Today let’s look at the last part of chapter 37 of Isaiah. King Hezekiah who heard the words of the Assyrian King Sennacherib “went up to the temple of the LORD” (14) and bowed before the Lord and prayed. The Lord heard his prayers and through Isaiah spoke to Hezekiah. He said that God controls all things. God who knows all things and controls all things has a plan and performs that plan. Everything is planned by the Lord. When we accept that the Lord is doing everything, we have peace of mind. That is because “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Therefore, we can have peace of mind. That’s not all. God will bring us a complete victory. In today’s passage it is recorded how complete victory is brought about.

I. A sign for you (Vs. 30-32)
First please look at verses 30 to 32.
Vs. 30-32
A wonderful promise is proclaimed to Hezekiah. The message is that Assyria will withdrawal and Judah will survive. The sign is “This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.” (30) “Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.” (36:1) 46 of Hezekiah’s cities were conquered by Sennacherib so the land was really devastated so there was no hope of a harvest right away. The first year “you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year” (1) you will do the same, but the third year you will get a harvest from what you plant. At first you can’t expect much of a harvest, but gradually and steadily it will be restored and in the course of time you will be able to have a stable life. This is the principle of God. First there is nothing. You must “eat what grows by itself”. (30) However gradually and steadily it will bear fruit.
Rev. Itakura who is on the board of KDK, the Domestic Evangelistic Church Planting Association, 40 years ago started evangelizing to plant a church with his wife. 40 years is the same amount of time that the Israelites wandered in the dessert. In the dessert, you can’t plow the fields, nor plant seeds, nor harvest. They survived life by eating Manna that fell from heaven each and every day. By that they would come to completely understand who sustained them, who provided their clothing and places to live. The second year since Rev. Itakura started evangelizing to plant a church was ending, but there was no money to buy mochi for the New Year. He received only a few yen for each milk bottle that he delivered as a milk delivery man. There wasn’t any one he could depend upon. When he was praying a Christmas card from America arrived. It had “Merry Christmas. This year’s Christmas present, I am sending to you.” written on it. Inside it was a check.
Ever since then for forty years the Lord has blessed him and the church. It is just as these Words of the Bible promise. “This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.” (30) This is God’s promise. God a little at a time, a little at a time certainly restores and in the course of time bears fruit reliably. Even if things don’t go the way you want them to go, you must not complain about each and everything. You must believe in God’s promises, endure and wait for the timing.
Also to do that we must “take root below”. (31) Verse 31 says, “Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above.” This is a promise that even though the towns of Judah were ruined by Assyria, God has left a remnant. By that remnant Judah will be restored and within the course of time it will increase and spread out. What supports it is the root. By firmly taking root below, it is able to bear fruit above. Therefore, it says here, “a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above.” (31)
Ueda Coach from Yamanashi Gakuin College who won the 1992 Hakone Cross country race said that on cold days when nothing blooms to put your roots down deeper and deeper. I like these words. In the 6th year after Yamanashi Gakuin College’s cross country race club started, it entered the Hakone cross country race. Then it raised its ranking from 15th place to 11th place to 7th to 4th to 2nd. Then that year it was able to go the top and win. In the background there was so much practicing, and in reality I think there were times when there were no results.
Of course, if you do “take root below” (31), it doesn’t mean that you will see the results right away. Even when fruit isn’t born above, we shouldn’t be silent and sit on our hands, but in the deep earth that we can’t see we need to take root deeper and deeper. Without taking root, we can’t bear fruit. The fruit we can see, but the root can’t be seen above the soil. We are prone to seek the results that appear like magic. However, without the process of firmly rooting in the earth, we can’t bear fruit. Therefore, the thing that we must do is “take root below” (31) If we do that the Lord will make it bear fruit.
Please look at verse 32. It says here, “the zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” This means that Israel’s recovery is by the one way grace of the Lord. It is not by your zeal. It is not by your effort. It is not because you did this or you did that. It is only by the grace of God. It is by the grace of the Almighty Lord. Therefore, we must only believe in God’s promises, endure, be humble and faithfully do the work of God. We must “take root below”. (31) If so, when the time comes, in the course of time we will be restored. God will cause fruit to be born.
This is the sign that was given to Hezekiah. No matter how much he suffered he accepted this sign and waited expectantly for God’s promise. On the other hand, his father, King Ahaz, refused the Word of the Lord to seek a sign. When the allied forces of Aram and Ephraim came to attack, he made a mistake and depended on the strength of Assyria. This is a sign for you. You must accept it. “This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.” (30) At first you can’t expect much of a harvest, but gradually and steadily it will be restored and in the course of time you will be able to have a stable life. Let’s accept God’s sign. Then while taking “root below” (31, let’s wait expectantly for God’s timing.

II. He will not enter this city (Vs. 33-35)
Next please look at verses 33 to 35. “Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!’”
Here the Lord is clearly speaking about the king of Assyria. The Lord says, “He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here.” He won’t be able to fully attack Jerusalem and will withdraw. That is because God “defends” (35) Jerusalem. God “saves” (35) Jerusalem. “The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” (32) This is for God’s “sake and for the sake of David”. (35)
The Lord promised David, “When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” (II Samuel 7: 12, 13) Accordingly, if Southern Judah, if Israel is ruined, then this promise would not be fulfilled. As a result, the promise of God that David’s offspring, Jesus Christ who will establish the kingdom of God, who “will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (II Samuel 7:13) would not be fulfilled. That will definitely not happen. “The LORD is faithful to all his promises.” (Psalms 145:13) Not even one thing that Lord says fails to be fulfilled. God is faithful. “The LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” (32)
III. A complete victory (Vs. 36-38)
Lastly, let’s look at the result. Please look at verses 36 to 38. “Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning-there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. One day, while he was worshipping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.”
“The angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp” (36) in one night! “When the people got up the next morning-there were all the dead bodies! “ ((36) “The angel of the LORD went out and put” (36) them to death. God worked in a way that humans can’t conceive. The Lord fulfilled His promises. “The LORD Almighty”(32) accomplished this.
Psalm 46 is a celebration of the security of Jerusalem as the city of God. Some think that Hezekiah sang this psalm. Please open your Bibles to this Psalm.
Psalm 46
“God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1)
Hezekiah experienced this. Martin Luther was inspired by this Psalm to write the great hymn, “A mighty Fortress is Our God”. “A mighty fortress is our God” comes from verse 7 and 11. “God…is our fortress.”
1. A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; our helper he amid the flood ”The enemy is strong. “For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate…”
2. Did we in our own strength confide,
our striving would be losing,
were not the right man on our side,
the man of God’s own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is he;
Lord Sabbath, his name,
from age to age the same,
and he must win the battle.”
He is singing that “The LORD Almighty is with us.”(Psalm 46:7,11) It is he who fights “and he must win the battle.”

Hezekiah’s prayer moved history. This was the result of God answering his prayer. This is not fiction. This is a historical event. Also this victory wasn’t just on the level that they are saved and the enemy is gone, but when the enemy “was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons…killed him with the sword.” (38) This resulted in a complete victory. God answered Isaiah’s and Hezekiah’s prayers. This brought a complete victory.
That is not just Hezekiah, but this can be said of all people who seek God’s glory, who live for God, who earnestly seek in prayer. God hears the prayers of such people. At times we are threatened by Satan who tempts us to doubt, and comes to deceive us by saying things that seem right, but even in such crisis be assured of the Lord’s presence, believe “that in all things God works for” (Romans 8:28) your good and only look to the Lord and seek Him in prayer. Then the Lord will answer your prayer and turn things around.
In Enterprise, Alabama in the U.S. there is a monument celebrating the bug that is commonly called the boll weevil. A plaque on the monument says, “In profound appreciation of the Boll Weevil, and what it has done as the Herald of Prosperity this monument was erected by the citizens of Enterprise, Coffee County, Alabama.”
Originally Enterprise, Alabama was famous for its cotton, but in 1915 the boll weevil destroyed 60% of the county’s cotton. No matter what they did, they couldn’t solve the problem. What had been one of most prosperous areas in the nation became one of the poorest. After prayer and studying the profitable crops in Virginia and North Carolina, it was decided that peanuts were the best crop for the county.
A local farmer C.W. Baston planted his 125 acre farm with peanuts in 1916. Baston’s 1916 peanut crop thrived, while cotton farmers suffered increased losses to the boll weevil. Farmers in southeast Alabama were now convinced they should grow peanuts, and the banks began to finance that effort. The County produced more than one million bushels of peanuts in 1917, and became the USA’s largest peanut producing county in 1919. Growing and processing peanuts became a very lucrative industry in southern Alabama, and Georgia during the early 20th century. This change benefited the soil, farmers, consumers, and communities. They were so thankful to the boll weevil that on December 11, 1919, Enterprise, Alabama, installed a monument celebrating the bug for its role in the region’s prosperity growing and processing peanuts following the fall of cotton.
God answered their prayers and turned things around. In our lives too there may be things like the boll weevil. We might face something like being completely surrounded by Assyria. However, when such things happen God is your “refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1) If you seek God’s glory in prayer, God will answer that prayer and save you. He will give you complete victory. The problem is whether you believe this or not; whether you earnestly seek him in prayer or not. Being logical isn’t good. Thinking that things like that are something of the past is not good. Now, in the present, at this moment too God is working. We need to seek in prayer God’s help. We need to experience the living God. That is what God wants us to do. We need to believe that “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1) We need to seek in prayer God. God will give you complete victory.