How did God destroy an overwhelming threat to Judah? Can He do the same for us? Let’s look at Isaiah 37.
Did Hezekiah king of Judah enter the temple with sack cloth and prayer and seek Isaiah the prophet’s help?
Now it happened that when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of Yahweh. Then he sent Eliakim, who was over the household with Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, reproof, and rejection; for children have come to the point of breaking forth, but there is no strength to give birth. Perhaps Yahweh your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore, lift up a prayer for the remnant that is left.’” (Isa 37:1-4 LSB)
What message did God give Isaiah to pass on to king Hezekiah?
So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. And Isaiah said to them, “This is what you shall say to your master: ‘This is what the Lord says: “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Behold, I am going to put a spirit in him so that he will hear news and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’ (Isa 37:5-7 NASB)
Did Sennacherib the king of Assyria once again threaten Hezekiah king of Judah, bragging about his undefeated conquests?
When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah. Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush, was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?” (Isa 37:8-13 NIV)
Where did Hezekiah go for help, to Egypt or to the Lord?
And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. Then Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying: “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord, You alone.” (Isa 37:14-20 NKJV)
What did God reply to Hezekiah through His prophet Isaiah?
Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you prayed about King Sennacherib of Assyria, the Lord has spoken this word against him: “The virgin daughter of Zion despises you and laughs at you. The daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head in derision as you flee. Whom have you been defying and ridiculing? Against whom did you raise your voice? At whom did you look with such haughty eyes? It was the Holy One of Israel! By your messengers you have defied the Lord. You have said, ‘With my many chariots I have conquered the highest mountains—yes, the remotest peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars and its finest cypress trees. I have reached its farthest heights and explored its deepest forests. I have dug wells in many foreign lands and refreshed myself with their water. With the sole of my foot, I stopped up all the rivers of Egypt!’ ” (Isa 37:21-25 NLT)
How else did God rebuke Assyria through his message to Judah’s king Hezekiah? Would He turn Assyria back from conquering Jerusalem?
Have you not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it in ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be yours to destroy fortified cities, turning them into ruinous heaps. Therefore their inhabitants had little power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the grass of the field, and like the green herb, like the grass on the housetops, and like a field before its crop has grown. But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me. Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook in your nose and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came. (Isa 37:26-29 WEB)
How would Hezekiah know that God has given them victory over Assyria?
Now this will be the sign for you, Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows by itself. Next year you will eat what grows from that. But in the third year, plant seed and harvest it; plant vineyards and eat their fruit. The survivors of Judah’s family who have escaped will put down roots and bear fruit above. Those who remain will go out from Jerusalem, and those who survive will go out from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of heavenly forces will do this.
Therefore, the Lord says this about Assyria’s king: He won’t enter this city. He won’t shoot a single arrow here. He won’t come near the city with a shield. He won’t build a ramp to besiege it. He’ll go back by the same way he came. He won’t enter this city, declares the Lord. I will defend this city and save it for my sake and for the sake of my servant David. (Isa 37:30-35 CEB)
What did God do to the Assyrian army and what did Sennacherib’s sons do to him?
The Lord sent an angel to the camp of the Assyrians, and he killed 185,000 of them all in one night. The next morning, the camp was full of dead bodies. After this, King Sennacherib went back to Assyria and lived in the city of Nineveh. One day he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, when his sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed him with their swords. They escaped to the land of Ararat, and his son Esarhaddon became king. (Isa 37:36-38 CEV)
Should we confess our sins and pray for one another? How effective is prayer under humanly impossible circumstances?
Therefore, make it your habit to confess your sins to one another and to pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:16 ISV)
How did God destroy an overwhelming threat to Judah? Can He do the same for us? You decide!
