- Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah in the third year of Hoshea's rule in Israel.
- Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled twenty-nine years from Jerusalem. His mother Abi was the daughter of Zechariah.
- Hezekiah obeyed the LORD, just as his ancestor David had done.
- He destroyed the local shrines, then tore down the images of foreign gods and cut down the sacred pole for worshiping the goddess Asherah. He also smashed the bronze snake Moses had made. The people had named it Nehushtan and had been offering sacrifices to it.
- Hezekiah trusted the LORD God of Israel. No other king of Judah was like Hezekiah, either before or after him.
- He was completely faithful to the LORD and obeyed the laws the LORD had given to Moses for the people.
- The LORD helped Hezekiah, so he was successful in everything he did. He even rebelled against the king of Assyria, refusing to be his servant.
- Hezekiah defeated the Philistine towns as far away as Gaza--from the smallest towns to the large, walled cities.
- During the fourth year of Hezekiah's rule, which was the seventh year of Hoshea's rule in Israel, King Shalmaneser of Assyria led his troops to Samaria, the capital city of Israel. They attacked
- and captured it three years later, in the sixth year of Hezekiah's rule and the ninth year of Hoshea's rule.
- The king of Assyria took the Israelites away as prisoners; he forced some of them to live in the town of Halah, others to live near the Habor River in the territory of Gozan, and still others to live in towns where the Median people lived.
- All of that happened because the people of Israel had not obeyed the LORD their God. They rejected the solemn agreement he had made with them, and they ignored everything that the LORD's servant Moses had told them.
- In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah's rule in Judah, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded the country and captured every walled city, except Jerusalem.
- Hezekiah sent this message to Sennacherib, who was in the town of Lachish: "I know I am guilty of rebellion. But I will pay you whatever you want, if you stop your attack." Sennacherib told Hezekiah to pay about eleven tons of silver and almost a ton of gold.
- So Hezekiah collected all the silver from the LORD's temple and the royal treasury.
- He even stripped the gold that he had used to cover the doors and doorposts in the temple. He gave it all to Sennacherib.
- The king of Assyria ordered his three highest military officers to leave Lachish and take a large army to Jerusalem. When they arrived, the officers stood on the road near the cloth makers' shops along the canal from the upper pool.
- They called out to Hezekiah, and three of his highest officials came out to meet them. One of them was Hilkiah's son Eliakim, who was the prime minister. The other two were Shebna, assistant to the prime minister, and Joah son of Asaph, keeper of the government records.
- One of the Assyrian commanders told them: I have a message for Hezekiah from the great king of Assyria. Ask Hezekiah why he feels so sure of himself.
- Does he think he can plan and win a war with nothing but words? Who is going to help him, now that he has turned against the king of Assyria?
- Is he depending on Egypt and its king? That's the same as leaning on a broken stick, and it will go right through his hand.
- Is Hezekiah now depending on the LORD your God? Didn't Hezekiah tear down all except one of the LORD's altars and places of worship? Didn't he tell the people of Jerusalem and Judah to worship at that one place?
- The king of Assyria wants to make a bet with you people. He will give you two thousand horses, if you have enough troops to ride them.
- How could you even defeat our lowest ranking officer, when you have to depend on Egypt for chariots and cavalry?
- Don't forget that it was the LORD who sent me here with orders to destroy your nation!
- Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said, "Sir, we don't want the people listening from the city wall to understand what you are saying. So please speak to us in Aramaic instead of Hebrew."
- The Assyrian army commander answered, "My king sent me to speak to everyone, not just to you leaders. These people will soon have to eat their own body waste and drink their own urine! And so will the three of you."
- Then, in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, he shouted in Hebrew: Listen to what the great king of Assyria says!
- Don't be fooled by Hezekiah. He can't save you.
- Don't trust him when he tells you that the LORD will protect you from the king of Assyria.
- Stop listening to Hezekiah! Pay attention to my king. Surrender to him. He will let you keep your own vineyards, fig trees, and cisterns
- for a while. Then he will come and take you away to a country just like yours, where you can plant vineyards, raise your own grain, and have plenty of olive oil and honey. Believe me, you won't starve there. Hezekiah claims the LORD will save you. But don't be fooled by him.
- Were any other gods able to defend their land against the king of Assyria?
- What happened to the gods of Hamath and Arpad? What about the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Were the gods of Samaria able to protect their land against the Assyrian forces?
- None of these gods kept their people safe from the king of Assyria. Do you think the LORD your God can do any better?
- Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah had been warned by King Hezekiah not to answer the Assyrian commander. So they tore their clothes in sorrow and reported to Hezekiah everything the commander had said.
- (SEE 18:36)
Hezekiah's spiritual reform in Judah was extensive. Not only did he destroy the Asherah poles and symbols of pagan worship, he removed the high places that were used to worship God in disobedience to the Mosaic law that required worship at the temple. Once the high places had been established, previous kings had failed to destroy them. He also destroyed the bronze snake that Moses had used in the wilderness because it had become like an idol to the people. Because of Hezekiah's faithfulness to the Lord, the Lord prospered him and gave him success militarily.
To tie together events surrounding Hezekiah with events of Israel, a brief account is repeated from the previous chapter of the fall of Samaria and all Israel to the king of Assyria and the deportation of Israelites to other nations. And, it is again pointed out that this happened because the people of Israel "did not listen to the voice of the LORD their God but violated His covenant." (18:12)
Without explanation, verses 13 and following tell of the attacks and capture by Sennacherib king of Assyria of the fortified cities if Judah. What is not told in 2 Kings was that Hezekiah made preparations to rebel against Assyria and Sennacherib learned of it. Hezekiah made alliances with neighboring nations who also suffered at the hand of the Assyrians. He also fortified Jerusalem in anticipation of Sennacherib's retaliation. But when Sennacherib made his military thrust into Judah, capturing the fortified cities, Hezekiah sought peace with the Assyrians. He sent word to Sennacherib repenting of his acts of rebellion, saying, "I have done wrong." And he asked Sennacherib to "Withdraw from me." (18:14) Sennacherib demanded 11 tons of gold and silver to buy his willingness to withdraw, but after it was paid, he marched against Jerusalem anyway. Hezekiah had to deplete the treasuries of the temple and palace as well as strip the gold plating from the temple in order to pay this demand.
With Assyria's massive army surrounding Jerusalem, Hezekiah sent his officials out to talk with Sennacherib's field commander, Rabshakeh. Rabshakeh sought to demoralize the people of Jerusalem who were listening from the walls of the city. He asked who they were trusting to deliver them from the great Assyrian army? If Egypt, they were not able, and if it were the Lord, "Isn't He the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed?" The Assyrian could not know this was a good thing rather than bad. Furthermore, he said to them, "don't listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying: The LORD will deliver us. Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land from the power of the king of Assyria?" (18:32-33) These proud statements against the Lord will prove to be the undoing of the Assyrians.
The words of the Rabshakeh did their job of demoralizing the people and the officials who returned to Hezekiah with their clothes torn in great distress as they reported to Hezekiah the words of the Rabshakeh.
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