And he answered, "Until cities be waste without inhabitant, and houses without man, and the land become utterly waste, and the Lord have removed men far away, and the forsaken places be many in the midst of the land."

II

ISAIAH'S FIRST PUBLIC SERVICE

(Soon after, two kings from the North threatened to make war against Judah. The king of Judah was frightened. Isaiah tried to encourage him, and persuade him to trust G.o.d, but in vain. The king was a coward, and dared neither fight nor trust G.o.d, but instead he sent to the far-away land of a.s.syria for help.

This is the way in which Isaiah tried to encourage the timid king:)--

And it came to pa.s.s in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it; but could not prevail against it. And it was told the house of David, saying, "Syria is confederate with Ephraim."

And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest are moved with the wind.

Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, "Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shear-jashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, in the high way of the fuller's field; and say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither let thine heart be faint, because of these two tails of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. Because Syria hath {267} counselled evil against thee, Ephraim also, and the son of Remaliah, saying, Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set up a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeel: thus saith the Lord G.o.d, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pa.s.s. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin: and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established."

(But the effort of the prophet was wholly without effect.)

So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of a.s.syria, saying, "I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me."

And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of a.s.syria. And the king of a.s.syria hearkened unto him: and the king of a.s.syria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.

(Many years pa.s.sed away. The prophet tried to make his people better, but often without success. He tried to get the rulers to trust in Jehovah rather than in armies and the aid of foreign kings. Sometimes he succeeded, but more often he failed. The land was still subject to a.s.syria, and had paid heavy tribute ever since Ahaz had hired the king of a.s.syria to help him against the Northern kings. Other lands were also under the yoke of a.s.syria, and all of them wanted to win their freedom. At last the king of Babylon sent messengers to these other countries to see if he could not get {268} their kings to join in revolt against a.s.syria. But Isaiah did not favor this alliance, for this also was trusting, not to Jehovah, but to armies and foreign kings.)

At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he heard that he had been sick, and was recovered. And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious oil, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not. Then came Isaiah the prophet unto King Hezekiah, and said unto him, "What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee?"

And Hezekiah said, "They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon."

Then said he, "What have they seen in thine house?"

And Hezekiah answered, "All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them."

Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the Lord of hosts.

Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. And thy sons shall they take away; they shall be servants in the palace of the king of Babylon."

Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, "Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken."

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[Ill.u.s.tration]

ON THE ROAD FROM JERUSALEM TO JERICHO.

From a photograph in the possession of Rev. Louis F. Giroux of the American International College, Springfield, Ma.s.s., and used by his kind permission.

[End ill.u.s.tration]

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He said moreover, "For there shall be peace and truth in my days."

(This king of Babylon was soon after defeated by the king of a.s.syria and driven out of Babylon. For some time he hid himself among the swamps in the southern part of his kingdom, but later was captured and killed.)

III

DELIVERANCE FROM THE a.s.sYRIANS

(About ten years after the king of Babylon had sent his messengers to Hezekiah there was a revolt against a.s.syria in Palestine. Hezekiah, in spite of the opposition of Isaiah, was deep in the plot. When Sennacherib, the king of a.s.syria, heard of the revolt, he sent his armies to Palestine to punish the kings who had dared to defy him.

Judah and the other small kingdoms were not able to meet the a.s.syrian armies. The whole land was in terror, and Hezekiah, the king, who had been so eager for war, was glad enough, now that it had actually come, to seek the wise counsel of the prophet.)

Now it came to pa.s.s in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of a.s.syria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. And the king of a.s.syria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the high way of the fuller's field. Then came forth to him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder. And Rabshakeh said unto them, "Say ye now to Hezekiah, 'Thus saith the great king, the king of a.s.syria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? I say, thy counsel and {272} strength for the war are but vain words: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou hast rebelled against me? Behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust on him. But if thou say to me, We trust in the Lord our G.o.d: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar? Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my master the king of a.s.syria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. How then canst thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for hors.e.m.e.n? And am I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? The Lord said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.'"

Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, "Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language in the ears of the people that are on the wall."

But Rabshakeh said, "Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall?"

Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews'

language, and said, "Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of a.s.syria. Thus saith the king, 'Let {273} not Hezekiah deceive you; for he shall not be able to deliver you: neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of a.s.syria.' Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of a.s.syria, 'Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and eat ye every one of his vine, and everyone of his fig tree, and drink ye everyone the waters of his own cistern: until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The Lord will deliver us. Hath any of the G.o.ds of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of a.s.syria? Who are they among all the G.o.ds of these countries, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'"

But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, "Answer him not."

Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

And it came to pa.s.s, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. 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. And they said unto him, "Thus saith Hezekiah, 'This day is a day of trouble, {274} and of rebuke, and of confusion. It may be the Lord thy G.o.d will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of a.s.syria his master hath sent to defy the living G.o.d, and will rebuke the words which the Lord thy G.o.d hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.'"

So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. And Isaiah said unto them, "Thus shall ye say to your master, 'Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of a.s.syria have blasphemed me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return unto his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.'"

So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of a.s.syria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. And he heard concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, "He is come out to fight against thee." And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, 'Let not thy G.o.d in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of a.s.syria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of a.s.syria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?'"

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. And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying, "O Lord of hosts, the G.o.d of Israel, that sittest upon the cherubim, thou art {275} the G.o.d, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. 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 defy the living G.o.d. Of a truth, Lord, the kings of a.s.syria have laid waste all the countries and their land, and have cast their G.o.ds into the fire: for they were no G.o.ds, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our G.o.d, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, even thou only."

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, "Thus saith the Lord, the G.o.d of Israel, 'Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of a.s.syria, this is the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning him: The daughter of Zion hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. Whom hast thou defied and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. By thy servants hast thou defied the Lord, and hast said, With the mult.i.tude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into his farthest height, the forest of his fruitful field. Hast thou not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? now have I brought it to pa.s.s, that thou shouldest lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps. Therefore their {276} inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the gra.s.s of the field, and as the green herb, and as a field of corn before it be grown up. But I know thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy raging against me. Because of thy raging against me, and because thine arrogancy 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.'"

"Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of a.s.syria, 'He shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast up siege works against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come unto this city, saith the Lord. For I will defend this city to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.'"

And the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the a.s.syrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead. So Sennacherib king of a.s.syria departed, and went back and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pa.s.s, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his G.o.d, two of his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

[Footnote: Other stories of the reigns of Hezekiah and the kings of Judah and Israel may be found in Volume III. ]

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[Footnote: The following are selections from the great poems of Isaiah. For majesty of utterance, for lofty and inspired thought, these are unmatched in literature.]

G.o.d IS MY SALVATION