Isaiah 36-37
The nation is under attack. A powerful enemy has announced his intention to destroy Israel and mocked all attempts to defend the nation or even look for help. The nation’s doom is sure, inevitable, so they would have Israel believe. You can read it all in Isaiah 36. Now the question is what to do. What do you do when you are under attack? King Hezekiah gives us a model in chapter 37.
Faced with a threat as severe as any king before him, Hezekiah immediately go to the Temple and seek the face of Yahweh (v. 1).
“As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD.”
Hezekiah’s next move was to seek godly counsel.
“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 Amos.” (vs. 2)
Hezekiah’s message to Isaiah through his emissaries reveal that he had seized upon what was really at stake in the attack upon Jerusalem and the people of God.
4 Perhaps Yahweh your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore, lift up a prayer for the remnant that is left.’” (emphasis added)
I’ll let you read how it all turned out but here’s my homiletical outline for 37:1-20:
What to Do When You are Under Attack
Seek the LORD with both urgency and immediacy. (vs. 1)
Recognize the day. (vs. 3)
Recognize the challenge to the honor of God. (vs. 6)
Remember to trust the word of the living God. (vss. 8-13)
Ask God for deliverance. (vss. 14-20)
Read the exciting conclusion to Hezekiah’s story in chapter 37:21-38. And remember that the God of Hezekiah is your God. The same God who conquered sin and death through the life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension of the Savior of the world. Rejoice people. Rejoice in a great God who loves you. He is the bridge and the aqueduct of living water for all the needs of your life.
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