ISAIAH 29-37 BECAUSE YOU PRAYED2013 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Isaiah 29-37 Because You Prayed

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2013. We'll be working our way through Isaiah 29 through 37 this evening, covering the chapters that we read this week, going through the Bible in three years. And as we go through the Bible, we're right in the beginning, really, of the major prophets as we're working our way through the prophet Isaiah.

We're going to get into Jeremiah and also his book of Lamentations as we go forward, and then Ezekiel and Daniel. But we're beginning the prophetic works and really looking at what God is speaking to the nation through the prophets.

The book of Isaiah was written by Isaiah. It's his words that God spoke through him. And he ministered from about 745 to 695 BC during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, and then also Manasseh. He also was prophesying alongside or during the same time as Hosea and Micah. And we'll get to see those guys later on as we head into the minor prophets towards the end of this year.

The timeline of Isaiah, just to kind of refresh your memory and help us understand the context of what's going on, around 933 BC, Israel was divided into two nations. At one time, it was united under Saul and David and then Solomon. But after Solomon, it split into two nations. They kind of had a disagreement, a civil war between them. And so the northern kingdom kept the name Israel. The southern kingdom took the name Judah. And ever since that point...

Israel and Judah have been on a downward spiral of rebellion against God. And so God has been raising up oppressors against both the northern and the southern kingdom. He's been using Assyria. And so we see on there, 84 BC or so, Assyria rises to power and comes against both Israel and Judah.

And then we see a couple of the different kings that reign in there. The chapters that we're looking at this evening really fall in the time frame of after 726 when Hezekiah begins to reign. The prophecies that Isaiah is giving here is during the reign of Hezekiah,

And so 722 is when Assyria conquered the northern kingdom. And so Isaiah is prophesying along that time as well as a little bit after that we'll be looking at this evening. And so that corresponds historically with 2 Kings chapters 17 through 19. And so if you want to see that historical context, you can check that out in 2 Kings.

Here's what it looks like on the timeline. So you can see the prophet Isaiah ministering there. The northern kingdom did not last as long as the southern kingdom. They had no good kings. They were in constant rebellion since the beginning. And so they were conquered first.

As a result of the judgment of God for their rebellion. And so Isaiah is prophesying to the southern kingdom. But while the northern kingdom is experiencing this judgment. And it's being used as a good illustration to remind the nation of Judah their need of repentance. And to turn back to the Lord.

Well, as we look at the geography of the prophet Isaiah, here on the left, you see the divided kingdom. And so this is kind of where the boundaries were when it was first divided. Now, by this time, as Isaiah is prophesying, again, the northern kingdom in the chapters we're looking at this evening, the northern kingdom is already gone. Assyria has conquered them. And the nation of Judah is not as big as it is here. It's been reduced to just a few small cities that are left.

And in fact, at the end of our chapters this evening, it really will be just Jerusalem. That's the only city that's left in the nation of Judah as Isaiah is prophesying these things. So they've been greatly reduced as a result of this oppression by Assyria, which is, you know, God's instrument of judgment because of their rebellion against him.

On the top right, you see the map for the nation of Assyria. And you can see they conquered everything except for that small portion, which is the nation of Judah. And then Babylon comes after them. They come a lot later, but Isaiah does reference them from time to time. So we included them on the maps here. And so that kind of brings us up to speed with where we're at in Isaiah. And so we start out now in chapter 29 of the prophet Isaiah. And verse 6 is the key verse.

It says, you will be punished by the Lord of hosts with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with storm and tempest and the flame of devouring fire. Here as we begin in verses 1 through 6, we see the woe that is pronounced on the city where David dwelt.

He's speaking of the city of Jerusalem, referring to it by the name Ariel, which means lion of God. And so he's talking about Jerusalem where David dwelt and he's pronouncing woe upon it. Now, remember that the city of Jerusalem, God has previously said this is the apple of his eye, that he always has his attention there, that it's a place that's very special to him. But because of the rebellion of the nation of Judah,

It has come to the point now where God has to announce judgment. Not just announce judgment, but check out verse 3. He says, I will encamp against you all around. I will lay siege against you with a mound. I will raise siege works against you. Now, the Lord is speaking here to Jerusalem and saying, I'm going to come against you

In battle. I'm going to come against you. I'm using Assyria. This is the work of my hand. And I will encamp against you all around. Now there's other promises where God says. Hey if you trust in me and look to me. Then I'm going to camp around you. As far as protection. But here he's saying. I'm going to camp around you. To bring you down. To bring destruction. Because of your rebellion against me. And so God here is.

Very clearly making the people understand that this is his doing as a result of their sin. Well then in verses 9 through 16, we see that the Lord has closed your eyes or the eyes of the people of Judah. In verse 10, it tells us that the Lord has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep and has closed your eyes, namely the prophets, and has covered your heads, namely the seers.

God says, I'm encamping against you. I'm bringing this judgment upon you. And I'm blinding you. I'm causing a blindness to be upon you. Now that maybe seems a little bit cruel for God to blind them so that they don't have, you know, the opportunity to repent perhaps. Or that's what we might think. But notice what is happening here in this passage. You can see a little bit clarity in verse 13. He says,

Here God explains, look, here's what's going on.

Their mouths demonstrate or say that they are near me, but their hearts are far from me. They draw near me with their lips. They talk a good talk and they sound right on, but their hearts are far from that. God is dealing with them for their hypocrisy. If you pretend to fear God, He knows.

And if you pretend to fear God, listen to this. If you pretend to fear God, he can bring blindness if he chooses. If you pretend to fear God, you demonstrate that you know that you're supposed to fear God. But then you don't actually. You're declaring, I don't want to fear God. I just want to fake it. And God says, look, if you don't want to fear me, I will help you. And I will bring blindness.

This is an important thing to understand about the Lord. He will strengthen you in whatever choice you make. If you desire to follow him and to walk with him, he says, amen. I agree with that. I will strengthen you and I will help you to walk with me. But if you insist on rebelling against God, God gives you opportunity. He gives you, you know, reason to repent, but he will also strengthen you. Just like Pharaoh. Remember when Pharaoh hardened his heart and then God said, let me help you with that.

And he also hardened Pharaoh's heart. This is why it's so important for us to not put off and delay getting right with God or being fully on fire, fully sold out to the Lord. It's not good to just kind of pretend to fake it for a little bit thinking, well, later on, you know, then I'm really going to get serious. That's a really bad move. We need to be totally surrendered to the Lord right now. Not just pretending with our mouths, but our hearts are far from him.

That's a dangerous position to be in and it might result in blindness. Now we need to be surrendered and completely sold out immediately. They were thinking though, yeah, God can't really tell. I mean, like we're saying the right things and so God doesn't really know the difference. So the Lord responds in verse 16, surely you have things turned around. Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay?

The people are saying, hey, God doesn't see. He doesn't understand. He doesn't know what's going on. I'm saying the right things. I'm making the right sacrifices so I can live however I want to live.

And we kind of carry on that same mentality. I read my Bible. I go to church. And so then I do whatever I want to do. It doesn't matter so much as long as I, you know, do those things and make those sacrifices and follow those rituals. But it's a way for us to declare, you know, God doesn't really see. He doesn't really understand what's going on. He doesn't know what's in my heart. But God says, you have things turned around.

You're confused. I know exactly what's in your heart. I know exactly what's going on. And so he is bringing judgment against Judah because he knows exactly what's in their hearts. Well then in verses 17 through 24, he declares that those who erred will come to understanding. So the things we've been looking at so far, those have been fulfilled. Jerusalem was conquered and God did bring this judgment upon them. But

Isaiah, he often does this. He's going back and forth between things that are going to be fulfilled very soon after he shares it to things that will be fulfilled in the millennial kingdom when Jesus rules and reigns here upon the earth. And as we look at verses 17 through 24, that's what we're looking at. Things that will be fulfilled later on.

Verse 22 says,

He's looking forward now to a time when Israel as a whole, as a nation, will fear the Lord, will turn back to the Lord. And that is something that is yet to come in the time when Christ reigns upon the earth. Well, Isaiah chapter 30 now, verse 3 is the key verse. It says,

In verses 1 through 7, he declares that the strength of Pharaoh will be your shame. Now understand what he's talking about. Isaiah is prophesying. Hezekiah is king. Assyria has conquered their sister, you know, the northern kingdom. And is now coming against them. And the people of Judah are thinking Egypt will save us.

Let's make an alliance with Egypt. Let's team up with them. And Egypt will protect us from Assyria so that we will not be conquered. But this was not at God's instruction. It was their own thoughts and ideas. We can see that in verse 1. He says, Woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord, who take counsel but not of me and who devise plans but not of my spirit that they may add sin to sin.

He goes on to say, "...who walk to go down to Egypt. And they've not asked my advice to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. Woe to my rebellious children because they're looking to Egypt to save them. They're trusting in Egypt and they're not looking to me. They're not trusting in me, God says."

Now, it made sense, perhaps, strategically or militarily to look to Egypt because they were a lot stronger and they had a common enemy. And, you know, hey, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, right? So let's team up with Egypt, even though we haven't always got along, but we can stand together against Assyria and that will be successful in preventing this destruction of our nation. But it's their thoughts.

It's their own counsel, their own advice, their own schemes, their own plans. They were not asking God for His counsel, for His instruction. They were not trusting in God to preserve them.

Now on the one hand, you could look at this and if you were in that day, you'd say, well, you know, it's wise to make those kinds of alliances because you got to sit down and count the cost, right? We only have a few soldiers. They have a massive army. We're not going to be able to withstand this battle. So let's do something about it. And you could reason and say, that's the wise thing to do. And perhaps that is the wise thing to do, but it's a foolish thing to do if that's your first choice.

If that's your first thing. The first thing that you must do for the nation of Judah for us today, we must go to the Lord.

If He's our God, we must go to Him and trust in Him. And if He instructs us to go and make an alliance, well then of course we go make an alliance. But that's not always what God wants us to do. He doesn't always want us to just come up with our own plans and our own ways. He wants us to go to Him, to hear from Him, and allow Him to give us direction. To trust in Him even when the odds are impossibly crazy. But to rest in Him and trust in Him.

To accomplish his work in our life. God says they're not doing that. They're relying upon Egypt. Now Egypt throughout the scriptures. We often look at it as a picture of the world. Or our own sinful fleshly nature. And so there's great imagery here. That so many times we follow the pattern here. And we trust in ourselves. And we trust in our ideas. We trust in our strength. And God says that's rebellion. Rebellion.

And it's adding sin to sin. If you trust in yourself, that's rebellion. God calls you to trust in Him. Well then in verses 8 through 17, He says, this is a rebellious people. There in verse 9, He says, this is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the law of the Lord. Then notice verse 10, who say to the seers, do not see in the prophets, do not prophesy to us right things, speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.

They're near the Lord with their lips, but they don't want to hear the truth from the prophets and the seers. Don't tell us the truth. Don't tell us what God actually says. No, tell us what we want to hear. You know, the apostle Paul says that this is going to be a characteristic of the last days, that people will heap up to themselves teachers who will tickle their ears.

Say things, tell me smooth things. Tell me lies. Tell me sweet little lies. Things that I enjoy. Things that I want to hear. But don't tell me what I need to hear. Don't tell me what I don't want to hear. Verse 15, God says, in returning and rest you shall be saved. In quietness and confidence shall be your strength. But you would not. Here comes Assyria. They're freaked out.

Quick, let's make an alliance with Egypt. We can stand against them. And God says, here's my plan for you. Here's how I want you to be victorious. Be quiet and rest. We always want to go do, but God says, be quiet and rest. And in quietness and confidence, you will have strength. But the people of Judah, like us, we can kind of relate to them. They said, no, we're not going to do that. Verse 16, no, for we will flee on horses. Verse 16,

God says, sit still, be quiet, rest. And Judah says, no, we're going to run. We're going to flee. We can outrun our adversary. But he says, therefore you shall flee and we will ride on swift horses. Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift. You think you can get away because you've got fast horses, but remember it's me who encamps against you. And so those that I'm bringing against you, they're going to be swifter.

You cannot outrun the Lord and escape what he is doing. But this is a rebellious people who insist. God says, sit still, be quiet, trust in me. And they say, no, we're going to run. We're going to

Test out the speed of our horses. Verse 18 through 26. Now we see that the Lord will wait that he may be gracious. Here you can see the amazing grace of God. Right? Here's this rebellious people. They're insisting. They've already been through a hundred years or so of rebellion against God. They've got another 150 or so more before God brings the final destruction. So they're pretty stubborn. They're pretty rebellious. And yet God says, you're rebellious.

You're doing exactly the opposite of what I want you to do, but I'm going to wait so that I can be gracious to you. I'm not giving up. I'm not cutting you off. I'm not saying this is it. I'm never going to deal with you again. No, I'm just going to step back. I'm going to allow you to just destroy yourselves. I'm going to wait.

So that then I can step in and be gracious to you and have mercy on you. And it also says in verse 18, And therefore he will be exalted through his display of grace.

and mercy after his display of judgment, he will be exalted. You see, that's the real issue. Judah would not exalt God. They would not lift him on high, believe him as God, worship him as God, obey him as God. And so God says, well, I will help you with that. I'm going to bring judgment so that you know that I'm God. Then I'm going to show mercy and grace that you might obey me as God.

Well then in verses 27 through 33, he tells us that Assyria will be beaten down. He says in verse 30, As God is telling Judah to sit, to be quiet, to trust in him.

He's giving this promise. Assyria is going to be beaten. I'm going to take care of them. That's why you don't have to go to Egypt. But before we're too quick to judge the nation of Judah, understand here's this big army camping at their gates. I don't know that I would be doing anything different than what the nation of Judah was doing. Scrambling to try to figure out what are we going to do? I mean it's a serious threat. It's a real threat. But God's instruction was different.

To sit, to be quiet, to wait, to rest and trust in me. And I'm going to take care of Assyria. They were trusting in Egypt, which was going to fail them. They were trusting in their own ideas. Warren Wiersbe asked the important question, are you trusting in things that cannot help you while the Lord waits for you to come to him for help?

Listen, we face similar types of things. You know, you just kind of replace the characters of this account. You know, it's not maybe the army that's against you, but maybe it's the creditors that are against you. Or maybe it's the family members that are against you. Or maybe there's some threat of something at your job. Or, you know, whatever it might be, there's that threat that's there. And we want to scramble. We want to try to figure it out. And we want to fix it. Especially if it's really uncomfortable. Man, fix it as soon as possible.

But rather than just coming up with our own plans, we need to go to the Lord and hear from the Lord. And maybe God wants you to make an alliance or maybe he wants you to just sit still and be quiet and let him resolve the situation. But if he's God, you got to put him first and you got to hear what he has to say and not just come up with your own plans as you face adversity in life. Well, here's a quick look at the Assyrian Empire. The capital of Assyria was Nineveh.

And they, you know, grew. The red portion is where they were kind of earlier in the history. And then later on, as they're coming against Jerusalem, they had expanded their territory, covered and conquered much ground. They'd conquered Samaria by this time. And so there's just this little patch that's left in Judah that is not conquered.

But they're trying. They're coming against Judah really strong. And even that little patch is kind of exaggerated. That's kind of like, you know, the initial boundaries of the nation when it first split. But by this time, it's actually much smaller. And we'll get to see that later on in our chapters this evening. So now chapter 31, verse 1 is the key verse.

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but who do not look to the Holy One of Israel nor seek the Lord. Like, there's so much clarity here. I mean, the issue is just crystal clear as Isaiah brings forth the message. The problem is that the nation of Judah is looking to Egypt and trusting in Egypt and not trusting in God.

And so he points out in verses 1 through 3 that Egyptians are men and not God. It's foolish to rely upon men when you can rely upon God. Men will always fail you and women too. You know, mankind in general will let each other down. Our trust must be in the Lord. And so where do you go for help? That's the real challenge here.

They went to Egypt. Where do you go for counsel? Where do you go for strength? Where do you go for help as the situation unfolds ahead of you? In verses 4 through 7, God says that he will fight for Mount Zion. God's promise is, I'm going to fight for you. So don't trust in them. Let me take care of it. But notice verse 6. He says, return to him against whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.

The children of Israel have deeply revolted against God. Sometimes it's hard for us to really understand as God pronounces serious judgment upon people, especially, you know, as he's dealing with these nations in the Old Testament. There's a lot of judgment in the book of Isaiah. And sometimes that's difficult for us to understand, but...

I would suggest to you that if it's hard for you to understand the judgment that God is bringing, it's because you don't understand the sin that has been committed. God is not bringing this serious judgment. He's not saying, I'm against you and I'm camping against you because they messed up one time. He's been sending prophets. He's been calling out to them. They've been in rebellion for a hundred years.

I mean, that's a lot of patience. That's a lot of time. And God's not even going to be wiping them out completely yet. He's still going to have more patience for another 150 years after Isaiah as he sends other prophets to call them back to repentance. And so we need to understand that as God brings judgment, it's warranted, it's right, it's just, and it's after a great deal of patience. But the issue is they have deeply revolted against the Lord.

They're in great rebellion against God. And they are not listening to what he has to say. But then in verses 8 through 9, God's still being gracious and giving them opportunity because he says, Assyria shall fall by a sword not of man. Now here's Judah saying,

Let's get as many men as possible. Let's team up with Egypt and we'll have a bigger army and we'll have lots of men and then we'll be able to take on Assyria. And God says, that's a foolish thing to do because the battle is going to be won but not by man. They're going to fall by the sword but not the sword of men. And we'll see that unfold as we hit our final chapter this evening, chapter 37. So we'll look forward to that. Chapter 32, verse 1 is the key verse.

Now again, Isaiah kind of goes back and forth. He's prophesying about things that are happening right in his day or soon to follow. But then now again, he looks forward to the time when Christ will rule and reign upon the earth during the millennium.

And in that time, a king will reign in righteousness in verses 1 through 8. When Jesus reigns, it will be a reign of righteousness. He says in verse 5, the foolish person will no longer be called generous, nor the miser said to be bountiful. It's an interesting verse to consider. The foolish person will no longer be called generous. I don't want to dig into it too deep, but it's a fun thought experiment.

Consider who the world looks upon as generous. Think about that. The great, you know, donations that are given or the great works that are done in the name of, well, generosity or benevolence. In Isaiah's day, I think maybe beyond that as well, there's a lot of foolish people who are called generous. But it's hypocrisy that is going on.

They're putting on an outward show of generosity, but really they're a miser. They're stingy. They're selfish. They're foolish. But they twist reality. They put on a good show. They spin the story well to appear generous. But then he goes on in verse 8, but a generous man devises generous things and by generosity he shall stand. He says there's people in Isaiah's day who are pretending to be generous, but they're really not. They put on a good show. People think that they're generous, but

but it's hypocrisy and a really generous person devises generous things. Instead of devising other kinds of schemes, they devise ways to be generous, to bless and to give. And so in that day when Christ rules and reigns, the point is there will not be that kind of hypocrisy. But it'll be clear. If you're generous, you'll be generous. And if you're not generous, you won't be generous. But it won't be hypocrisy.

You won't be able to fake it at that time.

Well, then in verses 9 through 15, he says, in a year and some days you will be troubled. So we're going to go back to the near fulfillment now. He gives, you know, a short time period, in a year or so, this is going to happen. And he specifically talks about the women who are at ease or, you know, those ladies who are comfortable in your house and you're comfortable in your routine, you're comfortable with your supplies and what you have. But all of that is going to be taken away and you are going to be made bare. Okay?

Then in verses 16 through 20, he says, my people will dwell in a peaceful habitation.

So here's Isaiah going back and forth. So talking about what's going to happen and then now looking way into the future again at the millennium. He talks about in verse 15, when the Holy Spirit is poured out upon us from on high and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field and the fruitful field is counted as a forest, then justice will dwell in the wilderness and righteous will remain in the fruitful field. Here the idea is there's going to be this barrenness

until the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the nation of Israel. Looking again at the glorious time when Christ rules and reigns, the nation of Israel will be restored and redeemed and will flourish abundantly. Chapter 33 now, verse 2 is the key verse. It says, O Lord, be gracious to us. We have waited for you. Be their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.

Here's a prayer as well as prophecy from Isaiah in verses 1 through 9. He says, O Lord, be gracious to us. Be gracious, calling out for God's grace upon them. Even in the midst of this deep revolting against God, Isaiah is bold in saying, Lord, be gracious to us. He says in verse 5, The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high. He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

The Lord is exalted. And that, again, it comes back to that. It's God who reigns on high. Judah will just not submit to him. But Lord, be gracious to us because you reign on high. Then in verses 10 through 16, it tells us that the sinners in Zion are afraid. So verse 10, God says, now I will rise. Now I will be exalted. Now I will lift myself up. So here's the thing.

We come back to this. We've said, looked at this before. If you exalt God in your life right now, then you will experience his blessings and his goodness. But if you refuse to exalt God as God, if you do not submit to him, then he will bring, it says, now I will rise. Now I will be exalted. I'll lift myself up. I'll bring judgment and I'll be exalted in judgment in your life. So either way in your life, God will be exalted.

In the nation of Judah, God will be exalted one way or another. In our nation in which we live, God will be exalted one way or another. Through submission or through judgment, we get to choose. We exalt him, we experience his blessings, his goodness. But if we resist him, if we revolt, if we are rebellious and do what we want to do and rely upon Egypt when we want to rely upon Egypt, then he will be exalted through judgment and he will prove that he is God again.

And the judgment that he brings. And so the sinners in Zion are afraid. Verse 17 through 24 he says, Your eyes will see the king in his beauty.

That's found in verse 17. He said, you will see the land that is very far off. Verse 20, look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feast. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet home, a tabernacle that will not be taken down. Not one of its stakes will ever be removed, nor will any of its cords be broken. He pictures now, again, looking forward into the millennial kingdom, the established Jerusalem that will be a place of peace.

A place that is established, that will not be attacked, that will not be taken down or beaten any longer. And so this part is not yet fulfilled because it will take place during the millennium when Christ rules and reigns upon the earth.

Chapter 34, now verse 2 is the key verse. He says, Here in verses 1 through 7, he explains that the wrath of God or the indignation of the Lord is against all nations.

Now here Isaiah is looking forward not to the millennium but just prior to that, that tribulation period when the wrath of God will be poured out upon the earth. You can look at that in Revelation chapter 6 through 18 as it describes there the tribulation and the wrath that will come upon the whole earth. And so Isaiah is looking forward to that time when the wrath of the Lord will be against all nations. Verses 8 through 17, it is the day of the Lord's vengeance.

It's a day that God will be, well he says the year of recompense for the cause of Zion in verse 8. God will be bringing vengeance upon the earth, the wrath of God upon the earth for great rebellion against him. And so again, these are things looking forward to the tribulation period and when it will be fulfilled. Chapter 35 now, verse 4 is the key verse. It says, say to those who are fearful hearted, be strong, do not fear.

behold, your God will come with vengeance, with recompense of God. He will come and save you. We see God saying, judgment is coming. I'm bringing judgment against Judah, against all nations. But then also he says, there's also reason to hope. There's also reason to strengthen yourself in the Lord.

And trust in God because God will bring this vengeance. He says in verses 1 through 7, the wasteland shall blossom abundantly. Basically, God is saying, I'm bringing judgment against you guys because you've deeply revolted against me. But it's not completely over. I'm going to bless Israel once again.

And the wilderness is going to blossom. There's going to be a great renewal of the land of Israel. So verse 3, strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. Be strong because there's still hope. I'm still going to work in this land. In verse 7 he says, the parched ground shall become a pool and the thirsty land springs of water.

There's going to be a great renewal of the land of Israel. And then in verses 8 through 10, he says that the ransomed of the Lord shall return. Israel, Judah, they're going to be scattered, which they have been. They're going to be gathered back into the land of Israel in that time. Again, he's picturing that millennial kingdom when Christ rules and reigns and the great things that will be happening upon the earth.

Well, now as we go forward in chapter 36 and 37, we'll look at tonight. And then as we go forward in our reading on chapter 38 and 39, we're looking at kind of a historical interlude in the midst of Isaiah's prophecies.

Chapters 36 through 39 is a historical account of King Hezekiah and his encounter with the nation of Assyria, which is right where we're at in these prophecies and the time frame when God is speaking to them.

And so this corresponds with, if you want to look at 2 Kings chapter 18 through 20, you see these same events recorded there. It's a historical account of what happened in King Hezekiah's reign. Very interesting stuff that happens here. Chapter 36 verse 1 is the key verse. It says, Now it came to pass in the 14th year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.

So here in verse 1, we find out that Sennacherib, that's the king of Assyria, he comes against Judah. And notice what it says. He takes all of the fortified cities. He comes against the fortified cities and he takes them. So as you picture this scene, as you picture where Judah,

The nation of Judah is at this time. Don't think of it, you know, as in the map, you know, like they come to the border of Judah and they're not able to enter in because God protects them. No, God promises to deal with Assyria, but he also allows Assyria to come in to really a great extent to the nation of Judah.

So that all of the strongholds that they had set up, the strong cities that they had established were taken, were conquered except for Jerusalem. And so at this point here in verse 1, Judah is really reduced to one city. The nation of Israel, which was a great, you know, huge nation at one point, now is reduced to one city. Okay.

And in the midst of that, God says, trust in me. You can understand why Judah wanted to scramble and get to Egypt and try to come up with some kind of plan because there was only one city left. They were on the verge of destruction. But God said, trust in me. I'm going to deal with Assyria. But as maybe you found in your life, God doesn't always do things on our timeline.

God, why didn't you deal with Assyria before they ever entered our territory? Why didn't you deal with Assyria before they even came this far south? Why didn't you deal with them way far away so that we didn't even have to face this? You see, God was doing both. He was allowing Assyria to come and to bring judgment, but he was also using it as an opportunity to show that he is God as he delivers them from this great threat. God wants us to believe in the midst of such situations.

Even when the army is at your door, he wants you to believe and trust him and rest in him and follow his instruction. Well, in verses 2 through 10, we have the Rabshakeh's message to Hezekiah. Rabshakeh is like a commander or a messenger of the king of Assyria. And so he sends a message to Hezekiah. He goes out to speak with Hezekiah's men and he tells him in verse 6, you're trusting in the staff of

of Egypt. And he's quite perceptive. He aligns with the Lord here. It's a true statement what he says. He says, this staff is like a broken reed. And if you lean upon it, it will pierce your hand. It's like if you have a cane that's broken and when you use it to carry your weight, it's going to pierce your hand. That's what he says about Egypt. And that's basically what God's been saying about Egypt as well. That doesn't mean that everything he says is, you know, from the Lord. But

It's accurate. It's true to what God has said. In verse 7 he says, if you say, you know, hey, we're going to trust in the Lord. And here you can understand, he doesn't understand who really God is. He says, if you say we're going to trust in God, but Hezekiah, you removed all the high places from Judah. So how can you trust in God when you've removed all the places of worship? He didn't understand that.

The temple was the place of worship. That's what God had established. Those high places were places where they worshipped false gods. Then in verse 8 he says, I urge you, give a pledge to my master, the king of Assyria, and I will give you 2,000 horses if you are able on your part to put riders on them. He's basically saying it's hopeless. Your God can't help you. Egypt can't help you. Look, if you...

If you give a pledge to my master, I'll give you 2,000 horses so that you can try to resist us. If you can find enough men to ride those horses. Now, this should give us a really clear picture of how far this nation has come. Remember David, one of the last things he did in his reign was he took a census of the nation of Israel to find out how many soldiers he had.

In 1 Chronicles chapter 21 verse 5, we get the sum of that from Joab. The sum was, well, Israel had 1,100,000 men who drew the sword and Judah had 470,000 men who drew the sword. So, 1.5 million soldiers is what Israel had at the end of David's reign. Now, they don't even have 2,000 soldiers. This nation...

has been in rebellion against God to such an extent that even now, having been reduced to basically nothing, one city, not even 2,000 soldiers, and they're still refusing to listen to God. They're refusing to submit to God. Still insisting on doing their own ways. Man, it's such a reminder of the danger of stubbornness in our hearts.

A lot of times we say that, don't we? Like, you got to hit rock bottom before you look to the Lord. And although we see that happen a lot, you don't have to wait until then. God is gracious and merciful in that He allows us when we hit rock bottom to look to the Lord. That's God's grace. But you don't have to be stubborn and wait until then. We get to turn to God now. That's what God's been calling His people to do all along. He's still giving that opportunity, but they will continue to resist.

Well, then in verses 11 through 22, we see the Rabshakeh's message to the men of Judah. As he's talking to the messengers of Hezekiah, they say, hey, you know, please don't talk in Hebrew. The people on the walls can hear you and they can understand. Talk to us in your language. We know your language. So speak to us in that language. And the Rabshakeh responds, hey, I'm coming against all of you guys, not just Hezekiah.

They're going to have to suffer through this with you. They're going to, you know, be eating their own waste along with you when we bring the siege against this place. So shouldn't they hear the message? And so he speaks directly to them and tells them, don't listen to Hezekiah. Basically, he says, God has sent us and we're going to destroy you. In verse 20, he challenges. He says, who among the gods of these lands have delivered their countries from my hand that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?

Their beliefs at that time were like gods were local forces. That we defeated this nation and their gods. And their gods were in force over their area. And now we defeated this other nation and they had their other gods. And their gods were over their area. So now as we come against you, you have your gods that are over this area. But none of the gods of the other places delivered their nations. So we don't think it's going to be any different with you guys. They thought...

Not God of the universe. They thought, you know, God of Corona. You know, that's the jurisdiction of their God. But they didn't understand that God is the God of the universe. But they're making this accusation. God can't deliver you. That thing that you worship can't deliver you. None of the gods of the other nations have delivered them. We're going to come against you in the same way. And so this is his message to the people of Judah, the city of Jerusalem.

Here's a quick look at the attacks of Assyria as they come against Israel and Judah. Assyria was farther up to the north and so they came down. They conquered Samaria, which was the northern kingdom's capital. So the nation of Israel fell. And then they went and they took Ashdod, which was the

the stronghold of the Philistines. So they conquered the Philistines. They come down against Lachish, which is one of the strongholds of the nation of Judah. They take that. And from there, they send the messenger to Jerusalem. So already their strongholds are falling while this message is being sent to Hezekiah and the people that we've just been looking at.

And so this message goes to Jerusalem and he says, you're not going to survive. I'm coming against you. God's with me and your God cannot protect you. Well, we see it unfold now in chapter 37. Verse 36 is the key verse. It says,

Here in verses 1 through 7, Isaiah sends a message to Hezekiah to not be afraid. As Hezekiah hears the message of the Rabshakeh, he hears the message of Assyria. He sends word to Isaiah and says, Isaiah, you got to pray. Perhaps God is able to help us in this situation. No longer are they looking to Egypt. Now Hezekiah is saying, we got to look to God. And so Isaiah responds saying,

saying, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. In verse 6 he says, do not be afraid of the words which you have heard with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. God says, they're not just talking to you now, but they're blaspheming me. They're declaring that I am not able, I'm not strong enough to deliver you. They're blaspheming me now. And so I'm going to protect you.

Here's a great lesson for every one of us. Our objective should be to be aligned with the Lord so well so that when He defends Himself, He defends us. Be right in the center of God's will so that when He defends Himself, He defends you. Be right where God wants you so that when the enemies come and they're blaspheming God, He'll take care of them.

defending himself. And if you're right with him, you're on the right side. If you're not right with the Lord, well, you might be a casualty of war. If you're not where God wants you to be and God deals with his enemies, you're going to be affected by that. Be aligned with the Lord. And here's what Hezekiah does. Although the nation has not been aligned with the Lord thus far, now Hezekiah says, you know what guys, we got to seek the Lord on this. I

And so now they're aligning with the Lord. They're looking to the Lord. They're trusting in the Lord. In verses 18 or verse 8 through 20 we see that continued as Hezekiah prays over Assyria's letter. So as the Rabshakeh goes he delivers this message. Hezekiah says have Isaiah pray because man this is we're in a bad spot. And while that's going on meanwhile the king back in Lachish he begins to battle with Ethiopia.

Ethiopia, Egypt comes up from the south and begins to come against Assyria. And so when that happens, he has to divert his attention. But he doesn't want Israel or Judah to think, aha, we won, you know, our God saved us. He says, no, no, no, I'm coming back. I'm going to take care of you still. I just have a little bit delay here. I'm going to go take care of Egypt and

And then I'm going to come back and conquer you. And so he sends this letter to Hezekiah. And I love what Hezekiah does in verse 14. It says, he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. He laid out the letter. Lord, look at what he's saying. Look what he has declared. And he calls out to the Lord in verse 20. Now therefore, Lord our God, save us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the Lord, you alone.

Hezekiah now is doing what God has been asking all along. He says, in quietness and confidence you shall be saved. Trust in me, God has been saying. And now Hezekiah says, God, we're trusting in you and we're looking to you. And Lord, you do the work that everybody would know that you really are God. And so in verses 21 through 35, God promises to defend Jerusalem. And he says specifically in verse 21, because you have prayed to me.

He gives them this specific reason. Here's why I'm going to do this. Because you have prayed to me. Because you have trusted in me. I don't know what situations you face. I don't know what you're coming against in this life. But I would ask you to pay attention to what Hezekiah does here and pray to God regarding whatever it is that you face. Look to the Lord. Call upon Him.

Now, if you're going to do that, don't be just near him with your lips and far from him in your heart saying, God, fix this, resolve this, work in this situation, and I'm going to continue to live in the sinful life that I want to live and do what I want to do. You can't live in hypocrisy. You can't do that. That's not going to be effective. No, align yourself with God. Repent. Turn to God wholeheartedly and cry out to him, and he will take care of you.

He will fight for you as you call out to Him. But there has to be that repentance, that turning from your ways, turning from your ideas, your thoughts, your plans, your sin, to surrender completely to the Lord. And when we do that, God says, because you have prayed to me, I'm going to work in the midst of this situation. Verse 33 says,

Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, he shall not come into the city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come against it, or come before it with a shield, nor build a siege mound against it. Here's what I say. Here's God's response to Hezekiah's prayer. They're not going to set a foot in this city. They're not even going to shoot an arrow at it. They're not going to even have opportunity to build a siege mound, which is how they would try to overcome the walls of these strong cities.

God says in verse 35, for I will defend this city to save it for my own sake and for my servant David's sake. You see, when Hezekiah says, God, we're trusting in you, we're relying upon you, your name's at stake now because we're looking to you. We're not going to try to come up with some kind of alliance or try to resolve it ourselves. We're placing our fate in your hands. God says, okay, now my name's at stake. I'm going to handle this situation. I'm going to take care of it because you've placed your trust in me.

And God is faithful to his word. In verses 36 through 38, Assyria is defeated and the king Sennacherib is killed. It tells us in verse 36 that the angel of the Lord went out and killed in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000. And when people arose early in the morning, there were all the corpses. They were all dead. Picture the scene. Assyria has to go deal with Ethiopia. So he sends a letter threatening, hey, I'm going to be back. I'm going to take care of you.

Hezekiah prays. God says, okay, I'm going to handle that. They're not attacking Judah at this point. They're dealing with other nations now. And God wipes out 185,000 of their soldiers in one night. And so his word is fulfilled. They never come against Judah. They don't shoot one arrow. They don't build one ramp. They go home defeated.

And they're in defeat. It's actually about 20 years later, but the king is killed in Assyria just as God declared. God defended the city when the people turned to him and trusted in him and prayed to him. It's not just a prayer with a heart that's far off. It's a prayer with a heart that follows the Lord. Hezekiah spoke to the people, let's trust God.

We're going to wait upon the Lord. We're going to let Him fight for us. And as we finish up this evening, man, it's a great lesson for us. It's a great lesson for us. You know, James tells us, you have not because you ask not. And

Even when you ask, you ask amiss that you may spend the pleasures, the things on yourselves. You're just asking for your own selfish pleasures, your own selfish desires. Your heart's not aligned with God. It's just you're asking God and you just want to be able to do what you want to do. God is saying, pray to me. Look to me. Trust in me. I want to help you. But you can't do it in hypocrisy. It needs to be aligned with Him. It needs to accompany a surrender to Him.

So that as I cry out to God, if God says, okay, here's what I want you to do, then I don't get the choice to say, well, I don't want to do that. I don't want to live that way. I don't want to follow that command. I don't want to obey. I don't want to read. I don't want to study. I don't want to follow. That's hypocrisy. When I'm saying, God, save me. Help me out. Provide for me. You know, deal with this situation. All right, thanks God. Now I'm going to continue to live how I want to live. That's not the way that God works.

He might be gracious and allow that for a little bit, but I wouldn't want to put myself in that position, taking advantage of the grace of God in that way. No, instead, you know, the Lord wants us to pray to Him. And He wants to save. He wants to deliver. He wants to meet your needs. He wants to provide for you. But He's calling you to repentance. He's calling you to really turn to Him, to be wholehearted, to be sold out, to not be half-hearted and wishy-washy,

but to turn yourself completely to Him. And that might mean some hard things. That might mean you're going to have to forgive when it's hard to forgive, or give when it's hard to give, or it might mean that you're going to have to learn to say you're sorry, or it might mean you get the point. You're going to have to obey God, and you got to come to terms with that, and say He's exalted. He's God, and either I exalt Him in submission, or He will exalt Himself in judgment. Let's pray.

God, as we consider this example that you set for us, Lord, I pray that you would help us to take heed, to learn from Hezekiah's example. Lord, to learn from their failures as well as their strengths. Lord, that we would not be in rebellion and stubborn and continue to insist on trying to do things our own way. But Lord, I pray that you would break us of that.

Lord, that we might surrender to you and trust in you and follow your instruction and not our own ideas. And so, Lord, help us to call out to you with true hearts. Help us to align with you, Lord, that you would defend yourself in your own name and we would be blessed because we're with you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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