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Isaiah 37:14-20 meaning

After receiving a letter meant to induce fear in the hearts of its readers, Hezekiah takes the letter and his supplication to Yahweh at the temple.

Hezekiah is prepared. He is resisting. He is willing to fight. But he also sees reality. It is true Assyria has wiped out stronger nations. But it is also true they have defied God. So Hezekiah appeals to God to fight for them that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the Lord, you alone.

The text implies that Hezekiah did not delay in what needed doing. He immediately appealed to the Lord God, for he knew that it was from Him alone that Judah could be delivered:

Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord (v 14).

The house of the Lord refers to the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, which was modeled after the Tabernacle in the wilderness, which God told Moses to build as a copy of the true heavenly tabernacle, which is the throne room of God (Hebrew 8:1-2).

To learn more about the Temple read our article “The Temple.”

Hezekiah prayed to the LORD (v 15). The king begins his prayer to the Lord by identifying who He is, “O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim” (v 16).

The Hebrew term for Lord is “Yahweh,” the covenant name of God. That name speaks of God’s character and His relationship with His covenant people (Exodus 3:14, 34:6). The term translated as hosts is “Sabaoth” in Hebrew and means “armies.” It refers to the angelic armies of heaven.

Thus, the phrase signifies that the all-powerful God leads His army to fight for His people and defeat His opponents. It means that the Lord has all power and authority over human affairs.

To say that God is enthroned above the cherubim is speaking literally of the two cherubim on the lid or “mercy seat” of the ark of the covenant which was located in the tabernacle, and later the temple, but figuratively speaks of God’s presence. To learn more, see our commentary on Numbers 7:89

Hezekiah continues his prayer by acknowledging that God, as the creator of all things, is sovereign over all things, “God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth (v 16).”

It is appropriate here that Hezekiah acknowledges that God is the true king above all kings. It is to this power that Hezekiah will now appeal, asking Yahweh, the LORD, to intervene on Judah’s behalf.

Now Hezekiah outlines his petition to Yahweh and says,

“Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to reproach the living God” (v 17).

The first thing Hezekiah asks is for the Lord to hear the words of Sennacherib, the Assyrian king. These were words sent through his representative, Rabshakeh. Hezekiah points out that the taunts and assertions were a reproach to the God of Judah, the true and living God. Next Hezekiah says:

Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated all the countries and their lands, (v 18)

Part of what Rabshakeh claims is true, and Hezekiah acknowledges the reality that in truth the kings of Assyria have in fact devastated all the countries and their lands, as Rabshakeh has asserted. And, in fact they also have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them (v19).

Hezekiah acknowledges the claim of Rabshakeh that the gods of these lands did not save them. But he also asserts that these gods are not true gods, like Yahweh, the Great I Am. The inference is that by delivering Judah, the true and living God can distinguish Himself and provide a witness to the nations.

After acknowledging which of Rabshakeh’s statements were true, including that he (on behalf of the Assyrian king) had reproached Yahweh God, Hezekiah now makes his request: “Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, Lord, are God.” (v. 20)

Hezekiah asks for deliverance, for the sake of Judah and his people. But he also asks directly for God to reveal Himself to all the kingdoms of the earth, that by this deliverance they may know that the God of Israel is alone the Lord and God. Hezekiah here invokes the name of Yahweh, the covenant name for God, meaning “The Existent One.” This name speaks both of God’s almighty creative power, as well as His special relationship with Israel/Judah, having entered into a covenant treaty with them (Exodus 19:8).

Biblical Text

¹⁴Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵Hezekiah prayed to the Lord saying, ¹⁶“O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ¹⁷Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to reproach the living God. ¹⁸Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated all the countries and their lands, ¹⁹and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. ²⁰Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, Lord, are God.”

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Additional Resources

Book Theme

The Book of Isaiah is the first and longest book of prophecy in the Bible. Its sixty-seven chapters make it the Bible’s second longest book after the Psalms. Isaiah’s message is one of the LORD’s justice and grace. Written 700 years before Christ, its prophecies concern the geopolitical events during the reign of King Hezekiah who was a contemporary of Isaiah, the Babylonian exile, Judah’s return, and the end times. The book of Isaiah also contains numerous prophecies about the Messiah’s birth, mission, character, suffering, and triumph.

Chapter Context

Isaiah Chapters 36-39 provide us with a historical narrative about King Hezekiah that is sandwiched between two prophetic poetry sections. It seems there is a pattern that when the book of Isaiah breaks into a historical narrative, we should look for something prophetic that tells of major events in Israel’s future.

Chapter 7 told of the advent of the Messiah, born of a virgin. After this prose, Isaiah returns to verses of poetry. Then he breaks into another section of prose in chapter 14. This time Isaiah tells of the fall of Babylon. Babylon will defeat Assyria then they will defeat and exile Judah. But Babylon will also fall. And in the prophecy of the fall of Babylon we get an embedded prophecy about Satan (Isaiah 14:12-13). God says that even though Judah will be exiled, He will return them to their land.

The book of Isaiah then returns to being primarily poetic prophecy until chapter 36. Then we get an extended story from chapters 36-39.

This is likely a prophetic signal. The story that unfolds tells us of an Assyrian king who has invaded the land and comes against Jerusalem. Micah 5 speaks of a Messiah who will rid Israel of a future Assyrian (Micah 5:5).

In the story told in Isaiah 36-39, the Assyrian king’s spokesman, Rabshakeh, might be a forerunner of the false prophet spoken of in Revelation. This false prophet is the spokesman of the king of Assyria, who could be a prototype of the antichrist—the beast of Daniel and Revelation.

In the last days, the beast will rule the earth on behalf of Satan. It seems he will either be Assyrian, or have the same great power as the king of Assyria in the time of Isaiah.

This story of the siege of Jerusalem in Isaiah 36-37 is also recorded in 2 Kings 18-19 and 2 Chronicles 32. This repetition also gives us a signal of its prophetic application.

Historical Background:

The Assyrian empire had dominated the international political scene since the reign of Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria (745–727 BC)— also called “Pul” in the Bible. To consolidate his power, Pul besieged the city of Samaria and asked King Menahem of Israel to pay tribute to him.

According to 2 Kings, “Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver so that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his rule” (2 Kings 15:19). Once Pul received the tribute payment, he withdrew his troops from the land of Israel (2 Kings 15:20).

In 733 BC, Israel allied with Syria to seek independence from Assyria. Israel and Syria requested help from King Ahaz of Judah, but Ahaz refused to join because he had allied with Assyria. Consequently, Israel and Syria decided to wage war against Judah, “but they could not conquer it” (Isaiah 7:1). One year later, the Assyrians invaded Damascus (the capital of Syria), and ten years later (722 BC), they captured Israel when King Hoshea made an alliance with Egypt and stopped paying tribute to the Assyrian king, Shalmaneser V (2 Kings 17:6).

Meanwhile, the Assyrians continued to receive tribute payments from Judah. But in 701 BC, King Hezekiah of Judah rebelled against King Sennacherib of Assyria. This could be because Hezekiah also made an alliance with Egypt (Isaiah 36:6). In frustration, the Assyrians attacked Judah, but the death angel of the Lord “went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians,” causing Sennacherib to depart from Israel (2 Kings 19:35–36; Isaiah 36–37).

Eventually, under King Ashurbanipal (668–627 BC), the Assyrians returned to Judah, captured Hezekiah’s son, King Manasseh, and “led him to Babylon, making Judah one of their subjects (2 Chronicles 33:11).

Upon Manasseh’s return to Judah, he reigned for a short time and then died. His son (Amon) ruled in Judah for only two years, from 642 to 640 BC (2 Kings 21:19–26). Following Amon’s death, his son Josiah ruled from 640 to 609 BC. In 627 BC, the last strong Assyrian leader (Ashurbanipal) died, causing the Assyrian empire to decline rapidly. Assyria’s capital Nineveh fell to an alliance led by Babylon in 612 BC, and Babylon became the dominant world empire for a time. King Josiah of Judah seized the opportunity and began a religious reform in which he purged all the altars of Baal along with the molten images (2 Chronicles 34:3–7).

Isaiah 37:14-20 meaning

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Additional Resources

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Chapter Context

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The Bible Project - Isaiah Summary Pt. 1

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