The LORD Sends an Angel

Isa 37:1 And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.
Isa 36:20 Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

Hezekiah, upon seeing and hearing the message of his mourning ambassadors, tears his own clothing in mourning to the LORD. He did what was appropriate, he went to the house of the LORD to pray and to seek help.

Isa 37:2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
Isa 37:3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
Isa 37:4 It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.
Isa 37:5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

The children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth: Hezekiah put these words in the mouth of his messengers to Isaiah to express the total hopeless outlook of the situation. This was a proverbial expression for a disaster - a woman so exhausted by labor that she could not complete the birth, so it is likely that both mother and child would die.

The servants of Hezekiah came to the prophet Isaiah, a known prophet and man of God to seek the LORD'S help. Had not Rabshakeh offended the LORD with his boasting? Pray for the remnant that is left.

Isa 37:6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
Isa 37:7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

Isaiah speaks from the LORD. If he is a true prophet it will come to pass. Many claim to be prophets, but if what they say does not come to pass, they are false. Isaiah speaks comforting words "Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard," their words of blasphemy. I will send a "blast'" a strong wind, a spirit upon him. (I will blast his blasphemy.) The LORD speaks personally of Rabshekah, who blasphemed, "I will send a spirit against him"; an angelic spirit, as he did, which cut off his army in one night: and he shall hear a rumour; of the sudden and total destruction of his army; though some refer this to the rumour of the king of Ethiopia coming out to make war against him. Rabshekah shall fall by the sword in his own land.

Isa 37:8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
Isa 37:9 And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
Isa 37:10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
Isa 37:11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
Isa 37:12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?
Isa 37:13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?
Isa 37:14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.

1 Pet 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Another threat from Rabshekah, saying that the God of Jacob cannot save Jerusalem, this time in writing. Even though he was in battle with other countries, he hurls insults. Hezekiah went to the house of the LORD and laid the message before the LORD. We should take our concerns to the LORD. Write them down, bring them to the LORD in prayer; lay them before the cross or upon the altar. If God would be glorified through answering your prayer, it is a good way to pray, for His glory and for His will to be done.

Isa 37:15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,
Isa 37:16 O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.

LORD of hosts, refers to the LORD of the host of warring angels. Commander of them all.

Isa 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

Mat 26:51 And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear.
Mat 26:52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
Mat 26:53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
Mat 26:54 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?

Isa 37:17 Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.

Psa 34:15 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

Isa 37:18 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries.
Isa 37:19 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.
Isa 37:20 Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only.

You are the true LORD God, not a false god; save us.

Isa 37:21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria:

The following would result because King Hezekiah prayed to God. It leaves one to believe if he had not of prayed, that God would not have moved on his behalf.

James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Isa 37:22 This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.

The virgin, the daughter of Zion, the holy city Jerusalem who would have been ravished by the Assyrians, laughs them to scorn, because the LORD is her help.

Isa 37:23 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.
Isa 37:24 By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.

The Assyrians might and ideas of conquest would not come about because the LORD is mightier.

Isa 37:25 I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.

The Assyrians boast about how they are able to find water, even if the Jews shut off the streams.

Isa 37:26 Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.
Isa 37:27 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.

The LORD speaks to the Assyrians, that he was the power behind their victories. It was not their doing, God used them to destroy and chasten the nations.

Isa 37:28 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
Isa 37:29 Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.

I know you, your every thought and works, you cannot escape my strength.

Isa 37:30 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.

You will eat off of the land things that were not sown, you will forage for food from the fields.

Isa 37:31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
Isa 37:32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.

They whom God has delivered out of the hands of the Assyrians will prosper.

Isa 37:33 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.
Isa 37:34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.
Isa 37:35 For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.

The LORD told Isaiah that not one person or arrow shall enter Jerusalem, because He will protect them.

Isa 37:36 Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

The LORD sent one angel to kill 185 thousand Assyrian soldiers.
Micheal has been mentioned as being the defending angel of the land of the Jews.

Dan 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

Isa 37:37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
Isa 37:38 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

Even the king of Assyria was slain by his own sons.