Who is modelling Christian behaviour for you? Do you spend time with people that are significantly older than you? Older Christians can model what it means to fight for fight. They are not always perfect, but they model what following God looks like through different seasons and difficulties in life.
In this section of Isaiah that for, the series we are calling “The Gospel According to Hezekiah”, we’re looking at one of the kings, king Hezekiah, and how he responded in a time of crisis. In this study, we will see how the fight of faith sweats in peace time that we might stand in war time. We do not primarily war against human forces with human means, but against much more, and with weapons not of human might.
(A) Friendship with God is enmity with the world (Isa 36:1)
Isaiah 36:1 tells us that what we are to read happens in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign. These events were recorded for us also in 2 Chronicles 29 to 31. When he ascended to the throne, He sought to keep as much of God’s law as He could, and to encourage the people to do what they had not been doing. Hezekiah, the Son of Ahaz repaired the house of the Lord and consecrated the priests (2 Chron 29:3-11). He led God’s people with the priests to make atonement and worshipped the LORD (29:20-30). Under his rule, the people celebrated the Passover, bringing great joy to the nation (2 Chron 30:1, 23-27). In 2 Chronicles 31, we read of how he brought religious reform in accordance with God’s Law, enabling regular and joyful worship.
These reforms were important because without it, God’s people cannot come before God. Notice also in 2 Chronicles 31 that he sought to build up the priesthood so that the people could have regular communion with God. As a result, the people’s lives were marked by joy because they knew God and His provision and blessing.
But when we go on to read 2 Chronicles 32:1, we read something that seems rather jarring. Faithfulness seems to be followed by invasion. Fourteen years of reforming worship and enjoying His presence was followed by invasion and war. But make no mistake. Times of peace with renewal, faith-building and communion with God are times to enjoy God’s goodness to us. Let us also never forget that they are also crucial moments that build us up for times of war.
In our previous series, we spent time thinking about truth for trusting. We may learn these truths in peacetime, but these truths will be tested. These truths are to help us war well. Are we lazy, lethargic or bored? We forget that God has purposes for times of blessedness and faith. Friendship with God always means enmity with the world. We should never be surprised when the gates of hell swings wide open on Kingdom living and Kingdom life.
God also supplies us with the means for preparation. The world tells us that we fight hard by training hard and building resources. But if this is the fight of faith, we war according to the means of faith too. And these are just the ordinary means of grace. There is nothing spectacular about the regular gathering of God’s people and also reading His word. But this is how God has designed for us to see Him and to strengthen us to war not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual foes (c.f. Eph 6). We must never be lulled to sleep by comfort and be complacent. Think about how prayer reminds us that we have communion with God and what rich grace we have in His presence. Think about how the songs that you sing are discipling you. We are to put on the whole armour of God all the day long.
If you don’t recognise this order and purpose, then you will not recognise your need for such preparation, and the way of preparation – God supplied and ordained means of grace.
(B) The fight for faith wars against rationalising, replacing, and relativising God (Isa 36:2-22)
We go on to read in Isaiah 36:2, that Hezekiah stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field. He returns to his father’s place of testing and fight of faith (c.f. Isa 7:3-13). How will Hezekiah respond? Will he repeat his father’s mistake?
2 Kings 18:13-16 tells us that when he first heard of Sennacherib’s arrival, he tried to prevent war by stripping the temple and offering it to them to appease. Now, war rages on a wounded king. In Isaiah 36, this is not a Hezekiah that is full of faith. He is weak and wounded, thus how else does the adversary strike when he is down?
Isaiah 36:4-22 shows us how the Rabshakeh employ various strategies to tempt Hezekiah towards faithlessness. He rationalises the situation and also ridicules God. Their trust in Egypt has failed (Isa 36:6, 8-9) and Isaiah 30:1-2 tells us that this is a true event. Hezekiah did remove the altars but this was wrongly misinterpreted by the Rabshakeh who saw it as an attack on religion instead of its original intention — to promote devotion to the one true God (Isa 36:7). The Rabshakeh also claims that Judah’s God backs him (Isa 36:10). Ridicule litters his words though there is some truth woven inside Isa 36:6, 8-9). They don’t just ridicule the king, but also all the people. When the people’s nerves get shaken and they start tearing each other apart, this is a surefire way to create problems.
Next, the Rabshakeh also replaces Hezekiah’s and God’s words (Isa 36:13-17). He directly contradicts Hezekiah’s words and essentially tells the people that they don’t have to trust in God. Whatever God has promised and blesses with, he can too. The wily call to make peace with “the great king, the king of Assyria” banks on his enticing offers of counterfeit blessing and land and is a veneer for the wicked temptation to turn away from God.
Lastly, we see how the Rabshakeh relativises the word of God in Isaiah 36:18-20. He claims that God is just one of the many in the nations. In 2 Chronicles 32:19. we read of how “they spoke of the God of Jerusalem as they spoke of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men’s hands”. The heart of idolatry shows itself here. God’s ‘backing’ mentioned of in Isaiah 37:10 is only a tool for his own advancement. In his eyes, God is just another one of the many domesticated gods for convenient use and self-serving gain. Today, we can be tempted to think that God doesn’t really care about who we are. Here, this also works itself out in our moments of despair. Is God who He says He is? Can we trust Him?
Friends, as we read these verses, realise that the adversary does not fight clean. Satan comes dressed as an angel of light, and temptations are tempting because they are always mixed with truth and pleasure, ultimately leading to a diminished view of God as the work of human hands, for human ways.
The first step in this battle is to recognise and reckon with these temptations. These accounts are written for our good. Paul also writes something similar in 1 Corinthians 10:11. Examine your life. How are half-truths woven to justify whatever you’re pursuing in life? How have you relativised God, thinking that He can be replaced and there’s no point in waiting and communing with Him? What patterns show up in the content you consume, thoughts you harbour, and habits you give in to? Are the ways of God really that true? Should the strong really bear with the weak? Isn’t it more efficient if we just forge ahead in ministry?
Pause and read these words and reflect.
But also read Isaiah 36:21-22. The people paid attention to the king’s words. Consider the great joy in devoting your life to God’s people — it allows the centre to hold in a moment of crisis.
(C) Faithfulness in God trusts in His saving Word (Isa 37:1-8)
Hezekiah responded immediately to the words of the Rabshakeh by grieving (Isa 37:1). This was marked by tearing his clothes and covering himself with sackcloth as he went into the house of the LORD (Isa 37:1). Thankfully, there is a house of the Lord to turn to, thanks to his years of reforms. The times of peace and faith-building have served Hezekiah well. Wounded he may be, Hezekiah turns in repentance and faith that shows itself with haste (Isa 37:1a), grief (Isa 37:1b), rightly-placed longing (Isa 37:1c), complete dependence and vulnerability (Isa 37:3).
Why should God care? He appeals to God’s own promise and he has a contrite focus on God’s own glory (Isa 37:4).
The times of faith have saved Hezekiah well ultimately. He responds with faith and a dependence on God, with a God-centred vision. The might of the Christian’s fight looks very different from the world. The world tells us that we get better at fighting the more independent we are. In God’s kingdom, the more victorious saints only grow more dependent on God.
The life of faith is not the life of peace, it is the life of war. And the life of faithful warring is not the life of perfection, but the life of repentance and faith. Afflicted, weak, and struggling saint, all God needs is your need of Him. As we often sing,
“What patience would wait as we constantly roam
What Father, so tender, is calling us home
He welcomes the weakest, the vilest, the poor
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more”
Is this you today? Turn to God today. Don’t tarry and allow temptation to rage and rage in your soul. This is the kind of God that Hezekiah turns to! Whatever your point of despair or struggle, go to Him!
This is also a warning. Christians talk all the time about repentance and faith. But if you read this and find it foreign, read again. This is a warning to those tempted towards self-righteousness, self-reliance, or a half-baked repentance and faith. Consider seriously your view of sin, self, and God. Read Psalm 79 and pray it! It is a good thing to say that we may be faithless, but He is faithful. We may be weak but He is strong. Turn to Him and see what His word does.
What does the LORD say in return? Isaiah doesn’t pray but he proclaims, for God has already spoken, and His word will not change (Isa 37:6-7). For God’s word, unlike man’s words, are not mere words of feckless strategy. They prove Him sovereign over man’s continued rebellion. When the Rabshakeh mocked God’s words as “mere words” that are not strategy or power for war, ironically, God will send them back with a rumour (Isa 37:7). God calls them mere “young men”, lads or boys (Isa 37:6b). In the sight of God, He will expose them for what they really are.
What does this mean for us? Last week, we spent some time on the vindication of Christ in 1 Timothy. Trust in light of the vindicated Christ. The fact of His death and resurrection means that His word will not fail. We can build our lives on it. We can trust in God’s word and build our life on it. He speaks and creates by the power of His word. He accomplishes all that He speaks of!
The good news of the gospel doesn’t stop just at the cross, but also includes the empty tomb,. We can trust all that Jesus says. He will comfort and call all who are heavy laden. He will not cast out bruised reeds and He will build His church. we can also trust that He will return and make all things new. When He returns, He will bind up every broken heart and call forth justice.
What will it look for you to build your life on HIs words today in your fight of faith? How does daily Christian living build you up for the fight of faith?