Isa
36:14-15 (ESV)Thus says the king: 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will
not be able to deliver you. 15 Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord
by saying, "The Lord will surely deliver us. This city will not be given
into the hand of the king of Assyria."
NOTE: Sennacherib's
representative, Rabshakeh, is speaking here. This passage forms an interesting
contrast to similar passages in Jeremiah. In this passage, the
"preferred" message is the one that Hezekiah is giving--"trust
in the Lord and he will deliver us." In Jeremiah, his message is
"surrender to Babylon and God will protect your life." Two different,
and yet similar, prophecies. The first we want to hear, but the second we do
not. How can you have two courses of actions from God? Well, that part is
simple. At this point, Judah is supposed to learn by what happened to her
sister, Israel. In a little over 100 years, Judah will prove that she did not
learn anything. And God will change from mercy to judgment to get Judah's
attention. It is not pretty. It is not desired. But God's interest in our
relationship is far more important than our interest in our comfort. Hezekiah
will double check with Isaiah (and indirectly God) in the next chapter, and
that is always the most important thing to do. In fact, it is the first step
back to what God desired all along--a deep personal relationship with his
children. God will fight for that and do what is necessary to bring us back, it
is painful, but usually effective. It could be much worse, God could care less.
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