God’s people are in exile, having been thrown out of the land as a result of their idolatry and rebellion. But God has good news for them through Isaiah: God has not forgotten them, he is more powerful than their enemies and he controls history.
Hezekiah was a great king; perhaps even the best Judah ever had – but he was far from perfect. And we are left saddened by his foolishness and longing for a perfect king to come to our aid.
The Assyrians hoards are at the gate and Hezekiah’s options are few. Should he fight, surrender, rely on Egypt’s promises of aid, or can God be relied upon to save his people? Hezekiah chooses wisely – and leaves us with lessons to learn for the the ordinary struggles of life and the days when we feel outnumbered and outgunned.
Self-reliant pride and arrogance abounds in all of us, but where we relegate God to a bystander in our lives, refusing to acknowledge his rightful Lordship, that pride leads to an eternal fall. BUT… Isaiah 35 gives a vision of the joy and the future for those who are redeemed. So we look closely at that vision and end with an antidote to arrogance that leads to everlasting joy.
It isn’t just the pagan nations that have problems with pride – God’s people had their own struggles with the pride of religion. “as long as we do our religious duties, nothing else matters.”