& called rebellion; and He smote the Philistines, who in the time of Ahaz had seized on the frontiers of Israel, [even] unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.* And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which [was] the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, [that] Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against 10 Samaria, and besieged it. And at the end of three years they took it [even] in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that [is] the 11 ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor [by] the river of Gozan, and in the 12 cities of the Medes: Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, [and] all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear [them,] nor do [them.] 13 Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Ju14 dah, and took them. And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold; above 15 two hundred and fifty thousand pounds. And Hezekiah had not coin sufficient, and therefore gave [him] all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house; he thought it was better to take these things, than 16 suffer the city and temple to be plundered. At that time did Hezekiah cut off [the gold from] the doors of the temple of the LORD, and [from] the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria. 17 And the king of Assyria sent Tartan, and Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh, three chief captains, from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem, to frighten them, and engage them to surrender. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which [is] in the highway of the fuller's field. 18 And when they had called to the king, that is, demanded audi•ence of him, Hezekiah, not thinking it safe to go himself, sent three chief officers to hear what they had to say; and there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which [was] over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder: probably that Asaph who wrote so many excellent psalms. 19 And Rabshakeh, who was the chief speaker, said unto them, * In a Chronicles, chap. xxix. throughout, is a more full account of Hezekiah, which may be read here. Sennacherib had taken some of the fenced cities of Judah, which success probably made Hezekiah suspect that he had done wrong in withholding the tribute; see v.7. He was the king's cupbearer, as his name signifies; and by his talking of Jehovah, and speaking so readily in the Jews' language, he seems to have been an apostate Jew. He made a boasting speech, the main purpose of which was to tell them that resistance would be vain, if they trusted to warlike preparations. Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence [is] this wherein thou trustest? 20 Thou sayest, (but [they are but] vain words,) [I have] counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? This showed the highest pride, insolence, and falsehood, considering the presents which Hezekiah had 21 sent him. Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed,[even] upon Egypt,* on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so [is] Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him, like one of the reeds on the banks of the Nile; which would not only disappoint him, by breaking under 22 him, but the splinters would run into his hand and wound him. But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: [is] not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? As to the profession of religion and trust in God, on which he knew they chiefly relied, he tells them, that Hezekiah had little reason to trust in that, considering how he had destroyed his altars, high places, and groves: thus representing the best act of Hezekiah's life, as a vice and wicked23 ness. Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them; if he would stake the price of two thousand horses, he would furnish them, if Hezekiah could find riders for them: thus representing him as des24 titute of men and arms. How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen ? Intimating that if with these horses he was able to defeat one of the Assyrian captains, he would leave him to himself, and retire to his own country: if not, how much less could he stand against all the Assyrian army, 25 though he had all the cavalry of Egypt by him? nay he adds, Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it; urging that he had a commission from Jehovah himself to destroy it. This he thought would terrify them more than any thing else, 26 and it seems to have had that effect. Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Assyrian language; for we understand [it] and talk not with us in the Jews' language in the ears of the people that [are] on the wall. The Hebrew plenipotentiaries perceiving that the people were frightened by these blustering words, desire him to speak in the Assyrian or Chaldee 27 language, which they understood. But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? [hath he] not [sent me] to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you? He answers, in a very scornful manner, that he Probably Hezekiah had made some proposals to the king of Egypt, but was reproved apd overruled by Isaiah. See the thirtieth and thirty first chapters of Isaiah. 28 was not come to treat with them, but to let the people know to what extremity he would reduce them by a siege, if they did not sur♪ render. Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria; instead of addressing to the plenipotentiaries, he raises his voice, and addresses the people on the wall, meanly 29 endeavouring to stir them up to mutiny and division: Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be 30 able to deliver you out of his hand: Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria; repeating again the power of his king, and the weakness 31 of Hezekiah. Hearken not unto Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make [an agreement] with me by a present, and come out to me, and [then] eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one of the waters of his cistern; you had better surrender upon advantageous conditions, and taste the sweets of peace and plenty 32 Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oilolive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die : and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you saying, The LORD will deliver us. He would remove them to a better country than their own; but, because he thought the chief thing to encourage them to hold out, would be confidence in God, he urges the vanity of such expectations, and every argument he was master of, to $3 persuade them from that. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where [are] the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad ? where [are] the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand? urging the inability of the gods of those nations, which his master had conquered, to deliver them. 35 Who [are] they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand? challenging them to show one instance of a god being able to deliver his country, when the king his master invaded it. A good argument indeed, if Jehovah 36 had been like them. But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not. This was a wise and pious silence; they would gain no advantage by their answers, and only provoke him to utter 37 further blasphemies. Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which [was] over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with [their] clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh. They returned to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, like mourners on account of Rabshakeh's rage and blasphemy, and the terrors of the people.* In Isaiah x. 28. we have an account of the terror which the people were seized with This history illustrates all the former part of Isaiah's prophecy. The burden of other nations refer to those which the king of Assyria had conquered. REFLECTIONS. 1. While, that it is of great importance to begin well. Heze E hence learn, when we are entering on new stations of kiah did so. In the first year, and first month, though Judah was brought low, yet his first work was to restore God's worship. He knew this was the way to please him and secure his favour; and therefore immediately set about it. When young people set out in life, and are entering on new scenes of action, they should take God with them, and engage heartily in his service. Those who begin with God, begin at the right end, and are likely to succeed. 2. Great courage and resolution are necessary for those who would reform mankind. Notice is taken of Hezekiah's zeal and resolution, and his trusting in the Lord. They have need of great courage when the times are degenerate, when religion is at a low ebb, and corruptions are general. But if they trust in the Lord, and cleave to him, they may expect success, and often meet with less difficulty than they expected, as in Hezekiah's case. That may be done suddenly, which we despaired of doing at all. This should engage us resolutely to appear and act for God, and put our trust in him alone. 3. All occasions for superstition and idolatry, and things that have been abused to that purpose, should be taken away, as Hezekiah did the brazen serpent. The reformers made great use of this instance; insisting that it was necessary to destroy images and crucifixes, which had been abused in the times of popery; and even to abolish those ceremonies, which, though not in themselves sinful, had yet been shamefully used to bad purposes. Many others with great justice have urged the same objection against retaining the sign of the cross in baptism, which had been abused by superstition; and kneeling at the Lord's supper, which had been an act of idolatry in adoring a piece of bread. It would have been better if these things had been quite removed, or left indifferent. 4. It becomes the greatest and best of men to own the hand and justice of God in national afflictions. Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes. For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this, 2 Chron. xxix. 8,9. They were not to lay the blame on the Israelites, the Assyrians, or the Philistines; but on their own sins. God was righteous in all that befel them. A sense of this will promote humility and zeal in reformation. 5. When there has been a deep degeneracy in the church, the renewal of a solemn covenant may be of great service. This was common in the Old Testament in the time of Jehoiada, and of Hezekiah here; and Nehemiah afterward. This affects the mind greatly, prevents it growing worse, or being discouraged by little difficulties; when we have sworn, we shall be likely to perform it. VOL. III. Yy 6. In all our endeavours to sanctify ourselves, the word of Godf should be regarded as our rule. They sanctified themselves by the word or commandment of the Lord. His word is very pure, and shows us what things defile us, and what are our ornaments and defence. To this let us adhere, if we desire to be holy and unblameable in his sight. Let us trust to no external rites; for the blood of Christ, and the influences of the spirit, can alone purify the heart, and cleanse us from all sin. 7. We have great reason to rejoice when a spirit of reformation and devotion are abroad; especially where we have been in any way instrumental to promote it. Hezekiah rejoiced to see his exhortation regarded, and this good work going on. Let us rejoice when magistrates and ministers do their part; when abounding iniquity is suppressed; and decayed piety and charity revived. 8. The hand and grace of God are to be owned in preparing the way for it. And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people, 2 Chron, xxix. 36. When men succeed, or are intent and resolute in a good work, it is the Lord's doing. When church work goes on vigorously, and reformation spreads, let him have the praise, who worketh in men both to will and to do according to his own good pleasure, CHAP. XIX. We have here Hezekiah's message to Isaiah, and the answer; Sennacherib's blasfihemous letter; Hezekiah's humble prayer; Isaiah's comfortable prophecy in his favour; and the wonderful accomflishment of it. AND ND it came to pass when king Hezekiah heard [it,] that is, the words of Rabshakeh, in the last chapter, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into 2 the house of the LORD, with great humiliation and sorrow. And he sent Eliakim, which [was] over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, in the same habits of mourning as himself, to Isaiah the prophet 3 the son of Amoz. And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day [is] a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphe→ my: God hath testified his displeasure against us, and suffered the enemy to blaspheme for the children are come to the birth, and [there is] not strength to bring forth; their strength was quite gone in a critical moment, when they wanted it most. It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard; will so take notice of them as to punish them : the late desolation of the ten tribes had filled them with great terror wherefore lift up [thy] prayer for the remnant that are left; for Bedah, that they might not be carried away captive, like Israel |