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Home , Isaiah 37

37:1-38 in the Temple 5/23/2021

Sometimes it is difficult to understand why God does what He does when He does it. Or, more often, we wonder why God does not do what we what Him to when we want Him to do it. Why do terrible things happen? Why do calamities come? And then God must rescue us from the predicament? And isn’t it He who allows the whole mess in the first place. The story before us in Isaiah 37 is instructive.

The Lord delivers His people for His glory. “God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5 The first 36 chapters of Isaiah have prepared us for this moment. Are you ready to learn about God, and us, and how God works on our behalf and reveals Himself? Isaiah 37 opens amid disaster.

From the end of the reign of King and through the reigns of King Jotham, King , and now King Hezekiah, Isaiah has been predicting this moment. And God never lies. :17-25 :7-10 :24-27 The reason that this moment has come is simple and also central to Isaiah’s message. God’s people have turned from Yahweh Elohim, the Lord God, and followed after idols. They have rebelled against their maker. They have broken the laws of His covenant. They have become corrupted by sin and the world. :10-15 God is sick of them. Isaiah 1:16-17 They are required to repent and walk in God’s ways. :9-13 They will not listen to God, see, or understand. Therefore, Judgment has arrived at their gates.

I. The day of distress, rebuke, and rejection Isaiah 37:1-13 In we have seen that the King of , , has led his army to the gates of . He has sent his ambassador, , to taunt and threaten the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The message is this: Surrender. Your alliances with cannot save you. Give up. You know that your God has allowed us to come and destroy you. Don’t trust in your God, Yahweh. No gods have been able to save anyone from the Assyrian army. Rabshakeh doesn’t know it yet, but this is a real problem for him and the Assyrians. Because he has made this moment a battle between the king of Assyria and the King of the Universe. Make your peace with us and we will take good care of you. And Hezekiah’s response is this, “Don’t say a word.” Why? It is time to seek God. When you are at the end of your rope. When all is falling apart… It is time to talk to God and not people. Or, rather, Hezekiah seeks out the one man who can help him talk to God. Someone who has God’s ear.

He goes into the Temple, covered with repentance, and sends his priest to Isaiah with a message. (vss. 1-4) “the Lord your God” = Hezekiah may feel as though he doesn’t really know God. Isaiah answers with God’s words, “Fear not. The Assyrian king is going away.” (vss. 5-7) Just as God said, the Assyrian king packs up and leaves. (vss. 8-9) “But,” Rabshakeh explains in a letter, “his army is still there and there is no one who can deliver Jerusalem.” And, so, Hezekiah and Jerusalem remain in a terrible predicament. II. Hezekiah’s Prayer: Desperation Isaiah 37:14-20 So now, Hezekiah prays. Not Isaiah. Not his priest. He goes into the Temple and talks to God himself. He is the king over a sinful people. He might not know God very well. He certainly is not qualified to speak to God. He is no Moses. But he is desperate, and he is the king. There is no one else. God has brought him to this point.

Think with me about moments like this in our lives… what God does, and what we must do. The people of Jerusalem and are a picture of us. When we read the OT prophets, these people are the ones we are meant to relate to. We ignore God and go chasing after idols and living in our sins and selfishness. Maybe we have trusted in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord but now have wandered away. Maybe we never really believed and submitted our lives to Him. You might be sitting here today, and you feel like you are on the road away from God but surviving. You are managing your sin. Catastrophe has not arrived at your gate. I tell you this: It is time to repent and talk to God and get right with God. Seek Him again. Get help to do so. Reach out to an Isaiah in your life. If you don’t you probably will fake repent and continue down that road. You might be sitting here today, and you feel like you are at the end of the road. Because of your sin and painful circumstance, you see no hope and no one to rescue. I say to you: God has brought you here for His glory and for your good. It is time to pray… to really pray. God wants to rescue you. If you truly humble yourself, repent of sin, get right with God… He will rescue you.

Notice the nature of Hezekiah’s prayer: vs. 16 He confesses God as God, the only God, the ruler of all, the creator. vs. 17 He asks God to listen to the assault of God’s enemies upon God’s reputation. “They reproach You!” vss. 18-19 He describes the terrible threat to God’s people. vs. 20 He asks God to deliver His people. He asks God to do it for God’s glory. This is the way that Moses prayed, that Joshua prayed, that the disciples pray in Acts 4. God sends His answer by way of Isaiah.

III. God’s Answer: Defense of His glory Isaiah 37:21-35 Listen carefully to God’s words and how He answers: vss. 22-23 You have despised and mocked God’s own precious people. When you attack God’s people, you actually are attacking God, the Holy one of Israel vss. 24-25 You think that you have done all these things, conquests, infrastructure… yourself! It is your pride and arrogance, Assyrians, that has made God angry. vss. 26-28 I, God, am really the one who has allowed all these things. I am in control. I, God know everything. I know what you say about Me. vs. 29 Therefore I am going to turn you and your army right around. It won’t even be hard. You’re all going home. vss. 30-32 To those in Jerusalem: In a couple of years you’ll be right back to farming and living. A remnant will survive. The Lord of Hosts will accomplish this. vss. 33-35 About the Assyrians: They are not going to besiege the city. They won’t enter the city. They are all going home because the Lord, for His sake, is going to defend Jerusalem.

But God will not defend us for His glory unless we humble ourselves and repent and obey Him as God. It is the humble repenting sinner who seeks God that God rescues. And His glory shines through that person.

IV. God’s Action: Deliverance Isaiah 37:36-38 It is an amazing moment in history. This vast army quits and goes home. Why? God answered the prayer of one desperate man.