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Isaiah Chapter
Thirty-seven
Isaiah 37
Isaiah 37 is the same as 2 Kings 19. Thus
please see the commentary on 2 Kings 19.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Isaiah》
Isaiah 37
Hezekiah mourns and sends to Isaiah to pray
for them
verse 1-5. He comforts them
verse 6
7. Sennacherib called away
against the king of Ethiopia
sends a blasphemous letter to Hezekiah
verse 8-13.
His prayer
verse 14-20. Isaiah's prophecy
verse 21-35. An angel slays the
Assyrians
verse 36. Sennacherib is slain at Nineveh by his own sons
verse 37
38.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Isaiah》
37 Chapter 37
Verses 1-38
Verse 1
Hezekiah . . . rent his clothes . . . and went into the house of
the Lord
The distress
of Hezekiah
Hezekiah was probably weak in body
and therefore had lost true
courage of soul.
(J. Parker
D. D.)
Peril should drive the soul to God
The best way to baffle the malicious designs of our enemies
against us is to be driven by them to God and to our duty
and so to fetch meat
out of the eater. Rabshakeh intended to frighten Hezekiah from the Lord
but it
proves that he frightens him to the Lord. The wind
instead of forcing the
traveller’s coat from him
makes him wrap it closer about him. (M. Henry.)
Verse 3
This day is a day of trouble
Hezekiah’s day of trouble
Ahaz the father and immediate predecessor of Hezekiah on the
throne of Judah
engaged himself
and virtually his successors
to pay tribute
to the kings of Assyria.
Such a state of vassalage Hezekiah no doubt rightly though hazardously declined
to continue
and this is what is meant when it is said of him that “he rebelled
gains the king of Assyria and served him not” (2 Kings 18:7). Any such refusal on
the part of Hezekiah to acknowledge the despotic king of Assyria as his
lordparamount we may be sure would not be allowed to pass unchallenged
and
hence Sennacherib’s invasion of the kingdom of Judah in order to compel submission
to what the king of Judah objected to and declined to do. This is what
constituted Hezekiah’s day of trouble. (W. Alnwick.)
Days of trouble
1. Hezekiah but represents what has been the general experience of
man
for there has probably never lived a man on the face of the earth whose
lot it has not been to have some days of trouble and annoyance.
2. If we cannot entertain a reasonable hope of any such thing as
immunity from trouble
we can
however
endeavour to live and act so that our
troubles may not be more than they need to be. It cannot be doubted that many
bring much trouble on themselves
and subject themselves to many heart-aches
and heart burns
which they ought never to have known
and probably would not
have experienced had a different course of conduct been pursued
a course
perhaps
pointed out to them by those gifted with greater wisdom
prudence
and
foresight than they themselves were possessed of
but which by their obstinacy
of will and unjustifiable determination to take their own way
they were led to
reject.
3. We are not
of course
to think that because many and great
troubles fall to the-lot of a man
he has necessarily acted foolishly
acted in
opposition to any law of God
either natural
religious
or spiritual. This was
just the grievous mistake Job’s friends fell into.
4. It is only in heaven that trouble will be a thing unknown
and
where all tears will for ever be wiped away.
5. We cannot but see the importance of being well prepared for days
of trouble before we are made sensible of their presence with us. If we are
wise enough to prepare ourselves for them their approach will be no surprise to
us
and we shall be the better able to battle with them
and to turn that which
is an evil in itself into a blessing
and so much help to us in our journey
heavenward.
6. There can be no doubt that troubles are often sent by a wise and
gracious providence for this very purpose.
7. It now only remains for me to make a few further remarks on how to
deal with days of trouble when from being matters of prospect or future
contingents
they have become translated into actual and stern facts. In
dealing with such days we shall find much instruction and guidance afforded us
by the example of Hezekiah in dealing with his day of trouble. As soon as
Hezekiah became acquainted with the invasion of Sennacherib
he went into the
house of the Lord
the sure resort of God’s people in the time of distress
there in prayer to lay both his trouble and its cause before God
and at the
same time he sent Eliakim and Shebna unto the prophet Isaiah to desire that man
of God to lift up his prayer in behalf of the remnant that was left. We are
informed what was the blessed result of this union of prayer on the part of the
king and the prophet. The day of trouble was removed
and the sun
which one
day was shrouded in darkness
the next
shone forth bright and clear
every
cloud being swept from the sky. The course taken by the king of Judah in his
day of trouble and distress must commend itself to all who are found in similar
circumstances by its marvellous success. It is a fact
in spite of the sneering
scepticism of some people
that prayer is a really great power
and that as a
means for the attainment of ends consistent with and approved by infinite wisdom
and goodness
it will succeed when other means
such as men in their ignorance
sometimes elect to employ as the best and fittest
utterly fail to reach the
end aimed at. (W. Alnwick.)
Hours when prophets have influence
In the midst of his distress Hezekiah sent “unto Isaiah the
prophet the son of Amoz.” So far Hezekiah was right. He might have gone himself
directly by an act of faith to the living God
but he had regard to the
constitution of Israel
and he availed himself of the ordinances and institutes
appointed of Heaven. Hezekiah made through Eliakim a pathetic speech to
Isaiah--“This day is a day of trouble
and of rebuke
and of blasphemy.” There
are hours when prophets come to the enjoyment of their fullest influence.
Isaiah had been despised and derided
but now his hour has come
and he stands
up as the one hope of Judah. The question was
What can you
Isaiah
do to
extract Israel from all the peril which now presses upon the people of God? In
the sixth verse we see how nobly the attitude of Isaiah contrasts with the
attitude of Hezekiah. Instead of the word of inspiration proceeding from the
king it issued from the prophet. (J. Parker
D. D.)
A dangerous crisis
“The children are come to the birth
” &c. Obviously a
proverbial expression for a crisis which becomes dangerous through lack of
strength to meet it (Isaiah 66:9; Hosea 13:13). (Prof. J. Skinner
D. D.)
Verse 4
Lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left
Efficacious prayer
I.
THE
PERSON WHO WAS TO ENGAGE IN THE WORK OF INTERCESSION Was one of great eminence
in the Church and commonwealth
a great and good man
a prophet of the Lord
and one who was indulged with peculiar nearness to Him. Persons of eminent
piety will not be contented with ordinary applications to the throne of grace;
they will seek till they find
and wrestle till they prevail. This was a day of
trouble
as Hezekiah calls it; and therefore
it ought to be a day of prayer.
Intercession is the duty of all saints. But herein ministers should take the
lead. They are the Church’s watchmen
and God’s remembrancers. Zedekiah
who at
one time cast Jeremiah the prophet into a dungeon
at another time desired an
interest in his supplications
and sent messengers to him
saying
“Pray now
unto the Lord our God for us.” And God often spares the wicked for the sake of
the righteous
and in answer to their requests
even as the intercession of
Abraham was accepted for the inhabitants of Sodom.
II. THOSE FOR WHOM
THE PROPHET WAS REQUESTED TO PRAY were “the remnant that was left”; a certain
number known unto God
and who remained after the rest were scattered or
destroyed. This should teach us
that though in our prayers we should be
forgetful of none
yet we are to be particularly mindful of our
fellow-Christians
especially when in a state of adversity. It becomes us also
to be attentive to public and national calamities
as well as to those which
are personal and private
and to spread them before the Lord in prayer and
supplication.
III. There is
something observable as to THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PROPHET’S INTERCESSION IS
REQUESTED. “Lift up thy prayer.” This expressive form of speech may teach us to
remember--
1. That the glorious object of prayer is infinitely exalted.
2. The low and mean condition of the worshipper.
3. The secrecy of prayer
according to our Lord’s direction
“When
thou prayest
enter into thy closet
” &c. Lifting up a prayer may denote
the same thing as David expresses by the lifting up of the soul to God
in
mental and silent ejaculation.
4. The importunity and ardour of prayer. In lifting up our prayer to
God
our affections should rise high
though our voice may be low and feeble.
5. The spirituality and heavenly-mindedness of the person engaged.
6. Boldness and confidence
accompanied with the hope of being heard
and answered.
7. The proper end of prayer
which is not to draw the Divine Being
near to us
but ourselves to Him. (B. Beddome
M. A.)
Verse 10
Let not thy God
in whom thou trustest
deceive thee
A piece of satanic advice
I.
LET
US WEIGH THIS PIECE OF SATANIC ADVICE. It is a very dangerous temptation for
three reasons.
1. Because it appeals to the natural pride of the heart. There is a
universal instinct which makes a man abhor the idea of being deceived. There is
something in the very idea which rouses all the pride that lies latent in every
heart.
2. There is no disguising the fact that if God did deceive us we are
in a hopeless plight
and therefore there is force in the temptation.
3. The methods of God’s government being beyond our comprehension
sometimes appear to incline towards the tempter’s suggestion
--from appearances
one might say
“God is going to leave us in the lurch.”
II. LET US TURN
ROUND AND TEAR THE ADVICE UP.
1. We may tear it up because it comes too late. If God be a deceiver
we are already so thoroughly deceived
and have been so for years
that it is
rather late in the day to come and advise us not to be.
2. We may tear it up
because if God deceive us we may be quite
certain that there is nobody else that would not. From all we know of our God
His holiness
His righteousness
and His faithfulness
if He can deceive us
then are we quite certain that there are none to be trusted
3. There is not one atom of evidence to support the libel. Search the
world through
and see if you can find a man who will deliberately say
“I have
tried God
I have trusted Him
and He has deceived me.”
4. There is overwhelming evidence to refute it. Never yet did man
trust his God and be put to shame. Heaven and earth and hell declare that
Jehovah never hath deceived and never can deceive. (A. G. Brown.)
Sennacherib versus Jehovah
Never before in his experience had Sennacherib heard of a God who
could resist his progress; he believed in the almighty power of Asshur. (B.
Blake
B. D.)
And Hezekiah received the letter . . . and read it . . . and
spread it before the Lord
Hezekiah’s prayer and deliverance
In the struggles
defeats
and final triumph of the ancient people
of God in their conflicts with the surrounding nations
we have a key to the
purposes of God in respect to the kingdom of Christ and the kingdoms of this
world; a key to the interpretation of the principles and powers underlying the
conflict between the people of God and the unbelievers of this world.
God’s hand is in this earth’s history; His eye is upon all men and His ear open
to their
counsels; at the proper time and in the proper place He will
frustrate all the combinations of evil and bring to pass all His purposes of
righteousness. It is not by might nor by power that believers triumph over
their spiritual enemies or win their victories
but by the interposition of God
s almighty arm. The preceding chapter is so closely connected with that from
which our present study is taken
that the two must be read together. Jerusalem
was under siege
or at least was threatened with siege and capture by the
Assyrian king. In spite of all Hezekiah’s efforts to buy a peace for himself
and his kingdom
the greedy
haughty
and most powerful king was determined to
be satisfied with nothing short of entire and full possession of Jerusalem
itself. (For further historical setting let the reader consult 2 Kings
18:13--19.; 2 Chronicles
32:1-21.) The first
peremptory message
with the proud and blasphemous boasts of Sennacherib
threw
Hezekiah into great distress of mind and profound dismay. He appealed to the
prophet Isaiah
who encouraged him to keep silence and trust in God (verses
1-7). A sudden rumour of an army marching in his rear caused a diversion of the
Assyrian’s purpose
but meantime he sent another haughty message to Hezekiah
warning him that he was powerless to resist
and intimating his return
presently to capture the city This was a written message (verse 14)
and it
again disturbed Hezekiah
but apparently his faith in God was not shaken
and
so he resorted again to the temple and spread the whole matter out before the
Lord and sought help and deliverance.
I. THE PRAYER OF
HEZEKIAH. Hezekiah was a righteous
though not a perfect man. He was habituated
to prayer.
1. The place and
attitude of prayer. “Hezekiah went up unto the house of the Lord.” This was the
proper standing-ground on which to make petitions. God had promised to meet His
people there
and hear and answer their prayers (2 Chronicles
7:14-15). We have not
now any particular place in which to pray
but we have a Name which to
plead--the name of Jesus
and “whatsoever we ask in His name
” other conditions
being also fulfilled
“shall be done unto us.” Jesus is the true
“meeting-place” between God and His people; He is the true ground on which
prayer is to be made. By Him we have access to God (Ephesians 2:14). Then
Hezekiah did another thing. He took the haughty and insolent letter of
Rabshakeh and “spread it before the Lord.” So should we take God into our
confidence
and “in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
make our request known unto God” (Philippians 4:6). We too often
plan our own deliverance or our own work and then ask God to ratify it
whereas
the first thing to do is to spread the matter at once fully before God
reverently submitting to His plan and will
seeking in His wisdom the right
thing to do.
2. The address.
Here was a reverent remembrance of His majesty and a silent appeal to His
power
in which also Hezekiah renewed his own confession of faith: “O Lord of
hosts
God of Israel.” Israel was in trouble
and God was Israel’s God
not a
mere titular deity
but the great God of hosts. This is a familiar designation
of God and Jehovah
and refers to His universal sovereignty and power. “That
dwellest between the cherubim.” This is a reference to the fact that God had
been pleased to make His dwelling-place on the mercy-seat between those
mysterious figures called the cherubim
from which place He was always graciously
inclined towards His people. If the cherubim symbolise the incarnation (of
which I
at least
have no doubt)
then the reference to God’s position between
them
or
as we would now say
“God in Christ
” is very significant. David made
a similar appeal to now say
“God on behalf of Israeal: “Give ear
O Shepherd
of Israel; Thou that dwellest between the cherubim
shine forth. Stir up Thy
strength and come and save us” (Psalms 80:1-2). “Thou art
the God
Thou alone
of all the kingdoms of the earth.” The views of
Sennacherib were that each nation and kingdom had their own gods (36:18-20)
but Hezekiah ascribes to God not only aloneness in His being
but oneness
and
universal sovereignty over all the kingdoms of the earth. He therefore could
interfere in the plans of the Assyrian king for the purpose of frustrating
them
as well as come to the defence of His own peculiar people; besides
there
was a refutation and repudiation of the boasted idol gods who had been compared
to Him. “Thou hast made heaven and earth.” It is a favourite thought of Isaiah
and the old prophets
and indeed all the Jews who were instructed in the
knowledge of God
to couple His redemptive with His creative power. Thus did
Hezekiah throw himself on all the great attributes of God before he began his
petition.
3. The
supplication. “Incline Thine ear and hear
open Thine eyes and see.” Shall all
the doings of this vain and proud braggart go past without Thine observation?
Shall all his scandalous words in which he has openly derogated Thee pass by
Thine hearing? True prayer has always reference to the glory of God
however
much our own personal desires and needs may be involved in the things asked
for. “Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee” (verse 10). “Lord
refute and roll back that scandalous speech and reproach.”
4. Confession.
Hezekiah was not unmindful of the difficulties that opposed themselves to him
of the dangers that confronted him
nor of the truth of the statements of the
letter concerning the power of Sennacherib. “Of a truth
Lord
the kings of
Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their countries
and have cast
their gods into the fire.” For two centuries they had had a steady career of
conquest. There was no denying this; and many of the countries and kingdoms
that had succumbed to their power were much stronger than that of Hezekiah at
this time. There was therefore some show of truth in what they said (2 Kings
15:19-20; 2 Kings
15:29; 2 Kings
16:9; 2 Kings
17:5-6; Isaiah 20:1). Faith does
not ignore difficulties nor close its eyes to precedents in which the enemy has
triumphed
but then it is bold in the belief that God is able; and that what
may seem to be failure is due to other causes than the lack of power or
covenant faithfulness on the part of God.
5. The faith in
which the prayer was made. Hezekiah having admitted the prowess of the great
enemy
proceeds to say to the Lord that the triumph of Sennacherib over other
nations and their gods proves nothing in this case
from the fact that the gods
of the nations were no gods at all
but mere idols of wood and stone
the work
of men’s hands. Hezekiah in thus declaring his faith in God above all idols
seems also to call on God to make this truth apparent to the Assyrians. Here
his jealousy for God momentarily rises above his anxiety for Jerusalem.
6. The petition.
“Now therefore
O Lord our God
save us from his hand.” This is the simple
brief
and comprehensive petition. Just save us. We do not dictate the means
we do not dictate the nature of the salvation. Sometimes the most effective
prayers are the shortest. “God be merciful to me
a sinner
” was a very brief
prayer. So was “Lord save me
” but both were heard and answered; so was
Hezekiah’s.
7. The argument.
Hezekiah’s argument is all gathered up into this consummation
“that the
kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou art Jehovah
even Thou only.” True
believers long always that others may know their God. It is right for us to
desire that our own may know God
and even our friends
but it is the part of
the true Christian spirit to desire that even our enemies might know God
to
long to see even all the nations of the earth brought to a saving knowledge of
the truth. This was a true missionary prayer of Hezekiah. Sometimes the
knowledge of God can only be spread by the overthrow of some great political
power
or the removing of some gigantic enemy
such as Assyria and Sennacherib.
It proved to be so in this case.
II. THE
DELIVERANCE. After his prayer (we do not know how long after) Isaiah
who seems
to have been supernaturally informed of the prayer
and in like manner put in
possession of Jehovah’s reply
“sent word to Hezekiah
” that inasmuch as he had
submitted the matter concerning Sennacherib to God for help and deliverance
his request would be heard and answered. The following verses give an account
of the answer.
1. The promise.
The first part of this promise is to the effect that the “virgin daughter of
Zion hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem
hath shaken her head at thee” (verses 22
23). This seems to be not only an
answer to Rabshakeh for his vain and blasphemous boasting
but also an
assurance to Hezekiah. The daughter of Zion
like a virgin maid
was in herself
weak and helpless; nevertheless she held all the threatening of the Assyrian in
scorn and contempt
and would shake her head in derision at him
either in
defiance of his onset or following him with mockery in his retreat from the
city. Then follows a message to the Assyrian direct
in which God rebukes him
for his boastful blasphemies
and reminds him of how in the ages past God has
overthrown and destroyed the nations which had presumed to oppose themselves to
Jehovah. Then he is told that God’s eye has been upon him
and that now Jehovah
was about to “put a hook in his nose” and lead him away out of the country in
contempt
not even giving him the glory of a battle. Then follows another
promise to the remnant of Judah that they should again “take root downward and
bear fruit upward” (verses 24-32). Then comes again God’s “Therefore
”
concerning the Assyrian.
2. The fulfilment.
“Then the angel of the Lord went forth and smote in the camp of the Assyrians
an hundred and four score and five thousand; and when they arose early in the
morning
behold they were all dead corpses.” This was an awful visitation. All
the more so that it was done in the night and with perfect silence (2 Kings
19:35). Who can
withstand His judgments? Who is strong enough to fight against God? Let the wicked
wonder before they perish at the rebuke of His countenance and the breath of
His mouth.
3. Sennacherib’s
humiliation. It must have been an awful humiliation for this proud king to take
his march over the same route by which he had approached Jerusalem
not laden
with the spoil of the captured city
leading thousands of the chief men and
princes
and King Hezekiah himself in his triumphal captive train
but with his
shattered army to be the gazing stock of the countries he had subdued
and a
by-word among his own people. We must fancy that he entered Nineveh with
muffled drums
or no drums at all
with trailing or furled banners. When God
does rise up to humble the proud
He does it thoroughly. A further humiliation
awaited him. He went after up into the house of his idol to worship
not
immediately
for he appears to have lived some twenty years after this defeat.
But
at any rate
instead of his god defending him
much less giving him
assurance of further victories
his own sons
who should have stood by and
comforted their father
conspired together and slew him. So ended the career of
this proud boaster
and so began the decline of this great Assyrian power. (G.
F. Pentecost
D. D.)
Hezekiah’s prayer and deliverance
It is said of Hezekiah that “he trusted in the Lord God of
Israel.” Let us with reference to this side of his character notice some
lessons suggested by this story of his trouble and his deliverance.
I. FAITH DISCOVERS
GOD. The king of Judah needed such discernment to be sure that God was on his
side. He must have been surprised when the Assyrian commissioner said to him
“Do not believe that Jehovah will take your part; this is my master’s message
to you: ‘The Lord said to me
Go up against this land to destroy it.’” That was
not the first time nor the last when bad men have claimed Divine authority.
II. FAITH ASKS GOD
FOR DELIVERANCE. The army of Judah understood very well that they were no match
for the Assyrians: they were far weaker in numbers and were demoralised by a
long experience of defeat and servitude. Sennacherib had taken pains to
increase this impression. When this letter reached Hezekiah
he “went up unto
the house of the Lord
and spread it before the Lord.” That was his
privilege--that is the right of every one who believes; it is our prerogative
as God’s children. He offers us help in every extremity
only requiring that we
feel our need.
III. FAITH INSPIRES
FAITH. Hezekiah “trusted in the Lord
” but not always. Like most men he found
it easier to believe when he could see the way. When the Assyrian army was
moving toward Jerusalem
in the early part of his reign
he was frightened: he
forgot his God and so forgot himself
even sending to the invader this
humiliating message: “I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest
on me will I bear (2 Kings
18:14). And his
unbelief spread. The people
who had little enough of spirit at the best
now
following their leader
gave up in despair. But there came to the king in his
distress an inspiration--a friend had been raised up for his deliverance. It
was the prophet Isaiah; a man who knew how to trust in the Lord at all times;
when the sky was darkest he could see the stars beyond. When
after Samaria
fell
leading men proposed an alliance with the Egyptian king
“No” he said
“woe to them that go down to Egypt for help.” “As birds flying
so will the
Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also He will deliver it.” That faith
inspired Hezekiah
giving him a reinforcement of courage which he very soon
needed. He rallied and organised his forces for defence
and then went
personally among the people
with the cheering exhortation
“Be strong and
courageous
” &c. His faith inspired faith in them.
IV. FAITH OVERCOMES
(verses 33-36). What delivered Hezekiah? Not his generalship; not his army it
was “the angel of the Lord. (T. T. Holmes.)
Sennacherib’s letter
It is bad to talk proudly and profanely
but it is worse to write
so
for that argues more deliberation and design; and what is written spreads
farther
and lasts longer
and doth the more mischief. Atheism and irreligion
written will certainly be reckoned for another day. (M. Henry.)
Hezekiah’s prayer
Professor Cheyne refers to a striking parallel in the Egyptian
version of Sennacherib s overthrow. “On this the monarch (Sethos) greatly
distressed
entered into the inner sanctuary
and before the image of the god
(Ptah) bewailed the fate which impended over him. As he wept he fell asleep and
dreamed that the god came and stood by his side
bidding him be of good cheer
and go boldly forth to meet the Arabian (Assyrian) host
which would do him no
hurt
as he himself would send those who should help him.” (Herodotus.)
Prayer a way of escape
I know an ancient castle on a high rock
which used to be
garrisoned by soldiers. From inside the castle a long
winding passage
cut out
of the solid rock
and called Mortimer s Hole
leads right away under the town
and opens up at a great distance. It was the way of escape for the garrison in
a case of extremity. Prayer is such a door of deliverance
and no man can shut
it. (I. E. Page.)
Prayer for help answered
“When
” Sir Josiah Mason once said
“I have done everything I can
and see no clear way
I say to myself
God help me. I have brought out all my
judgment
my brain can do no more
so may it please Thee to give me a push.”
“And
” he added
“I get the push
for as sure as I ask for help
help comes.” (Sunday
School Chronicle.)
Verse 23
Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed?
--
Isaiah’s saving idea of God
Isaiah in his day saved Jerusalem by teaching the people a better
idea of their God. For forty years he had been witnessing to a truer thought of
God
and at last the crisis and the triumph of his religious statesmanship
came. Jerusalem would have surrendered to Assyria had not Isaiah at last
brought king and people
in their despair
to the faith in God to which for
forty years he had borne witness. At an hour when the Assyrian was making his
rapid march towards the city
two props of the people’s confidence had entirely
given way: their reliance upon Egypt
and their confidence in their religion.
Isaiah had told them over and over again that these supports were rotten
and
would give way when the crash came. And they did when at last came the scourge
of the nations which had swept other cities before it reached Jerusalem. For a
moment the luridness of the popular despair was lit up by a wild light of
passion and revelry: “Let us eat and drink
” they said
“for to-morrow we shall
die.” Then the hour for the triumph of the prophet’s lifelong truth was come.
He led a sobered people and a humbled king to the Holy One of Israel (Newman
Smyth
D. D.)
The Divine holiness and Fatherhood
The historic truth is that wherever a better idea of God prevails
men are delivered. The deep
permanent
at all times greatly needed lesson is
that the prophet’s truer teaching of God is for the salvation of a city. The
subject for us to inquire concerning is
whether we are being saved by any
truer
stronger ideas of our God? Are we saving our society
our
neighbour-hood
our city
our land by nobler knowledge of God?
1. Do you hope to
work out the redemption of men by education? It is a means
a sharp instrument
for good or evil
but Rabshakeh could blaspheme in two languages. We have to
face the question: “What leaven is to keep the school itself from moral
corruption?”
2. But much
it is
said
may be accomplished through sanitary and political science. Undoubtedly.
Even Ahaz did a good thing when he looked after the water supply of Jerusalem
in fear of a siege
although he would not hear a word that Isaiah was saying to
him by the upper pool in the fuller’s field. But if Isaiah had not been the
heart and the soul of the city in its critical hour
all the work that the
kings had done in repairing the walls and looking after the watercourses
would
never have kept the Assyrian out. Sooner or later we shall have to go down to
the God on whom we depend
if we are to build anything of permanent worth.
3. What
then
is
our better saving thought of God?
(1) We are coming
to know better the Divine Fatherhood of men.
God His people’s defence
A magistrate in Hamburg once held up his finger and said to Mr.
Oncken
the Baptist preacher: “Do you see that finger
sir? As long as I can
hold up that finger I shall put you down.” “I can see
” said Mr. Oncken
“what
you cannot see; I can see the mighty arm of God
and as long as that arm is
held up for my defence
you will never be able to put me down.” (Christian
Age.)
Verse 31-32
The remnant
The root and fruit of
Christianity
I.
THE REMNANT THAT ARE SAID
TO HAVE ESCAPED. Truly this is a description of the Lord s Church in every age.
Strait is the gate
&c. Even so now also there is a remnant according to
the election of grace.” This remnan that is left is in great distress. A
peculiar characteristic of this very small remnant is that they have escaped.
They are apart from the great bulk of professors. They have escaped from the
reigning power of sin; from the sentence of the law; from self and
self-confidence
and from all apprehension of the Second death.
II. Glance
at THEIR BEING THE OFFSPRING OF A DISTINGUISHED TRIBE. Although Joseph had an
exuberance of blessings pronounced upon him by his fond father
and he probably
realised them all
both in a temporal and spiritual point of view; yet the true
dignity rested upon the house of Judah. Mark here the Gospel sense of this
declaration
that Judah
the little chosen few
the Lord’s own living Church
have the sceptre among them--the sceptre of righteousness of their glorious
Lord who sprang out of Judah
and is ruling and reigning among them. His
presence is enjoyed
His love tokens are felt
the joys of His salvation are
experienced amongst those that are a minority
the little flock that He has
chosen and redeemed for Himself.
III. THE
ORIGIN OF THEIR LIFE. They have a root. What is a root? It is a concealed
hidden life. If you have no more religion than what is seen
it is not worth
your possessing. The real Christian has a hidden life. It is an abiding and
downward growing principle. Even in wintry seasons and trying times
there
should be at least the fruits of humility and self-abasement and meekness and
gentleness
the fruits of the mind of Christ. And this is taking root
downwards.
IV. THEIR
TENDENCY UPWARD WITH FRUITFULNESS. The believer in Jesus has a life which is
always tending upwards. If earth content you
your religion is not worth a
straw. The fruits which this tribe bear upwards are diverse and profuse. “The
fruits of the Spirit
” are said to be “love
joy
peace
long-suffering
goodness
gentleness
faith; against such there is no law. They are
outlaws--there is no law for them. “The fruits of righteousness are by Jesus
Christ.” Mark their upward tendency--“to the praise and glory of God.” (J.
Irons.)
The remnant
The sacred writers are
frequent in speaking of a “remnant” as alone inheriting the promises. The word
“remnant
” so constantly used in Scripture
is the token of the identity of the
Church
in the mind of her Divine Creator
before and after the coming of
Christ. (J. H.Newman
D. D.)
God’s remnant
We may learn--
1. Not
to entertain mean thoughts of our Lord
because there are but few sincere
Christians.
2. To
value the true religion and the professors of it.
3. God’s
zeal for His children in working such marvellous deliverances for them
though
they are so few in number.
4. Let
us own our dependence upon God
and regard Him as our only defence and
salvation in time of trouble
seeking to Him
as Hezekiah did here
by devout
prayers and supplications
and craving the assistance of His Church and
ministry
as this king did of the prophet Isaiah
to obtain of Him an answer of
peace and love. (W. Reading
M. A.)
Rooting and fruiting
This is a promise for the
encouragement of a downcast people. It is the seer’s way of looking through the
clouds and finding the sunshine. Judah had stood like a splendid tree
with
roots deep and branches wide. The hurricane had struck it
and it was plucked
up by the roots. The kings of Assyria had swept down on the people of God like
a very besom of destruction. Their cry to God brought back the assurance that
His hand was still on the kings of Assyria and that He had a large hope to
offer Judah
the hope that the remnant should grow again
taking root downward
and bearing fruit upward. It does not take a large start to come to large
growth. Rooting for the sake of fruiting--it is a familiar scriptural thought.
“He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water
which bringeth forth
his fruit in his season.” In the parable
the seed that grew so quickly
withered away because it had no root. The fig-tree which bore no fruit was
dried up from the very root. And so on
probably twenty times in Scripture
where rooting and fruiting are connected. Of course you observe the simple
naturalness of it. That is what we are accustomed to everywhere else. That is
what we are to expect in the spiritual life. Trees and plants take root
downward and bear fruit upward. So do souls; each in its appropriate soil and
each in its appropriate fruit
but by processes that are as natural in one case
as in the other. You cannot explain the process in either case without God; you
need Him at the start of it
and in the progress of it
and at the end of it.
And you find Him working through the laws He has made. The spiritual life is
not an exception to the rest of the round of life; it is the same natural life
has its laws as native to it as the natural laws are native to the rest of
life. Then you observe how the rooting is unseen
underground
unthought of
and the fruiting is above ground
in evidence
out in the light. Here is a
laying bare of the necessity of the inner life and the outer life as well.
Neither is indifferent to the other. You do not want roots for their own sake
and you cannot have fruit Without them. If you are going to improve the quality
of the fruit
you must often start in a better care of the root. In that fact
lies one of the puzzles of history and of human life. It is not difficult to
find when the fruit began to appear
but the root is always baffling. So it is
difficult to find the influence of the fruit already borne on the fruit that is
riper and richer. Take the sphere of education. It is not difficult to find
when the first school that might fairly be called a public school appeared; but
it is quite impossible to find who first originated the idea of which it is the
fruit--the idea of the equality of the mental rights of men. It is quite
certain that there was a time when that idea was not fruit-bearing
if it existed.
And it is evident
too
that the fruit borne through the years of the schools
has reacted on the root idea
enlarging it and making it better. We have better
schools now because we have a better root idea out of which to grow them. And
so we come to a word about the two parts of our personal lives--this unseen
root-life we are living
and the seen fruit-life we are meant to live. There is
always peril that one may be neglected in the care of the other. On the one
hand there are many who are seeking to develop the inner life
as though for
its Own sake
seeking to gain new inner beauty and grace and assurance
without
letting that inner life assert itself in outer seen life. On the other
there
are some who are caring well for the outer life
doing much for the Master
active in every good work
but caring little for the inner life
the root-life
out of which must grow the seen life if it be a secure life. Both are to be
commended for what they do; each is to be warned for what he does not do. The
life that is hid with Christ in God is meant to be seen of men for the glory of
Christ. There is to be
do you not see
a measure of concealment and a measure
of publicity
a certain hiding of life and a certain revealing of life
a
degree of secrecy and a degree of openness? The men whom you most admire
I
suspect
are men who always seem to have a measure of reserve power
but they
are not men who live behind barriers
whom you never approach with any sense of
companionship. They have an inner life
a taking root downward
out of your
sight
and you do not forget it in your dealing with them; but they have also
an outer
assertive life
the fruit of that inner life. Carry it just a little
farther in the personal life into the fundamentals of religion. Every man of us
carries about with him a certain bundle of convictions
a certain set of
creed-articles
which are his personal and inviolable property. They may be
like or unlike anybody else’s bundle. There are some of us whose possessions in
this way are very small
and we tend to think that creeds and doctrines are not
important; we go in for action
for conduct. We say that the world does not
judge you by what you believe
but by what you do. And there is a measure of
truth in it
of course: But are we so ignorant as not to know the power of a
mighty conviction? Do we not realise the tremendous energy o| a fruit-yielding
root of belief? It is not enough
therefore
that we say we do this or that
that is good. That is bearing fruit upward; hut the power to bear fruit and the
quality of the fruit
its power to feed and refresh the world
will be limited
be sure of it
by the amount of strength the roots of the life have gathered.
They must go deep and far
or the branches will soon be stunted and starved.
This same principle of root and fruit applies to the church of Christ. There
have been times of a mistaken accent on either of the two phases of life.
Sometimes the church has seemed to exist for its own sake
caring for itself
counting its task ended when it had done so
and careless of that true
fruit-bearing which is meant to be its glory. Then there have been times when
in the joy of fruit-bearing
the inner strength of the church has been
neglected. That is a strong accent on the root of the church
its creed
its
inner life. On the other hand
who has not observed the weakness of the mere
gathering together of people around no particular standard? That is one
extreme. There are not a few churches which touch the other extreme. The
preaching is faithful and truthful
the people are well indoctrinated in the
faith
they hold the great truths of the gospel without wavering
but they make
no successful onslaught on the world. And the same need and the same danger are
not only in the pulpit
but also in the pew. I suppose there are few churches
whose people are not called to constant care in maintaining the balance between
the demands of their own church
which is root-work
and the demands of the
kingdom at large
which is fruit-work. It appears markedly in the matter of
benevolence. There are always a few to whom it is almost positive pain to see
money going away from the church. Some resent all that goes to foreign
missions; some all that goes out anywhere. They rejoice far more in a large
gift for local expenses than they do in a large gift for charity or missions.
On the other hand
there are some who neglect the demands of the home church
chafe under calls for it
are attracted by the outlying thing. I have not
described the rank and file of any church in these extremes
but I have stated
the two brood lines of peril to which a church is subject. For each is a peril.
One is a magnifying of the root and a stunting of the fruit; the other is a
magnifying of the fruit and a neglect of the root. But you cannot express the
essential fact of rooting and fruit-bearing in terms of money. It yields to no
terms except that of life. Leaving the church as an organisation
let your mind
turn again to yourself as a living Christian
meant to take root downward and
bear fruit upward. The Word makes plain what the rooting soil of the Christian
must be “That ye being rooted and grounded in love
may grow up into Him in all
things.” Of the early Christians it was said
“See how they love one another.”
The strength of the church in history has been the intimate fellowship that has
bound its people together and made them one body. Its inner power has been in
large part in its being rooted in love. But not in that alone. The Word again
bids us be rooted and built up in Christ Himself. Therein lies real power
the
sending of the life root down deeper and deeper into Him
until the nourishment
of life comes from Him. We have seen numberless enterprises start in the name
of religion
flourish as did the seed of the parable and presently wither away
their root not running down into feeding soil. And what has thus appeared in a
large way appears in many a life in the small way. Men individually also are
striving to bear fruit without rooting in Christ
without drawing the very life
sap of their beings from Him. God keep His church true to its soil
rooting it
in love
rooting it in Him who is the very life of God revealed to us men for
our salvation. (C. B.McAfee
D. D.)
Verse
33
He shall not come into this city
The momentous issues involved in Sennacherib’s defeat
We do not
perhaps
realise the magnitude of the crisis
not alone
in the life and fortunes of Isaiah
but in the history of the Jews
and
inbreed
of the world at large.
It is not too much to say that if Sennacherib had taken Jerusalem
in all human
probability the Jews would have ceased to exist as a nation
and the world
would not have been prepared for the coming of Christ. They had not yet reached
a point in their training at which the national life and religion could have
survived such a calamity as that which a century later overtook Jerusalem in
the time of Jeremiah; and there is every reason to believe that had they been
carried captives now
they would simply have been absorbed into heathenism
as
the ten tribes doubtless were. (Edward Grubb
M. A.)
Jerusalem and Leyden
The siege of Jerusalem reminds us of the siege of Leyden in later
days. William the Silent (as Hezekiah had done before him) put his sole trust
for deliverance in God. On the last night of the siege
and when help from man
seemed hopeless
God came to their aid
and with His ocean and tempest
delivered Leyden
and struck such terror into their enemies
that when the
morning dawned
the Spaniards had fled
panic-struck
during the darkness.
Leyden was relieved
and every person within its walls repaired to the great
church to return thanks to Almighty God. (Sunday School Chronicle.)
Deliverance
The history of God’s people is one oft-repeated story of
deliverance. Years ago
the Sultan of Turkey declared that every Christian
missionary would be banished on a certain day. The Christians met in earnest
prayer
and one said
“The great Sultan of the universe can change all this.” He
did. The Sultan of Turkey died on the very day he had named for the expulsion
of the missionaries
and they were allowed to remain. (J. S.Drummond.)
Verse 36
Then the angel of the Lord
went forth
The destruction of
Sennacherib’s army
The narrative does not say
here (but see Isaiah 30:30-31) what secondary means
if any
were used.it does not exclude the
use of secondary means. As Dean Plumptre remarks
a modern historian would
dwell on the details of the pestilence. To Isaiah
who had learnt to see in the
winds the messengers of God Psalms 104:4)
it was nothing else than the “angel of the Lord.” (Expository
Times.)
A parallel in English
history
In English history there
is a striking parallel to the events of this period of Jewish history. Edward
VI.
under the guardianship of Cranmer
had established a pure form of
religious worship in England. On his death
Queen Mary upset everything
and
drove into retirement those who escaped the fires of Smithfield for their
allegiance to the Protestant faith. With Elizabeth a new era dawned
and the
religious life of the country displayed itself in great enthusiasm
resulting
in the overthrow of the Armada. The reign of Ahaz was like unto that of Mary;
with the accession of Hezekiah begins a reign like unto that of Elizabeth
having in its course the magnificent defeat of Sennacherib’s hosts by the arm
of the Lord. (B. Blake
B. D.)
Verse 38
His sons smote him with the sword
Sennacherib’s ignominy
The sacred history would seem to imply that this disastrous end
came at once; but here twenty years of ignominy count for nothing.
“The mills of God grind slowly
but they grind to powder.” Sennacherib died in
681 B.C.
some twelve years after Hezekiah. (B. Blake
B. D.)
Sennacherib’s sons
The two parricides fled to the land of Ararat
therefore to
Central Armenia; Armenian history derives the tribes of the Sassunians and
Arzrunians from them. From the royal house of the latter
among whom the proper
name Sennacherib was common
sprang Leo the Armenian
whom Genesius describes
as of Assyrio-Armenian blood. If this is so
no fewer than ten Byzantine
emperors may be regarded as descendants of Sennacherib. (F. Delitzsch
D. D.)
Humiliation of Napoleon I.
Napoleon said that “God was always on the side of the biggest
battalions
” and God flung the lie back into his teeth. (S. K. Hocking.)
The end of worldly ambition
Take the greatest rulers that ever sat upon a throne. Alexander
who wept because there were no more nations left to conquer
at last set fire
to a city and died in debauch. Hannibal died from poison administered by
himself. Caesar
having conquered three hundred cities
was stabbed by his best
friends. (G. S. Bowes.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》