Hezekiah is a man who loves the Lord and who has put a great deal of effort into making religious reforms in Judah. During his first several years as king, he ordered his late father's idolatrous altar to be removed from the temple, then he had the temple purified and rededicated to the Lord. The temple is back in business as the center of worship for his people. He also ordered the hilltop shrines and idolatrous altars and images removed from the land. A great revival broke out in Judah, as we learned last week. But, as we also talked about last week, hardship exists in this fallen world and it cannot always be avoided---not even by a person who is doing their best to live a life that honors the Lord. We found the author of 2 Chronicles stating, "After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah." (2 Chronicles 32:1a)
Before we move any further into the text we'll be reading for the next several days, we need to study a little history lesson in regard to the kings of Assyria. Tiglath-Pileser died earlier in our study of the kings and his chosen successor from among his sons was Shalmaneser V. Shalmaneser is the one who conquered Samaria during the days of Hoshea, the final leader of the northern kingdom of Israel. This happened just a few short years ago, during Hezekiah's fourth year as king of Judah. So what happened to Shalmaneser, who is Sennacherib, and how did Sennacherib become king of Assyria?
Sennacherib is the grandson of Tiglath-Pileser III but not the son of Shalmaneser V. He is the son of Sargon II, who was another son of Tiglath-Pileser. Sargon took the throne by force from Shalmaneser V just five years into his brother's reign. No surviving historical records have been found to explain why Sargon orchestrated this coup. Some scholars propose that since Sargon took a throne name that means "true king", he was Tiglath-Pileser's firstborn son and believed the throne should have automatically come to him. (Sargon's given name at birth is not known; he gave himself the name of Sargon II when he took the throne.) Other scholars believe he was displeased with Shalmaneser's leadership and considered him weak because so many vassal states of Assyria dared to rebel during Shalmaneser's brief reign. It is generally believed that Shalmaneser was killed during the coup, for no mention of his death is found anywhere in the Assyrian records, which would be expected if he died in battle or of natural causes and was buried as a king. After taking his brother's place, Sargon continued Shalmaneser's practice of deporting citizens from conquered Israel and resettling the land with other peoples conquered by the nation of Assyria.
Sargon busied himself not only with matters in his vassal state of Israel but with quelling rebellions of a number of other territories that were under the control of Assyria at the time. He marched out against many cities and engaged in many battles, culminating in his death in battle at Anatolia. The battle there was so fierce that his body could not be retrieved by his men to be brought back for burial. Upon receiving the news that Sargon perished in battle, his son and intended heir Sennacherib (who was always left in charge whenever he went out to battle) became king in his place. This is the Sennacherib of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles who marches against the kingdom of Judah during the reign of Hezekiah.
At first Hezekiah tries to appease Sennacherib by making up for the tribute he has been withholding. "In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: 'I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.' The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold." (2 Kings 18:13-14) Had Hezekiah done wrong in refusing to pay tribute to the Assyrian king? No, I don't believe so. He has the right to want a sovereign nation. But I do not believe Hezekiah should have done what he does next.
"So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace. At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors and doorposts of the temple of the Lord, and gave it to the king of Assyria." (2 Kings 18:15-16) Why does he do this? And why has he succeeded up until now at refusing to pay tribute?
Perhaps his success has been because the kingship of Assyria changed hands so many times since the fall of the northern kingdom and/or it may be due to all the other rebellions these kings were attempting to quash during those years. Or it may be, as some Bible scholars suggest, that the Lord prevented Assyria from attacking Judah during the years Hezekiah was carrying out his religious reforms. The Lord may have been giving Hezekiah and the people time to strengthen their faith in Him before they were confronted by an enemy. Hezekiah's giving of so much gold and silver to Sennacherib indicates that his faith is not yet where it needs to be. It might be that he thought his faith was unshakable until Sennacherib successfully captured some of the cities of Judah. He may have expected the Lord to prevent invasion altogether and, when the situation didn't work out quite as he'd expected, his faith wavered. He may have begun to wonder whether the Lord was going to allow the kingdom of Judah to fall in spite of the revival going on in the land.
We don't always know what the Lord is doing. He doesn't always go about things the way we expect Him to go about them. What starts off looking like an impending disaster is going to end up being one of the greatest military victories---and one of the greatest victories of faith---that the kingdom of Judah has witnessed in a long time.
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