Isaiah Chapter 37

At a Glance

  • In Isaiah 37, the plot picks up as Hezekiah faces a deadly crisis: the Assyrian army, led by Rabshakeh, has besieged Jerusalem and begun blaspheming the God of Israel.
  • Historical & Literary Context.
  • Isaiah 37 sits within the so-called Book of Consolation (Isaiah 40–55) and the larger prophetic corpus addressing Hezekiah’s era (late 8th to early 7th century BCE).
  • - Divine Sovereignty over Nations: God rules the threats of Assyria and uses them to display His power, even when His people are shrinking in fear.
  • - Prayer as Proclamation: Hezekiah’s dependence on prayer and Isaiah’s reassuring word demonstrate prayer as both petition and a theological declaration of trust.

ISAIAH CHAPTER 37

Chapter Overview

In Isaiah 37, the plot picks up as Hezekiah faces a deadly crisis: the Assyrian army, led by Rabshakeh, has besieged Jerusalem and begun blaspheming the God of Israel. The emperor’s words threaten not only the city’s physical future but the very faith of Judah. Hezekiah models faithful leadership by tearing his clothes, donning sackcloth, and seeking Isaiah’s prophetic counsel. The prophet steps in with a word of divine reassurance: do not fear the blasphemies you hear, for the Lord has heard and will respond. The core of the chapter is a dramatic turn in three movements. First, a powerful human threat is announced: Rabshakeh’s taunts and the broader imperial campaign. Second, a theological response is offered: God’s reputation is at stake, and He will act to vindicate His name. Third, a strategic divine intervention unfolds: a “blast” or rumor will frighten the Assyrian commander, causing him to retreat and return to his own land, where he will fall by the sword. The chapter climaxes with the unexpected twists of geopolitics—Syria shifts its attention toward Libnah, a new threat arises from Ethiopia, and prideful foreign forces begin to unravel—while Hezekiah’s people are invited to trust the God who can bend even mighty armies to His purposes. The faith-lesson is crisp: when God’s people face intimidating enemies, prayer, proclamation of God’s sovereignty, and steadfast trust become the instruments through which deliverance comes. The chapter also foreshadows the broader pattern in Isaiah of God’s supremacy over every nation and His care for Zion.

Historical & Literary Context

Isaiah 37 sits within the so-called Book of Consolation (Isaiah 40–55) and the larger prophetic corpus addressing Hezekiah’s era (late 8th to early 7th century BCE). The text is literary prophecy: a blend of narrative tension, royal crisis, and responsive prophecy. The immediate historical backdrop is the Assyrian empire’s expansion under Sennacherib and his vassal Rabshakeh, who taunt Judah to challenge the living God. The genre combines courtroom-like oracles (God accusing, then vindicating) with courtly history: the king consults prophets, the city braces for siege, and divine speech reframes the political drama. The chapter functions as both a historical hinge—tied to the events surrounding Lachish and Libnah—and a theological pivot: God’s reputation among the nations is at stake, and He alone can alter human fortune. In the broader book, Isaiah develops a pattern where Israel’s deliverance is not primarily by military prowess but by God’s speech and action, a theme on prominent display here.

Key Themes

- Divine Sovereignty over Nations: God rules the threats of Assyria and uses them to display His power, even when His people are shrinking in fear.

- Prayer as Proclamation: Hezekiah’s dependence on prayer and Isaiah’s reassuring word demonstrate prayer as both petition and a theological declaration of trust.

- God’s Honor and Reputation: Rabshakeh’s blasphemies threaten God’s name; the response focuses on God’s defeat of the “gods” of other nations to reaffirm His lordship.

- Faith under Pressure: The chapter models trust under existential threat—knowing that human odds are secondary to God’s purposes.

- Providence through Surprise: Deliverance comes not by conventional military might but through divine maneuvering—rumor, retreat, and strategic misdirection.

Modern Application

Isaiah 37 invites believers to face overwhelming anxiety with prayerful realism and a robust trust in God’s sovereignty. When threats loom—whether political, societal, or personal—biblical faith doesn’t deny danger; it reframes it through the lens of God’s authority. Practical takeaways:

- Lift up your concerns in prayer, then center your mind on God’s character and promises.

- Seek reliable prophetic counsel or wise spiritual leadership who anchor their guidance in Scripture.

- Trust that God can turn potential disasters into opportunities for His glory, often through unexpected means.

- Guard against fear that seeks to control outcomes; instead, align actions with faith, humility, and dependence on God.

- Recognize that deliverance may look differently than expected—God may choose to save through restraint of the threat rather than annihilation of the enemy.

The chapter also challenges readers to consider how they speak about God in the public square: honoring Him in words, resisting blasphemy, and remaining steadfast when cultural voices minimize faith.

Cross-References (3–5)

- Isaiah 36–37 (the siege narrative in fuller context)

- 2 Kings 18–19 (parallel historical account of Sennacherib’s invasion)

- Psalm 46 or Psalm 2 (themes of God’s sovereignty over nations)

- Isaiah 40 (contrast of human frailty and divine sovereignty in a broader consolatory frame)

Recommended Personas (which Biblical personas would provide unique insight)

- Isaiah (prophet’s perspective on divine strategy and proclamation)

- Hezekiah (royal leadership facing crisis with trust and prayer)

- Moses (as a model of intercession and confidence in God amid daunting challenges)

Chapter Text

1

And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.

2

And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

3

And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.

4

It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.

5

So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

6

And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

7

Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

8

So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.

9

And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,

10

Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

11

Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?

12

Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?

13

Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?

14

And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.

15

And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,

16

O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.

17

Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.

18

Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,

19

And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.

20

Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only.

21

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria:

22

This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.

23

Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.

24

By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.

25

I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.

26

Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.

27

Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.

28

But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.

29

Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.

30

And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.

31

And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:

32

For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.

33

Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.

34

By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.

35

For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.

36

Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

37

So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

38

And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

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