![]() And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to the Lord and all that David his father did. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And as we move south, we find that Hezekiah is coming to reign over Judah. from the rest of Second Kings on we'll be dealing actually with now the southern kingdom of Judah which still remains. Inasmuch as the northern kingdom has now been destroyed from the rest of the. The Assyrian army was almost destroyed (701 BC), and although Sennacherib escaped home, he was later assassinated (35-37).Ĭhapter 18 In chapter eighteen we now move back to the southern kingdom of Judah. Having announced his plans, God then acted. Fields not sown because of the enemy’s siege would become fruitful again, and the number of genuine believers in Judah would increase (29-34). God would therefore punish them and save Jerusalem (20-28). It condemned the Assyrians for mocking God and boasting of their achievements, especially when they were only God’s instrument to carry out his judgments. Hezekiah then presented the whole matter to God, who, being the only true and living God, was the only one who could save Jerusalem (15-19). The Assyrians temporarily withdrew from Jerusalem to deal with a crisis elsewhere, but sent a letter renewing their threats and challenging God to resist them (8-14). When Hezekiah sent to enquire about the situation from Isaiah, the reply made it clear that God would not tolerate the Assyrians’ mockery (19:1-7). Their big mistake, however, was to insult Yahweh by claiming he was no stronger than the gods of other nations whom the Assyrians had conquered (33-37). They tried to persuade the common people to surrender, promising to treat them well in the lands to which they would take them (26-32). ![]() On seeing how their words troubled Jerusalem’s officials, the Assyrians spoke even more boldly. In any case, they said, God had sent the Assyrians to punish Jerusalem (22-25). Unknowingly, the Assyrian officers agreed with Isaiah (though for different reasons) that reliance on Egypt was useless (17-21 cf. He sent three senior officers to demand that Hezekiah surrender. But, on seeing the strength of the siege, Hezekiah began to repent of his rebellion and offered to pay whatever money Sennacherib demanded (14-16).Īfter taking a large payment from Hezekiah, the Assyrian king showed that he intended to punish him anyway. Above all, he encouraged his troops to trust in God for victory (13 2 Chronicles 32:1-8). He also cut off any water supply outside the city that might be of help to the besieging armies. When news reached Hezekiah that the Assyrian army, under the new king Sennacherib, was heading for Jerusalem, he quickly prepared the defences of the city.
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