Isaiah 37:21, commentary and pictures

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent the word of the LORD God of Israel to Hezekiah in answer to his humble prayer against Sennacherib king of Assyria when he threatened the land. Hezekiah had laid Sennacherib's insulting, taunting and blasphemous letter before God, asking Him to vindicate His own name, power, promises and cause for Jerusalem and His covenant people. Through Isaiah God promised that the Assyrian king would not enter or attack Jerusalem but would return home because God Himself would defend the city, and He fulfilled it by direct miraculous intervention when His angel destroyed 185,000 men in a single night and sent Sennacherib back in disgrace to his own land where he was later killed in the house of his god. Though Hezekiah and Israel were greatly outnumbered, the Lord delivered them to show that human strength, wisdom and numbers cannot prevail against God and that trusting God is better than relying on human strength, giving an example of subduing enemies through faith and prayer for Christians to follow. In that slaughter God left Himself not without witness to corrupt Assyria and to Judah and the nations that He is God above all, mightier than human rulers and gods made by hands, and that His power, providence and promises favor those who love and trust Him.

Context and Divine Deliverance

The verse is the word of the LORD God of Israel to Hezekiah through Isaiah the son of Amoz, answering Hezekiah's humble prayer against Sennacherib king of Assyria when he came up and threatened the land. Hezekiah, with Isaiah, brought Sennacherib's insulting, taunting and blasphemous letter before God, spreading it out before the Lord when enemies taunted him with his helpless condition. In that prayer Hezekiah prayed alone and humbled himself, asking God to vindicate His name, power, promises and cause, appealing to His honor, power, and care for Jerusalem and His covenant people.

Through Isaiah God promised that the Assyrian king would not enter Jerusalem or attack it, but would return home because God Himself would defend the city. God then brought the deliverance by direct, miraculous intervention, delivering Jerusalem and striking the Assyrian army besieging it through His angel, and sending Sennacherib back to his own land in disgrace, where he was later killed in the house of his god.

The angel destroyed 185,000 men of the invading Assyrian army in a single night. Among those who taught on the timing, the answer was held to have caused 185,000 Assyrians to die in twelve hours.

Scriptural Parallels and Distinctions

The thirty-seventh chapter of Isaiah parallels the nineteenth chapter of 2 Kings in reporting the same events. Between the two accounts there is considerable verbal difference.

The account belongs to Sennacherib's campaign against Judah. That campaign is distinct from the campaign described in Isaiah 10, which was made by Sargon. Sargon's approach was from the northeast, while Sennacherib's campaigns came from the southwest.

The destruction of the Assyrian army by the angel did not fulfill Isaiah 30:33 concerning Tophet prepared for the king. When the angel slew the 185,000 Assyrians, the army was not near Jerusalem but was with Sennacherib at Libnah. Sennacherib afterward returned to his own land and died there.

Faith, Witness, and Application

Though Hezekiah and Israel faced a powerful army and were greatly outnumbered, the Lord heard and delivered them when Hezekiah brought the insulting letter before God and asked Him to vindicate His power and promises. Human strength and numbers cannot prevail against God, and trusting God is better than relying on human wisdom or strength. Hezekiah prayed alone, humbled himself, and appealed to God's honor, power, and care for Jerusalem and His covenant people, and he was heard. Isaiah and Hezekiah together prayed against Sennacherib, and God answered by causing 185,000 Assyrians to die in twelve hours, giving an example of subduing enemies through faith and the spiritual gifts given to the church for Christians to follow.

When enemies taunted Hezekiah with his helpless condition, he spread their taunting, insulting letter out before the Lord, and God answered by destroying 185,000 men of the invading Assyrian army in a single night. This proves that one who stands alone in opposition to wrong is not really alone, because God is with him and God is a majority. After Assyria had grown corrupt and gone far from God, God left Himself not without witness to Assyria by revelation and living testimony in the slaughter of Sennacherib's host, bearing witness that He is God above all. That rescue by direct, miraculous intervention, in which an angel struck down the Assyrian army and Sennacherib returned in shame to be later killed in the house of his god, showed Judah and the nations that the God of heaven is mightier than human rulers and gods made by human hands.

God's power, will, providence, and promises favor those who love and trust Him. The honor and gifts that followed the rescue should have led Hezekiah to exalt God's saving power and mercy, but instead became occasions for human pride.