Isaiah 37

Wesley: Isaiah's prophecy. Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah: whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria. 14–20. The history related here is, almost in the same words contained 2 Kings 19.

God’s answer comes “because you prayed.” Arminian readers see prayer as a cause in the story; the deliverance is given in response to Hezekiah’s petition.

Calvin: then Isaiah sent to Hezekiah. This shews the result of the prayer; as soon as matters have come to an extremity, God suddenly holds out his hand to assist the pious king by the Prophet Isaiah. Not that he immediately stretches out his arm to drive away the enemies, but he promises deliverance by the mouth of the Prophet, and thus calls even now into exercise the faith of his servant. Since thou hast prayed to me: God grants it as an answer to the prayers of Hezekiah.

Wesley: virgin—so he calls Zion, or Jerusalem; because she was pure in good measure from that gross idolatry wherewith other people were defiled, which is called spiritual whoredom: and to signify, that God would defend her from the rape which Sennacherib intended to commit upon her with no less care than parents do their virgin daughters from those who seek to force and deflower them.

Zion answers Sennacherib like a young woman laughing off an unwanted suitor. Wesley reads “virgin” as relative purity from gross idolatry and as a sign that God would keep the city unviolated.

Calvin: the virgin daughter of Zion. There is greater emphasis in this address to the whole Church than if he had said the same thing to Hezekiah as a private individual; this circumstance heightens the baseness of treating with scorn the defencelessness of a wretched people. He intended to express the weakness of the city of Jerusalem, because she was like an orphan and destitute virgin, who was insulted by this base ruffian; God, as the father to whom this insult is offered, declares that he knows well what are the schemes of that wicked man.

The question unmasks the insult: the Assyrian has not only mocked a small kingdom but blasphemed the Holy One of Israel.

Calvin: whom hast thou reproached? In the former verse he describes the fact; now he raises their minds higher, by shewing that this tyrant insults not only Jerusalem but God himself. Let this passage be brought to our remembrance, whenever we see ourselves exposed to the taunts and insolence of wicked men; they who fight against us wage war with the living God. The less strength that is left to us, let us be more fully convinced that the power of God is close at hand.

Wesley: mountains—I have brought up my very chariots to those mountains which were thought inaccessible by my army. Lebanon—an high hill, famous for cedars and fir-trees. Cut down—I will cut down the trees that hinder my march, and plane the way for my numerous army and chariots. Lodgings—those cities (which he calls lodgings in way of contempt) which are in his utmost borders. I am come into the land of Canaan at one border, Lebanon, and I resolve to march on to the other border.

The boast of chariots on mountain heights and cedars cut down in Lebanon is a picture of limitless conquest. God quotes it back to show it is heard and answered.

Calvin: by the hand of thy servants. This also heightens the baseness and cruelty of the insult, for it is harder to bear reproaches from a servant than from his master. Sennacherib had not only vomited it out of his own mouth, but had employed his servant Rabshakeh to utter scornful language against the holy name of God. Perceiving almost the whole of Judea subjected to his power, he swells with insolence as if he had gained a complete victory; thus do tyrants, though they acknowledge that war is doubtful, still dream of having in their power the successful results of battles.

Wesley: strange waters—such as were never discovered by others. Dried up—and as I can furnish my army with water digged out of the earth; so I can deprive my enemies of their water, and can dry up their rivers, and that with the sole of my feet; with the march of my vast and numerous army, who will easily do this, either by marching through them, and each carrying away part with them: or by making new channels, and driving the waters of the river into them.

Sennacherib claims to find water where none exists and to dry up Egypt’s rivers. Wesley hears pride that credits itself with powers only God has.

Calvin: I shall dig and drink water. The tyrant still goes on to boast of his strength, and threatens that he will bring so powerful an army that by means of their numbers he will dry up all the fountains and rivers. This narrative of the Prophet is intended to lead us to consider the stupendous judgment of God against that tyrant.

Wesley: hast thou not—hast thou not long since learned, that which some of thy philosophers could teach thee; that there is a supreme and powerful God, by whose decree and providence all these wars and calamities were sent, and ordered; whose mere instrument thou art, so that thou hast no cause for these vain boastings? This work is mine, not thine. I have so disposed of things by my providence, that thou shouldest be a great and victorious prince, and that thou shouldest be so successful as thou hast hitherto been, first against the kingdom of Israel, and now against Judah.

The answer to the boast is that God planned it long ago: Assyria’s victories were a commission, not an achievement. Wesley adds that even pagan philosophers knew of a supreme God ordering such events.

Calvin: hast thou not heard? The greater part of commentators explain this verse as if the Lord declared that nothing was now done, or had formerly been done by this tyrant, which he had not foretold. But I explain it in a different manner, which is, that Jerusalem will be preserved by the assistance of God, because he is the protector of it. For the sake of giving greater emphasis, he suppresses the name of the city. I have founded the Church, and therefore the salvation of the Church shall always be my care; because I will not leave unfinished the work which I have begun. Shall I now bring it to be desolation, like other cities that have been destroyed and razed?

Calvin will not let “I have done it long ago” be read only as the tyrant’s commission.

Wesley: therefore—because I had armed thee with my commission and strength, and taken away their spirit and courage.

The conquered peoples withered like grass on a housetop because God had taken away their strength. The rod does not boast over the hand that swings it.

Calvin: for their inhabitants were maimed. We ought not to judge of the condition of the Church from the stability of this world; although fortified cities are taken, yet the Church shall stand and flourish, because it does not rest on its own strength, and has its foundation not on the earth but in heaven. All fortresses are of no avail, if the hand of the Lord do not assist. Like the grass of the field: they flourish for a time, but quickly wither. The grass of the housetops: the more elevated its position, it is the nearer to the heat, and withers more quickly.

Wesley: I know—though thou dost not know me, yet I throughly know thee, and all thy designs and actions, all thy secret contrivances in the place of thy abode, in thy own kingdom and court; and the execution of thy designs abroad, what thou intendest in thy going out, and with what farther thoughts thou comest in, or returnest to thy own land.

Every movement of the king—sitting, going out, coming in, raging—is known to God. Wesley puts it sharply: the king does not know God, but God knows him thoroughly.

Calvin: I know thy sitting down and thy rising up. By sitting down, and rising up, are here denoted deliberations, plans, and schemes. The providence of God restrains them, and drives them hither and thither, so that frequently, contrary to their intention, they are conducted to a very good end, as God thinks fit. He warns Sennacherib that he is well aware of his rage, and declares that, while wicked men storm on the earth, he preserves calm silence, and laughs at their madness.

Wesley: my hook—what a comfort is it, that God has a hook in the nose and a bridle in the jaws of all his and our enemies?

God will lead Sennacherib home like a tamed animal, with a hook in his nose. Wesley finds comfort here: God holds a bridle on all his people’s enemies.

Calvin: because thou wast angry against me. The more furiously wicked men rise up against God, so much the more is he wont eventually to set himself in opposition to them. Since thou canst not be tamed, I will curb thee like a savage beast. Sennacherib was compelled to return by the way by which he came, because, while he was revolving the project of subduing every part of Judea and Egypt, he hastily, without having accomplished anything, took the speediest method of returning, which he would not have done of his own accord, if God had not drawn him back by unseen methods.

Wesley: a sign—of the certain accomplishment of the promises here made: that God will not only preserve the city from his present fury, but also bless his people with a durable prosperity. The third year—this was an excellent sign; especially, considering the waste and havock which the Assyrians had made in the land; and that the Jews had been forced to retire into their strong hold, and consequently to neglect their tilling, and sowing, and reaping; and yet this year they should have sufficient provision from those fruits of the earth which the Assyrians left; and the second year, which was the year of release, in which they might neither sow, nor reap, from such fruits as the earth brought forth of its own accord; and so in the third year. And eat—you shall not sow, and another reap, as lately you did; but you shall enjoy the fruit of your own labours.

The sign is agricultural: two years living off what grows on its own, then normal planting in the third. Wesley calls it a pledge of lasting prosperity after the invasion.

Calvin: and this shall be a sign to thee. He now directs his discourse to Hezekiah and the whole nation. There are two kinds of signs. Some go before the event, and lead us to it as by the hand; while others follow for the purpose of confirming the event. It is a sign of this nature which Isaiah here describes. Amidst so great scarcity as seemed likely to ensue after the wasting and pillaging of the fields, the Lord promises that there will be no lack of food. They who were besieged or fugitives had it not in their power to attend to agricultural labors; he promises that they shall have food without sowing till they sow on the third year.

Wesley: the remnant—they shall be well fixt and provided for themselves, and then do good to others.

The surviving remnant will put down roots and bear fruit again. Wesley puts it simply: well established themselves, then doing good to others.

Calvin: and that which shall be preserved of the house of Judah. The Lord will deliver Jerusalem so as not to cast away his care of her afterwards. The defense of Jerusalem belonged to God, because he had chosen it to be his sanctuary, and because the Messiah would proceed from it. Although the Church does not make professions of towering greatness, yet the Lord imparts a secret vigor which causes it to spring up and grow beyond human expectation. Let us not be terrified, therefore, when no roots are seen.

Wesley: go forth—that handful of Jews who were now gathered together, and shut up in Jerusalem, shall go out of their several habitations, and by my singular blessing increase exceedingly. The zeal—although when you reflect upon yourselves, and consider either your present fewness, and weakness, or your great unworthiness, this may seem too great a blessing for you to expect; yet God will do it from the zeal which he hath, both for his own name, and for the good of his undeserving people.

The remnant shut inside Jerusalem will spread out again and flourish. The zeal of the LORD, not the size of the remnant, guarantees it.

Calvin: for out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant. When not only was Judea again covered by a multitude of men, but from the remnant there sprung vast multitudes who were spread over the various countries of the world, this could not have been done, unless out of that small number the Lord had created not merely a single nation, but many nations. The zeal of Jehovah of Armies will perform this. Not only does he contrast the zeal of God with the purposes of men; God regards his Church with such fervent love, that he does not hesitate to work in an extraordinary manner for promoting her salvation.

Wesley: he shall not—the army sent with Rabshaketh did not form a close siege against it, but only disposed themselves so as to block it up at some distance; possibly waiting till the king of Assyria had taken Libnah and Lachish (which they presumed he would speedily do).

Not an arrow, not a shield, not a siege ramp: the promise is precise. Wesley notes that the army never closed a full siege on the city.

Calvin: therefore thus saith Jehovah. He now returns to the deliverance of which he had formerly spoken. He shall not enter into the city. God threatens that he will be as a fortress, to hinder him from entering into the city, and that he will even meet him, so as to hinder him from coming nearer or fighting against it; for he says that he shall not cast an arrow nor a balister.

Sennacherib will leave by the road he came and never enter the city. The promise is specific, and 37:37 records its fulfillment.

Calvin: by the way that he came shall he return. To return by the same way is to depart without having accomplished anything. To confirm this, he adds that thus hath the Lord spoken; for as soon as he who cannot lie hath spoken, we ought to embrace and kiss his word, as if the result were rendered certain by the removal of every obstruction.

God defends the city for two reasons: his own name and his promise to David. Both traditions read the deliverance as covenant faithfulness.

Calvin: and I will be a protector. For my own sake: he calls on Hezekiah and all believers to remember his gracious covenant. Not because he finds any cause in them, but rather because he looks to himself first, that he may adhere firmly to his purpose, not to cast away the posterity of Abraham which he adopted. And for my servant David's sake: not as a private individual, but as a holy king whose throne was established by the hand of God; David is here represented as the type of the only Mediator. Though we most highly deserve a thousand deaths, yet it is enough for God to look to his goodness and faithfulness, that he may fulfill what he hath promised.

“for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.

Wesley: angel—such an angel as destroyed the first-born of Egypt. Arose—the few that were left alive: all their companions were dead.

The deliverance happens overnight and without a battle. It fulfills 31:8: Assyria falls by a sword “not of man.”

Calvin: and the angel of Jehovah went out. It is expressly added that so great a multitude was slain by the hand of the angel. The Lord makes use of the ministrations of angels to promote the safety of believers; the angels may be regarded as his hand. We must beware of falling into the superstition of the Papists, who by their absurd worship of angels ascribe to them that power which belongs to God. Yet it is more probable that a single angel was commissioned to execute this judgment, as in the ancient redemption an angel passed through the whole of Egypt to slay the firstborn. Although God sometimes executes his vengeance by means of evil angels, yet he chose one of his willing servants. It is enough that the Lord, having determined to save Jerusalem from the hand of the Assyrian, cut off his army by a sudden death, without any agency of man.

Wesley: so Sennacherib—the manner of the expression intimates the great disorder and distraction of mind he was in.

Sennacherib goes home and stays there—never again to threaten Jerusalem. Wesley reads the hurried verbs as a sign of the king’s confusion.

Calvin: So Sennacherib king of Assyria, went away and returned. He now shows how disgraceful was the retreat of this haughty tyrant. By employing a variety of words to express his departure, the Prophet indirectly censures the shameful flight; the repetition is not superfluous: he set out, he went away, he returned. And dwelt in Nineveh: he would not willingly have remained at rest, if despair had not held him like a chain. This means that he was satisfied with his ancient domains, of which Nineveh was the chief city and royal residence.

Wesley: was worshipping—the God of Israel had done enough to convince him, that he was the only true God. Yet he persists in his idolatry. Justly then is his blood mingled with his sacrifices, who will not be convinced by so dear-bought a demonstration, of his folly in worshipping idols.

The king who mocked Judah’s God is killed in the house of his own god. Wesley notes the irony: after all he had seen, Sennacherib still would not be convinced.

Calvin: while he was worshipping. The Jews allow themselves that liberty of conjecture in which they are always accustomed to indulge; it is unnecessary to spend time in such conjectures. Here it is highly important to behold, as in a picture, the unhappy death of tyrants, whom the Lord destroys without the agency of men. He is slain, not by a foreign enemy, not by a people in a state of sedition, and in a word, not by servants, but by his own sons, that the murder may be more disgraceful. This is more shocking than if they had been put to death by strangers. Insatiable gluttons who freely wallow in the blood of others are slain by their own followers.