2 Kings 18:1-9
Hezekiah became king when he is 25 years old and reigned 29 years. He started his reign in the 3rd year of Hoshea's nine-year reign in Israel. Hoshea had the Assyrians breathing down his neck and was paying tribute to them as he trying to make deals with Egypt. Hezekiah saw all this happening to the north of him. He stands as quite a contrast to Hosea. In Hoshea we see what it looks like when a man does it his way; in Hezekiah, we see the leadership of a man following the ways of the Lord no matter what.
Hezekiah did right in the sight of the Lord as measured against the standard of King David. He did not compromise in the ways of the Lord. See 2 Chronicles 29:3-31:21 to see more detail of the reforms of Hezekiah. He removed all the places of false worship or worship of other gods (there is a difference). He broke down the Asherah and got rid of idol worshiping. He even broke the bronze serpent that Moses had made (called Nehushtan). See numbers 21:4-9. Nehushtan means the copper or bronze serpent of the desert. This was an emblem of their history and a picture of Christ lifted up. It shows that even these things can become religious icons that draw us away from true worship of the One God.
Verse six says that Hezekiah 'held fast' meaning 'clung' to the Lord. We see the Hezekiah's loyalty in difficult circumstances. They were already paying tribute to the Assyrians prior to his becoming king. There had to be many who thought Hezekiah was making a mistake in his loyalty to Yahweh. But the Lord blessed Him and the nation for the loyalty shown. Hezekiah was victorious over the Philistines and he decided they would stop paying tribute to the Assyrians.
2 Kings 18:10-12
Judah and Hezekiah saw the fall of Samaria and the defeat of the northern kingdom at the hand of Shalmaneser. This didn't happen because the Assyrians had a larger army or because Hoshea had failed politically or militarily. This happened because they did not obey the Lord. They rejected God's ways, refusing to hear or do them.
2 Kings 18:13-16
Eight years pass between verse twelve and thirteen. The new king of Assyria is Sennacherib. He invaded Judah and began conquering cities. Hezekiah feared being conquered by them and agreed to pay tribute once again. Stripping the gold from the doors of the temple had to be demoralizing to the people. It certainly gave the appearance that Assyria was stronger than the Lord.
2 Kings 18:17-35
The king of Assyria sent representatives to the pool on the highway to terrorize the people with their threats. They taunted them for having faith in God. How could they trust in anything or anyone that would equate to rebeling against Assyria? The Rabshakeh told them no one else's gods could save them from the Assyrian army. It's fascinating that he says Hezekiah's reforms offended God by cleaning out the high places and altars. There had to be a group of scared Jews that quickly agreed with this idea. This Assyrian even claimed to have direction from the Lord to come against them. Eliakim tried to contain this threat to the leadership but Rabshakeh knew how to terrorize. He made sure all the people heard as he declared them doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine.
See also 2 Chron 32:9-14 and Isaiah 36.
2 Kings 18:36-37
The king commanded the people not to be drawn into conversation with the Assyrian. He didn't want them to be tempted by these promises. The people kept silent in the face of these taunts. The leaders brought the news and words of the Rabshakeh to Hezekiah.
©2016 Doug Ford
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