Dwell in the Word: Isaiah 37:21-38

Contemplate these questions as you dwell in Isaiah 37:21-38:

1. In this passage, God makes it clear that He is the one who controls the destiny of nations, using them as instruments to fulfill His purposes. How can we maintain humility and trust in God's sovereignty, both in our personal lives and when considering global events?

2. Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, experienced a dramatic downfall after threatening Jerusalem. How does this story serve as a reminder of the consequences of arrogance and opposition to God's authority?

3. While it's easy to recognize God's judgment in the downfall of oppressive nations, how can we apply the message of repentance and reliance on God's forgiveness to our own lives, recognizing our own sins and need for His grace?

Transcript:

So, we get the conclusion here of this story of the forces of Sennacherib threatening Jerusalem. We saw that they were coming in and making these claims against God saying, Hey, all the gods of the other people, they were prayed to, and those cities fell. The same thing is going to happen to yours, so just give in. Well, we saw that Hezekiah went to Isaiah, and he asked him for help. They went with sackcloth and ashes. They were truly wanting the help of God. The reply of the prophet, Isaiah here is very stern. In verse 23 here we say, Whom have you mocked and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes to the heights? We know the answer to this. Ultimately, they are reviling God. It says, Against the holy one of Israel. This is who you have reviled. You have spoken against the God of all creation. You have come up against Him. This isn't a false God. This isn't an idol made by somebody's hand. This is the one true God. You have mocked, you have reviled Him, and now He is saying you had better be prepared for what is going to happen.

It gets interesting here in verse 26, it says, Have you not heard that I determined it long ago? The prophet is saying, God is telling you, do not realize that you're an instrument in my hands. You act like you are over me, but I have just used you as an instrument. I have made you be the one who does this to these cities. You think that you are in control, but ultimately I am the one who is control. I have been using you. I have ordained this to come to pass. It's not because of your amazing power, but because I am the one who is sovereign. I am the one who is in control. And then in verse 29, it gets down to the bottom level, doesn't it? Because you have raged against me, and your complacency has come to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will tune you back on the way by which you came. In other words, you're not going to come up against Jerusalem. You are going the other way, and you will have no choice. You are under my control, essentially, just as you always have been.

We see what happens to the people of Assyria, what happens to the armies of Assyria here. It says in verse 36, And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. Then Sennacherib, king of Assyria, departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh. And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch, his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his son, struck him down with the sword. And after they escaped from the land of Ararat, Esarhaddon, his son reigned in his place. In other words, things do not end well for Sennacherib. He came up against God, and God's sovereign plan was for him to perish. Now, it's easy for us to read this, and we can celebrate that God is in control, that God has taken these forces of evil, and he has, for lack of a better term, put them in their place. Or, yes, he has used them, but he has taken their mocking, and he has punished them for it. God is not mocked. That is something to celebrate here, that the wickedness in the world will not flourish.

Ultimately, God is not mocked. God does His good will. God will judge. Now, that is a piece of application that we get from here. But this does not mean that we sit and look at what we see as godlessness in the world, and we sit over it, and we just, huh, we're on God's side. God is not much. You're going to be judged. That's not where we should sit. We should not be that comfortable. We should be thinking, I have mocked God in my sin each and every day. I deserve His judgment. But yet because of what God has done for me in Christ, I have forgiveness. That is where we need to be centered. When we hear these messages of God judging, the message comes hard to us as well. It's a message that turns us towards God in repentance. So may we be a people of repentance. May we turn towards God. May He direct us towards Him that He might not have to put the bit in our mouth and turn us towards judgment.