Page 75 - Isaiah Student Worktext

V. 5-7 God’s response: do not be afraid. Most of us can probably testify to this: that is much easier said
than done. But God says not to worry…I will handle this.

We often expect God to work immediately and in ways that we think would be best. God says quite
simply that He will send a spirit upon the king of Assyria and cause to fall by the sword in his own land.

V. 8-9 Libnah and Lachish are both cities to the west of Jerusalem, so the Assyrians were still fighting in
Israel. The king heard that the king of Ethiopia was planning to make war against him. Some
translations say ‘Cush’, others say ‘Sudan’, but apparently this was all a part of the Egyptian empire at
that time.

In any case, when Assyria heard that this was happening, the king sent a message to Hezekiah.

V. 10-13 More blasphemy…don’t think that your God is big enough to deal with me. Haven’t you heard
what happened to the other nations and how their gods weren’t able to help?

V. 14-20 I love the symbolism here. Hezekiah was presented with a problem, a major challenge. His
first response was to ‘spread it before the Lord’, which is what we should do with the challenges of life.
His second response was to lift the situation in prayer. For Hezekiah, and for us, God is truly where we
should go first.

Hezekiah then ‘reminds’ God of all that had been done against Him and His people. Do we really need
to do that? God knows all that has taken place, whatever it is that we are praying about, but He asks us
to lay these things before Him.

Hezekiah’s prayer follows the model of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6: 9-13. It begins with praise (V.
16), then follows the request (V. 17-20). In the Lord’s Prayer, God knows that we need daily bread, He
knows we need to ask forgiveness for our trespasses. He knows that we need deliverance from our
temptations. Still, Jesus told His disciples to pray in that way.

In the midst of his prayer, Hezekiah speaks the truth that Assyria has ‘laid waste’ all the other nations,
but also speaks truth by saying that their gods were wood and stone and incapable of offering any
protection.

It ends with the assurance that the Lord God will save them…not for their own sake, but so that all the
kingdoms of the earth will know that He is God.

V. 21-25 Isaiah as a prophet is the messenger of God. He is called to speak, not his own words, but the
word of God. Isaiah goes to Hezekiah with God’s message.

There are four parts to God’s answer: 1) Judgment of the blasphemer 2) Salvation for the remnant 3)
Deliverance of Jerusalem 4) To glorify His own name.

First, God has heard. He didn’t ‘change His mind’ or do something He hadn’t already planned to do.
Still, again, we are expected to pray.

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