Day 206 (Isaiah 37-39, Psalm 76) - Year 4
07:36 Share

Hey Bible Readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. Yesterday when we left off, the leaders of Assyria had come to Judah to threaten all their people. Today we see how Judah's King Hezekiah responds in light of these threats. The very first thing he does in the midst of his distress is go to God. As soon as he hears the news, he goes to the temple. He also trusts God to intervene and rebuke the Assyrians for their words.

Meanwhile, he sends his staff to talk to Isaiah, and Isaiah tells them God is already orchestrating everything to dethrone the king of Assyria, just as Hezekiah hoped, and that he'll die by the sword. Not long after that, the messengers of Assyria send another threatening, mocking letter to Hezekiah, and this time it's especially scary because it seems the Assyrians have already taken all of the major cities of Judah, and now their army surrounds Jerusalem.

And once again, Hezekiah doesn't issue a reply to them. His first stop in the midst of despair is the house of the Lord. He spreads out the letter before God and asks God to intervene. This is a man who knows what God is capable of. He asks for God's deliverance not only because he desires it for himself, but also because he believes it will show that Yahweh alone is the one true God. He asks God to save Judah for God's sake.

Then a really cool thing happens. Hezekiah is in the temple praying, and the next thing we know, Isaiah sends him a message with God's response to that prayer. This would be like, if I pray and ask God what color car I should buy, then my phone rings and it's you calling to say, hey, God told me to tell you silver with black interior, whatever that means. I love it when God works like this.

God also tells Isaiah what he has planned for Assyria's king Sennacherib, and the king will not be able to escape it. In 3726, God says he has already determined what will take place. He planned his actions long ago, and he will accomplish his plan. God has planned for Assyria to have a few victories, but ultimately, he will thwart them. And just like Hezekiah prayed, God says he will save Jerusalem for his sake.

And in keeping with his promise to David, God also promises that Sennacherib and his army won't even enter Jerusalem again. Then in 37, 35 through 36, we have a guest appearance by the angel of the Lord, who is probably God the Son before he comes to earth as Jesus. He kills 185,000 people in the Assyrian army in one night.

After God devastates the Assyrian army and Sennacherib has gone back home, he's worshiping an idol one day and his sons show up to kill him with a sword, just as God promised. In chapter 38, we have a perplexing story. King Hezekiah is sick and Isaiah comes to him and tells him, God says it's time for you to die. Hezekiah is bummed about it and he knows that often when prophets come with bad news, it's God's invitation to repent and avoid the disaster.

So Hezekiah cries out to God and basically says, hey, I've been a really good king and I've honored you. So could you maybe hit snooze on that? Who among us wouldn't pray that prayer? And he has been a good king. Then we have another round of holy telephone where Isaiah brings the answer to the prayer Hezekiah just prayed.

He says, God says you've got another 15 years. And in case you're doubting that he can extend your years, he'll throw some shadows around in a very specific way to prove that he's in control of time itself. So keep your eyes peeled. And one interesting detail in this text is that God identifies himself here as the God of David. We're pretty familiar with seeing him refer to himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So this nuance is significant.

It seems to point to the fact that he's doing this for Hezekiah in keeping with his covenant to David. And just as God promised, shadows get thrown and years get lived. And in that time, Hezekiah makes some good discoveries and some bad decisions. One of his good discoveries was that he realized his own selfishness in certain areas of his life.

In 3817, when he's praying this prayer to God, he says, Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness. But in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction. Hezekiah comes to terms with his own selfish entitlement. He was a great king, but he wasn't without sin. Even the best among us still fall short of God's standards. And Hezekiah confesses the sin and it leads him to praise God all the more for God's goodness.

Now, about that bad decision. It was an easy mistake, right? He gets a friendly letter from a foreign king saying, I heard you were sick. Here's a fruit basket. Then Hezekiah is like, thanks, I'm all better now. You should come for a visit. Then when the king of Babylon arrives, Hezekiah shows him all the gold, opens all the safes, and basically gives him a list of all his passwords and PIN numbers.

Then Isaiah comes to him and is like, you did what? This is no good. They're going to take everything you showed them, and they're also going to kidnap some of your sons. And Hezekiah's response is odd. He affirms Isaiah's prophecy, but deep down he thinks, none of that's going to happen. Everything's going to be fine. He's become prideful. It's possible that what initially looked like naivety when he was displaying all of his riches to Babylon may have actually been arrogance. Maybe he was showing off his wealth.

Regardless, this response to Isaiah shows us that his heart isn't in the same spot as earlier in his reign. Despite, or perhaps because of, God's blessings and protection and provision, Hezekiah's humility has faded. We wrapped with Psalm 76, a corporate worship song praising God for saving Judah from their enemies. What was your God shot today?

I loved seeing the holy telephone thing happen twice in one day's reading, but the thing that really grabbed me was when God declared his sovereignty over what happened with King Sennacherib. In 3726, God said, Have you not heard that I determined it long ago? I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass.

Of course, this would be terrifying if you're a pagan king who is an enemy of God. But for those of us who are his kids, how comforting is this? God has already set his very good plan in motion and he's using it to bless me and glorify himself. And I can't screw it up or derail it.

This sets me all kinds of free. He is working out his plan. We aren't living in a question. We aren't living in an uncertainty. We're living in his plan. We're in it right now. Your life isn't a decision you have to make. It's a secret you get to hear. And it's spoken from the heart of a sovereign, loving God. He's where the joy is.

Tomorrow we begin the second part of Isaiah, so we've included the short video overview that covers the back half of this book. The video is eight minutes long, so check it out if you have a few minutes to spare. The Bible Recap is brought to you by DGroup, discipleship and Bible study groups that meet in homes and churches around the world each week.