Dwell in the Word: Isaiah 36:1-22

Consider these questions as you dwell in Isaiah 36:1-22:

1. In Isaiah 36, King Sennacherib of Assyria challenges the faith of Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem, questioning the power of their God. How does Hezekiah respond to this challenge, and what lessons can we draw from his response when our faith is similarly questioned or challenged in today's world?

2. The Assyrian king boasts about the conquests of his army and questions the effectiveness of other gods in delivering their lands. How does this boastful attitude relate to the pride and arrogance often seen in worldly powers throughout history? What role does faith play in countering such arrogance?

3. When faced with overwhelming odds and threats, Hezekiah's response is to trust in the Lord and remain silent. How can we apply this principle of trust and silence in our own lives when confronted with doubts, fears, or accusations about our faith and God's sovereignty?

Transcript:

And so, as we come to Chapter 36, we see this narrative telling us basically what Isaiah has been prophesying has come to pass. Remember, they were going to trust in the forces, the horses, the armies of Egypt, but it hasn't now done them any good because here is the King of Assyria. There was no protection. Even the forces of Egypt couldn't hold back this Sennacherib, King of Assyria. We see that this is understood here as this messenger comes. We see in verse 6, Behold, you are trusting in Egypt that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it, such as Pharaoh, King of Egypt, to all who trust in him. In other words, has been able to help you, and he's going to turn us back on you, is basically what he's saying. But if you say to me, We trust in the Lord our God, is it not he whose high places and altars has removed saying to Jude and to Jerusalem, You shall worship before this altar. Now, you'll notice there's been some removal of high places. Now, in the pagan worship, they went to the high places.

They went to these altars that were away from the temple, and they worship these pagan gods. That's what pagan worship ultimately was, worshiping at these high places. Whenever a king returned to God, one of the most important things that he could do and was called to do was to remove these high places. Now it's important we've talked about this before that this pagan worship is more than just worshiping a tree or worshiping the wind or worshiping this God. In most cases, there is also a sexual element to it. There is great depravity involved with this because a lot of these false gods were fertility cults, things like this. But anyway, those places, these places of worship that the Assyrian would have assumed had been removed. Instead, Hezekiah is encouraging them to worship God at the temple, not in the high places, but where God has promised to be. He's saying, Look, Hezekiah has said that God is going to save you, but he's removed these extra places of worship, not understanding the Hebrew mode of worship, the sacrificial system, all of these things. He would have thought that God is going to listen to you because Hezekiah has torn down these places of worship.

This dialog continues, and the idea here that comes out at me from this passage is verse 20, Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand. Basically, to paraphrase this is, Look, we've been on a tour, ravaging and destroying and overtaking all these nations, and none of them has stopped us. They've all cried out to their gods. Some of them may have even not torn down their high places and their gods didn't stop me. So, who do you think the Lord is that will be stopped at Jerusalem? Why do you think that God will be able to win victory here? Look at all the power that we have. Who is your God? Now, I think this is where our application comes from today. As we look at the world and as we are seeing things around us that are troubling to us. And while we do see things that are a joy to us as well, but when we see things that are in trouble, the accusation from the world is, Where is your God? If all this is happening, why hasn't He done anything?

Why doesn't he prove himself? Why are you in trouble? Why are you being persecuted if your God is really all powerful and He is in control? Well, we know that God, His strength is made perfect in weakness, that God is a God who uses those circumstances of weakness, those circumstances of oppression to build up his church. I probably have said this, maybe not, but basically the way that the church is growing, we know this from church history, is through the blood of the martyrs. When Christianity is oppressed, when the true faith is oppressed, it grows. God uses it. And so to assume that because things are not going the way we anticipate them going, that God isn't at work is a bad way to approach things. We know that God is sovereign over all things. We know that He works all things together for good for those who love Him. Regardless of the way things seem, we should be trusting that God will deliver us, that while it may seem as though things are bad, God is going to use it. God is going to work things for the good of His people. We can trust that.

And so may we have the faith to do that. May we have the faith that they have here to remain silent. When these accusations come against us, when those doubts come up in our mind, may we remain silent and trust God, regardless of the circumstances of the world, may we know that God is in control and that He is the one who saves His people.