Hezekiah
2nd Kings 18-20
2nd Chronicles 29-32
Beloved Brethren and Sisters in Christ Jesus, in the first reading this morning we begin the history of King Hezekiah. He was one of the three great kings of Israel—David, Hezekiah, and Josiah. His outstanding characteristic was trust in God, as we see from verses 5-6 of this 18th chapter. “He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.”
His one recorded failure, when his heart was lifted up and he showed his treasures to the Babylonian ambassadors, was a result not of too little faith, nor actually of too much, but of presumption upon that faith—familiarity.
Because of great privileges and promises and prominence in God’s purpose, we remember that Paul had to have a thorn in the flesh to humble and to handicap him, lest he should be overmuch lifted up. Hezekiah, we find, had great power and great blessing and great favor with God for his zeal and his faithfulness. The flesh being what it is, he was carried away.
There is a tremendous lesson here. We are never safe. We must always be prayerfully on our guard against the deceptiveness of the flesh, for the more progress we make in the Truth, the more we are liable to this lifting up like Hezekiah, and there must be a humbling.
The chronology of this period of the kings of Judah and Israel is quite difficult to harmonize—both within the Scripture itself and with the Assyrian record of the times. Much is made in the world of the accuracy of the Assyrian record—the so-called eponyms, or lists of years and events, tied in with the eclipses and so on. And also of the archeological inscriptions that have been found concerning these times and these events. But as soon as we actually look into these eponyms, we find scholars vary greatly in interpreting them. They are nowhere near the clear and continuous chronological record they are made out to be. And they are far from dependable. As for the inscriptions that have been found, the Assyrians were notoriously liars and boasters, apart from the general errors of the flesh. So, we are far safer in following the Scriptural picture and accommodating the history of man to it, rather than the other way around.
This record beginning in 2nd Kings 18-20 about Hezekiah is clearly not all in chronological order, nor intended to be. Chapters 18 and 19 are a continuous record, except that some items are mentioned in them that refer back or forward in general summaries, like the summary in verses 2-8 of the whole reign of Hezekiah, which is given at the beginning, and the death of Sennacherib in 19:37 which was actually twenty years later than these events.
Also, it is not clear where time gaps occur. There does appear to be a gap, apparently of 12 years, between verses 16 and 17 of this chapter, between two separate Assyrian invasions.
Chronology itself is not too important, except to the extent that it helps us to get clear the relationship of events to each other, and the period in a man’s life and development when he does certain things, as in what period of Hezekiah’s life his heart was lifted up, and what relation this had to the deliverance from the Assyrians.
His sickness and his presumption are recorded at the end in both Chronicles and in Isaiah. But clearly they are not meant to be at the end chronologically by the dates that are given in connection with them.
The history of Hezekiah fills eleven chapters of Scripture—quite a lot in relation to the other kings. They are 2nd Kings 18-20, 2nd Chronicles 29-32—almost exclusively about his religious reforms—and Isaiah 36-39.
Putting all these together, this seems to be the most likely order of events: First, the great reformation and Passover and clearing of the land of all idols and the re-establishment of the true worship of Yahweh in his first year. Second, the siege and fall of Samaria—the northern kingdom—and the carrying away captive of the ten tribes in his fourth through sixth years; it was a three-year siege. Third, the first invasion of Judah by the Assyrians in Hezekiah’s 14th year. Hezekiah at this time stripped the gold and treasures from the temple and buys off the Assyrians for a period. The Assyrians claim that they took away at this time 200,000 people as captives. The Assyrian account of the ransom corresponds generally to the Scriptural account. The fourth in order, following this first invasion and their buying off, was Hezekiah’s sickness and recovery, still in the same year as this invasion—the 14th year of his reign. Both are dated in the Scriptures to that year. At this time 15 years were added to his life. The next item—the embassy from Babylon and Hezekiah’s presumption, very soon after his sickness, and as a result of it and the events connected with it. And finally, another Assyrian invasion twelve years later in Hezekiah’s 26th year. At this time, Hezekiah resists, and the Assyrian host is destroyed, and Jerusalem is delivered. Judah is given a 105-year new lease on life to 608BC, when Necho of Egypt deposes Jehoahaz after the death of Josiah, the last good king, and sets up a puppet Jehoiakim, and Judah’s independence ends forever (the kingdom of Judah).
Hezekiah’s supreme act of faith—defying the vast army of Assyria, when it was right in his land and at his gate, seems clearly to have occurred near the end of his life, long after his sickness and his lifting up of his heart. This fits best both with the Bible record and with the Assyrian record.
Let us then trace the course of Hezekiah’s reign on the basis of this record in 2nd Kings 18-20, putting the events recorded elsewhere into their most likely proper order.
It should be noted all the way through that Isaiah, although not mentioned until near the end of Hezekiah’s reign in connection with the resisting of the Assyrians, was actually very prominent and active all the way through, not only in Hezekiah’s reign but in the three reigns preceding him. Isaiah’s own book records his dealings with Hezekiah’s father—the wicked Ahaz, to whom he made the great prophecy of the virgin bearing the Son and his name being Emanuel—God with us.
Isaiah was clearly a major factor in Hezekiah’s faith and zeal and reforms. Also, the prophet Micah is prophesying at this time, as well as Hosea in the northern kingdom. Jeremiah records in chapter 26 that Hezekiah and the men of Judah hearkened to Micah, when he warned them that because of the land’s wickedness Zion would be plowed as a field.
Beginning then in 2nd Kings 18:1 – He began to reign in the third year of Hoshea—the last king of Israel in the north.
Verse 2 – He was 25 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 29 years.
Verse 3 – “He did that which was right in the sight of the LORD,” like unto David, “according to all that David his father did.” This is not said of any other.
Verse 4 – “He removed the high places.” This was a system of local worship and sacrifice—long tolerated but never approved and usually becoming centers of idolatry and corruption. He broke down all the images in the land. And he even broke up the brazen serpent, which Moses had made, because it had become an object of idolatry.
Verse 4 records briefly what is given in great detail in 2nd Chronicles 29-31. So, turning to these chapters to carry on the record, because this is in the first year of his reign. 2nd Chronicles 29:3 – “In the first year of his reign, in the first month, (not necessarily the first month of his reign, but the first month of the first complete year, because this was the first month of the year—Abib, the month in which the Passover was supposed to be kept, although actually it was kept a month later on this occasion). “In the first year of the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them.”
Verses 4-11 – He exhorted the priests and the Levites to the work of re-establishing the worship of God. He mentioned in verse 9 – “Our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity.” In chapter 28 of 2nd Chronicles, the previous chapter, we have the record of a great multitude, verse 5, a great multitude from Judah being carried captive to Damascus. In verse 6, a hundred and twenty thousand were slain in Judah. And in verse 17, Edom also carried away captives. This was because of the wickedness of the land under Hezekiah’s father.
In verse 10 of chapter 29, he refers to the fierce wrath of God upon them, which he learned from the preaching of the prophets, Micah and Isaiah, and also from the circumstances in which Judah was, when he came to the throne, under tribute to Assyria.
Verses 12-15 of 2nd Chronicles 29 – The priests and the Levites sanctify themselves in preparation for the work.
Verses 16-19 – They cleaned the temple—cleansed it of all the corruption and abomination—the courts and all the vessels in sixteen days.
Verses 20-24 – They offered a great sin offering for all Israel, both Israel and Judah. We notice in verse 24 that all Israel is emphasized twice. It is clear all through the record that Hezekiah intended, as far as possible, to take in all those of the northern kingdom that he can, to make an offering for them all before God. This sin offering consisted of seven bullocks, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven he goats. And then after this preliminary and necessary offering for sin, verses 25-26, he set the singers and the players in order.
Verses 27-30 – They re-establish the regular system of offering and worship. All the singers sang together, and the priests and the king and the officers and the people worshipped God. And then the latter part of the chapter, verses 31-35, all the congregation brought their individual sacrifices. In verse 34, it is mentioned that the priests were too few, and the Levites had to help them. “The Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.” The priests had been delinquent in preparing for this reformation of Hezekiah.
The next chapter continues on with the same record. He sends a letter to all Judah and Israel to come to the Passover, which he proposes to hold on the second month. The law required it on the first, but he was unable to get it done in time for the first, and the law did provide for it being held on the second under circumstances when it could not be held on the first. The law of course covered individual cases, but Hezekiah applied it nationally.
Verses 1-9 – These letters being sent out to all Israel and Judah.
Verse 10 tells us that the general reaction in the northern kingdom to the letters of invitation was that “they laughed them to scorn.” They just had at this time three more years to go, until the complete destruction and captivity of their kingdom. This was their last chance to repent.
Verse 11 – We learn that some of them from the northern kingdom did humble themselves and come, showing us that general scorn and rejection cannot be made an excuse for not proclaiming the Word. For there may always be a few who will hear.
Verse 12 – God gave to the people of Judah one heart to serve Him—to do the commandments of the king. All is of God. God in His mercy is uniting them in zeal and holiness, giving them a new start again.
Verse 15 – The priests and the Levites were ashamed—those who had previously been dilatory in sanctifying themselves. They are moved by the example of the people.
Verses 17-20 – Some of the congregation had not had time or proper understanding to cleanse themselves as required, but Hezekiah prayed that their offering may be acceptable under the circumstances, and God heard him.
And so in verse 21 – They kept the Passover “with great gladness.” The only possible source of any real gladness is the assurance of harmony and peace with God—true faith and obedience. Nothing else gives any real satisfaction.
Verse 23 – They had enjoyed it so much that they decided to keep the Passover another seven days. Such was the beginning of Hezekiah’s reign.
Continuing the record in the next chapter, 2nd Chronicles 31 – Stirred up to a high pitch of zeal, all the assembled congregation dispersed throughout all the land, both Judah and Israel, and destroyed all the images and groves and high places, “until they had utterly destroyed them all.”
This would of course be under the guidance and inspiration of Hezekiah, and in Kings briefly it is said that he is the one that did this, or caused it to be done. He took advantage of this period of zeal to cleanse the land completely.
Quite often zeal for destruction does not always mean zeal for subsequent reconstruction, for the flesh enjoys destroying things. It regards it as righteous zeal. But very often, it goes no further than the destruction of the fault. It takes a lot more determination and patience to build the Truth, and we find that, unfortunately, this did not happen here. We are reminded of Jehu, “Come and see my zeal for the LORD.” Very effective in destroying the wicked predecessors, but no better himself.
The rest of chapter 31 is the setting up of the permanent appointments and arrangements of the priesthood and the worship and the offerings. Summing up at the end, verses 20-21, “And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God. And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.”
Truly a very good record. Now this is still the beginning of his reign, although those last verses would be a summing up of the rest of the course of it.
Returning then to the 2nd Kings 18, and picking up the record there. Verse 5 – “He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him of all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.” This clearly was his outstanding characteristic—his TRUST IN GOD.
Verse 6 – “He clave to the LORD, and he departed not from following him, but kept his commandments.”
Verse 7 – “The LORD was with him; and he prospered withersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not”. This rebelling against Assyria, when he came to the throne, he found it a tributary, because of his father’s subservience. This appears to be his course and his purpose throughout.
The first time the Assyrian king came to punish him for his rebellion, he submitted and paid an enormous tribute. We do not know the reason that he gave in upon this occasion, whether his faith failed or whether the people or his leading men would not support him in his resistance. It seems clear throughout and from the writings of Micah and Isaiah that all the initiative for faith and resistance depended upon Hezekiah himself, and that there was very little depth of faith in the generality of the people around him.
On the occasion of this first invasion in his 14th year, Shebna seems to have been the chief officer under the king, as we see in Isaiah 22, and he was not a good or faithful man. He was probably a leftover from the previous administration. Isaiah condemns him and says that he will be replaced by Eliakim, who was a faithful man and a type of Christ. This is the chapter in which we read of the key of the house of David and so on.
Chapter 22 of Isaiah is generally applied to this time, and we note of two things in it. It refers to the preparations that Hezekiah made for the siege; this is, what he did with the water courses, which pins it down at the time. And also it refers to the condition of the people, which was very unsatisfactory in God’s sight. So we can clearly get a picture of this first invasion and the difficulties that he faced and the kind of men that he had in control.
Verses 9-12 refer to the carrying away of the northern kingdom of Israel into captivity. They had, as a whole, scorned God’s last plea to them through Hezekiah. We could say that it was providential on God’s part that they be given this last opportunity. Hezekiah took very great pains to send the message throughout the whole northern kingdom.
In the natural course of things, Judah would have suffered the same fate at the same time. But, it is clear that Hezekiah’s efforts and reforms and mediation for the nation deferred the wrath of God, which had already very strongly begun to be manifested among them.
Verse 13 – We come to this invasion of the Assyrians. Eight years after the fall of Samaria in Hezekiah’s 14th year, Sennacherib came against Judah. Hezekiah had inherited a kingdom already under tribute to Assyria. He may have accepted the situation at first, until he could reform and rebuild the nation and build up their spirit of resistance, so God would be with them. Or, he may have rebelled from the beginning and this was the Assyrian’s first opportunity to come against him.
It does not appear from the Assyrian record that Sennacherib was the supreme ruler at this time, but his father Sargon was still alive and the emperor or king, according to the most likely chronology. The term king in Scripture was not so restrictively used as today. We find a similar relationship where Belshazzar is called the king of Babylon, even though his father was still alive and was still the chief ruler.
The Assyrian records that have been discovered in the past century or so give remarkable confirmation to the general reality and historicalness of this Bible account, though details are often difficult to reconcile, primarily we believe because of the errors of the Assyrian scribes rather than otherwise.
Until recent discoveries, the Bible had been for 2000 years the only record of any kind of all these events, which men regarded as legend.
Verse 14 – Hezekiah submits and pays tribute. “I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.” The Assyrian record claims that it was 800 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold, which is remarkable similar considering the normal lying and exaggeration of the Assyrians.
Verses 15-16 – He stripped all the treasures of the temple to pay this tribute. We do not find that he is condemned for this. And we do not know the circumstances.
His sickness occurred this same year. And it appears that God soon after far more than made up all this loss to him by gifts from the surrounding nations. He became very rich and very prosperous later.
Then we come to verse 17. We notice that the translators have put a paragraph mark there, indicating that in their view there is a break in the record. From several considerations there does seem to be a break in time between verse 16, where Hezekiah buys them off with a great ransom, and the story that begins in verse 17, where we find Hezekiah in direct rebellion and the king coming against him to destroy the city. The two records do not coincide.
Actually, according to the most likely chronology, verse 17 appears to begin the record of a later invasion twelve years subsequently. For verse 16 speaks of his submission and his tribute, whereas this section starting with verse 17 speaks all the way through of his resistance and refusal to submit and the destruction of the Assyrians. Two completely different events.
It seems clear that between verses 16 and 17, we must put his sickness and the embassy from Babylon and the temporary uplifting of his pride and presumption, and his soon after repentance and humbling of himself. For in the very sentence when God tells him that He will add 15 years to his life (20:6), He also tells him that He will deliver Jerusalem from the Assyrians.
This record in chapter 18 and 19 is the last delivery under Hezekiah, for the Assyrians are destroyed and Sennacherib goes back to his own land and comes not again against Hezekiah. The record beginning at verse 17 of chapter 18 tells of this deliverance and carries the history at the end of chapter 19 right down through the destruction of the Assyrian host and the death of Sennacherib back in his own land of Assyrian in Nineveh.
So following verse 16 of chapter 18, we go to chapter 20. This begins “in those days was Hezekiah sick unto death.” In those days—referring back to some time earlier. For chapter 19 goes right down to the death of Sennacherib, which was nearly 20 years after the death of Hezekiah himself. “In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death.” From the fact that 15 years were added to his life shows us that this was in the 14th year of his reign—the same year that we are told in chapter 18 and verse 13 that the Assyrians first came.
So continuing the record in chapter 20, Isaiah tells him, “Set thine house in order; for thou must die, and not live.” This was a message from God.
Verse 3 – He prayed and wept sore. Whether he was wise in this request is hard to say. Certainly, as a general rule, it is far wiser and safer and better to submit to the wisdom and arrangement of God, rather than plea for something other than what God provides. Certainly the son that was born to him during the added 15 years was, by his wickedness, a direct cause of Judah’s final downfall. We are told that although Manasseh himself repented, God could not forget the course of evil in the nation that he set going.
Certainly Hezekiah’s great failure that occurred later was naturally a direct consequence of his extension of life. If his concern was for himself in pleaing for extension of his life, it would seem far wiser to submit to God’s appointments. But if his concern was for his people, like Paul and Moses under similar considerations, then at least we can sympathize with his desires, and see why God complies with them.
The fact that God gave assurance in verse 6 of the deliverance of the city right together with the extension of his life would point in this direction—that his concern was with his people and his land and what he felt was required to be done. There was no one else to do it.
Hezekiah, doubtless, realized the shallowness of the people’s reformation and worship. He would realize that there was much to be done, and he would not want to leave the nation as it was, under bondage and tribute to Assyria, under the constant threat of Assyrian destruction. Truly he did fail after this, but also he did humble and recover himself, and he went on later to his greatest triumph of faith—his defiance of the Assyrian host with consequent miraculous destruction whereby Judah was relieved of the Assyrian oppressor for many years. So Hezekiah’s life was extended for 15 years.
Now we notice in going back and picking up briefly in chapter 18 that Rabshakka’s appeal to the people told them that the king would carry them away captive to a land like their own land. This was the Assyrian policy generally, and Israel had already gone, and so had a great number from Judah itself. This would clearly have meant the end of the nation, and Hezekiah, doubtless, foresaw the closing in of the Assyrian power upon the land. As a result of his faith and resistance, we find that Judah enjoyed 105 more years of independence—from this year of 713BC to 608BC, and 105 is 7 times 15. So we can see in the extension of Hezekiah’s life a type of extension of the favor of God to Judah for another 7 times 15.
In verse 8 of chapter 20 – Hezekiah asks for a sign. Why would he ask for a sign? Was it a lack of faith? We find that he was given a sign—a very tremendous sign—one of the great mysteries of Scripture, which people have pondered upon ever since. In some way God caused the shadow on the sundial to go exactly 10 degrees backwards, and He gave Hezekiah the choice beforehand as to whether it would be backwards or forwards. Why such a tremendous sign for something that was going to happen within three days anyway? Couldn’t Hezekiah believe and wait?
Perhaps this reveals something to us about Hezekiah’s faith, which God knew and which Hezekiah himself realized, for faith is not an automatic thing. God’s strength is made perfect in weakness, and Hezekiah may have realized his weakness. Hezekiah bore great responsibility to the whole nation. Their destiny depended entirely upon what he did in relation to the Assyrians. The Assyrians were proverbial for the ruthless and wanton cruelty to their captives, especially to any who had resisted them.
Clearly, for what he had to do, Hezekiah needed strength from a tremendous sign. It was not a matter of just getting well. It was the work that lay ahead of him after that. The very fact that he failed so soon after this, when put to the test, emphasizes his need. The sign was actually the indirect cause of his failure, for the ambassadors had come to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land. It was all a part of his training and his development, out of which he at last successfully came.
We find in this chapter 20, Berodachbaladan sends messengers to him and a present, regarding his recovery. This Berodachbaladan had a history (we find this from the Assyrian record), both before and after this time, of rebellion against his master, the king of Assyria. He was the king of Babylon, and it is clear from the whole record here that he was seeking an ally in Hezekiah, and that Hezekiah was carried away temporarily. Isaiah came to him very soon after and inquired what the man had come to ask him about, and warned him that all his treasures which he had shown them would be taken away to Babylon, showing that Babylon was not a suitable ally but an enemy to be feared.
Hezekiah immediately humbled himself and recognized his error and so did the inhabitants of Jerusalem, we are told, for clearly they were involved with him. He was given assurance that there was to be peace and truth in his day. We note peace AND truth. For truth, as we read earlier in the summary of his life, was the course which he always tried to follow.
This brings us back to chapter 18. This records the long dissertation of the messenger from Assyria against Hezekiah and against the people, crying out to the men on the wall, and Hezekiah’s dependence upon God on this occasion and the complete destruction of the Assyrian power—185,000 destroyed in one night. The Chronicles tell us specifically that it was not just the soldiers, but all the mighty men of valor, and the leaders, and the captains. And so it would be clear that this would break the Assyrian power for many years to come, all their officer corps being destroyed.
And finally, the record of the end of his life, going back again to 2nd Chronicles 32:32-33, “Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, and in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.”
We find that Manasseh rebuilt all the abominations that Hezekiah had broken down, undid all the reforms that he had made, and turned it back to the previous abominations.
G.V. Growcott
