Reading: Isaiah 36-38, Psalm 117

Hey, we found a story! After thirty or so chapters of prophecy, the book of Isaiah dips into narrative for a few chapters. But don’t worry, we are headed right back out in chapter 40, though the tone of the book will change a great deal from there on. Also, you may find this story familiar, and with good reason. It is an almost word for word match for 2 Kings 18-20. It does have a couple of exclusions and one very important addition, which we will get to, which set up the rest of the book and help explain why Isaiah puts this story in the middle of his book of prophecies.

Okay, we already know this story. The people of Israel from the time of the exile right up to the present day read the Hebrew Scriptures more or less in the same order we are here. So why repeat a story like this? One possibility you may recall from the book of Moses: cross reference, footnotes, and indexing weren’t really a thing in those days, so repeating a key point, even at length, had a lot more utility than it does for us today. But I think what’s going on in Isaiah is a little more than that, particularly when we look at what gets left out and what gets added to the version of this story we get in 2 Kings.

First of all, let’s look at what is left out. There is no internal content of the story removed. What we don’t get is the external political situation. In 2 Kings we are told Hezekiah is a vassal king of Assyria, and even buys them off by paying tribute. Also in 2 Kings a big theme of the Assyrian taunts is how Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem are trusting to Egypt for military aid, but it gets only a passing mention here. As a result, the Assyrian claim to be acting at the direction of the God of Israel is emphasized. This all plays into the themes we have already seen in Isaiah. He is not saying the story happened any differently than in 2 Kings, but he is putting the focus on different aspects of the conflict. Instead of the political and military aspects of Judah’s situation being key, the sovereignty of the God of Israel occupies the center of the action.

The story plays out as we remember, with the repentant Hezekiah asking God, though Isaiah, for deliverance for the sake of God’s own name. Again, the sovereignty and honor of God is held up at the most important outcome. Hezekiah is making a declaration of dependence, like all the righteous human characters before him in the Biblical story. The Assyrians are struck down, and Jerusalem is saved, though not by their own actions. This story stands as a playing out and fulfillment of Isaiah’s words in his “book 1.”

Okay, so what about the things that are added? Well, there is only one thing. Following his illness and miraculous recovery, which we already know about, we are given a psalm that Hezekiah wrote in response to being struck with illness and then recovering. This is a remarkable work that bears similarities to some of David’s psalms but most strikingly to the complaints of Job, which we haven’t gotten to yet, but that may have already been known in Hezekiah’s day. Isaiah’s inclusion of this psalm helps set Hezekiah up as a faithful sufferer, one who acts in righteousness but suffers anyway. His suffering is answered with a double promise: he will be healed and his kingdom rescued. In 2 Kings we get the facts of Hezekiah’s illness and recovery. Here Isaiah gives us a glimpse into the heart of the king, while at the same time making a comment about righteous suffering that will grow until it dominates the book. Remember Isaiah’s missing character- this is the first hint of an answer.

Many interpreters have cut the book of Isaiah into two (or even three, but we aren’t going there) parts beginning right here. Hezekiah’s psalm introduces us to the concept of the suffering righteous servant of the God of Israel. This is the overriding theme of Isaiah’s “book 2.” That Hezekiah’s psalm is in the tradition of David and Job is no accident either. Isaiah will outlive Hezekiah, and as Hezekiah’s personal prophet had access to his writings after his death. He chose to include this particular psalm in his book of prophecy for a reason.

At the end of our reading today, Hezekiah is looking pretty good. The deliverance of Jerusalem in response to repentance has been seen. There are some pretty awesome other prophecies about God’s action of deliverance through a righteous one in the book, and now Hezekiah is set up as a candidate for that role. He is a descendant of David, and as a psalm writer is looking more and more like his forefather. Sadly, Isaiah is setting us up. Tomorrow’s reading will reveal the tragic flaw of Hezekiah’s character, and throw Isaiah’s prophecies into the future. As we already know, Hezekiah’s son Manasseh’s actions will seal the deal on Judah’s exile. Isaiah will live to see this, and the rest of his book of prophecy is set on restoration after this exile, when the suffering servant of the God of Israel will finally appear.