These questions are for a small group, a Sunday class, or personal study of Isaiah 37. The chapter follows King Hezekiah through a crisis: a threatening letter from Assyria, a prayer offered in the temple, and a divine answer delivered through Isaiah. Use the set in order, or pick the questions that fit your group’s time and needs.
Isaiah 37 at a Glance
The chapter moves in three steps. First, Hezekiah hears the Assyrian threat, tears his clothes, and sends officials to Isaiah asking for prayer for the remnant of Judah. Second, Hezekiah receives a second letter from Sennacherib, spreads it out before the LORD in the temple, and prays a prayer centered on God’s sovereignty over all kingdoms.
Third, Isaiah sends God’s answer: Assyria’s pride will be humbled, the king will return home without taking Jerusalem, and God will defend the city for his own sake and for the sake of David. The chapter ends with the sudden death of the Assyrian army and Sennacherib’s own murder in his temple.
Observation Questions
Use these questions first, before anyone offers interpretation. Ask the group to point to the exact words of the text and to resist explaining yet. Short answers keep the discussion anchored in what the chapter actually says.
Isaiah 37:1-4
1 When king Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the LORD’s house. 2 He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘Today is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of rejection; for the children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to give birth. 4 It may be the LORD your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’”
(WEB)
Read this opening passage to set the scene of crisis and grief. It shows Hezekiah’s immediate turn to God and his concern for the surviving remnant, which frames everything that follows.
Isaiah 37:14-16
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the LORD’s house, and spread it before the LORD. 15 Hezekiah prayed to the LORD, saying, 16 “The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, who is enthroned among the cherubim, you are the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
(WEB)
Reading the letter scene and the start of Hezekiah’s prayer lets the group see the act of spreading the threat before God. This is the emotional center of the chapter for many readers.
Isaiah 37:20
Now therefore, the LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the LORD, even you only.”
(WEB)
This verse states the purpose behind Hezekiah’s petition: that all kingdoms may know the LORD alone is God. Reading it aloud keeps the session focused on God’s glory rather than on the threat itself.
Isaiah 37:33-35
33 “Therefore the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither will he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it. 34 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come to this city,’ says the LORD. 35 ‘For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.’”
(WEB)
These verses record God’s direct promise that Sennacherib will not take the city. Reading them slowly helps the group hear the divine word that answers the king’s threats.
Isaiah 37:36-38
36 Then the LORD’s angel went out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, went away, returned to Nineveh, and stayed there. 38 As he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place.
(WEB)
Ending the reading with the destruction of the Assyrian camp and Sennacherib’s death lets the group feel the sudden reversal of the chapter. It makes a fitting close for discussion of God’s power over empires.
Memory Verse for Isaiah 37
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we come to you as Hezekiah did, bringing the letters we cannot answer and the threats we cannot defeat. Thank you that you hear the words of those who mock you and that you are never shaken by the power of any nation. Teach us to spread our fears before you and to trust your timing. Let our lives show the world that you alone are God, and let our faith rest on your faithfulness to your promises. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
