Isaiah 37:12
Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar? Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?
The verse is part of the Assyrian king's insulting letter to Hezekiah, taunting him that the God of Israel could not save Jerusalem since the gods of the other nations had failed to save them. Those gods of Gozan and Haran and Rezeph and Eden in Telassar were false and powerless, unlike the one living and true God who is Creator of heaven and earth and God over all kingdoms. In humility Hezekiah carried the letter into the house of the Lord and spread it before Him, and he and Isaiah prayed for the Lord to hear the reproach against the living God and vindicate His own name. God answered by sending His angel in one night to strike down 185,000 mighty men in the Assyrian camp, so Sennacherib returned in shame to his own land and was slain in the house of his god, while Hezekiah and Jerusalem were wonderfully delivered. The deliverance shows that the Lord can vindicate His power and save His people though they seem weak and few, so that one who stands alone for right is not alone, for God with him is a majority.
Historical Setting and Meaning
The verse is part of the Assyrian king's insulting, taunting letter to Hezekiah, challenging whether the God of Israel could deliver Jerusalem when the gods of the other nations had failed to deliver them. It was sent during Hezekiah's reign when a powerful Assyrian army threatened Jerusalem and Judah, after taking forty-six cities of Judah, while Sennacherib besieged Lachish and sent his servants with the boast to Jerusalem. In that letter the king claimed that as the gods of Gozan and Haran and Rezeph and the children of Eden in Telassar had not delivered those peoples from his fathers, Hezekiah's God would not keep Jerusalem from his hand. The threat brought out Hezekiah's humility and brought God's message to him through the prophet.
Sennacherib trusted in the gods of Assyria because of his fathers' victories and his own, and in self-confidence and presumption blasphemed Jehovah, ranking Him even lower than the gods of the nations made tribute to Assyria. He spoke of the God of Jerusalem as the work of men's hands like heathen gods. He aimed to break Hezekiah's trust, deceive Judah and discredit Hezekiah, using Israel's captivity by Assyria, which had come from Jehovah withdrawing His protection, as proof of weakness. He railed against Jehovah by letter and by loud appeal in the Jews' language to frighten the people on the wall into surrender.
The verse means those national gods of Gozan and Haran and Rezeph and the children of Eden in Telassar were false and powerless, in contrast with the one living and true God who is distinguished from all other gods as Creator of heaven and earth and God over all kingdoms of the earth. It belongs to Isaiah 36-39, the history of Hezekiah, which continues with Hezekiah's sickness and healing by the Lord and with his blunder in magnifying himself instead of God before the Babylonians sent to him for light, with the result that his children went into captivity to Babylon and Jerusalem was plundered. The 37th chapter of Isaiah is alike to the 19th chapter of 2 Kings, but differs from it in considerable verbal detail, so the verse is not word-for-word identical to its parallel in 2 Kings 19.
As a record of Sennacherib's campaign it is distinguished from the campaign described in Isaiah 10, since Sennacherib's campaigns came from the southwest while the campaign in Isaiah 10 came from the northeast and was made by Sargon. The account does not place the Assyrian army near Jerusalem when the angel destroyed it, but indicates the army was with the king of Assyria at Libnah.
Divine Vindication and Application
In humility Hezekiah took the taunting letter into the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord, and he and Isaiah prayed to Heaven, to the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel dwelling between the cherubim. They asked Him to hear Sennacherib's reproach against the living God and to vindicate His own name, and that prayer brought God's message to Hezekiah through the prophet. God answered by sending His angel, who in a single night cut off 185,000 mighty men and leaders in the camp of the Assyrians. So Sennacherib returned shamed to his own land and was at last slain in the house of his god, while Jehovah wonderfully delivered and saved Hezekiah and Jerusalem and exalted Hezekiah before all nations.
The outcome shows that the Lord could vindicate His power and deliver His people despite their apparent weakness and minority. After Assyria had grown corrupt and gone far from God, He left Himself not without witness to Assyria by revelation and living testimony that He is God above all, with the slaughter of Sennacherib's host as the most notable witness. Isaiah and Hezekiah are thus examples of overcoming enemies through faith and spiritual gifts, which Christians who retained these could likewise do to subdue their enemies. The deliverance proves that one standing alone in opposition to wrong is not alone, for God is with him and God is a majority.