Hezekiah Seeks the Lord
Study note
Tearing one's clothes and wearing sackcloth were signs of deep grief and repentance in the ancient world. Instead of panicking, Hezekiah went to the temple and sent his officials to the prophet Isaiah. He described the situation as being like a woman in labor who does not have the strength to deliver her baby. Isaiah responded with a message of hope: God would send a rumor that would cause Sennacherib to return home, where he would be killed.
1 When King Hezekiah heard this report, he tore his own clothes, wrapped himself in rough sackcloth, and went straight into the temple of the Lord. And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.
2 He sent three men to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. Eliakim ran the palace. Shebna was the clerk. The senior priests went too. They all wore sackcloth. And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
3 They told Isaiah, 'Hezekiah says: Today is a day of trouble, punishment, and disgrace. We are like a mother ready to give birth but too exhausted to push.' And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
4 'Maybe the Lord your God heard what the Rabshakeh said — the man sent by his master the king of Assyria to mock the living God — and will punish him for those words. Please pray for the few of us who are still here.' It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.
5 So King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah. So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6 Isaiah said to them, 'Go back and tell your master: The Lord says, Don't be afraid of those words you heard. Do not fear the insults that the king of Assyria's servants threw at me.' And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7 'Listen! I am going to fill him with an urge to leave. He will hear a report that makes him rush back to his own country. And when he gets there, I will have him cut down with a sword.' Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
Sennacherib's Threatening Letter
Study note
The Rabshakeh returned to find Sennacherib fighting at Libnah. Meanwhile, Sennacherib heard that an Ethiopian army was coming to fight him. Before dealing with that threat, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with a written letter repeating his threats. He listed the many nations whose gods failed to save them and warned Hezekiah not to be deceived by his God.
8 The Rabshakeh left and found that the king of Assyria had moved on from Lachish and was now fighting against Libnah. So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
9 Then Sennacherib got a report that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was marching to fight him. When he heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this message: And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10 'Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this. Do not let your God fool you. He promised Jerusalem would not fall to Assyria. But do not trust that.' Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
11 'You know perfectly well what the kings of Assyria have done to every other country — totally destroyed them. Do you truly think you will be the exception?' Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
12 'Did the gods of those nations rescue them? Think about Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who lived in Tel Assar. My ancestors destroyed every one of them.' Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?
13 'Where is the king of Hamath now? Or the king of Arpad? Or the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena, or of Ivvah?' Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?
Hezekiah's Prayer
Study note
Hezekiah took the letter directly to the temple and spread it out before the Lord. His prayer is a model of faith. He acknowledged that God is the Creator of heaven and earth, the only true God. He admitted that the Assyrians had indeed destroyed many nations, but those nations worshipped false gods made of wood and stone. He asked God to save Jerusalem so that all the kingdoms of the earth would know that the Lord alone is God.
14 Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the Lord's temple and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.
15 Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,
16 'O Lord who rules over all, God of Israel, you are seated between the cherubim on the throne. You alone are God over every kingdom on earth. You made the heavens and the earth.' O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.
17 'Lean in and listen, O Lord. Open your eyes and see, O Lord. Pay attention to every word Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.' Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.
18 'It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have devastated all these nations and their lands.' Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,
19 'They threw their gods into the fire and burned them up — but those were not real gods. They were just wood and stone shaped by human hands.' And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.
20 'Now, O Lord our God, please save us from his grip, so that every kingdom on earth will know that you alone, O Lord, are God.' Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only.
God's Answer Through Isaiah
Study note
God's response, delivered through Isaiah, is a dramatic poem mocking Sennacherib's pride. Jerusalem, described as a virgin daughter, laughs at the Assyrian king. God reminds Sennacherib that his victories were only possible because God allowed them. God knows everything about him and will put a hook in his nose and lead him back the way he came. A sign is given: for two years the people will eat what grows on its own, and in the third year they will plant and harvest normally.
21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah. 'The Lord, the God of Israel, says this. You prayed to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria.' Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria:
22 here is the word the Lord speaks against him: The young daughter Zion looks down on you and laughs. The daughter Jerusalem shakes her head as you retreat. This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
23 Who have you been insulting and trash-talking? Against whom did you raise your voice and lift your eyes with arrogance? Against the Holy One of Israel! Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.
24 Through your officers you mocked the Lord. You bragged, With my massive army of chariots I have scaled the highest mountains, the most remote peaks of Lebanon. I chopped down its tallest cedars and finest pines. I reached its highest point and densest forest. By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.
25 You bragged, I dug wells in foreign lands and drank their water. With my marching feet I dried up all the rivers of Egypt. I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.
26 But have you not heard? I planned all of this ages ago. I designed it in ancient times. Now I am making it happen — that you should smash fortified cities into piles of rubble. Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.
27 Their people had no power. They were terrified and humiliated. They were as fragile as plants in the field, as soft as tender shoots, as temporary as grass sprouting on a rooftop that scorches before it grows. Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
28 But I know everything about you — where you live, when you come and go, and how you rage against me. But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
29 You raged against me. Your pride reached my ears. So I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth. Then I will lead you right back the way you came. Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
30 Here is the sign for you, Hezekiah: This year you will eat whatever grows on its own. The second year you will eat whatever springs up from that. But the third year, go ahead and plant crops, harvest grain, plant vineyards, and enjoy the fruit. And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
31 The people of Judah who survive will be like a plant. They will put roots deep in the ground below and grow fruit above. And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
32 A remnant will come out of Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The burning devotion of the Lord who rules over all will accomplish this. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.
33 So here is the Lord's announcement about the king of Assyria: He will not set foot in this city. He will not fire a single arrow here. He will not march up to it with shields or build a ramp against it. Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.
34 He will go back home the exact same way he came and will not enter this city, the Lord declares. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.
35 I will stand up for this city and protect it, for my own honor and for the sake of my servant David. For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
The Destruction of the Assyrian Army
Study note
That very night, the angel of the Lord went into the Assyrian camp and struck down 185,000 soldiers. When the survivors woke up in the morning, they found themselves surrounded by dead bodies. Sennacherib immediately withdrew and went back to Nineveh. Later, while worshipping in the temple of his god Nisroch, two of his own sons murdered him. His son Esarhaddon became king in his place. This event is also recorded in 2 Kings 19 and is confirmed by Assyrian historical records.
36 That night, the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When the survivors woke up the next morning, dead bodies were everywhere. Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
37 So King Sennacherib of Assyria packed up and left. He went home to his capital city of Nineveh and stayed there. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
38 One day while he was worshipping in the temple of his god Nisroch, two of his own sons — Adrammelech and Sharezer — murdered him with swords. They fled to the land of Armenia, and his son Esarhaddon took his place as king. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.