Sennacherib Invades Judah
(2 Kings 18:13–16; Psalms 46:1–11)
After all these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, intending to conquer them for himself. 2Ki 18:13-372Ch 20:1-22Ki 15:192Ki 17:62Ki 18:11Hos 11:5Isa 10:5-11Isa 36:1
When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come to make war against Jerusalem, 2Ki 12:17Luk 9:51Luk 9:53 he consulted with his leaders and commanders about stopping up the waters of the springs outside the city, and they helped him carry it out. Pro 15:22Pro 20:18Pro 24:62Ch 30:22Ki 18:202Ki 20:20Isa 22:8-11Isa 40:13 Many people assembled and stopped up all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land. “Why should the kings 1of Assyria come and find plenty of water?” they said. 2Ch 32:301Ki 19:211Ki 3:16-171Ki 3:92Ch 30:142Ch 32:12Ki 18:132Ki 18:9
Then Hezekiah worked resolutely to rebuild all the broken sections of the wall and to raise up towers on it. He also built an outer wall and reinforced the supporting terraces 2of the City of David, and he produced an abundance of weapons and shields. 2Ch 25:231Ki 9:242Ki 25:42Sa 5:9Isa 22:9-101Ki 11:272Ch 12:12Ch 14:5-7
Hezekiah appointed military commanders over the people and gathered the people in the square of the city gate. Then he encouraged them, saying, 2Ch 30:22Isa 40:22Ch 17:14-19Ezr 10:9Gen 34:3Neh 8:161Ch 27:3-34Neh 8:1-3 “Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged before the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater One with us than with him. 2Ki 6:16Rom 8:31Eph 6:101Jn 4:42Ch 20:152Ki 18:301Ch 28:20Dan 10:19 With him is only the arm of flesh, 3 but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” Jer 17:52Ch 20:172Ti 4:17Act 18:102Ch 20:15Isa 41:101Jn 4:4Psa 46:11
So the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem
(2 Kings 18:17–37; Isaiah 36:1–22)
Later, as Sennacherib king of Assyria and all his forces besieged Lachish, he sent his servants to Jerusalem with a message for King Hezekiah of Judah and all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem: 2Ki 18:17Jos 10:31Isa 36:2Isa 37:8Jos 12:11Jos 15:39Mic 1:13 “This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: What is the basis of your confidence, that you remain in Jerusalem under siege? 2Ki 18:19Isa 36:4 Is not Hezekiah misleading you to give you over to death by famine and thirst when he says, ‘The LORD our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria?’ 2Ch 32:152Ki 18:272Ki 18:302Ki 19:10Isa 36:12Isa 36:18Mat 27:43Psa 11:1-3 Did not Hezekiah himself remove His high places and His altars and say to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before one altar, and on it you shall burn sacrifices’? 2Ch 31:11Ki 7:482Ch 4:12Ki 18:222Ki 18:4Deu 12:13-14Deu 12:26-27Exo 27:1-8
Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Have the gods of these nations ever been able to deliver their land from my hand? 2Ki 18:33-351Co 8:42Ch 32:192Ki 15:292Ki 17:5-62Ki 19:11-132Ki 19:17-19Dan 4:30 Who among all the gods of these nations that my fathers devoted to destruction 4has been able to deliver his people from my hand? How then can your God deliver you from my hand? Exo 14:3Exo 15:9-11Isa 10:11-12Isa 42:8
So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you, and do not let him mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand!” Dan 3:15Exo 5:2Isa 36:181Ki 22:222Ch 32:112Ki 18:292Ki 19:10Act 19:26
And the servants of Sennacherib spoke further against the LORD God and against His servant Hezekiah. Jhn 15:21Job 15:25-26Psa 73:9 He also wrote letters mocking the LORD, the God of Israel, and saying against Him: “Just as the gods of the nations did not deliver their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand.” 2Ki 19:12Isa 37:14Isa 37:28-292Ki 19:142Ki 19:222Ki 19:282Ki 19:9Isa 10:15
Then the Assyrians called out loudly in Hebrew 5to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them in order to capture the city. 1Sa 17:101Sa 17:262Ki 18:26-28Isa 36:13Neh 6:9 They spoke against the God of Jerusalem as they had spoken against the gods of the peoples of the earth—the work of human hands. 2Ki 19:18Isa 2:81Sa 17:362Ch 32:13-172Ch 6:6Deu 27:15Deu 4:28Heb 12:22
Jerusalem Delivered from the Assyrians
(2 Kings 19:35–37; Isaiah 37:36–38)
In response, King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out to heaven in prayer, Psa 91:14-152Ch 14:112Ki 19:2-42Ch 20:6-12Isa 37:14-202Ki 19:14-19Isa 37:1-4Psa 50:15 and the LORD sent an angel who annihilated every mighty man of valor and every leader and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons struck him down with the sword. Isa 37:36-38Psa 76:52Ki 19:202Ki 19:35-372Sa 24:16Act 12:23Dan 6:22Isa 10:16-19
So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hands of King Sennacherib of Assyria and all the others, and He gave them rest on every side. Isa 31:4-52Th 3:5Hos 1:7Jhn 16:13Psa 144:10Psa 18:48-50Psa 37:39-40Isa 10:24-25 Many brought offerings to Jerusalem for the LORD and valuable gifts for Hezekiah king of Judah, and from then on he was exalted in the eyes of all nations. 2Ch 17:52Ch 1:12Ch 9:24Mat 2:111Ch 29:251Ki 10:101Ki 10:251Ki 4:21
Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery
(2 Kings 20:1–11; Isaiah 38:1–8)
In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. So he prayed to the LORD, who spoke to him and gave him a sign. 2Ki 20:1-11Isa 38:1-8Isa 38:21-22 But because his heart was proud, Hezekiah did not repay the favor shown to him. Therefore wrath came upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem. 2Ch 24:182Ch 26:162Ch 32:312Sa 24:11Ch 21:12-172Ki 14:10Deu 8:171Ch 21:1
Then Hezekiah humbled the pride of his heart—he and the people of Jerusalem—so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah. Jer 26:18-192Ch 33:122Ch 34:27-28Jas 4:101Ki 21:191Ki 21:292Ch 33:192Ch 33:23
Hezekiah had very great riches and honor, and he made treasuries for his silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and all kinds of valuable articles. 1Ch 27:25-312Ch 1:122Ch 17:52Ch 9:27Pro 10:22 He also made storehouses for the harvest of grain and new wine and oil, stalls for all kinds of livestock, and pens for the flocks. 1Ki 4:262Ch 26:102Sa 7:8 He made cities for himself, and he acquired herds of sheep and cattle in abundance, for God gave him very great wealth. 1Ch 29:121Ch 27:29-311Sa 2:71Ti 6:17-182Ch 25:92Ch 26:10Deu 8:18Gen 13:2-6
It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Spring of Gihon and channeled it down to the west side of the City of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all that he did. 1Ki 1:331Ki 1:381Ki 1:452Ch 32:42Ki 20:20Isa 22:9-11Jos 1:7-8Psa 1:1-3 And so when ambassadors of the rulers of Babylon were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone to test him, that He might know all that was in Hezekiah’s heart. Deu 8:2Pro 17:3Jhn 15:52Ch 32:24Gen 22:1Deu 8:16Zec 13:9Isa 39:1-8
Hezekiah’s Death
As for the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his deeds of loving devotion, they are indeed written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 2Ki 18:1-20Isa 36:1-222Ch 31:20-21 And Hezekiah rested with his fathers and was buried in the upper tombs of David’s descendants. All Judah and the people of Jerusalem paid him honor at his death. And his son Manasseh reigned in his place. Pro 10:71Ki 1:211Ki 11:431Ki 2:101Sa 2:301Sa 25:12Ch 16:142Ch 33:1-20