ISAIAH LESSON 42


     We will begin this lesson in Isaiah 37:18 "Of a truth, LORD, the
kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their
countries,"

     In the last lesson, we saw that Hezekiah carried the threatening
letter from the Assyrians, and laid it before the Lord in the temple.
He, also, prayed for God's help. In the prayer, he reaffirmed his
faith in God. Now he says, it is true, the Assyrians have defeated
many of their neighboring countries.

     Isaiah 37:19 "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."

     Hezekiah is reaffirming the fact that the gods of these countries
had been easy to destroy, because they were not really God. Things you
make with your hands are idols {nothings}. God is Spirit. You cannot
see Him with your physical eyes.

     Isaiah 37:20 "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."

     In this request, Hezekiah tells God that all the surrounding
countries would believe in the One True God, if He saves Judah. It
would prove to the others that the LORD is God, and there is none
other.

     Isaiah 37:21  "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:"

     We see from this that Isaiah is speaking as an ambassador of the
Lord, when he speaks to Hezekiah. It is not the message of Isaiah, but
the message of the Lord, spoken through Isaiah. We must, also, note
that the prayer is what brought the response from the Lord.

     Isaiah 37:22 "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."

     "The virgin, the daughter of Zion" is speaking of the young
Jerusalem. The church is, also, spoken of as the chaste virgin of
Christ. This is saying, they are under the protection of the Lord.
There is no fear from the followers of God, when they are assured God
will fight for them. They shake their head at Assyria, because God has
taken up their battle for them.

     Isaiah 37:23 "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."

     Not only have these Assyrians come against Judah, but against the
God of Judah, as well. He is saying, You have mocked God. Their
blasphemy was of God Himself.

     Isaiah 37:24 "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."

     We can see the arrogance of this king of Assyria. He had planned
to utterly destroy Judah, but he had not taken into consideration the
God of Judah. God knew even his evil thoughts, before he uttered his
threats. The things mentioned above, were the things he had boasted to
his people that he would do to Judah. He planned to invade Judea
through Lebanon. He had planned to rob the land of their beautiful
cedars, and take them for his own people. "The forest of his Carmel"
was speaking of the gardens in Judea with olive and fig trees.

     Isaiah 37:25 "I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole
of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places."

     Some of the places that he had beseiged, had been defeated,
because he cut off their water supply. This is his plan for here, as
well. He built dams on their rivers to stop the water flow.

     Isaiah 37:26 "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."

     A smart king would never tell the enemy how they would attack
them. He tells them how, because he is so confident that he can defeat
them. This is just boasting to frighten Hezekiah of Judah.

     Isaiah 37:27 "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."

     This is more boasting of what had happened to the other godless
countries that he had invaded. The countries they had fought {up to
now} had been so weak, they just destroyed them without too much
effort. The grass, mentioned here, is young and tender and easy to
destroy.

     Isaiah 37:28 "But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy
coming in, and thy rage against me."

     Nothing is hidden from God. He knows the things Sennacherib has
been doing. He knows where he lives. He knows when he sits down and
when he gets up. God knows even the thoughts of Sennacherib. He, also,
knows of the boasting he has done against God. You may hide something
from someone in the world, but you cannot hide from God.

     Isaiah 37:29 "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."

     This is God, who leads Sennacherib wherever He wants him to go.
It is as if God has put hooks in his jaws to lead him with. Just as
the horseman turns the horse with the bridle in his mouth, God turns
the head of Sennacherib to go where He wants him to.

     Isaiah 37:30 "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."

     The sign given to Hezekiah is that they will eat of voluntary
crops the year this is spoken, and the next year, and the third year
the land will produce in a normal fashion as before. The third year,
they will have to plant a normal crop and reap the fruit as it comes
in.

     Isaiah 37:31 "And the remnant that is escaped of the house of
Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:"

     God always saves a remnant of Judah. God is saying in the third
year they shall spread over the land and not be afraid because they
have the protection of God. They shall be settled in the land,
grounded in the protection of God. Their fruit will produce. We know
that a large number of the men of Judah ad been captured already by
the Assyrians, but God will protect the remainder.

     Isaiah 37:32 "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."

     The remnant was always those who had not bowed their knee to
Baal. They were those who truly believed in God. They put their trust
in the Lord and He did not let them down. There is a special
protection from God on this remnant. The zeal of the LORD could also
be thought of as the holiness of the LORD. Mount Zion is the city of
our God, Jerusalem. It is also the church. Just as God protects this
remnant, He protects the church supernaturally as well. He is jealous
over His people. He will not let them be destroyed.

     Isaiah 37:33 "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."

     God stops Sennacherib short of coming into Jerusalem. He can not
even fight his war in the city at all. God spoke it, and it is so.

     Isaiah 37:34 "By the way that he came, by the same shall he
return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD."

     God will stop him and send him back the same way he came.

     Isaiah 37:35 "For I will defend this city to save it for mine own
sake, and for my servant David's sake."

     Jerusalem was the city of David, as well as being the holy city
of God. God, Himself, will defend Jerusalem.

     Isaiah 37:36 "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."

     Notice the angel, not a host of angels, killed 185 thousand
Assyrians. The amazing thing is the power of the angel of the LORD.
You can easily see how silly it is to fear the world, or Satan. All
God has to do is send one angel to protect us from hundreds of
thousands of the enemies. He did not just strike them, but killed
them, because they were all dead corpses.

     Isaiah 37:37  "So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went
and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh."

     Sennacherib was smart enough to realize he could not fight God.
He left and went to the evil city of Nineveh to live.

     Isaiah 37:38 "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
Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead."

     This evil Sennacherib had some evil sons, who killed their daddy,
while he was worshipping his false god. They fled to Armenia. His
third son, Esar-haddon, took over as king.

     There are several lessons we can learn from this. Evil begats
evil. Do not threaten God. One angel can defeat thousands of evil men.














                          Isaiah 42 Questions


1.  Who has Assyria laid waste?
2.  Are the works of men's hands gods?
3.  What are they?
4.  God is _________.
5.  Who will believe, if God saves Judah?
6.  Who was the father of Isaiah?
7.  Who is Isaiah speaking for in verse 21?
8.  What brought the response from God?
9.  Who is "the virgin daughter of Zion"?
10. Who is the chaste virgin of Christ?
11. When is there no fear from God's followers?
12. Who have these Assyrians come against, besides Judah?
13. We can see the __________ of the king of Assyria in verse 24.
14. What had he planned to do ?
15. What is "the forest of Carmel" speaking of?
16. How had he defeated some of the other countries?
17. Why does he tell them how he will attack them?
18. What did he compare the inhabitants to in verse 27?
19. _________ is hidden from God.
20. What is God going to lead them with?
21. What will be the sign to them?
22. Who will be escaped of Judah?
23. What is mount Zion speaking of?
24. God stops Sennacherib short of coming into ___________.
25. How will he go out?
26. Why does God save Jerusalem?
27. Who smote the camp of the Assyrians?
28. How many Assyrians died?
29. Where did Sennacherib go to live?
30. Who killed Sennacherib?
31. Who reigned in his stead?
32. What lesson can we learn from this?