Read Isaiah 36
In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of
Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.
Isaiah 36:1
Except for David and Solomon, no king of Judah is given more attention or commendation in Scripture than Hezekiah. He restored the
temple facilities and services of worship, destroyed the idols and the
hill shrines where the people falsely worshipped Jehovah, and sought
to bring the people back to vital faith in the Lord. He led the people
in a nationwide celebration of Passover and invited Jews from the
northern kingdom to participate.
After the fall of the northern kingdom in 722 BC, Judah had
constant problems with Assyria. Hezekiah finally rebelled against
Assyria (2 Kings 18:7); and when Sennacherib, the Assyrian king,
threatened to attack, Hezekiah tried to bribe him (Isa. 36:13–16). It
was a lapse of faith that God could not bless. Sennacherib accepted
the treasures but broke the treaty (33:1) and invaded Judah in 701
BC. The account of God’s miraculous deliverance of His people is
found in Isaiah 36—37. Though the setting today may be different,
the problems and temptations are still the same; for Hezekiah’s history
is our history, and Hezekiah’s God is our God.
Something to Ponder
When you, like Hezekiah, “inherit” something that all your predecessors have made a mess of, do you do what’s easy and go with the flow,
or do what’s hard and correct the situation?