Isaiah 36-37 YOUR ARM S TOO SHORT TO BOX WITH GOD 9/16/12 Introduction: A. A snake in the grass a very big snake in the grass that s what Sennacherib, king of Assyria, was 700 years before Christ. Like a boa constrictor. A ssserpent. He hadn t been king long when he set out to conquer. His armies swept westward from Nineveh and then south, knocking off one little kingdom after another. His armies were brutal and those he conquered he carried into exile, often with hooks in their noses. His military goal was Egypt, so he had initially bypassed Jerusalem because it was out of the way. However, Sennacherib s own records, still preserved, boast that he conquered 46 cities in Judah the area around Jerusalem, roughly the size of a small county to us. He utterly crushed to ashes the gateway fortress of Lachish, a victory he is celebrating in this famous relief unearthed from his palace, still bragging after all these years! Then he decided he needed to go back a mop up that nuisance hold-out, King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. Hezekiah was king of Judah, and therefore of Jerusalem. He had been king for 14 years. Twenty years before other Assyrians had conquered and carried into exile the ten tribes of Israel just north of Judah, and now Judah seemed defenseless. Hezekiah had allied himself with Egypt, which was ultimately useless, and according to 2 Kgs 18 Hezekiah had even cleaned out Judah s treasury to pay Sennacherib a crushing tribute so that he d leave Judah alone. But like I said, Sennacherib was a snake in the grass, a ssserpent. He took the money, and then marched against Jerusalem anyway. Today, in Is 36-37, we step into that drama. B. This isn t primarily a political or military story; it is a story about the do-or-die battle that God s people face again and again against that serpent Satan and all who take their cues from his arrogant opposition to the one true God. 1
You ve heard the story how Sennacherib send his field commander to Jerusalem to intimidate Judah into surrendering. I. OUR ENEMY INVADES OUR LIVES TO TAUNT AND TEST OUR TRUST IN THE LORD (36:1-21) A. Hezekiah didn t deserve this. He was as good a king as there is in the Bible. Listen to 2 Kgs 18:5-6: Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. He wasn t perfect, to be sure. That alliance with Egypt, and that budget-busting tribute to pay off Sennacherib showed more political savvy than faith, but he had trusted the Lord, publicly and faithfully, for 14 years. It had been an uphill battle given the spiritually blind and deaf people of his shrinking kingdom. That s why God had allowed Assyria to pose such a threat. Hezekiah had been godly and faithful and still this happened. God sometimes brings even his most faithful people to the brink of despair. And there, Satan waits to taunt and test our souls. B. In this story, Sennacherib s field commander delivers this message in 36:4-5 It was no secret that Hezekiah had long put his faith in the LORD God of Israel. I imagine the Jews had their own equivalents of the songs we sang this morning: Our God Is Greater, The Battle Belongs to the Lord, and A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. Hoorah! Well and good, says the enemy s field commander, but now it is time for a reality check. And you ve got nothing. Leaning on Egypt will leave you blood-handed, and as for leaning on God, your king actually tore down worship centers so where are you going to go to pray? Even if we gave you the horses you couldn t stop one of my corporals! You got nothing! And, by the way, the God you trust he sent us. 2
(Which was true, in a way. That s exactly what God s prophets had been warning the Jews would happen.) That is the classic psychological warfare of Satan. Soulological warfare, designed to break the soul of the trusting. C. Sshhhh!! The people will hear you! said Hezekiah s emissaries in v.11 who needed a little more coaching in negotiations. Good! They better listen, because they ll soon resort to eating their own waste if you don t surrender. Then the commander shouts to all those Jews watching from the walls: vv.13-15 Four times he says, Don t listen to Hezekiah! He sweet-talks them: Yes, we ll carry you away, but you ll love it in Assyria! We even have Whole Foods! (It s there in v.17.) Satan is always ready to offer us a home away from home. D. But look at v.21 They could ve lost the spiritual battle right there, but they obeyed their king. II. WHEN THE ENEMY IS IN YOUR FACE, LOOK TO THE LORD (37:1-20) A. 36:22-37:2 Why did they tear their clothes or put on sackcloth? Rags are the work clothes of beggars. That s what we wear when we have nothing. Hezekiah went as a beggar to God in the temple and his emissaries when to Isaiah, the prophet of God, as beggars for the word of the Lord. Hezekiah s message to Isaiah analyzed the situation with spiritual precision (v.3): This is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. Hezekiah saw what most people miss. The Assyrians weren t their problem. The Jews themselves were the problem. Remember that famous line from the Pogo comic strip, We have met the enemy and he is us. The distress they were in was of their own making because they would not listen to the Lord. This attack was actually 3
the rebuke of the Almighty, not the Assyrians. Their sin brought this national disgrace. The day had come when they needed to be delivered, and they no longer had the spiritual muscle or endurance to bear life. Not all our crises are the result of our sin. Job s wasn t, nor were the attacks on the early church, for example. But Isaiah here reminds us just how often sin and compromise have left God s people in humiliating helplessness, so we come as beggars to God. B. Look at the rest of the Hezekiah s message to Isaiah in v.4 Twice in the verses that follow God will call Sennacherib s ridicule blasphemy. There s a word we don t use! In fact, about the only time you hear it is when militant Muslims use it as reason for their rampages. Blasphemy is ridiculing the Almighty God. Blasphemy is the stealing his honor. Blasphemy is mocking God. The Assyrians ridiculed the idea that God could be depended upon, that he was greater than they were in all their military might, that God could stop their juggernaut. So how did Hezekiah and the Jews respond? They challenged God himself to do something about it. When the enemy attacks you, focus your energies and prayers on God s honor, because Satan always blasphemes the LORD. And God loves it when we pray that he will defend his holy name. C. Isaiah listens to Hezekiah s message his prayer, really and immediately delivers God s answer: 37:5-7 It almost feels offhanded, doesn t it? Like God saying, Pfft. The Assyrians are no big deal. Here s what ll happen. According to v.9 Sennacherib did indeed receive a report that a key Egyptian king was heading north to meet him. I don t understand the politics here, but Sennacherib steps up the pressure on Jerusalem because he apparently has changed his mind about attacking Egypt and wants to head for home. But he has to mop of 4
Jerusalem first. So Sennacherib himself sends a blasphemous message to Hezekiah: v.10 Look what Hezekiah does in v.14 When the enemy threatens, spread out his threats before the LORD in prayer. The believers battles are always decided when we pray. This prayer is magnificent. What do you see that makes it great? (Read with me) vv.15-20 By articulating what he knows about God, Hezekiah builds a foundation for his faith. Then he puts his finger on God s own interest that the blind, deaf, dying world is getting a completely wrong idea about the only God who can save them, and it must stop! I m going to stop preaching for a moment and pray, taking my cues from this prayer, but putting it into my own words. Not because my words are better, but because when we put what we see here into our own words we make sure we know what we re praying. LORD Almighty, no other god is strong at all and you are Almighty. You are the God of Israel God of all who are your chosen people, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. You showed us in the Ark of the Covenant that you are enthroned between mighty angels; Isaiah saw you high and lifted up attended by mighty angels who ever adore you saying, Holy, holy, holy is the LORD God Almighty. And there, too, is the mercy seat, stained with the blood of the Lamb sacrificed for our forgiveness. Were it not for that mercy, Lord, we would not dare stand before you. LORD, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. No matter how many other gods are worshipped by the well-intentioned, no matter who else people pray to anywhere in the world, you are the one and only God, here and everywhere. Every kingdom and country on this earth is yours and no one else s. You made heaven and earth. You are the King because you are the Creator and Sustainer of everything. No one else. No one greater. 5
So LORD, I beg you in the rags of repentance, even as a pauper begs for food, that you would listen to the way the wicked ridicule your name. It impoverishes us all! They lie to all the world. Listen to the arrogant ways the wicked say that you can t defend those who depend on you. Listen to them say that you are really on their side. Listen to the ways they twist your truth into lies that frighten your people. Listen to the way they make you out to be no more powerful than wooden idols and religious symbols. Listen, LORD, and stop them! LORD, our enemy is indeed mighty. He has left a trail of destruction, defeat, and slavery wherever he goes. We are no match for him. We have no defense but you. Now, LORD our God, deliver us from his hand. Surely, God, we want to be saved and blessed instead of destroyed, but there is a greater reason: so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, LORD, are the only God. Thinking anything else robs you of your glory, Almighty God. Anything else insults your honor. Save us so people everywhere can see just what a merciful, powerful God you are. Our world will be unbearable and out of control unless you act. What happens when we pray like that? Well, sometimes we wait. Like the Israelites sitting on the wall. We wait and pray and trust. Remember the challenge: On whom are you depending? But III. THE LORD WILL HAVE THE LAST WORD (37:21-38) In v.21 Isaiah sends God s message back to Hezekiah, Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, this is the word the LORD has spoken against him. We cannot go through this carefully, but let me capture what God says when we pray as Hezekiah did. A. Look at v.22b You re so pathetic, Assyria, that my beautiful young fiancé, Jerusalem, tosses her curls and mocks you as you run home like a whipped pup. God says, You were way out of your league. Everything you did, I 6
ordained, and when you raged against me, I took you under control like a wild horse. I will put a hook in your nose, like you have done to your captives, and I will march you home in humiliating disgrace. We who depend on God will see God humiliate those who defied him. B. Vv.30-32 Their devastated land would soon be fertile and fruitful again, and what s more, so would they as the faithful remnant of God s people. We who depend on God will bear fruit from even devastated soil. C. Vv.33-35 We who depend on God will see him defend and save us, because his name is on the line, and because he has promised that his King will reign forever and ever. Conclusion Back in Is. 10, a whole chapter about the future demise of Assyria, God had promised in 10:16, The LORD, the LORD Almighty, will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors. And that is exactly what happened: vv.36-37 Fast forward 20 years, and this is how the arrogant Sennacherib met his Maker: v.38 So, when the threats come, when the enemy has you surrounded and there is no earthly reason for hope, on whom are you depending? 7