Chapters 38-39 end section one of Isaiah, and it sets the stage for the second half, chapters 40-66. The Lord defended Judah from the attack by Assyria because they defamed the name of the Lord, and King Hezekiah humbled himself and prayed unto the Lord. Following that, he became ill, but again because of his prayers, the Lord healed him, and allowed him to live fifteen more years. A group from Babylon came and heard about his sickness and healing, and the Hezekiah was so pleased, that he showed them all the treasuries and everything in his kingdom. Isaiah proclaimed the word of the Lord, that because the king did that, Babylon would come and take it all away, as well as exile, even the king's descendants. With this looming over their head, the message of Isaiah makes it clear that the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, is the only true God, and He has all of this planned. We also find out that Babylon is coming, but there will be a day when Babylon is also defeated by Cyrus, the Lord's anointed. Cyrus will be the king of Persia, and in 538 BC, he will declare a proclamation that the Jews can come back to Jerusalem and rebuilt their temple. Another theme throughout this section of Scripture, is that the Lord will inflict the Jews for a short time, but He still loves them, and the purpose is to bring His people back to Himself, purified from the fire, and more like the Lord. We also learn from the Suffering Servant Songs, that the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, did not spare the Lord Jesus Christ from suffering also. He was pure, but His suffering on the cross took our sin and placed it upon Him (53:6). Lastly, we learned that it was not just the Jews who could partake of this salvation, but believers from every nation. One of the reasons for the exile was while the Jews were in the distant lands, they would declare the Lord's glory among the nations (66:19), and when they come back, they would not come back alone, but brothers from all the nations would come to the Lord's holy mountain in Jerusalem.
