King Hezekiah of Judah, a descendant of the Davidic line, is celebrated in biblical history for his unwavering faith in God and his dedication to religious reforms.
"He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done." - 2 Kings 18:3 (NIV)
However, his reign was not without challenges. One of the most significant threats came from the mighty Assyrian empire, led by King Sennacherib. As the Assyrians laid siege to Jerusalem, Sennacherib sent messengers to taunt and demoralize the people of Judah. He boldly claimed that Hezekiah was deceiving his subjects by asserting that God would save them.
"Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you from my hand. Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, 'The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.'" - 2 Kings 18:29-30 (NIV)
In the face of such intimidation, Hezekiah did not waver. He turned to God, seeking divine guidance and intervention. In a heartfelt prayer at the temple, he laid out his concerns before the Lord.
"Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord..." - 2 Kings 19:14-15 (NIV)
God responded through the prophet Isaiah, assuring Hezekiah of His protection over Jerusalem and foretelling that Sennacherib would hear a report that would cause him to retreat.
"I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came... He will not enter this city, declares the Lord. For I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant... He will hear a report and return to his own land, and I will have him cut down with the sword in his own land." - 2 Kings 19:28, 32-34, 37 (NIV)
True to the prophecy, Sennacherib received news that Tirhakah, the king of Cush, was advancing to wage war against him.
"While he was still at Nineveh, his home city, he heard a report about Tirhakah, the king of Cush. 'He has come out to fight against you!' So Sennacherib again sent messengers to Hezekiah..." - 2 Kings 19:9 (NIV)
But before any battle with Cush could take place, a divine intervention occurred. An angel of the Lord descended upon the Assyrian camp, striking down 185,000 soldiers.
"That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!" - 2 Kings 19:35 (NIV)
This catastrophic event, combined with the looming threat from Cush, compelled Sennacherib to withdraw from Judah. However, his troubles did not end there. While worshiping in the temple of his god, Nisroch, Sennacherib met a tragic end at the hands of his own sons.
The story of Hezekiah and the Assyrian siege serves as a powerful testament to the might of faith and the divine protection that comes with unwavering trust in God.
Isaiah 37
- 1
- When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the LORD.
- 2
- He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.
- 3
- They told him, "This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no strength to deliver them.
- 4
- It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the LORD your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives."
- 5
- When King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah,
- 6
- Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, `This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard--those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
- 7
- Listen! I am going to put a spirit in him so that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.'"
- 8
- When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
- 9
- Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite [1] king [of Egypt], was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word:
- 10
- "Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, `Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.'
- 11
- Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered?
- 12
- Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my forefathers deliver them--the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar?
- 13
- Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivvah?"
- 14
- Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.
- 15
- And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD:
- 16
- "O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
- 17
- Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.
- 18
- "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands.
- 19
- They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.
- 20
- Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God. [2] "
- 21
- Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria,
- 22
- this is the word the LORD has spoken against him: "The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises and mocks you. The Daughter of Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee.
- 23
- Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
- 24
- By your messengers you have heaped insults on the Lord. And you have said, `With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its pines. I have reached its remotest heights, the finest of its forests.
- 25
- I have dug wells in foreign lands [3] and drunk the water there. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.'
- 26
- "Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone.
- 27
- Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched [4] before it grows up.
- 28
- "But I know where you stay and when you come and go and how you rage against me.
- 29
- Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.
- 30
- "This will be the sign for you, O Hezekiah: "This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
- 31
- Once more a remnant of the house of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above.
- 32
- For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
- 33
- "Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: "He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it.
- 34
- By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city," declares the LORD.
- 35
- "I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!"
- 36
- Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning--there were all the dead bodies!
- 37
- So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
- 38
- One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.
- [9] That is, from the upper Nile region
- [20] Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:19); Masoretic Text alone are the LORD
- [25] Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:24); Masoretic Text does not have in foreign lands.
- [27] Some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Kings 19:26); most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text roof and terraced fields
