mh_parser/vol_split/23 - Isaiah/Chapter 36.xml

<div2 id="Is.xxxvii" n="xxxvii" next="Is.xxxviii" prev="Is.xxxvi" progress="13.55%" title="Chapter XXXVI">
<h2 id="Is.xxxvii-p0.1">I S A I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Is.xxxvii-p0.2">CHAP. XXXVI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Is.xxxvii-p1" shownumber="no">The prophet Isaiah is, in this and the three
following chapters, an historian; for the scripture history, as
well as the scripture prophecy, is given by inspiration of God, and
was dictated to holy men. Many of the prophecies of the foregoing
chapters had their accomplishment in Sennacherib's invading Judah
and besieging Jerusalem, and the miraculous defeat he met with
there; and therefore the story of this is here inserted, both for
the explication and for the confirmation of the prophecy. The key
of prophecy is to be found in history; and here, that we might have
the readier entrance, it is, as it were, hung at the door. The
exact fulfilling of this prophecy might serve to confirm the faith
of God's people in the other prophecies, the accomplishment of
which was at a greater distance. Whether this story was taken from
the book of the Kings and added here, or whether it was first
written by Isaiah here and hence taken into the book of Kings, is
not material. But the story is the same almost verbatim; and it was
so memorable an event that it was well worthy to be twice recorded,
<scripRef id="Is.xxxvii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.18.1-2Kgs.19.37" parsed="|2Kgs|18|1|19|37" passage="2Ki 18:1-19:37">2 Kings xviii. and
xix.</scripRef>, and here, and an abridgment of it likewise,
<scripRef id="Is.xxxvii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.32.1-2Chr.32.33" parsed="|2Chr|32|1|32|33" passage="2Ch 32:1-33">2 Chron. xxxii.</scripRef> We shall
be but short in our observations upon this story here, having
largely explained it there. In this chapter we have, I. The descent
which the king of Assyria made upon Judah, and his success against
all the defenced cities, <scripRef id="Is.xxxvii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.36.1" parsed="|Isa|36|1|0|0" passage="Isa 36:1">ver.
1</scripRef>. II. The conference he desired to have with Hezekiah,
and the managers on both sides, <scripRef id="Is.xxxvii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.36.2-Isa.36.3" parsed="|Isa|36|2|36|3" passage="Isa 36:2,3">ver.
2, 3</scripRef>. III. Rabshakeh's railing blasphemous speech, with
which he designed to frighten Hezekiah into a submission, and
persuade him to surrender at discretion, <scripRef id="Is.xxxvii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.36.4-Isa.36.10" parsed="|Isa|36|4|36|10" passage="Isa 36:4-10">ver. 4-10</scripRef>. IV. His appeal to the people,
and his attempt to persuade them to desert Hezekiah, and so force
him to surrender, <scripRef id="Is.xxxvii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.36.11-Isa.36.20" parsed="|Isa|36|11|36|20" passage="Isa 36:11-20">ver.
11-20</scripRef>. V. The report of this made to Hezekiah by his
agents, <scripRef id="Is.xxxvii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.36.21-Isa.36.22" parsed="|Isa|36|21|36|22" passage="Isa 36:21,22">ver. 21,
22</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Is.xxxvii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.36" parsed="|Isa|36|0|0|0" passage="Isa 36" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Is.xxxvii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Isa.36.1-Isa.36.10" parsed="|Isa|36|1|36|10" passage="Isa 36:1-10" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.xxxvii-p1.10">
<h4 id="Is.xxxvii-p1.11">Sennacherib's Insolent
Message. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxvii-p1.12">b. c.</span> 710.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.xxxvii-p2" shownumber="no">1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of
king Hezekiah, <i>that</i> Sennacherib king of Assyria came up
against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.   2
And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem
unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit
of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field.   3
Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the
house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder.
  4 And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus
saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence
<i>is</i> this wherein thou trustest?   5 I say, <i>sayest
thou,</i> (but <i>they are but</i> vain words) <i>I have</i>
counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that
thou rebellest against me?   6 Lo, thou trustest in the staff
of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go
into his hand, and pierce it: so <i>is</i> Pharaoh king of Egypt to
all that trust in him.   7 But if thou say to me, We trust in
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxvii-p2.1">Lord</span> our God: <i>is it</i> not
he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away,
and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this
altar?   8 Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my
master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand
horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.  
9 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least
of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots
and for horsemen?   10 And am I now come up without the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxvii-p2.2">Lord</span> against this land to destroy it? the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxvii-p2.3">Lord</span> said unto me, Go up against
this land, and destroy it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxvii-p3" shownumber="no">We shall here only observe some practical
lessons. 1. A people may be in the way of their duty and yet meet
with trouble and distress. Hezekiah was reforming, and his people
were in some measure reformed; and yet their country is at that
time invaded and a great part of it laid waste. Perhaps they began
to grow remiss and cool in the work of reformation, were doing it
by halves, and ready to sit down short of a thorough reformation;
and then God visited them with this judgment, to put life into them
and that good cause. We must not wonder if, when we are doing well,
God sends afflictions to quicken us to do better, to do our best,
and to press forward towards perfection. 2. That we must never be
secure of the continuance of our peace in this world, nor think our
mountain stands so strong that it cannot be moved. Hezekiah was not
only a pious king, but prudent, both in his administration at home
and in his treaties abroad. His affairs were in a good posture, and
he seemed particularly to be upon good terms with the king of
Assyria, for he had lately made his peace with him by a rich
present (<scripRef id="Is.xxxvii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.18.14" parsed="|2Kgs|18|14|0|0" passage="2Ki 18:14">2 Kings xviii.
14</scripRef>), and yet that perfidious prince pours an army into
his country all of a sudden and lays it waste. It is good for us
therefore always to keep up an expectation of trouble, that, when
it comes, it may be no surprise to us, and then it will be the less
a terror. 3. God sometimes permits the enemies of his people, even
those that are most impious and treacherous, to prevail far against
them. The king of Assyria took all, or most, of the defenced cities
of Judah, and then the country would of course be an easy prey to
him. Wickedness may prosper awhile, but cannot prosper always. 4.
Proud men love to talk big, to boast of what they are, and have,
and have done, nay and of what they will do, to insult over others,
and set all mankind at defiance, though thereby they render
themselves ridiculous to all wise men and obnoxious to the wrath of
that God who resists the proud. But thus they think to make
themselves feared, though they make themselves hated, and to carry
their point by <i>great swelling words</i> of vanity, <scripRef id="Is.xxxvii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Jude.1.16" parsed="|Jude|1|16|0|0" passage="Jude 1:16">Jude 16</scripRef>. 5. The enemies of God's
people endeavour to conquer them by frightening them, especially by
frightening them from their confidence in God. Thus Rabshakeh here,
with noise and banter, runs down Hezekiah as utterly unable to cope
with his master, or in the least to make head against him. It
concerns us therefore, that we may keep our ground against the
enemies of our souls, to keep up our spirits by keeping up our hope
in God. 6. It is acknowledged, on all hands, that those who forsake
God's service forfeit his protection. If that had been true which
Rabshakeh alleged, that Hezekiah had thrown down God's altars, he
might justly infer that he could not with any assurance trust in
him for succour and relief, <scripRef id="Is.xxxvii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.36.7" parsed="|Isa|36|7|0|0" passage="Isa 36:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>, We may say thus to presuming sinners, who say that
they trust in the Lord and in his mercy. Is not this he whose
commandments they have lived in the contempt of, whose name they
have dishonoured, and whose ordinances they have slighted? How then
can they expect to find favour with him? 7. It is an easy thing,
and very common, for those that persecute the church and people of
God to pretend a commission from him for so doing. Rabshakeh could
say, <i>Have I now come up without the Lord?</i> when really he had
come up <i>against</i> the Lord, <scripRef id="Is.xxxvii-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.37.28" parsed="|Isa|37|28|0|0" passage="Isa 37:28"><i>ch.</i> xxxvii. 28</scripRef>. Those that kill the
servants of the Lord think they do him service and say, <i>Let the
Lord be glorified.</i> But, sooner or later, they will be made to
know their error to their cost, to their confusion.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.xxxvii-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.36.11-Isa.36.22" parsed="|Isa|36|11|36|22" passage="Isa 36:11-22" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.xxxvii-p3.6">
<h4 id="Is.xxxvii-p3.7">Sennacherib's Insolent
Message. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxvii-p3.8">b. c.</span> 710.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.xxxvii-p4" shownumber="no">11 Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto
Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian
language; for we understand <i>it:</i> and speak not to us in the
Jews' language, in the ears of the people that <i>are</i> on the
wall.   12 But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy
master and to thee to speak these words? <i>hath he</i> not <i>sent
me</i> to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their
own dung, and drink their own piss with you?   13 Then
Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language,
and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.
  14 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he
shall not be able to deliver you.   15 Neither let Hezekiah
make you trust in the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxvii-p4.1">Lord</span>, saying,
The <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxvii-p4.2">Lord</span> will surely deliver us:
this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of
Assyria.   16 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king
of Assyria, Make <i>an agreement</i> with me <i>by</i> a present,
and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one
of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own
cistern;   17 Until I come and take you away to a land like
your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and
vineyards.   18 <i>Beware</i> lest Hezekiah persuade you,
saying, The <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxvii-p4.3">Lord</span> will deliver us.
Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the
hand of the king of Assyria?   19 Where <i>are</i> the gods of
Hamath and Arphad? where <i>are</i> the gods of Sepharvaim? and
have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?   20 Who <i>are
they</i> among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered
their land out of my hand, that the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxvii-p4.4">Lord</span> should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
  21 But they held their peace, and answered him not a word:
for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.   22
Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that <i>was</i> over the
household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the
recorder, to Hezekiah with <i>their</i> clothes rent, and told him
the words of Rabshakeh.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxvii-p5" shownumber="no">We may hence learn these lessons:—1.
That, while princes and counsellors have public matters under
debate, it is not fair to appeal to the people. It was a reasonable
motion which Hezekiah's plenipotentiaries made, that this parley
should be held in a language which the people did not understand
(<scripRef id="Is.xxxvii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.36.36" parsed="|Isa|36|36|0|0" passage="Isa 36:36"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), because
reasons of state are secret things and ought to be kept secret, the
vulgar being incompetent judges of them. It is therefore an unfair
practice, and not doing as men would be done by, to incense
subjects against their rulers by base insinuations. 2. Proud and
haughty scorners, the fairer they are spoken to, commonly speak the
fouler. Nothing could be said more mildly and respectfully than
that which Hezekiah's agents said to Rabshakeh. Besides that the
thing itself was just which they desired, they called themselves
his <i>servants,</i> they petitioned for it: <i>Speak, we pray
thee;</i> but this made him the more spiteful and imperious. To
give rough answers to those who give us soft answers is one way of
rendering evil for good; and those are wicked indeed, and it is to
be feared incurable, with whom that which usually turns away wrath
does but make bad worse. 3. When Satan would tempt men from
trusting in God, and cleaving to him, he does so by insinuating
that in yielding to him they may better their condition; but it is
a false suggestion, and grossly absurd, and therefore to be
rejected with the utmost abhorrence. When the world and the flesh
say to us, "<i>Make an agreement</i> with us <i>and come out to
us,</i> submit to our dominion and come into our interests, and
<i>you shall eat every one of his own vine,</i>" they do but
deceive us, promising liberty when they would lead us into the
basest captivity and slavery. One might as well take Rabshakeh's
word as theirs for kind usage and fair quarter; therefore, <i>when
they speak fair, believe them not.</i> Let them say what they will,
there is no land like the land of promise, the holy land. 4.
Nothing can be more absurd in itself, nor a greater affront to the
true and living God, than to compare him with the gods of the
heathen; as if he could do no more for the protection of his
worshippers than they can for the protection of theirs, and as if
the God of Israel could as easily be mastered as the gods of Hamath
and Arphad, whereas they are vanity and a lie. They are nothing; he
is the great <i>I AM:</i> they are the creatures of men's fancy and
the works of men's hands; he is the Creator of all things. 5.
Presumptuous sinners are ready to think that, because they have
been too hard for their fellow-creatures, they are therefore a
match for their Creator. This and the other nation they have
subdued, and therefore the Lord himself shall not deliver Jerusalem
out of their hand. But, though the potsherds may strive with the
potsherds of the earth, let them not strive with the potter. 6. It
is sometimes prudent not to <i>answer a fool according to his
folly.</i> Hezekiah's command was, "<i>Answer him not;</i> it will
but provoke him to rail and blaspheme yet more and more; leave it
to God to stop his mouth, for you cannot." They had reason enough
on their side, but it would be hard to speak it to such an
unreasonable adversary without a mixture of passion; and, if they
should fall a railing like him, Rabshakeh would be much too hard
for them at that weapon. 7. It becomes the people of God to lay to
heart the dishonour done to God by the blasphemies of wicked men,
though they do not think it prudent to reply to those blasphemies.
Though they <i>answered him not a word,</i> yet they rent their
clothes, in a holy zeal for the glory of God's name and a holy
indignation at the contempt put upon it. They tore their garments
when they heard blasphemy, as taking no pleasure in their own
ornaments when God's honour suffered.</p>
</div></div2>