2 Kings 19:2
And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
Hezekiah sent Eliakim who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests to Isaiah the son of Amoz to inquire whether the Lord would hear the words of Rabshakeh against Jerusalem in Sennacherib's threat. Their covering with sackcloth expressed distress and humility, and their seeking of Isaiah's counsel turned the crisis toward prayer and appeal to God for vindication. The sending illustrates united and whole-hearted, earnest pleading with God for help, which God honors with great blessing, as seeking God in Hezekiah's time turned back Sennacherib with his mighty army to destruction despite his proud boasting. The victory was not gained by talent or education, by wealth or by the favor of men, but in answer to the prayers of two faithful men in the audience chamber with God, when God fought for Israel without their help by sending an angel who slew one hundred and eighty-five thousand in one night. God placed His people in such circumstances to reveal whether their hearts beat in unison with His ways, and the same earnest faith in His promises now will gain great victories in the closing of the work when more troublous times than any in past history come and no human help is nigh.
Historical Setting and Parallels
Hezekiah sent Eliakim who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. The mission came during Sennacherib's threat against Jerusalem, to inquire whether the Lord would hear Rabshakeh's words against the city. Their sackcloth expressed distress and humility, and seeking Isaiah's counsel turned the crisis toward prayer and appeal to God for vindication. The verse belongs to the biblical account of Sennacherib's invasion of Palestine and siege of Jerusalem, an invasion also described on his Assyrian cylinder.
The verse belongs to the closing record of Kings that hastens from the breaking up of Samaria to the Babylonian captivity of Judah. Within that closing record five chapters are given to the two good kings Hezekiah and Josiah, and Hezekiah was a devoted man of God notwithstanding his mistakes. The chapter containing the verse parallels Isaiah 37, the nineteenth chapter of the Second Book of Kings being alike to, matching, and the same as the thirty-seventh chapter of Isaiah. The two accounts have verbal differences between them.
When the angel struck down 185,000 men, the Assyrian army was not near Jerusalem but with the king of Assyria at Libnah. The king returned to his own land and died there. This episode therefore does not fulfill Isaiah 30:33.
United Prayer and Deliverance
The verse illustrates united and whole-hearted seeking of God, which God honors with great blessing. It is an example of earnest, united pleading with God for help when Sennacherib threatened Judah with his army. That seeking of God in Hezekiah's time turned back Sennacherib with his mighty army to destruction despite his proud boasting.
God overthrew the king of Assyria and all his host in answer to the prayers of two faithful men of God. Hezekiah's prayer was answered when Sennacherib's army was smitten with death. The victory was not gained by talent or education, by wealth or by the favor of men. It was gained in the audience chamber with God, when earnest, agonizing prayer lays hold upon the mighty arm of power.
God fought for Israel without their help by sending an angel who slew one hundred and eighty-five thousand in one night. God placed His people in such different circumstances to prepare them for what was coming. Those circumstances were to reveal whether their hearts beat in unison with His ways and plans. The same earnest faith in God's promises now will gain great victories for God's people in the closing of the work, when more troublous times than any in past history come and no human help is nigh and there are only the promises by which to walk.