Isaiah 36-37
Dear RTB’ers,
As the STS introduction tells us, today we are repeating material, sometimes verbatim, that we already read back on October 26, 27, and 28 from II Kings 18:13-20:11, when Sennacherib, the king of Assyria attempted to take Jerusalem. Feel free to look back at those posts, but for today, I’ll just make a few comments about the text.
First, the following verse, Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The LORD said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.” (v. 36:10) As I read this verse I was a bit surprised and I was wondering if the Lord truly spoke to Sennacherib, telling him to go and take Judah and Jerusalem. No doubt, the Lord used Sennacherib, but did He truly speak to him? Just wondering…
Second, I really appreciate Hezekiah’s prayer in Isaiah 37:15-20 and the Lord’s response, “Because you have prayed to Me…” (v. 37:21b). I wonder how often the Lord says that to us, that He has heard our prayers and brought about an outcome that was in His will? All the more reason that we need to be thankful for all that we have!
Finally, a note to us all about punctuation – quotation marks are important, but the ESV leaves out some important ones that the NASB includes. Beginning in verse 37:24b with the words, “With my many chariots…” through to verse 25, these verses are Isaiah putting words into Sennacherib’s mouth. Then the Lord continues speaking in verse 26, Have you not heard? Long ago I did it… Perhaps it’s clear from the context, but the missing quotation marks in the ESV makes it more confusing. I had to read it a couple of times before I realized who was saying what.
Only one more day of Isaiah before we return to John – but to his letters, not his gospel. Come join us tomorrow as we dig through Isaiah in our RTB gathering group discussion!
Blessings!
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