Dwell in the Word: Isaiah 37:1-20

Think on these questions as you dwell in Isaiah 37:1-20:

1. Hezekiah's response to the Assyrian threat includes acknowledging the sovereignty and power of the one true God, contrasting Him with the false idols of other nations. How can we apply this principle in our lives today when faced with challenges or doubts about our faith?

2. Hezekiah prays for God to save his people not only for their sake but also so that "all the kingdoms of the Earth may know that you alone are the Lord." How can our own experiences of God's deliverance serve as a testimony to the world and lead others to acknowledge God's sovereignty?

3. In a world filled with various idols and false gods, Hezekiah's prayer emphasizes the uniqueness and power of the God of Israel. How can we help others recognize the futility of idols and guide them toward a relationship with the true and living God?

Transcript:

So, this story continues, and it's an interesting one, isn't it? We had this Rabshakeh come and deliver this message. And basically, it was making a mockery of God. It was equating him to all the false idols of the other nations because this king of Assyria is saying, Hey, they thought their gods were going to save them. You're going to end up the same. Your God is not going to be able to save you. And so we hear, as we come to chapter 37, that King Hezakiah heard all this. And what did he do? He goes into a mourning mode. He tears his clothes. He covers himself with sack cloth, and he went to the house of the Lord. This is a sign of submission. This is a sign of him realizing he has no hope within himself. He knows that he is not going to stop the King of Assyria on his own. And so he sends these messengers to Isaiah. And so we see that he is asking for God to rescue him. He's asking for God to take care of this. Notice that he understands that this is making a mockery of the living God.

He is saying to God, I need you to come. I need you to prove. You need to rescue your people. And so what do we have here? We have Isaiah telling them, Don't listen to this. Well, where I want us to focus today is the response of Hezakiah from hearing a repeat of this message. What happened? These messengers come and they repeat the message, Your God is going to be no different than the gods of these other lands. But what this king has, this kaya, acknowledged? This is what is important. This is huge. We see this in verse 15 as it starts, O Lord of God, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, and thrown above the cherubim, you are the God. You alone, of all the kings of the Earth, you have made heaven and earth. Now, that's an important statement. That is a monotheistic statement. In a time where there are pagans everywhere, there's this pluralistic society, for lack of a better way to describe it. Here, Hezekiah is confessing monotheism, isn't he? That you're the one who made heaven and earth. And all these other ones, they're nothing. And so what does He do?

He says, Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear, open your eyes, O Lord, and see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which is sent to mock the living God. And so he is making this plea to God. He's confessing who God is, but he's also acknowledging before God that these things are being said are making a mockery of who you are. And so he also acknowledges, Hey, the Kings of Assyria, verse 18, The Kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Again, this confession of the true and living God. And so what does Hezekiah say? So now, O Lord of God, save us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the Earth may know that you alone are the Lord. This rescue that he is expecting is to be a witness to the nations that the God of Israel is the Lord of heaven and earth. This is a witness to who he is and his power. As we think about this, we've talked about idol and idolatry a lot through this book of Isaiah, haven't we?

But here we see this wonderful reminder as we build up idol, whether it's within ourselves or we see the idol that the world falls before, none of them have any power. The only thing that has the power to change anything is the living God, the one who made heaven and earth. So may we continually try to put those things aside. May we reject false teaching. May we reject false idol. May we reject false gods. And may we hope that as we do this and as the hand of God is evident, may we be given opportunities to testify to His goodness. May we be given opportunities to say, Look, there is one God, and one of the reasons that we know who He is is He has come in His son, and He is able to solve the problem that we have. As we look around the world, there's no other place where the problems of people are truly solved. What is our problem? That we are dead in sin, that we are corrupt, that we are depraved. There's only one place that we can find this answer, that God in Christ has come, and He has defeated all the idols of the world.

He has cast them down, and He is now ascended to the right-hand of the Father. This is what we ultimately celebrate at Christmas, that the true God has come and taken care of the real problem that we have, and that is our sin. And so may we pray during this advent season as it leads up to Christmas, may we remember this prayer of Hezekiah, that we have been saved by the hand of God from our greatest enemy. So may now all the kingdoms of the earth know that the Lord alone is God. May that be the testimony of our forgiveness of sins that God has given us in Christ, and may it be a message that we share with the world.