No. 28. >> I know our time is up. But I'm curious about why the study of Isaiah breaks here following Chapter 39. What makes this the right place to shift gears, so to speak? >>DR. R. REED LESSING: Certainly traditionally people have understood Isaiah to have at least two, if not three, different sections. Although still being understood as a unified composition by Isaiah the prophet. As we've said, 1 to 39, 40 to 55 and then 56 to 66 would be one way to get some kind of an understanding of the major movements of the book. Now, why does it shift from 39 to 40? And why is the break there? Certainly, we've said already that Chapters 36 through 39 would be all narrative. There is some poetry in there. But it's telling the narrative of the crisis of 701 BC when Hezekiah didn't trust in horses or chariots but trusted in the name of Yahweh, his God. And he was delivered. In fact, in Chapter 36 of Isaiah, we're told the Angel of the Lord struck down 186,000 Assyrians. And Sennacherib went home in complete defeat. However, with this narrative going on in 36 through 39, we certainly have poetry then for the rest of the book. From 40 to 66 almost entirely in poetic form. In vernacular form. So there certainly is an abrupt shift from the narrative of 36 to 39 to the poetry of 40 to 66. So that's the logical answer to the question. Having said that, let's see how Chapters 39 prepares the reader, though, for the events that will follow in the last 27 chapters. To do that, we simply turn to the text itself. And this is what we see in Verse 1 from Isaiah 39: At that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent Hezekiah letters and a gift because he had heard of his illness and recovery. The illness and recovery is something we haven't discussed. But you can see that narrated in Chapter 38 of Isaiah. Why would this Merodach-baladan from Babylon even be interested in developing and continuing this friendship and relationship with the Judean king, Hezekiah? The events around Chapter the 39 transpire in 703 BC. Now, you may remember from our lucid and illuminating discussion in Chapter 14 of Isaiah that in 705 BC, Sargon II died on the battlefield in Anatolia. And there was this great rejoicing that we see in Chapter 14 of Isaiah. There wasn't only rejoicing. There was also a concerted political effort to be done with the Assyrian yoke. And to stop paying tribute or taxes to the mighty Assyrian empire. So Merodach-baladan all the way over in Babylon wants to develop this relationship with Hezekiah so together along with other city states they can successfully revolt against the Assyrians. So chronologically, Chapter 39 happens prior to Chapters 36 and 37. Because 36 and 37 tell us that in 701 BC, Sennacherib came. And he wanted to squash the rebellion. But this is 703. Merodach-baladan comes. And not only historically does it help us understand several sections of the book of Isaiah, but it also prepares us for the Babylonian influence that are dominant in Chapters 40 through 55. Continuing, it says that in Verses 2 and following that Hezekiah showed these people, these envoys and emissaries, all of the treasury of the temple and his palace. Isaiah comes into play in Verse 3 and tells Hezekiah he should not have done that. So what happens? The time is coming, Isaiah says in Verse 6, when everything in your palace, Hezekiah, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left says the Lord. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood born to you, will be taken away. And they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. So we can see why this chapter doesn't fit chronologically in 36 to 39. But it certainly fits in a literary style in that Isaiah predicts the Babylonian captivity of Judah. And the fact that Judean kings will be eunuchs and prisoners in Babylon. So what do we have here? We have Hezekiah's famous response in Verse 8. The Word of the Lord, he says to Isaiah, you have spoken is good, Hezekiah thought. There will be peace and security in my lifetime. Now, what kind of a leader is that? The whole country is going to be wasted by the Babylonians. And Hezekiah's final response on the pages of the book of Isaiah is: Well, so what. As long as it doesn't happen in my lifetime. What does that tell us about the first 39 chapters of Isaiah? It tells us that even the best king, as we would compare Ahaz with Hezekiah, even Hezekiah, the best king, still isn't good enough. Still isn't really a servant to the people. Still isn't all that concerned with the future of Judah and Israel. No. Israel needs another king. A king who will be deeply concerned about destruction and exile and the brokenness of his people. Indeed, all the people in the world. One of the words that marks our Lord's ministry from the Greek is ***splonk nizo mi. We get an English word from that ***splonk, spleen. Gut. Jesus is the one whom we are told repeatedly in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John that he has compassion upon the people. He has ***splonk nizo mi. For example, at the end of Matthew Chapter 9, Matthew says: Jesus saw the people. They were harassed and helpless because they were sheep without a shepherd. And he had compassion upon them. Jesus is the king finally that Israel needs. So this chapter at the end of our study of 1 to 39 functions in several important ways. But the chief importance of it is that it points beyond even the godly Hezekiah to the one who would be perfect in his compassion, in his obedience, in his death. To redeem not only Judah as Israel. But indeed, to offer redemption for all the people of the earth. It has been my sincere delight and pleasure to lead you through Isaiah Chapters 1 to 39. We have just skimmed the surface of this mighty prophetic section in the Old Testament. And I would hope that you have been engaged and encouraged enough to use this time to dig deeper into the text we've studied. And study all of the other chapters and verses that we just have not had time to delve into. You will find throughout your ministry that Isaiah truly is the fifth evangelist. He is the one who, like Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, never tires of pointing people to the one source of hope and comfort and joy and eternal life, Jesus our Lord.