Isaiah 37:1-13--Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah's Help

Isaiah 37:1-13
English Standard Version

Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah's Help
37 As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4 It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’”

5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’”

​8 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. 9 Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, “He has set out to fight against you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”

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Hezekiah didn't get everything right as king, in fact, we'll see he will be the one that because of his pride will welcome the Babylonians with open arms and will show them everything in the kingdom so they know his strengths, his weaknesses, and all of the wealth (even the wealth of the Temple that belonged to the LORD).  Yet, this one thing he certainly does right.  When he is surrounded on all sided by Assyria, he calls on Isaiah (and the LORD) for help.

Isiaih didn't even need to hear the king's message of fear; he already had the message from the LORD that the king should not fear because the LORD heard the words of the Assyrians and knew how He was going to deal with them.  He would cause them to hear a rumor that would make them return home and it would be there that the king would die by the sword (his own sons would kill him as he was worshiping in the temple of his false god).

The next words are the fulfillment of this prophecy.  The commander of the Assyrian army hears that they have enemies advancing on multiple fronts, including the armies of Cush from the south and the armies of Libnah (a city-state with its own king somewhere in Israel).  The Assyrians try one more time to get the people of Jerusalem to surrender and give into their fear, but the LORD will deliver them, though we don't see that deliverance recorded here.  Next up, we see some of the shortcomings of King Hezekiah.  It's possible that these events are recorded in the order Isaiah wanted to tell the story and not necessarily in chronological order.  (The events of chapter 39 may occur before the events of chapter 38).  Either way, Isaiah presents the picture of a king who is not 100% or 100% bad but is definitely not the Messiah we have been waiting for.  He would not be the one to fulfill the Messianic prophecies of this book, and we need to look for another (that is Jesus).