Isaiah: Holding Fast to the Lord

Isaiah 36

The former U.S. Secretary of State, Dr. Henry Kissinger, once told the New York Times, “There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.”^[1] Have you ever felt like that? No time for any issues this week or next. Unfortunately, crises will arise regardless of whether our schedules allow for them. Beginning in Isaiah 36, we follow three crises in the life of Judah’s King Hezekiah. First, he faced an international crisis (Isa. 36-37), then a personal one (Isa. 38), and finally one that involved the nation of Judah (Isa. 39).

Isaiah 36-39 is an intriguing section in our study because Isaiah shifts from delivering prophecies, typically in poetic form, to providing historical context. Parallel passages can be found in 2 Kings 18-20 and 2 Chronicles 29-32. Let’s take a moment to familiarize ourselves with King Hezekiah, and then we’ll explore his dilemmas.  

King Hezekiah receives more attention in Scripture than any other king except David and Solomon. He ascended to the throne around 715 BC at the age of twenty-five, though some believe he began serving as “co-regent” with his father, Ahaz, in 729 BC. He ruled Judah for twenty-nine years. 

Hezekiah’s father, Ahaz, was a faithless king who closed the temple doors and set up altars in every corner of Jerusalem. Then, Ahaz erected pagan altars throughout Judah, “provoking to anger the LORD the God of his fathers” (2 Chron. 28:25). However, with Hezekiah, it was not like father, like son. Early in his reign, Hezekiah did what was “right in the eyes of the LORD” (2 Kgs. 18:3).

2 Kings 18:4-7
[Hezekiah] removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). ⁵ He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. ⁶ For he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses. ⁷ And the Lord was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. 

Hezekiah instructed the priests and Levites, “Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, in order that his fierce anger may turn away from us” (2 Chron. 29:10). He called on the religious leaders to dedicate themselves and purify the house of the Lord. Thus, worship was restored in the temple under Hezekiah.

In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, around 701 BC, Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, launched an attack on the cities along Judah's western border and sent officials to Jerusalem urging Hezekiah to surrender. 

Under King Shalmaneser, Assyria had already conquered the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC (2 Kgs. 17:1-5). Upon hearing of Sennacherib’s invasion, Hezekiah’s first move was to negotiate with the Assyrian king, which was unwise. Through his officials, he told Sennacherib, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear” (2 Kgs. 18:14). To pay off Sennacherib, Hezekiah gave him all the silver in the temple and the king’s treasuries. Additionally, he pried off the gold from the temple doors and doorposts that he had overlaid (2 Kgs. 18:15-16). However, the tribute Hezekiah paid was a “Sennacherib scam.” King Sennacherib sent his army to capture Jerusalem. That’s where Isaiah starts his account.

Sennacherib sent the Rabshakeh, a high-ranking military officer, who arrived in Jerusalem seeking Hezekiah’s surrender. The large army accompanying him camped near Washer’s Field at the junction of the Hinnom and Kidron Valleys, close to a water supply. Hezekiah dispatched three top officials—Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah—to meet the Rabshakeh (Isa. 36:3). Let’s check out the Rabshakeh’s mocking speech. As we do, listen for the arrogance and disdain in his words. 

Isaiah 36:4-6
And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? ⁵ Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? ⁶ Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.”

The Rabshakeh displays a condescending pride, revealing his limited understanding of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. The one point where both the official and God agree is Egypt's inability to assist Judah. God has been conveying this message to Judah for a long time. The official continues:

Isaiah 36:7
But if you say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God,” is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar”?

Hezekiah’s destruction of the high places was done in obedience to God. The Rabshakeh did not believe that Judah’s God was different from the pagan gods. He misinterprets Hezekiah’s reforms as an offense to God. 

Isaiah 36:8-10
“Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. ⁹ How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master’s servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? ¹⁰ Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”  

The Rabshakeh mocked the size and skill of Judah’s army. “If you had two thousand horses,” he taunted, “you wouldn’t even know how to use them in battle.” Then he mocked God. This pagan military leader dared to say that God had sent him by putting his own words into God’s mouth.

The story has much more, but let’s stop here for today. Our Anchor Point comes from 2 Kings, a description of King Hezekiah.

2 Kings 18:5-7
He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. For he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered.

Hezekiah lived with bold faith, trusting in the Lord and holding fast to him. The phrase “held fast” (Hebrew: yidboq) means “to cling, stick, cleave.” He was unwilling to let go of God, and God never let go of him. The “LORD was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered.” Wouldn’t you love for God to describe you as one who held fast to him?

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Time in the Word: Read and reflect on Isaiah 36. Focus on our Anchor Point: 1 Kings 18:5-7. Consider what it means to hold fast to God. Is there any change you need to make to ensure that you are truly holding fast to the Lord? 

Talking to God:  Ask God to help you hold fast to him every day, in every situation. 

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Every day is a day of spiritual renewal as we follow hard after Jesus.