Assyria destroyed the Northern Kingdom. Under threat of treating the Southern Kingdom the same, King Hezekiah agreed to a crushing tribute. According to God's law for kings and nations, this should have ended the threat of Assyrian invasion of Judah. However, Sennacherib reneged and invaded anyway. This is the context as Isaiah begins this chapter. It was one thing for Assyria to demand tribute; that was the norm in those days. It's another altogether to break faith, particularly with God's Covenant People. Thus, Isaiah warns Assyria will suffer even worse treachery.
Then, Isaiah echoes the humble plea Hezekiah would make when Assyria laid siege to Jerusalem. When Judah turns to God and clings to the Covenant promises, all threats to the land are threats against God's sovereignty. He will surely rise up and destroy His enemies. When God is lifted up, Zion becomes a place of justice. The people will be led by wise rulers. Even though the prophet uses present tense, it would be wrong to limit his vision to some future Millennial Kingdom. Rather, it is always true: Whenever God is duly honored, He acts to protect His honor and glory. The present tense shows it is always true, not simply some bright vision of a far away future somewhere.
So it is Hezekiah would act honorably, sending emissaries to the invading Assyrian troops, to ask terms of peace. Had he somehow broken his agreement without knowing it? But Sennacherib was a treacherous man, and would send them away in sorrow. This is not merely an attack on the people of Judah, but an attack on nature itself. This violates the way God said His creation worked. Thus, all the great cities and lands along the path from the Upper Euphrates down toward Jerusalem would express sorrow and revulsion at this violation.
Jehovah would not take this lying down. When aroused, God warned Assyria could plan all they liked, but it was a waste of time. They would not simply fail, but Assyria would destroy themselves. The news of how the Assyrian army was destroyed in the night before the gates of Jerusalem would be heard beyond the borders of the Assyrian Empire. God's glory would be noised abroad, and all the world would know there was no other God.
While such may strike fear in the hearts of pagan lands far away, it would also afflict the conscience of those in Judah who had been unfaithful. Would not the same fire devour them, too? Perhaps, but it wasn't hard to understand what it took to avoid that fate. Honest and just men had nothing to fear, men who didn't even want to hear about evil, nor see it. Such people were faithful to the Covenant of Moses, and would reap the blessings of its promises: security, safety, and prosperity. Such people had their hearts set on the Eternal Kingdom of Heaven. They did not simply react in terror at the first sign of trouble, but took the time to contemplate ways to face human dread. They would plan how to confront threats, with careful record keeping, tracking resources. These faithful to the Law will not experience the discomfort of hoards babbling in strange languages. All they have to worry about is understanding the Law, written in their own language.
The Covenant Promise would make Jerusalem as peaceful as desert nomads who have stayed in one place so long, they forget their home is a tent easily moved. No part of it wears out from constant striking and raising. If the people were faithful, it would be like a stream, a full river flowing with traffic that does not pass by, but stops. Zion would be the destination of countless supplicants. Jerusalem would become known throughout the inhabited world as the place where God rules. Isaiah hints at a vision wherein the Lord Himself displaces the Law of Moses, by becoming His own supreme Judge, Lawgiver, and King. Why go anywhere else? The ships' rigging would become slack because they would never sail away.
Time and again, throughout his prophecy, Isaiah reminds the people of the Covenant promises. Every invader would be driven away, leaving all their possessions as plunder for the people. There would be so much, even the physically disabled beggars of the city would come out and join the fun. Indeed, there would be no diseases. Unlike the current crop of Jerusalem elite, who proudly parade their sins in public, those who humble themselves under the Law would seek and find forgiveness.
This vision was available to Judah right then. It could be gained, not as some far away, sweet by and by, but any day they but turn from disregarding the Covenant and obey.
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By Ed Hurst
11 February 2009
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