After Assyria's threatening message arrived, Hezekiah refused to yield to Rab-shakeh and sent his servants to Isaiah to bring the crisis before God and seek counsel amid threats and blasphemy against Jehovah. Their coming shows God's people turning to Him for help when distressed, and earnest seeking and pleading with God came before Sennacherib and his mighty army were turned back to destruction. God answered the united, whole-hearted prayers of two faithful men by overthrowing the king of Assyria and all his host, when an angel struck down 185,000 Assyrians in one night without Israel's help, so that Israel might learn to trust His way and give Him the glory. The victory proves the greatest victories for the church or the individual are not gained by talent, education, wealth, or human favor, but in the audience chamber with God when earnest, agonizing prayer lays hold on the arm of power, and the same victories will be gained by God's people in more troublous times at the close of the work when no human help is nigh.
Historical Context and Parallels
The verse belongs to the history of the remaining kingdom of Judah after the ten tribes had been swept away. It stands in 2 Kings 18-20 at the close of the history running from 1 Kings 22 to 2 Kings 20, and the books of Kings give the history of Israel more fully than the history of Judah, while Chronicles gives the history of Judah more fully than the history of Israel. The immediate setting is that after receiving a threatening message from the king of Assyria, Hezekiah refused to submit to Rab-shakeh and sent a company of his servants to Isaiah to ask whether the Lord would hear the threats against Jerusalem and to seek counsel amid Assyrian threats and blasphemy against Jehovah, thus bringing the crisis before God through the prophet. This occurred during Sennacherib's second invasion of Judea, after Hezekiah refused to submit to Rab-shakeh. The episode shows God's people turning for help when distressed.
The verse is part of the biblical account of Sennacherib's invasion of Palestine and siege of Jerusalem, an account corroborated by Sennacherib's cylinder. The cylinder does not mention the loss of 185,000 Assyrian soldiers but does record a misfortune in his camp. The nineteenth chapter of 2 Kings is the same as, or alike to, the thirty-seventh chapter of Isaiah. The account containing the verse has verbal differences from the parallel account in Isaiah 37.
The Assyrian crisis to which the verse belongs shows that Isaiah 30:33 was not fulfilled when the Assyrian army was destroyed, because the army was not shown to have perished in Tophet, and the Assyrian king returned to his own land and died there.
Prayer and Divine Deliverance
The coming of Hezekiah's servants to Isaiah belongs to Hezekiah's seeking of God's help in trouble after receiving a threatening message from the king of Assyria, and it shows God's people turning for help when distressed. Earnest seeking of God and earnest pleading with God came before Sennacherib and his mighty army were turned back to destruction. Hezekiah's prayer stands as an example of God answering prayer by striking down Sennacherib's army.
God overthrew the king of Assyria and all his host in answer to the prayers of two faithful men of God, when an angel struck down 185,000 Assyrians in one night without Israel's help. The account illustrates the blessing of united, whole-hearted prayer. That deliverance without human assistance shows that God sometimes acted without human help so Israel could learn to trust His way and give Him the glory.
The victory proves the greatest victories to the church of Christ or to the individual Christian are not those gained by talent or by education, by wealth or by the favor of men, but those gained in the audience chamber with God when earnest, agonizing prayer lays hold upon the mighty arm of power. The same victories will be gained by the people of God in the closing of the work in more troublous times than any in past history, requiring faith in God's promises that can walk by faith when no human help is nigh and there are only the promises by which to walk.
After Assyria's threatening message arrived, Hezekiah refused to yield to Rab-shakeh and sent his servants to Isaiah to bring the crisis before God and seek counsel amid threats and blasphemy against Jehovah. Their coming shows God's people turning to Him for help when distressed, and earnest seeking and pleading with God came before Sennacherib and his mighty army were turned back to destruction. God answered the united, whole-hearted prayers of two faithful men by overthrowing the king of Assyria and all his host, when an angel struck down 185,000 Assyrians in one night without Israel's help, so that Israel might learn to trust His way and give Him the glory. The victory proves the greatest victories for the church or the individual are not gained by talent, education, wealth, or human favor, but in the audience chamber with God when earnest, agonizing prayer lays hold on the arm of power, and the same victories will be gained by God's people in more troublous times at the close of the work when no human help is nigh.
Historical Context and Parallels
The verse belongs to the history of the remaining kingdom of Judah after the ten tribes had been swept away. It stands in 2 Kings 18-20 at the close of the history running from 1 Kings 22 to 2 Kings 20, and the books of Kings give the history of Israel more fully than the history of Judah, while Chronicles gives the history of Judah more fully than the history of Israel. The immediate setting is that after receiving a threatening message from the king of Assyria, Hezekiah refused to submit to Rab-shakeh and sent a company of his servants to Isaiah to ask whether the Lord would hear the threats against Jerusalem and to seek counsel amid Assyrian threats and blasphemy against Jehovah, thus bringing the crisis before God through the prophet. This occurred during Sennacherib's second invasion of Judea, after Hezekiah refused to submit to Rab-shakeh. The episode shows God's people turning for help when distressed.
The verse is part of the biblical account of Sennacherib's invasion of Palestine and siege of Jerusalem, an account corroborated by Sennacherib's cylinder. The cylinder does not mention the loss of 185,000 Assyrian soldiers but does record a misfortune in his camp. The nineteenth chapter of 2 Kings is the same as, or alike to, the thirty-seventh chapter of Isaiah. The account containing the verse has verbal differences from the parallel account in Isaiah 37.
The Assyrian crisis to which the verse belongs shows that Isaiah 30:33 was not fulfilled when the Assyrian army was destroyed, because the army was not shown to have perished in Tophet, and the Assyrian king returned to his own land and died there.
Prayer and Divine Deliverance
The coming of Hezekiah's servants to Isaiah belongs to Hezekiah's seeking of God's help in trouble after receiving a threatening message from the king of Assyria, and it shows God's people turning for help when distressed. Earnest seeking of God and earnest pleading with God came before Sennacherib and his mighty army were turned back to destruction. Hezekiah's prayer stands as an example of God answering prayer by striking down Sennacherib's army.
God overthrew the king of Assyria and all his host in answer to the prayers of two faithful men of God, when an angel struck down 185,000 Assyrians in one night without Israel's help. The account illustrates the blessing of united, whole-hearted prayer. That deliverance without human assistance shows that God sometimes acted without human help so Israel could learn to trust His way and give Him the glory.
The victory proves the greatest victories to the church of Christ or to the individual Christian are not those gained by talent or by education, by wealth or by the favor of men, but those gained in the audience chamber with God when earnest, agonizing prayer lays hold upon the mighty arm of power. The same victories will be gained by the people of God in the closing of the work in more troublous times than any in past history, requiring faith in God's promises that can walk by faith when no human help is nigh and there are only the promises by which to walk.