Isaiah 36 - Introduction

Isaiah 36-39 An Historical Interlude.

In the eyes of many interpreters these four Chapter s are an important interlude separating the book of Isaiah into two halves. They certainly ground all that Isaiah has been saying in the context of history, and reveal the might and arrogance of Assyria, demonstrating at the same time how easily Yahweh can dispose of them when He wishes, and they reveal God's sovereign power actually at work in even controlling the sun, bring out Hezekiah's folly in not trusting wholly in God, and confirm why in the end the only hope for the future is the Coming One.

The first two Chapter s are a description of the ‘contest' between Sennacherib and Yahweh. They are confirmation of the fact that in spite of all his boasts and fearsome armies God can deal with Sennacherib whenever He wishes. They lead up to the deliverance of Jerusalem by a great wonder, and the humiliation and death of Sennacherib at the hands of his own family. This puts things everything in stark contrast. The great Sennacherib may boast, and strut around and even seem invincible, but mighty Yahweh can smash the vaunted power of Assyria with one wondrous blow, while, when it comes down to it, helpless Sennacherib cannot defend himself against his own family.

In these first two Chapter s the combatants from the past Chapter s are laid bare. On the one hand we have in vivid detail the description of Sennacherib, conqueror of nations, boaster supreme, with all that he represents. He is given maximum space in which to trumpet himself. But he proves to be very vulnerable, for his defeat at the hands of Yahweh and his final end are dismissed in three verses (Isaiah 37:36). And on the other we have Yahweh, the great Creator and Lord of heaven and earth, Who patiently waits until Sennacherib has finished his boasting and then inevitably wins by a knock out and reigns supreme. In this all that has been said before can be summed up.

The final two Chapter s of the four will zoom in on Hezekiah. Here is one who, instead of being knocked down by Yahweh is lifted up and given an extension to his life, and is also given a mighty sign which should have enabled him to put his full trust in Him. The final chapter then deals with Hezekiah's failure to exercise that trust, a fact made clear by his making of a treaty with the King of Babylon's representatives. It is this that will then lead on in 40-55 to the declaration of a need for the coming of a replacement to the current house of David in terms of the Servant of Yahweh. Even Hezekiah with all his reforms has proved not to be sufficient for the task of bringing God's people back to Him.

Thus chapter 38 will describe the wonders with which God seeks to bolster Hezekiah. Ahaz had refused a wonder ‘in the heaven above' (compare Isaiah 7:11) and so Yahweh now gives one to Hezekiah. It occurs after a time of severe illness when he is given an extra lease of life, and Yahweh then causes the shadow of the sun to move backwards, giving him the guarantee of the fact that Yahweh has the power to deliver Jerusalem and be its great defender and has complete control over that orb which other nations linked to their greatest gods. To both Assyrian and Babylon the sun was important in their worship and their religious outlook. Thus control of the sun was paramount to control of their gods. It is an attempt by Yahweh, as with Ahaz previously (Isaiah 7:1), to establish the Davidic king in faith, so that he would look only to Him as Life-giver and Deliverer.

Chapter 39 is the anticlimax. It reveals that in spite of God's amazing revelation of power, Hezekiah was but weak at heart and all too ready to prostitute his faith by relying on Babylon, that antithesis to all that God desired. Given the choice between trusting Yahweh or trusting Babylon, he chose Babylon. In Isaianic terms it was a backsliding of enormous dimensions. And the result is that he is given a warning that Babylon will come and seize all his treasures, and will carry the sons of David off as court slaves to Babylon (Isaiah 39:6). Those who consort with Babylon will be absorbed by Babylon. Note that the impact is restricted to the house of David. Isaiah is not predicting an overall Babylonian exile. This found its fulfilment when Manasseh was carried off to Babylon (2 Chronicles 33:11), no doubt accompanied by other members of the royal family.

But even sadder than this prophecy is Hezekiah's sad acquiescence to the position, for Isaiah 39:8 must be seen as Hezekiah's final surrender of his right to be considered as ‘the Davidic king'. He was revealing that he had no vision. He was satisfied with less. Instead of having the whole future in mind, he was only concerned with the present. He was simply relieved by the fact that it indicated that at present they had nothing to worry about. Thus Isaiah, recognising the situation with sinking heart, and knowing that there is no hope to be sought in the descendants of Ahaz, will go on to draw attention to the fact that Israel will have to look elsewhere for the Great Deliverer than to the current house of David. If salvation is to be found it must be found elsewhere than in the regular succession to the throne of David, for they had failed in their response to God. And that is what he will deal with in the remainder of the book.

So these four Chapter s divide the book into two halves. They separate the collection of the earlier prophecies of Isaiah, brought together into the compilation we have already considered, from his later prophecies which are more in the nature of a continuous work, these last written when he became less active and tended more to meditate on the more distant future and the implications of his earlier prophecies. They form an important connecting link between the two, besides containing their own message, and explain the difference of emphasis in the two sections.

Most of what is found here in chapter 36-37 can also be found in 2 Kings 18:13 to 2 Kings 20:19. The authors of Kings may well have borrowed their narrative from Isaiah, or, more likely, from an expansion by Isaiah of his work (2 Chronicles 32:32). That is really the only explanation of the order of the narratives, which ignores the chronological sequence but provides one ideally suited to the book of Isaiah. However, that passage in 2 Kings includes the further information of an earlier submission by Hezekiah to Sennacherib which was accepted on the payment of huge tribute (2 Kings 18:13) which was sent to Nineveh. What the exact relationship was between that submission and the later invasion and siege described here is disputed. Some see the one as occurring immediately after the other, with Sennacherib reneging on his treaty (something for which he became well known), others consider that there was a gap of a few years between them. One thing appears clear, however, and that is that Isaiah and Judah both saw Sennacherib's further action as a betrayal of what he had earlier promised (Isaiah 21:2; Isaiah 24:16; Isaiah 33:1).

Perhaps we may consider at this point a brief resume of the history of the time as far as we know it. When Sennacherib came to the throne of Assyria in 705 BC on the death of his father Sargon II the opportunity was taken by many subject nations to rebel and break free from Assyria, refusing tribute. The great tyrant who had had them in submission was now dead, and their hope was that internal problems would keep Sennacherib busy. This kind of insurrection regularly happened on the death of powerful tyrants, when their successors were seeking to establish their positions.

So Merodach Baladan (Marduk-apla-iddina II) of Babylon, taking advantage of the situation, searched far and wide seeking to ferment trouble, and he included Judah in his plans (Isaiah 39:1). Those who expressed interest included the king of Tyre, who played a major part in the rebellion, together with associated Phoenician cities; the Philistine cities of Ashkelon and Ekron (whose loyal king was deposed and imprisoned by Hezekiah); probably Moab, Edom and Ammon; and some of the Arabian tribes. But Sennacherib did not take long to establish his position in Assyria and he then moved against Babylon and its near allies, including Elam, defeating them totally.

Once he had accomplished this we know from Assyrian records that he then turned his attention to the rebels elsewhere. Firstly he crushed Tyre, (whose king fled to Cyprus), along with their associated cities, although being unable to take the island city. It was, however, in dire straits, and had to be provisioned from the sea. This resulted in a number of the other tentative rebels hastily resuming tribute. Then he turned his attentions further south and advanced on Judah whom he saw as a major rebel, for it was Hezekiah who held captive Padi, king of Ekron, the king who had remained faithful to Sennacherib and had refused to join the rebellion.

At his approach, once a number of his cities had been taken, Hezekiah submitted and paid a huge ransom (2 Kings 18:13). This included some of his royal daughters, concubines, and male and female musicians, who were carried away to Nineveh, a ransom which was apparently accepted. Meanwhile other men of Judah had already been carried off as captives on the surrendering of their cities, as Sennacherib claims in his annals.

Under the treaty thus arranged Hezekiah had to release Padi, the king of Ekron whom he held as a prisoner, lost a large amount of territory which was divided among kings loyal to Sennacherib, and was required to send certain of his daughters to Nineveh as proof of his loyalty. He did not, however, have to appear before Sennacherib in person, for Sennacherib's annals say, ‘he sent a personal messenger to deliver the tribute and make a slavish obedience'. This being interpreted may basically mean ‘he surrendered, but would not do it in person, and I had to give way on that point, because I had other matters to deal with'.

This is quite significant, for it demonstrates that Sennacherib was so keen to make peace that he did not enforce absolute demands. This was possibly because news had reached Sennacherib of the gathering by Egypt of an army to attack him so that he wanted to guard against attacks from all sides. It may even be that it was the fact that he was then later informed that the Egyptian army contained elements from, or was supported by, Judah, that made him feel that Hezekiah had betrayed him, thus causing him to think that the new treaty had already been broken. It would not be the first time that a king acted on inaccurate intelligence. On the other hand there may have been truth in it for Egypt may have had Judean mercenaries in its army. But whatever the case might be he broke the new treaty and again besieged Lachish preparatory to an advance on Jerusalem. That is where this account begins.

Perhaps it should be noted here that Sennacherib's own records themselves confirm that Jerusalem was never taken, for he lays great stress on his capture of Lachish, which he would not have done if he had captured Jerusalem. (The principle for recording history was simple. You put the best gloss on things, and ignored all failures). All that he does claim is that he besieged Jerusalem and shut up Hezekiah there like a caged bird. Had he captured it, it would have been headline material.

Chapter 36 The Challenge of The King Of Assyria to Hezekiah and Yahweh.