The purpose of storytelling is to enable people to see how pieces fit, to make sense of what happened, and to better understand the Why behind what happened next. King Hezekiah’s story reveals a truth about God that runs throughout the entire Bible.

” . . . you [LORD] have exalted above all things your name and your word.”

Psalm 138:2

God works on behalf of his people to magnify his name and his word, and he is able to protect his own reputation.

Bible stories intersect and overlap

Consider the economy of Bible stories when it comes to describing the lives of its characters.

Basically, the Bible focuses attention on crises faced by God’s people. The inciting incidents, the movements, the decisions and indecisions, the implications and complications arise when events trigger actions that reveal character.

A person’s character. God’s character. The enemy’s objectives. Some truth about God and people emerges from every crisis.

In Isaiah 36–37, King Hezekiah faces both military threat from without and a personal health crisis from within.

2 Kings 18 records that Hezekiah had already stripped the Jerusalem temple of its gold and offered tribute to Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, Israel’s enemy. Only that was not enough.

Sennacherib wanted more. Sennacherib wanted it all.

Isaiah 36 records the taunts and threats of Assyria’s king, delivered through his messenger.

The field commander said to them,

“Tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours?  You say you have counsel and might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? Look, I know you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him.  But if you say to me, ‘We are depending on the Lord our God’—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before this altar’?

Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: . . . The Lord himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.

Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: ‘Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern, until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Have the gods of any nations ever delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria?”

(Isaiah 36:4–18, NIV)

The Enemy Speaks Lies and Distorts the Truth

Sennacherib had already conquered nations surrounding Judah, taken the ten tribes of northern Israel captive, and he had captured the fortified cities of Judah (2 Kings 18). True.

And now, to relate to Judah’s situation, it’s as if an enemy had conquered the entire surrounding area of your town or mine and was now camped only twenty-seven miles away.

All that remains is for the army to conquer the city of Jerusalem and take over all of Israel.

The enemy taunts, Do not listen to Hezekiah . . . Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, persuade, or mislead you.

The enemy tempts desertion with false promises: I will give you something better.

But can God’s people believe this message from Judah’s enemy?

Even today, the enemy taunts: Do not listen to God’s Word. Do not let God deceive, persuade, or mislead you. The enemy makes empty promises that he will give while always intending to take.

The enemy scoffed: “Has the god of any other nation ever delivered his land from the hand of Assyria? …Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” (Isaiah 36:18–20, NIV)

Good Question.

Hezekiah wanted his people to trust God. Hezekiah instructed his people to remain silent. (Isaiah 36:21)

Judah (the remnant), the remaining two tribes of Israel, is in big trouble. And King Hezekiah is afraid. And he is sick.

Being afraid is enough to make you sick. And being sick makes you afraid.

Viewing this situation from man’s perspective, Hezekiah has reason to be afraid. 

“When Hezekiah heard this threat, he tore his clothes and went into the temple . . . sent his people to Isaiah with the message:

It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, pray for the remnant that still survives.” (Isaiah 37:4, NIV)

The Bible records two of Hezekiah’s prayers, as well as his praise for answered prayer.

Hezekiah’s prayer highlights that the king of Assyria had actually ridiculed the LIVING GOD. Hezekiah admits “no strength” in himself and asks that Isaiah pray that God will rebuke this enemy and save the remnant of his people.

Concern for God’s Name and His Reputation on Display

How many prayers have God’s reputation at stake?

Too often, our personal prayers focus on personal concerns, needs, and interests. With God’s and/or “in Jesus’ name” tacked on for good measure.

Most prayers assume God needs to be informed of the situation and then asked for help.

Hezekiah points out that God heard what the enemy threatened. Hezekiah then asked Isaiah to pray, believing that God would respond to the prophet’s prayers.

The basis of Hezekiah’s appeal to God for help rests on his concern for God’s name and reputation.

Hezekiah approached the situation that had engulfed him wearing sackcloth, destitute, grieving, trusting God alone to deliver him and his people.

Waiting, he relied on prayer and God’s ability to determine the outcome.

Hezekiah places God’s reputation above personal safety and the future of his own people.

Hezekiah’s chief concern: What will people think about God?

Go there first

Identify how God’s reputation is at stake in your situation. Appeal to his promises to protect his name.

Why? Because God’s people continue to represent God himself.