After the Israelites in the northern kingdom had been carried off into captivity, Yahweh raised up another prophet, Nahum, and had him travel to the Assyrian capital of Nineveh, to deliver a prophecy of judgment because of Assyria’s brutality.
So that they might hear God’s warnings and repent, Naham said to them, “Yahweh is slow to anger, but will not leave the guilty unpunished. The storm clouds are like the dust of Yahweh’s feet. God can dry the ocean with a word. The whole world trembles at Yahweh’s power. Nineveh, you devise wicked plans, but they will come to nothing and you will be destroyed. Even though your allies are numerous you will have no descendants that bear your name. Your temples and idols will be destroyed and you will go to the grave for the disgusting things you have done.
An even mightier attacker is coming for you. Guard yourselves and keep watch. Their shields, spears, and chariots will flash in your streets like lightning. Like you did to Samaria, you will be pillaged, plundered, and stripped bare, for Yahweh is against you. Misery awaits you, city of blood, full of lies, full of stolen riches and slaves. With the crack of the whip, the clatter of wheels, beating hooves, flashing swords and spears, your dead will pile up beyond your ability to count them because of your sinful lives. Yahweh is against you and you will be humiliated before the other nations. Everyone who hears the news of your defeat will clap with joy because they all have seen your cruelty.” But Yahweh’s words, spoken by Naham, went unheeded by the Assyrians they and did not repent of their cruelty.
Sometime later, Shalmaneser was succeeded by Sennacherib and in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib, no longer willing to tolerate Hezekiah’s refusal to become a vassal, attacked and captured many of the cities in Judah. The Assyrians sent generals from his army to speak with the Jewish soldiers, “Give Hezekiah this message from our king. Who do you think you can count on to defend you against us? Egypt? You can’t count on them for anything but disappointment. Your God? Even though you have returned to your God, you still can’t stop us. Make peace with us. We’ll supply you with horses if you supply us with the soldiers to ride them. You couldn’t defend yourself against even our weakest forces.”
Hezekiah’s advisors replied, “Speak to us in Aramaic, not Hebrew. We don’t want the soldiers to hear this.”
But the generals said, “Is this message only for you and your king and not for all these men who risk their lives as much as you? You soldiers, don’t let Hezekiah deceive you. He can’t save you and neither can your God. Make peace with us and you will live in peace in a fruitful land very much like this one. Choose life, not death. Your king is lying to you when he says your God will rescue you. Has the god of any nation ever saved them from the might of Assyria? Where are all their gods now? Did God protect Hoshea’s or Rezin’s kingdoms? How can your God protect Judah?” But the people remained silent, as they had been instructed to. Then the king’s advisors returned to Hezekiah and told him everything that had been said.
Hezekiah was utterly disheartened at this message and he sent word to Isaiah. “This is a day of distress. It may be that God has heard the mocking words of the Assyrians and will punish them, but pray for those of us that survive this.”
And as Hezekiah and his court awaited Isaiah’s reply one of them penned this psalm:
We have heard with our own ears what you did for our people long ago.
With your hand you drove out the nations,
then planted our ancestors and made them flourish.
It was not by their might that they won the land.
it was your mighty hand and the light of your face, because you loved them.
You are our King and our God and you determine when we are victorious
Through you, we push back our enemies.
I put no trust in my bow and my sword does not bring me victory.
because you put our adversaries to shame.
In you we boast all day long and we will praise your name forever.
But now we stand before you, humbled,
For you no longer go out with our armies.
You’ve made us retreat before the enemy,
And our adversaries have plundered us.
You have scattered the people among the nations.
We have become a source of scorn and derision of those around us.
I live in disgrace all day long and my face is covered with shame.
All this came upon us even though we had not forgotten you.
We had not been false to your covenant or turned our backs on you.
Our feet had not strayed from your path.
So that they might hear God’s warnings and repent, Naham said to them, “Yahweh is slow to anger, but will not leave the guilty unpunished. The storm clouds are like the dust of Yahweh’s feet. God can dry the ocean with a word. The whole world trembles at Yahweh’s power. Nineveh, you devise wicked plans, but they will come to nothing and you will be destroyed. Even though your allies are numerous you will have no descendants that bear your name. Your temples and idols will be destroyed and you will go to the grave for the disgusting things you have done.
An even mightier attacker is coming for you. Guard yourselves and keep watch. Their shields, spears, and chariots will flash in your streets like lightning. Like you did to Samaria, you will be pillaged, plundered, and stripped bare, for Yahweh is against you. Misery awaits you, city of blood, full of lies, full of stolen riches and slaves. With the crack of the whip, the clatter of wheels, beating hooves, flashing swords and spears, your dead will pile up beyond your ability to count them because of your sinful lives. Yahweh is against you and you will be humiliated before the other nations. Everyone who hears the news of your defeat will clap with joy because they all have seen your cruelty.” But Yahweh’s words, spoken by Naham, went unheeded by the Assyrians they and did not repent of their cruelty.
Sometime later, Shalmaneser was succeeded by Sennacherib and in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib, no longer willing to tolerate Hezekiah’s refusal to become a vassal, attacked and captured many of the cities in Judah. The Assyrians sent generals from his army to speak with the Jewish soldiers, “Give Hezekiah this message from our king. Who do you think you can count on to defend you against us? Egypt? You can’t count on them for anything but disappointment. Your God? Even though you have returned to your God, you still can’t stop us. Make peace with us. We’ll supply you with horses if you supply us with the soldiers to ride them. You couldn’t defend yourself against even our weakest forces.”
Hezekiah’s advisors replied, “Speak to us in Aramaic, not Hebrew. We don’t want the soldiers to hear this.”
But the generals said, “Is this message only for you and your king and not for all these men who risk their lives as much as you? You soldiers, don’t let Hezekiah deceive you. He can’t save you and neither can your God. Make peace with us and you will live in peace in a fruitful land very much like this one. Choose life, not death. Your king is lying to you when he says your God will rescue you. Has the god of any nation ever saved them from the might of Assyria? Where are all their gods now? Did God protect Hoshea’s or Rezin’s kingdoms? How can your God protect Judah?” But the people remained silent, as they had been instructed to. Then the king’s advisors returned to Hezekiah and told him everything that had been said.
Hezekiah was utterly disheartened at this message and he sent word to Isaiah. “This is a day of distress. It may be that God has heard the mocking words of the Assyrians and will punish them, but pray for those of us that survive this.”
And as Hezekiah and his court awaited Isaiah’s reply one of them penned this psalm:
We have heard with our own ears what you did for our people long ago.
With your hand you drove out the nations,
then planted our ancestors and made them flourish.
It was not by their might that they won the land.
it was your mighty hand and the light of your face, because you loved them.
You are our King and our God and you determine when we are victorious
Through you, we push back our enemies.
I put no trust in my bow and my sword does not bring me victory.
because you put our adversaries to shame.
In you we boast all day long and we will praise your name forever.
But now we stand before you, humbled,
For you no longer go out with our armies.
You’ve made us retreat before the enemy,
And our adversaries have plundered us.
You have scattered the people among the nations.
We have become a source of scorn and derision of those around us.
I live in disgrace all day long and my face is covered with shame.
All this came upon us even though we had not forgotten you.
We had not been false to your covenant or turned our backs on you.
Our feet had not strayed from your path.
If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
would you not have discovered it, knowing the secrets of our hearts?
Yet for your name we face death every day.
We are treated like sheep ready to be slaughtered.
Awake, Lord! Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!
Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression?
We are crushed into the dust and our bodies fall to the ground.
Rise up and help us.
Rescue us because of your unfailing love.
Isaiah soon arrived with his reply, saying, “Hear the word of God. ‘Do not be afraid of what you have heard. Those who spoke these disrespectful words about me will surely die.”
Then Hezekiah prayed, “Yahweh, surrounded by your angels, you alone rule over all the earth. Hear us and see us now, God. Listen to what has been spoken by the Assyrians. It is true they have conquered many other nations and destroyed their gods. But that is because their gods were just wood and stone, made by men. Save us so everyone will know that you alone are God.”
Then Isaiah sent this prophecy to Sennacherib, “Who is it you have mocked? Who is it is you have pridefully challenged? It is Yahweh, the one true God. Through your messengers, you brag about your accomplishments, but it was by Yahweh’s design that you have accomplished all this. Yahweh knows everything about you and yet still you brazenly mock? You will never set foot in Jerusalem, for it is protected for the sake of Yahweh’s servant David.”
That night Yahweh sent an angel to the Assyrian camp and in the morning when everyone woke up they discovered dead bodies everywhere. 185,000 soldiers died that night. When Hezekiah’s army discovered what had happened their minstrels sang out:
We praise you, God, we praise you, for you are near.
You say, “I choose the appointed time. It is I who judge with equity.
To the arrogant I say, ‘Boast no more,’
and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horns in defiance of heaven.’
No one from the east or the west can exalt themselves above me.”
It is God who judges, who brings one down and exalts another.
In the hand of God is the cup of wrath,
and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to its very dregs.
As for me, I will declare my praise to Yahweh, forever,
who says, “I will cut down the wicked, but the righteous will be lifted up.”
His army decimated, Sennacherib retreated to Ninevah, never returning to Judah. When he died he was succeeded by Esarhaddon.
Sometime after this, Hezekiah became ill and was expected to die. But Hezekiah prayed, “Yahweh, I have followed you with my whole heart all the days of my life.” Then he cried bitterly. In that moment Yahweh sent Isaiah to Hezekiah with this message, “I have heard your prayers and seen your tears. Three days from now you will go to the temple and you will be healed. Though it was your appointed time to die, for your faithful service I give you fifteen more years of life where I will continue to defend this city for the sake of your ancestor David.”
When the Babylonian king heard Hezekiah had fallen ill he sent emissaries with gifts to wish him well. Hezekiah welcomed them to Jerusalem, showing them all the treasures of the land. After they had left, Isaiah came to Hezekiah and delivered his final prophecy, “The time will come when these Babylonians will take everything that you have shown them. Nothing will be left. Even your own descendants will be made slaves in Babylon. But one day Yahweh will say, ‘the fury of your oppressors has ended. I have broken the wicked rod that has beaten you down for so long.’ I have taken vengeance on Babylon and it is disgraced. Babylon, though I was angry with my people and gave them into your hands, you treated them without mercy. You thought you were untouchable, that your empire would last forever. But a disaster you will not foresee and cannot ward off will come upon you.’
”To Israel, I say, ‘I created you.’ I called you by name and set you apart with a holy purpose. You are my precious and beloved people. I will gather you up from the four corners of the earth. For I am Yahweh, your only savior. Even though you are not innocent, having done wrong since the very beginning, even so, I will remember your wrongdoing no more.
“In those days a man named Cyrus will accomplish what I have planned for you. He will free you from the Babylonians and order the towns of Judah rebuilt. Though he is not yet born, to him I say, ‘You will subdue nations and strip kings of their power. I will level every mountain and break down every gate that stands before you. I will grant you riches so that you might know that I am Yahweh. I choose you by name though you do not acknowledge me.’ All these things will be done so that the whole world will know me.
As Isaiah continued to prophesy, Hezekiah sensed that he was no longer only speaking of an impending Babylonian invasion, but of someone more terrible than any king. “You, our enemy, fell from heaven, though your heart desired nothing less than complete domination over all life. You desired the throne of Yahweh which is above the clouds. But now you do not even rule over the dead. Those who see you will ask themselves, ‘Is this the one who shook the earth and enslaved men?’ And the people of Yahweh will be comforted; a voice in the wilderness will prepare the way for him, a servant whom Yahweh delights in, a gentle and just ruler whose teachings change the world. The spirit of God will be on him. He will be anointed to proclaim good news to the poor and brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for captives, and proclaim the year of God’s favor.”
Hezekiah’s rule lasted another sixteen years as was prophesied. In that time Isaiah’s long journey ended. Though he believed in the truth of his final prophecy, he would not witness it come to pass in his lifetime.
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
would you not have discovered it, knowing the secrets of our hearts?
Yet for your name we face death every day.
We are treated like sheep ready to be slaughtered.
Awake, Lord! Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!
Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression?
We are crushed into the dust and our bodies fall to the ground.
Rise up and help us.
Rescue us because of your unfailing love.
Isaiah soon arrived with his reply, saying, “Hear the word of God. ‘Do not be afraid of what you have heard. Those who spoke these disrespectful words about me will surely die.”
Then Hezekiah prayed, “Yahweh, surrounded by your angels, you alone rule over all the earth. Hear us and see us now, God. Listen to what has been spoken by the Assyrians. It is true they have conquered many other nations and destroyed their gods. But that is because their gods were just wood and stone, made by men. Save us so everyone will know that you alone are God.”
Then Isaiah sent this prophecy to Sennacherib, “Who is it you have mocked? Who is it is you have pridefully challenged? It is Yahweh, the one true God. Through your messengers, you brag about your accomplishments, but it was by Yahweh’s design that you have accomplished all this. Yahweh knows everything about you and yet still you brazenly mock? You will never set foot in Jerusalem, for it is protected for the sake of Yahweh’s servant David.”
That night Yahweh sent an angel to the Assyrian camp and in the morning when everyone woke up they discovered dead bodies everywhere. 185,000 soldiers died that night. When Hezekiah’s army discovered what had happened their minstrels sang out:
We praise you, God, we praise you, for you are near.
You say, “I choose the appointed time. It is I who judge with equity.
To the arrogant I say, ‘Boast no more,’
and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horns in defiance of heaven.’
No one from the east or the west can exalt themselves above me.”
It is God who judges, who brings one down and exalts another.
In the hand of God is the cup of wrath,
and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to its very dregs.
As for me, I will declare my praise to Yahweh, forever,
who says, “I will cut down the wicked, but the righteous will be lifted up.”
His army decimated, Sennacherib retreated to Ninevah, never returning to Judah. When he died he was succeeded by Esarhaddon.
Sometime after this, Hezekiah became ill and was expected to die. But Hezekiah prayed, “Yahweh, I have followed you with my whole heart all the days of my life.” Then he cried bitterly. In that moment Yahweh sent Isaiah to Hezekiah with this message, “I have heard your prayers and seen your tears. Three days from now you will go to the temple and you will be healed. Though it was your appointed time to die, for your faithful service I give you fifteen more years of life where I will continue to defend this city for the sake of your ancestor David.”
When the Babylonian king heard Hezekiah had fallen ill he sent emissaries with gifts to wish him well. Hezekiah welcomed them to Jerusalem, showing them all the treasures of the land. After they had left, Isaiah came to Hezekiah and delivered his final prophecy, “The time will come when these Babylonians will take everything that you have shown them. Nothing will be left. Even your own descendants will be made slaves in Babylon. But one day Yahweh will say, ‘the fury of your oppressors has ended. I have broken the wicked rod that has beaten you down for so long.’ I have taken vengeance on Babylon and it is disgraced. Babylon, though I was angry with my people and gave them into your hands, you treated them without mercy. You thought you were untouchable, that your empire would last forever. But a disaster you will not foresee and cannot ward off will come upon you.’
”To Israel, I say, ‘I created you.’ I called you by name and set you apart with a holy purpose. You are my precious and beloved people. I will gather you up from the four corners of the earth. For I am Yahweh, your only savior. Even though you are not innocent, having done wrong since the very beginning, even so, I will remember your wrongdoing no more.
“In those days a man named Cyrus will accomplish what I have planned for you. He will free you from the Babylonians and order the towns of Judah rebuilt. Though he is not yet born, to him I say, ‘You will subdue nations and strip kings of their power. I will level every mountain and break down every gate that stands before you. I will grant you riches so that you might know that I am Yahweh. I choose you by name though you do not acknowledge me.’ All these things will be done so that the whole world will know me.
As Isaiah continued to prophesy, Hezekiah sensed that he was no longer only speaking of an impending Babylonian invasion, but of someone more terrible than any king. “You, our enemy, fell from heaven, though your heart desired nothing less than complete domination over all life. You desired the throne of Yahweh which is above the clouds. But now you do not even rule over the dead. Those who see you will ask themselves, ‘Is this the one who shook the earth and enslaved men?’ And the people of Yahweh will be comforted; a voice in the wilderness will prepare the way for him, a servant whom Yahweh delights in, a gentle and just ruler whose teachings change the world. The spirit of God will be on him. He will be anointed to proclaim good news to the poor and brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for captives, and proclaim the year of God’s favor.”
Hezekiah’s rule lasted another sixteen years as was prophesied. In that time Isaiah’s long journey ended. Though he believed in the truth of his final prophecy, he would not witness it come to pass in his lifetime.
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