Isaiah 37:20-38. Still behind but getting closer. Today we finish the story of the siege of Jerusalem. We have seen Sennacherib and his leaders challenge the power of God. Today we see the answer.
We also saw Hezekiah getting personal with God. Yesterday Hezekiah had Isaiah pray to “your God”. The answer was that the Assyrians would be distracted and that Sennacherib would eventually die back in Assyria. Then Hezekiah prayed personally to God and didn’t even ask for Jerusalem to be spared only for God to be honored through out the whole earth. Today’s answer was because Hezekiah prayed personally to God (v. 21) and look at the answer.
In verses 21-29 Isaiah gives God’s answer to the Assyrian king, “You think you are so hot, you only did what I let you do. And now because of your pride I’m sending you home.” In verses 30-35 God gave a sign as proof that the Assyrians would no longer be a problem for Jerusalem, they would not starve while under siege but would eat the produce of the land for two years and the Assyrian army would not even get a chance to start a siege against Jerusalem, they would run home.
Evidently Sennacherib and his men returned to Jerusalem after defeating the Egyptians but they weren’t there for long. Verses 36-38 tell us that in one night God destroyed 185,000 Assyrian troops. The result was that Sennacherib went home where he was killed by two of his sons. His kingdom was taken over by a third son.
What is awesome here is that when Hezekiah finally stopped worrying about the siege and put it in God’s hands, like he had been told to do over and over again by Isaiah, and when he finally started worrying more about God’s reputation that his own life, God took care of everything. They never needed to use all of the provisions they had stored up for the siege, they got to eat from their own land. What the king of Assyria tried to use to tempt them to bowed to him (probably a lie anyway) God actually gave them and more. It’s kind of sad that they spent all that time reinforcing the wall and digging a 1777 foot long tunnel through solid rock to bring water into the city and then they didn’t even have to use them either. It reminds me of Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:25-34 where he tells live for God and let God worry about our needs. It’s just awesome how the story turned out. I do think it is important to be responsible with what we do. But responsibility should be defined by what God wants not what we want. We need to be careful to seek God’s kingdom and to live in a way that makes God happy (that is what the verses in Matthew tell us). Honor God and he will care for you that is what those verses in Matthew tell us and what Hezekiah’s story tells us too. We don’t want to be like the guy in Luke 18 who built bigger barns and then died with out using what he had stored up. Lord help me understand just what you want me to do. Help me not be afraid to put it all on the line if you ask me to. Help me trust and obey, hear and do. Help me be wise and faithful. Help me see what you want and give me the courage to do it. And when it is all said and done I hope you get all the credit.