Year 3, Day 6: Isaiah 22

A Lesson In History

Isaiah 22 continues the messages against Jerusalem.  By this point historically in the book of Isaiah, Sennacherib – king of Assyria – has put down the Babylonian threat.  His northern territory was secure.  All that was left was for him to come and deal with the western edge.  Israel had already fallen.  Hezekiah was leading a revolt from Jerusalem in Judah.  Sennacherib had already taken 46 towns in Judah and they were surrounding Jerusalem.  The city was going to be under siege soon.

The Valley of Visions – as Isaiah calls it – is likely Isaiah’s name for the Kidron Valley which is directly east of the city.  Isaiah watched as fugitives tried to come into Jerusalem for safety.  He watched as the Assyrians set up camp around the city.  In fact, Isaiah wasn’t alone.  Other people had come up to their rooftops to look out over the walls and look into the evidence of the destruction that the Assyrians brought with them.  The Assyrians dragged away any captives they could get their hands on.  There was much to see happening outside Jerusalem and much to mourn.

One of the ways that Assyrians were most brutal was in their relocation policy.  When they took over a land, they basically deported everyone and forced them to resettle in another part of their kingdom.  Then, they moved in people from another part of the kingdom to take possession of the land.  This way, they broke the spirit of the people they had just conquered and gave them little reason to rebel wherever they found themselves.  It’s not like they could continue to fight for their land.

A Neat Analogy

As we move into verses 5-8, we get a neat image.  Well, it’s not neat for Isaiah and his contemporaries, but it is neat for us.  We hear about the people of Elam and Kir – both provinces of Assyria east of the Assyrian homeland – joining the battle.  This symbolically tells the Hebrew people that the nations are gathering at the doors of Jerusalem for war.  This isn’t just the Hebrews vs. the Assyrians.  This is a small remnant of besieged people in Jerusalem vs. the Assyrians and their allies.  If one desired to stretch it a bit, one could make this into God vs. the powerful in the world.

Should Have, But Didn’t Necessarily Do So

In the verses that follow we see that the people should have repented.  They should have seen the enemy gathering and they should have turned to God.  They should have repented.  They should have “pulled out their beards” and wore sackcloth.  In their darkest hour, they should have turned to God.

However, they don’t.  They don’t rely upon God.  They try to manufacture their own salvation.  They rebuild the walls.  They build more cisterns.  They store up what food they can get their hands upon.  They think that they can outlast the Assyrian army amassing at their doors.  {I’ve always wondered about this tactic.  What people inside a city think they can outlast people outside the city with access to all the resources they need?}  Rather than turn to God, they lean upon their own strength.

Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t think the point of these scriptures is that we don’t need to prepare.  I don’t think that there is anything wrong with shoring up the walls and making sure they had access to good drinking water.  The problem isn’t that they prepared; the problem is that they prepared in the arrogance of their own strength.  God desires humbleness and the Jews gave Him arrogance.  God wants to be the center of our plans, the Hebrew people planned without Him.

Shebna

Then we turn to the prophecies regarding Shebna.  Shebna was at one point second in command in Jerusalem – only second to the king.  We don’t really know why Shebna is singled out, but contextually we can make some very educated guesses.  We just talked about how the Hebrew people did not trust in God and instead trusted in their own strength.  Perhaps Shebna was the one convincing them that they could do it.  Perhaps Shebna was opposing Isaiah’s cry for repentance back to God.  Perhaps Shebna was the advisor to King Hezekiah who was preventing Hezekiah from making a full repentance.

What happens to Shebna?  Isaiah tells us that he will be demoted and taken away to die in a large foreign land.  Elkiakim will rise up and take his place.  We also know from these words in Isaiah 22 that Eliakim is a devout man of God.  We do know from the account in 2 Kings 18 that Eliakim does rise and Shebna does fall.  We know that Hezekiah does come to repentance afterwards.

What is God up to?  If the nation will not repent when an enemy opposes them because the leadership focuses them elsewhere, then perhaps it is indeed time to change the leadership.  God deposes those leaders who are against Him and brings in a leader who will make repentance possible.

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