Hezekiah Reigns in Judah
October 27, 2022
Commentary
Hezekiah’s rule was characterized not only by devotion to God but by devotion with such intensity that even the high places were destroyed. Even the brazen serpent which Moses had erected seven hundred years earlier had become an object of worship and was reduced to scrap metal.
Hezekiah repaired the temple that had been desecrated during Ahaz’s rule. Worship was restored and all Israel from North and South were invited to the celebration of Passover. Of all the other godly kings of Judah, none ranked with Hezekiah. Unlike some of the other kings he did not apostatize later in life but kept the Mosaic Covenant faithfully. Because of this the Lord was with him and blessed him with success in all he undertook.
Hezekiah rebelled against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, which precipitated the Assyrian invasion recorded later. Sennacherib invaded Judah to enforce Ahaz’s commitment to Assyria that Hezekiah had broken (v. 7). In this campaign he captured 46 strong cities plus many villages in Judah. He then set up his headquarters in Lachish, a well fortified city about 30 miles southwest of Jerusalem. Hezekiah did not want to fight Sennacherib, whose armies had been consistently successful so he quickly admitted his guilt in breaking with Assyria and offered whatever Sennacherib asked.
Application
Just as Hezekiah placed his faith in God’s strength rather than his own and he obeyed God’s commands in spite of the obstacles and dangers I need to do the same today.
2 Kings 18:1– 16 (NET)
1 In the third year of the reign of Israel’s King Hoshea son of Elah, Ahaz’s son Hezekiah became king over Judah. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah. 3 He did what the Lord approved, just as his ancestor David had done. 4 He eliminated the high places, smashed the sacred pillars to bits, and cut down the Asherah pole. He also demolished the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been offering incense to it; it was called Nehushtan. 5 He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; in this regard there was none like him among the kings of Judah either before or after. 6 He was loyal to the Lord and did not abandon him. He obeyed the commandments that the Lord had given to Moses. 7 The Lord was with him; he succeeded in all his endeavors. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to submit to him. 8 He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.
9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah’s reign (it was the seventh year of the reign of Israel’s King Hoshea, son of Elah), King Shalmaneser of Assyria marched up against Samaria and besieged it. 10 After three years he captured it (in the sixth year of Hezekiah’s reign); in the ninth year of King Hoshea’s reign over Israel, Samaria was captured. 11 The king of Assyria deported the people of Israel to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor (the river of Gozan), and in the cities of the Medes. 12 This happened because they did not obey the Lord their God and broke his covenant with them. They did not pay attention to and obey all that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded.
13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria marched up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 14 King Hezekiah of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria, who was at Lachish, “I have violated our treaty. If you leave, I will do whatever you demand.” So the king of Assyria demanded that King Hezekiah of Judah pay 300 talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 Hezekiah gave him all the silver in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace. 16 At that time King Hezekiah of Judah stripped the metal overlays from the doors of the Lord’s temple and from the posts that he had plated and gave them to the king of Assyria.