HEZEKIAH TURNS THE PEOPLE TO THE LORD
Hezekiah was one of the few kings of Judah who did right in the eyes of the LORD. Those who reigned in the favor of the LORD before him were few and they were disbursed between the evil reigns of unrighteous kings. Of the twenty kings only six followed the LORD. They were Asa, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah, followed by Josiah, the last righteous king. All of the rest did evil in the sight of the LORD.
The following link has a detailed chart of the Kings of Judah and Israel:
2 Kings 18:1-7 ESV In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. (2) He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. (3) And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. (4) He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). (5) He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. (6) For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses. (7) And the LORD was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him.
OPPRESSION OF ASSYRIA
Both the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel were constantly fighting against the kings in the area that they had once conquered. In order to dwell in peace, both Judah and Israel were subject to paying tribute to these kings. Hezekiah rebelled against the King of Assyria. It was very difficult for the people of Israel and Judah to remain pure with the LORD when they were living among the pagans. Even though Hezekiah had torn down all of the pagan shrines and basically made the people go to Jerusalem to worship at the temple, the people still insisted on worshipping foreign pagan gods. The LORD allowed the Assyrians to prevail over them and put them in colonies of forced labor in exile.
During the sixth year of his reign…the king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and placed them in colonies in Halah, along the banks of the Habor River in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. (12) For they refused to listen to the Lord their God and obey him. Instead, they violated his covenant—all the laws that Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded them to obey. 2 Kings 18:11-12 NLT
THE PROPHET ISAIAH SPEAKS HOPE FROM THE LORD
The situation continued to get worse and Hezekiah tried to settle with the King of Assyria, but he was demanding more than 11 tons of silver and 1 ton of gold. Hezekiah actually stripped gold from the temple, all of the overlaid gold on the doors and doorposts to meet the King’s demands. Nothing but total surrender was going to appease the Assyrians. They did everything to demoralize the people and made vain promises of letting the people keep their land, if only they would submit to their total rule. It was a hopeless situation that was only getting worse. When the reports that the situation had worsened, Hezekiah tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and went to the House of the LORD.
2 Kings 19:1-7 ESV As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD. (2) And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. (3) They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. (4) It may be that the LORD your God heard all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left." (5) When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, (6) Isaiah said to them, "Say to your master, 'Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me. (7) Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.'"
ISAIAH SENDS A MESSAGE OF HOPE
Isaiah predicts that deliverance for Judah from the torment of the Assyrians. He speaks the WORD of the LORD:
2 Kings 19:32-37 ESV "Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. (33) By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the LORD. (34) For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David." (35) And that night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. (36) Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh. (37) And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
That night the angel of the LORD went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. The Assyrian King broke camp and went back to his own land in Nineveh and he stayed there. One day while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons killed him with swords and then they fled to Ararat.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank you LORD for deliverance from our enemies. As you were with your ancient people, you are with us today. Help us to trust in you, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Copyright © 2006, 2011 Thomas C. Blake
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