Chief took his stand and shouted out in a loud voice in the Hebrew language: ‘Hear the words of the great king, the King of Assyria! 14 This is what the king says: “Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. 15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord by saying, ‘The Lord will surely deliver us. This city will not be handed over to the King of Assyria.’ 16 Do not listen to Hezekiah. For this what the King of Assyria says: Make a peace treaty with me and surrender to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine and fig tree, and drink the water of his own cistern, 17 until I come and take you to a land like your own, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 So do not let Hezekiah mislead you by saying, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamish and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? When did they deliver Samaria from my hand? 20 Which of all the gods of these lands has rescued their lands from my hand? Will the Lord now deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”’

21 But they remained silent and did not answer him a word, for the king (Hezekiah) had commanded them not to answer him. 22 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah (the master of the palace), Shebna (the secretary), and Joah son of Asaph (the recorder), came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and reported the words of the Commander in Chief.

To read more about this passage of scripture: go to the Bible study page

To read the questions and discipleship challenges for this text: go to the discipleship page

Glorious Lord, You know the answers to our questions before they are ever asked. Help us when we struggle to ask you for help, when we search for the answers You have already given, and when we strive to accomplish what You have told us to do! Be merciful to us Lord, for we long to be a people who demonstrate faith and show zeal for the Gospel. AMEN

Every day, Lord Jesus, is a gift of Yours;

A gift containing many gifts.

A gift of time to use for what is right;

A gift of opportunities to take and explore;

A gift of space to fill with good things;

A gift of love which longs to be shared;

A gift of light in which to see things anew;

A gift of fellowship to enjoy with others;

A gift of care to lavish on those who need it.

Every day, Lord Jesus, is a gift of Yours;

A gift containing many gifts.

Weekly Theme: The Bible

Pray today about how the Bible is understood and used by people in church. Pray that the Holy Spirit will open up God’s Word so that people come to love and respect its truths.

On-going prayers

Pray about oil prices rises which have affected the world economy
Pray for your local fire brigade
Praise God for all forms of renewal in the church around the world

Going Deeper: (what you will find on the Bible study page)

For the full Bible study, click link above,

or for a brief review, scroll page down.

This reading is the second half of a speech by the Commander in Chief of the Assyrian army, speaking outside Jerusalem with the authority of the king of Assyria. As we read the speech and the remaining verses which describe the response of King Hezekiah’s servants, it is certainly dramatic. Jerusalem’s future hung in the balance, a small city state isolated by an army which had conquered vast swathes of countryside for hundreds of miles to the North and East, and beyond the Jordan River as far as Babylon. There is little that can be said, Jerusalem was a lost cause; she stood defenceless before a ferocious enemy with little help available from the only ally who might have helped if she wished to, Egypt, which at that time was not interested in politics beyond her boundaries. All hope had gone, except, that is, the hope of the people of Jerusalem in their Lord and God.

This passage of scripture is not placed here in Isaiah as a factual record; the same story is found in 2 Kings 18:28-37 where it is set out for this very purpose. In Isaiah, as we discovered yesterday, we must read the story differently. What the Commander in Chief said to King Hezekiah’s servants confirmed to people of later years that Isaiah was right in his prophecies about the Assyrians, and because of this, his prophecies about other things such as the coming of the Messiah as a suffering servant (see ch.53) were also valid.

How does this work out in our reading? The story line follows on from the first half of the chapter, in which the Commander in Chief of the Assyrian army came to Jerusalem, took up a commanding position (controlling the water – see 36:2) and challenged the people in Jerusalem, undermining any trust they might have in King Hezekiah, their God, their politics and their military ability (36:4-10). Despite King Hezekiah’s work to reform the worship of God in Judah (2 Chron 29-31), this challenge by the Commander in Chief fulfilled Isaiah’s haunting prophecy ‘shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols what I have done to Samaria and her images?’ (10:11 – for the details of all this and its timing, see yesterday’s study).

In this second speech by the Commander (36:13-20), he sought to spread further dissent amongst those in Jerusalem, refusing to negotiate privately with King Hezekiah. He spoke to place uncertainty in people’s hearts; firstly suggesting that Hezekiah would deceive them (36:14); then saying that if they surrendered now they would gain their freedom, but added they would later be moved off their lands to start again elsewhere (36:16)! He even suggested to the people that they could have a better life in Assyria (36:17)! Finally, he sowed the seeds of doubt about God’s ability to defend his people. He had begun this earlier (36:10) by claiming that he was doing the Lord’s will! But now he dismissed the Lord as no greater than the gods of other nations (36:18-20).

This insult clearly bruised the three representatives of Hezekiah (36:21,22). However, Isaiah had specifically said that Assyria, although used by the Lord in judgement against Judah and Jerusalem, sought to vaunt itself higher than God (see 10:13-16), and for that, it would be punished; and a remnant of God’s people would survive (10:20f.) their ‘terror’. Those chosen by God to do His will should not raise themselves up to claim a higher position than God Himself, either then, or now. For all the suffering of the people of Judah and Jerusalem, people of later years who read Isaiah’s prophecies and sought to confirm the truth of what he had said, had their proof in the Commander’s own words.